The Immortal Hulk #41 - Marvel Comics

IMMORTAL HULK No. 41, February 2021

Promising that artist Joe Bennett would be pencilling a stonkingly good rematch against the titular character’s long-time rival, Benjamin Grimm, Al Ewing’s script for Issue Forty One of “Immortal Hulk” must have proved something of a disappointment to the majority of its readers with its predominantly sedentary storyline. True, Bruce Banner’s alter-ego does manage to swap a few punches with the Fantastic Four’s strongest member, but the jade giant’s “puny” physical condition makes this confrontation so absurdly one-sided that it arguably comes as something of a relief when the duo set aside their differences and tuck into a hot meal at a local diner; “Big beef dog and all the extras. Made with my own rocky hands.”

In addition, the usually kind-hearted Thing is disappointingly penned as being a bit of a dislikeable bully in “The Man Downstairs”, who having quickly realised that something is badly amiss with his opponent’s famous formidable super-strength, appears to take great delight in laying down a significant smackdown upon his surprisingly fragile foe. Such a disconcertingly dark version of “Aunt Petunia's favourite nephew” is explained away by the British writer as being payback for when the Hulk “beat me into a coma on my honeymoon”. However, it is still debatably difficult to reconcile a deeply religious hero who had his Bar Mitzvah “thirteen years since the Cosmic Rays” with this comic’s incarnation who seemingly revels in the stark terror of a clearly surrendering adversary.

Sadly, the former “2000 A.D.” author’s narrative also seems to rely far too heavily upon a few illogical plot points to push this twenty-page periodical along. For starters, having established in this ongoing book’s previous instalment that in order to change back into his human guise Joe Fixit’s persona has to literally tear himself out from inside the Hulk’s body, Ewing suddenly reverts back to the green Goliath’s old transformation process simply so he can pen for the Thing to punch an utterly defenceless ‘Bruce Banner’. This inconsistency is then followed up by the authorities, who have been desperate to incarcerate the founding Avenger since the Iowa massacre, impotently standing outside a cordoned-off funfair, whilst Mister Fantastic allows his team-mate to enjoy a cold beer with their ‘detainee’ and ultimately let the man go scot-free.

The regular cover art of "IMMORTAL HULK" #41 by Alex Ross