Cover Art for Hulk Smash Everything #3 - Written by Ryan North with Art by Vincenzo Carratù, Colors by Federico Blee and Lettering done by VC’s Joe Caramagna. Cover Art by Adam Kubert and Edgar Delgado.
“The entire universe is making him angry and the entire universe wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.”
Excuse this terrible pun but its an absolutely “Incredible” time to a fan of the Hulk right now. Not only did Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Nic Klein horror masterpiece, The Infernal Hulk, drop their fourth issue this week but we got another wild issue in Ryan North’s limited series Hulk Smash Everything. Hulk Smash Everything has been a great opposite side of the coin as opposed to its Infernal counterpart and I admire just how out there North has been going with the Hulk in this series so far. Hulk Smash Everything #3 is also the art team’s best issue to date and the cliffhanger at the end of this issue is setting up what is going to be a very fun final two issues. Let’s get into it. Spoiler Warning now in effect for Hulk Smash Everything #3.
The Hulk Takes On A Black Hole
When we last left the Incredible Hulk in Hulk Smash Everything, he was teleported to the middle of the black hole at the center of the galaxy, known as Sagittarius A*, by the nefarious archenemy of the hero, Samuel Sterns, also known as The Leader. After two issues of fighting everything from Doctor Strange to velociraptors, this latest issue cranks the rampage up a notch even further. For the first half of this issue, the Hulk deals with the ramifications of being pulled inside one of the most powerful phenomena in the universe.
Over this first section of the issue, Ryan North provides some excellent narration on what is happening with the Hulk as he begins the fall into the middle of Sagittarius A*. However, this opening section belongs to the art team and depicts what happens when the strongest being in the Marvel Universe meets the strength of a black hole.
I enjoyed the art in the first two issues of Hulk Smash Everything. If you need to catch up, please check out the other two reviews on the site! This was the issue where artist Vincenzo Carratù and colorist Federico Blee really knocked it out of the park. As the issue opens, we see the Hulk beginning to be drawn into the center of Sagittarius A*. As he falls further and further, we get a grotesque splash page of him all elongated as the immense gravity begins to tear the body apart.
The Hulk goes from the massive figure we all know to particles of cosmic dust, as even the body of the titan cannot withstand the forces inside the black hole. I loved the use of the yellows, oranges, and reds to represent the edges of the black hole. It is a stark contrast to the blackness of the space behind and in front of it. The aforementioned splash page of the stretched-out body of the Hulk was a personal highlight for me from this entire issue. The bones of the Hulk are all elongated and stretched out. The muscles are tearing at the seams. One of the eyeballs is left barely hanging on. The art team does a great job of bringing this painful scene for the Hulk to life in terrifying detail.
For any normal person, they would be torn apart in seconds and would barely feel any of what the black hole would be doing to them. However, as North writes, the Hulk is absorbing traces of gamma radiation that the black hole is expelling. This keeps him just alive enough to feel all of the horrifying mutilation that the body is going through. No matter where the Hulk is, it seems pain always awaits him. To be destroyed down to the very atoms is the type of pain no one was ever meant to experience.
There is another panel by Carratù and Blee that I especially want to highlight here as well. As the Hulk fades away, we get a beautifully drawn and colored panel of a trail of yellow and green cosmic dust fading into the dark as the Hulk disappears. It is a beautiful panel that shows where there was once immense pain. It is so simple, yet so effective.
This is not even close to the end of the tale, though.
After the Hulk is nothing but cosmic dust, a timeless era passes until, pushed by fury and a desire for revenge in equal measure, some of the quarks of the Hulk knit themselves together. Not even a black hole could destroy the Jade Giant for good. The Hulk eventually knits the body back together. As eons pass and time races ahead outside of the radius of Sagittarius A*, the Hulk smashes as hard as he can to destroy the black hole and get out of this place that has caused him so much pain over a seemingly endless amount of time. The Hulk, after countless times, eventually causes Sagittarius A* to explode and takes in all of the gamma that was contained within it. You read that right, everyone; the Hulk successfully punches a black hole to death. God, I love comics.
