The Incredible Hulk [2023] #29 - Marvel Comics

THE INCREDIBLE HULK No. 29, November 2025

Whilst Issue Twenty Nine of “Incredible Hulk” certainly contains a dramatic, incredibly satisfying bout of fisticuffs towards it end as the titular character savagely pulps a monster unwisely wearing the physical form of Betty Ross' Harpy persona, some readers may well struggle to shake off the feeling that Phillip Kennedy Johnson was simply ‘killing time’ with this specific comic’s script before he could get on to penning the ongoing series’ “explosive” final instalment. In fact, many a critic could probably argue that the vast majority of this twenty-page periodical’s plot could easily have been omitted, and the American author simply just had the Green Goliath encounter “one of the Arachnis Midwives draining the blood and gamma” of his friends (and foes) just as soon as he entered Eldest’s domain.

Such a disappointing viewpoint really seems to take shape straight from the book’s opening with its rather long-winded, and somewhat confusing account of the Mother of Horrors’ origin and her subsequently corrupting “God himself.” Padded out with plenty of large panels by artist Adam Gorham, this entire sequence is debatably a bemusing mess, and certainly shouldn’t have taken up anywhere near as much sheet space as it does; “The One Below All went into the dark and killed all her children he could find… And then he hurt her, worse than anything ever been hurt.”

Furthermore, many within this publication’s audience would surely have preferred the “Eisner-nominated writer of Superman” to have instead provided them with some explanation as to just how the likes of Doctor Voodoo, Betty, Skaar and the Absorbing Man were actually captured by Vinruviel in the first place. Admittedly, the subjugation of a couple of this comic’s notable cast has previously been fleetingly depicted, or at least hinted at. But many an exciting abduction has also clearly occurred off-screen, and without any suggestion as to how these super-powered beings were somehow subdued, the revelation of their evident torment on the Requiem Plain doesn’t really strike as deep as they should – not even when the writer desperately tries to bring everyone up to speed with Eldest’s mass kidnappings via this book’s introductory ‘movie crawl.’

Easily this edition’s biggest hurdle however has to be the interior illustrations, which simply don’t sell the aforementioned origin sequence terribly well at all. Furthermore, despite the giant spider supposedly harvesting the nutrients inside the Hulk’s family and foes looking suitably venomous, Gorham’s decision to have it apparently feeding off its prey by simply sticking its legs straight through their torsos looks disappointingly unconvincing and unimpactful.

The regular cover art of "THE INCREDIBLE HULK" #29 by Nic Klein