The Incredible Hulk [2023] #8 - Marvel Comics

THE INCREDIBLE HULK No. 8, March 2024

Enthusiastically labelled “the epic conclusion of Hulk’s throwdown with the WWII Ghost Rider and the War Devils” by its New York City-based publisher, this third instalment to Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s “Spirits Of Vengeance” storyline must surely have left a few readers somewhat queasy from all the body horror taking place within its twenty-pages. In fact, some may well find it something of a struggle to imagine a more gory-narrative than this flesh-fest, in which the Green Goliath’s personality somehow manages to recover from being eaten alive by a pack of imaginary hyenas and quite literally seals his overtly open rib-cage through sheer force of will.

Likewise, there’s plenty of mutilation for the blood-hungry bibliophile to enjoy when it comes to the bulk of the book’s script, as the oily, feral-looking War Devils gallop through “a community of migrant workers in Texas” and start scything down its hapless inhabitants with some savage-looking curved blades. This action sequence is admittedly as swift as it is deadly. But it also leads into a ferocious counter-assault by the fiery Second World War Veteran, who has come armed for the fight with a deadly bazooka and his customary Hellfire chain too; “I ain’t been a living man in a good while.”

Intriguingly though, this publication’s finale featuring a “bone-crushing brawl” against one of the Mother of Horror’s more formidably-sized minions isn’t the end of the matter either, courtesy of dead Uncle Sal informing Bruce Banner’s weary alter-ego that he now needs to protect Charlie Tidwell in the same way the motorbike-riding, flame-fuelled protagonist has repeatedly returned to life to save his nephew. Furthermore, the beaten beast partially beheaded by the founding Avenger, also has a few things to say about the challenges yet facing the Hulk, and all of them sound pretty world-ending.

Ultimately however, so much of this comic’s success has to lay at the feet of artist Nic Klein, whose layouts are arguably as jaw-droppingly good as it gets. Of particular note are the aforementioned insights into the gamma radiation scientist’s psyche, which the German illustrator colours himself, and that really help sell the persistent internal battle which rages within the colossal super-hero’s somewhat shattered mind - especially when a foreign influence is desperately attempting to turn the former Defender into a pawn of their own.

The regular cover art of "THE INCREDIBLE HULK" #8 by Nic Klein