The best Marvel comic of 2021 was Immortal Hulk

First line The Immortal Hulk’s 2021 was an omen: “Consequences are unpitying.” Part of a longer quotation from George Eliot’s Adam Bede, these three words appeared at the start of January’s The Immortal Hulk #42, the start of an year that saw one of history’s greatest superhero runs tarnished because of some of its creators.

Finale of The Immortal HulkIt should have been a victory lap, but circumstances surrounding the release added an extra layer of sadness to the issue.

The consequences are not to be taken lightly.

February’s The Immortal Hulk #43 gained mainstream attention for all the wrong reasons when readers noticed anti-semitic imagery in the artwork: a jewelry shop window displaying the misspelled last name of Jewish filmmaker David Cronenberg (“Cronemberg”), “jewelry” misspelled as “jewery”, and a Star of David. Joe Bennett from Penciller posted on Facebook an apology. This is now deleted.

“The misspellings on the window were an honest but terrible mistake — since I was writing backwards, I accidentally spelled both of those words wrong… I have no excuse for how I depicted the Star of David. I failed to understand this troubling and offensive stereotype, and after listening to you all, I now understand my mistake.”

It seemed like the dust had settled. The Immortal HulkIt continued towards its final destination at #50. Al Ewing, writer brought together his work over three years and nearly all major works. HulkHe was the first writer to tell a story of goodness and mercy amid a world filled with suffering and chaos. Bennett, along with inkers Ruy José and Bellardino Brabo, colorist Paul Mounts, and letterer Cory Petit, matched the scope of Ewing’s narrative in every aspect of the visuals. Dramatic layouts made it feel like the panels were being whipped around. Careful inks captured every cringeworthy detail. Colors were infused with radioactive intensity, and letters transformed plain text into powerful voices suitable for bigger-than-life creatures.

Image: Al Ewing, Germán García, Chris O’Halloran, Cory Petit/Marvel Comics

It is a view from a craft standpoint. The Immortal HulkIt remained astonishingly consistent until its end. As Ewing’s grand plan entered its endgame, it became clear just how impeccably plotted everything was, with big twists that turned the tide when the heroes were at their lowest and a revelation in the finale that recontextualized every aspect of the dynamic between Bruce Banner and his archnemesis, Samuel Sterns. Each issue has featured guest artists, which is a nice break for the main team of art. #42, Bennett, José, Brabo, and Mounts stayed on for the rest of the series, including the 80-page final issue.

Some of the series’ most creative moments were saved for the final issue, which was entirely made up of splash pages and accompanying prose. That prose, written by the book’s investigative reporter character, Jackie McGee, is a fascinating exploration of the dichotomous mythologies of the Hulk and the Fantastic Four, the group that started the Marvel universe when Jack Kirby and Stan Lee created them in 1961. Kirby and Lee would later create the Hulk, replacing the wonder and optimism of the Fantastic Four by horror and tragedy.

Image: Al Ewing and Joe Bennett/Marvel Komcis

Image by Al Ewing Joe Bennett/Marvel Comics

The Immortal Hulk #49 explores how these concepts overlap and diverge. This is a look at these two American fairy tales that tell the story of pioneers who defy the norm and go out into the unknown. The Fantastic Four, American heroism and innovation, were the American spirit at its finest. Hulk, American dark spirit, destroyed endlessly in order to prove it was the most powerful, was the Hulk. The issue’s macro lens examined the most fundamental ideas of the Marvel universe, underscoring these characters’ function as modern American fables so that the finale could reinforced Hulk’s place in an even older mythical tradition.

A few more weeks later The Immortal Hulk #49 Hit stands was an image Joe Bennett in 2017 drew that was shared over social media. The art depicted Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, on horseback, armed with a sword to cut down the people in front of him, drawn as anti-semitic caricatures. Ewing went on to Twitter to address the image, calling it “reprehensible” and stating that he would no longer be working with Bennett in the future. Marvel expelled Bennett one week later. The timeless value of timeNewsarama was informed by the company that it had ended its 27-year-long relationship with the artist.

Reading is complicated by real-world situations The Immortal Hulk#50 was a beautiful conclusion that was overshadowed somewhat by the actions of its artist, and the end of the artistic partnership that created the series. This chemistry was evident throughout the issue. It began with a Gothic Horror flashback in 1901 Ohio. Robert Sterns and Samuel Sterns have had terrible consequences in the past. Their brutal violence was a far more terrifying form of terror than Jackie and the Hulks battling against the One Below All.

Image by Joe Bennett, Al Ewing/Marvel Comics

The range of the The Immortal Hulk It was a huge finale. The reveal of the book’s mastermind antagonist came via a four-page gatefold spread, and the climax of the story was basically the Hulk chewing out God. But the inner conflict behind all this intense action is something we all have to face. Are you able to forgive or do you build? Are you angry or forgiving? Flashbacks are a symbol of wrathful and vindictiveness. The actions of the Sterns brothers continue to haunt their children for generations. But maybe there’s a way to break the cycle of trauma, by extending a hand rather than throwing a fist.

The Immortal HulkThe story was steeped with tragedy, but it ended in tragedy. Bennett’s artwork was a vital part of The Immortal Hulk’s success and he produced the most exciting work of his career by collaborating with Ewing, but the celebration was fully quelled by the termination of their partnership. That didn’t stop the series from sticking the landing, but it’s a Pyrrhic victory for the best Marvel comic of the year.