The Infernal Hulk #4 - Marvel Comics

THE INFERNAL HULK No. 4, April 2026

Whilst many a bibliophile may well enjoy Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s trip down memory lane as Bruce Banner’s alter-ego takes something of a tumble down into the depths of the Hulkscape and encounters a number of his past, green-hued personas, a number of readers will probably feel that this twenty-page periodical is perfectly missable. Sure, the American author pads out this comic’s rather bemusing plot with a number of action-packed sequences, such as Joe Fixit blazing away at all-comers with a submachine gun. But nothing actually seems to occur in the book which would have any impact upon this ongoing series’ overarching narrative; “What have you learned, fractured son?”

Indeed, the sole purpose of this particular publication appears to be to simply show that the consciousness of the Incredible Hulk is still somehow alive, and dwelling within the belly of the beast who has eaten him. Disappointingly though Just how this remarkable situation is possible isn’t in any way explained, nor even explored, and resultantly the entire cataclysmic battle against the Mother of Horrors smacks of the Army veteran-turned-writer simply setting up some adrenalin-fuelled events simply to fill up an entire instalment of this title’s supposedly “planned ten-issue run”.

Similarly as unpersuasive as this storytelling is arguably also the opening to “Alone”, which depicts the President (of the United States) simply abandoning a United Nation’s Ambassador to their grim and ghastly fate at the hands of giant, flying Pteranodon-like demons. This cowardly (in)action supposedly stems from the belief that absolutely no-one else can save Humanity from the all-powerful Eldest except perhaps Banner, so the best that the ‘Leader of the Free World’ can do is “close down all air travel over the North Atlantic”. However, any member of the Merry Marvel Marching Society would easily be able to name a good number of super-heroes who could debatably stand toe-to-toe against the mass-murdering purple behemoth, let alone the variety of impressively-rostered teams, groups and all-powerful cosmic entities.

Much of this comic’s impact therefore rests entirely upon the shoulders of Nic Klein, and in this respect the book definitely does not disappoint. Featuring some truly sumptuous splash pages highlighting the disconcertingly beautiful landscape of the Hulk’s bowel-deep home, many of the panels pencilled genuinely contain an incredible amount of detail to bewitch the perusing eye. In fact, the fantastic interior layouts are probably worth the cover price alone, regardless of whether an onlooker is swayed by the publication’s script or not.

Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Artist: Nic Klein, and Color Artists: Nic Klein & Matthew Wilson