The Immortal Hulk #47 - Marvel Comics

IMMORTAL HULK No. 47, August 2021

Containing a mouth-watering confrontation between the titular character and the latest Avengers roster, Al Ewing’s screenplay for “Chaotic Terrain” surely must have impressed the vast majority of Hulk-heads when it first hit the spinner racks in June 2021. In fact, many readers probably struggled to remember another time within the Diamond Gem Award-winning series when the twenty-page periodical was so packed with such a powerfully-large cast all duking it out against one another under the misguided belief that the Green Goliath was about to destroy Manhattan.

Rather gratifyingly though, amongst all this utter chaos and breath-taking destruction are also a plethora of well-penned sub-plots, which see the British author establishing a series of highly enthralling ‘personal’ duels featuring some of the New York City-based publisher’s mightiest heroes. Foremost of these contests is arguably the continuation of hostilities involving Bruce Banner’s alter-ego and Thor Odinson, which is so cataclysmic that at one point it actually results in a bolt of lightning severing the Hulk’s right hand.

But equally as unforgettable are debatably the founding Avenger’s all-too brief encounter with Blade, who somewhat strangely seems to believe the gamma-strong powerhouse is “a stinkin’ vamp”, and T'Challa’s subsequent limb-slicing shenanigans with his maximum-charged energy daggers, which some within the comic book media have used as conclusive proof that the “Black Panther could easily beat the Hulk.” Interestingly however, not all of this magazine’s high-octane antics solely revolve around Joe Fixit’s green-hued persona either, courtesy of Ewing making both the Harpy’s skirmish with Captain Marvel, and Carl "Crusher" Creel’s clash against Captain America mouth-watering prospects too; “Heads up, Flag-man -- You and me, right now --”

In addition to its writing, Issue Forty-Seven of “Immortal Hulk” also owes much of its success to artist Joe Bennett, who manages to quite wonderfully depict the numerous combatants various emotions on their faces with consummate ease. Indeed, Jennifer Walters increasing doubts as to the validity of the Avengers authority to permanently take down the Hulk can clearly be seen in just the character’s eyes for the majority of the well-pencilled comic, and makes the She-Hulk’s change of loyalties at its jaw-dropping conclusion much more believable.

The regular cover art of "IMMORTAL HULK" #47 by Alex Ross