The art team shines once again in this section of the book. Letterer Joe Caramagna deserves his flowers here as he incorporates the SMASH impact lettering expertly inside the art panels. You can truly feel every impact of the Hulk taking out all of his rage on this black hole.
Another cool detail in this section that I want to point out is how the art team had the borders around the art panels themselves begin to rip apart and eventually shatter as the Hulk continues his assault on Sagittarius A*. This culminates in him splitting it for the first time. That first splitting does not get the Hulk out of his predicament, but the panel borders come back together and split apart again as the Hulk continues his timeless assault on the black hole. The art team cooked in this first section of the issue.
Finally, after vigintillions of centuries pass and countless souls are born and live and die, as the stars go out and as the universe cools to a shade above absolute zero, the Hulk manages to completely destroy Sagittarius A* and finally escape its immense pressure and pull. You would be hard pressed to find a more badass act of the Hulk than him essentially punching a black hole until it could not take the pressure of his hits anymore and eventually folded.
The story from North is truly living up to the potential of the Hulk smashing everything. So far, nothing, not even the gravitational pull of a black hole or the endless march of time and space, is a match for the Hulk. The final explosion of the black hole is another great moment for the art team as they deliver a splash page that looks like it could be displayed in an art or even science museum. The image shows Sagittarius A* meeting its final ending. The yellows, reds, and oranges of the colors from Blee perfectly accent the art of Carratù on the splash page.
Hulk vs. Galactus!
As we enter the second half of the issue, the Hulk is now colossal-sized and has deep green gamma spikes sticking out all over the body. The violent burst of gamma that exploded out of Sagittarius A* has all been absorbed into the body of the titan. We get a really cool new design for the Hulk from Carratù and Blee. It is not every day you get to see the Hulk the size of a building with sick-looking spikes sticking out of him. As quickly as the pain for the Hulk is over, though, a new battle begins. This time, it is against the massive cosmic being himself, Galactus.
The new colossal spiked version of the Hulk and Galactus go to war over the second half of this issue. While I will not go into every detail of this fight, there are a few sections in particular where again Carratù and Blee shine.
The first section I want to bring up is when the Hulk charges at Galactus after being hit with some of the cosmic power of the entity. We get to see this great panel of him with blue energy streaming out of his eyes and flowing around his body. You truly get a sense of how strong this guy has really become. Another art highlight in this section of the issue is when, about halfway through this fight, Galactus uses power to violently rip the Hulk apart into a bunch of tiny pieces. Galactus thinks the battle is won until we get a great panel of the Hulk knitting the body back together. It is a scene reminiscent of some art we got in The Immortal Hulk. It is shown that not even being ripped apart will kill the Hulk, as the body can knit itself back together even under the most extreme conditions.
The final part of the section I want to highlight with respect to the art team is when Galactus tries to absorb the energy of the Hulk and turns into a Hulked-out version of himself! The design for the Hulked-out Galactus works really well, but unfortunately, we do not get to see these two tangle for much longer.
Franklin Richards shows up and sends the Hulk back to his original time. He places him right in front of The Leader just moments after he initially sent him to Sagittarius A*. However, the only problem is that the Hulk is still colossal-sized. He is filled with all the immense amounts of energy that he absorbed from the destruction of the black hole.
The Leader has unleashed a being of seemingly unlimited destructive power. This is all because of the mischief of the villain himself. Issue #4 looks like it is going to be, to borrow a word from legendary pro wrestling commentator Jim Ross, a slobberknocker.
Closing Thoughts and Rating
I truly love how ridiculous writer Ryan North is making this book live up to the title. Within just three issues, the Hulk has tussled with dinosaurs, Doctor Strange and Wong, The Leader, the literal black hole at the center of the galaxy, and even Galactus. With a wild Issue #3 that continues the rampage of the Hulk across time and space, I can only imagine how much more insane this book is going to get within these last two issues.
North has shown he is not afraid to lean into the overall ridiculous concept of the book. Carratù, Blee, and Caramagna round out an excellent creative team that is bringing all of the wild ideas to life in the strongest issue yet. The Hulk has truly been smashing everything. If the cover for next month is anything to go on, the Marvel Universe is in a lot of trouble.
RATING: 8/10