The Incredible Hulk [2023] #27 - Marvel Comics

THE INCREDIBLE HULK No. 27, September 2025

Starting with a seriously sedentary opening which features Bruce Banner’s alter-ego disconcertingly dozing under a woodland tree whilst a young boy noisily plays with a self-made wooden sword at his feet, many a bibliophile probably couldn’t be blamed for wondering what on Earth writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson was thinking when he penned this comic’s somewhat ponderous narrative. Sure, the happy-go-lucky youngster’s father is almost immediately shown to have something of a short-fused temper. But there’s absolutely no suggestion of the genuinely shocking tragedy which has actually already befallen poor Petey when he’s subsequently shown skipping back towards his home; “Daddy builds stuff. But sometimes he gets angry, and we gotta leave again.”

Instead, the American author just slowly starts to add layers to the dynamics of the kid’s dysfunctional, ever-erratic life on board a travelling bus, and the increasingly worrying criminal lifestyle of Henry Lang – who evidently enjoys dealing in stolen goods after work. In addition, the titular character himself is shown as having some serious self-doubts as to whether he truly wants to be left alone after all, and actually appears to be slowly warming up to the notion that perhaps instead of being a monster, the Hulk could become a force for good once again. 

Shockingly though, this dream of redemption is suddenly brought crashing down around the founding Avenger’s ears when he overhears Petey’s dad telling his wife they have to leave Tennessee immediately following a gun-fight with the local Police. Initially, this scene suggests that the boy will simply be left behind to his fate in the forest. However, it soon becomes crystal clear that things are far more sinister than mere abandonment, and that partially buried under “the Falling-Down Tree” is a dark secret infinitely worse than any creature from the kid’s vivid imagination.

Sadly what isn’t as successful as this book’s cataclysmic conclusion is debatably its drawing, with Kev Walker’s pencils proving rather disappointing when it comes to the look of this ongoing series’ titular character. The British illustrator does a first-rate job in depicting the disagreeable violence Henry is willing to subject his poor, ever-loyal spouse to, and resultantly should make the fellow utterly despicable in the eyes of this publication’s audience. Yet the artist's sketches of a long-haired, chisel-chinned Hulk is perplexing at best, and simply doesn’t portray the heavily-conflicted brute all that well – at least until the gamma mutate decides to take revenge upon poor Petey’s unrepentant murderer.

The regular cover art of "THE INCREDIBLE HULK" #27 by Nic Klein