The Infernal Hulk #3 - Marvel Comics

THE INFERNAL HULK No. 3, March 2026

Touted as being a “pivotal issue” in which the comic’s readers will finally discover just “what happened to Bruce Banner in that cave”, this twenty-page periodical probably came as something of a disappointment to its customers. In fact, despite somehow being the forty-seventh best-selling book of January 2026 – at least according to “Icv2.com” – many a Hulk-head could debatably have given it a miss and been no less the poorer as far as the ongoing series’ over-arching narrative was concerned; “One of the bravest, most selfless, most brilliant scientists who ever lived transformed into a snivelling coward.”

For openers, absolutely nothing of any consequence whatsoever actually takes place within the publication, as Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s disappointingly sedentary script focuses upon the domestic life of Betty Ross and her ‘husband’ in sleepy Muncie, Indiana. Sure, General Thunderbolt Ross’ daughter has a disconcerting episode in the kitchen one night when she starts to self-harm after being unable to open a tub of ice cream. But many a bibliophile would debatably have preferred her ordinarily strong-willed character to have demonstrated her frustration at no longer being able to become the super-powered Harpy in a far less extreme manner than mutilating her own body with a kitchen knife.

Furthermore, as Iron Man rather bluntly points out to the nuclear physicist, the customarily brave Banner is depicted within this publication as a selfish, spineless individual, who rather than help Humanity fend off Eldest’s seemingly unstoppable incarnation of the Hulk, would much prefer to simply skulk in the shadows with little regard for anyone’s safety. Perhaps unsurprisingly, such a huge departure from the ‘norm’ actually makes “David Hamilton” a rather disagreeable character, and resultantly causes his endless, dialogue-driven scenes to be quite a chore to progress through.

Lastly, the decision to chaotically mesh the distinctly different drawing styles of Kev Walker and Nic Klein together in a single comic must surely have thrown any and all onlookers completely out of the storytelling whenever the swap occurs. This amalgamation of artwork proves particularly annoying towards the end of the book, when a couple of panels featuring Klein’s readily recognisable Hulk is suddenly crowbarred in between Walker’s much less detailed Iron Man whilst Shellhead is talking with Banner in his backyard.

The regular cover art of "INFERNAL HULK" #3 by Nic Klein