The Infernal Hulk #9
Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Art by Adam Gorham
Colors by Matthew Wilson
Letters by VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover Art by Nic Klein
With this week’s ninth issue, Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s The Infernal Hulk has nearly reached its end. From the first issue of the series back in the fall, this book has been on an absolute tear delivering great action, terrifying moments, and emotional story beats every single month. I’m proud to say The Infernal Hulk #9 continues the trend of excellence this series has become known for and does a great job setting up what is going to be an incredible (pun absolutely intended) finale. Let’s get into it. Spoiler Warning Now In Effect for The Infernal Hulk #9!
A "Marvel”-ous Prologue
The Infernal Hulk #9 gives us an interesting little prologue before the main event kicks off. Tony Stark has a mission for Captain Marvel: he needs her to go into deep space to find someone and bring them back. It’s a very risky play as Carol is no doubt one of the strongest members of the Avengers, and with Eldest’s threat growing each day, she is someone who will be desperately needed in the fight ahead. We aren’t told who exactly Tony has sent Carol to go find and retrieve, but whoever it is, it has to be someone whom they hope can turn the tide in their favor. Godspeed Carol.
I liked this thread that the prologue set up for the finale. Johnson didn’t provide any more breadcrumbs than we got, and I’m very excited to see who shows up to help the Avengers and their allies in what could be one of the darkest hours the Marvel Universe has ever seen. Whoever this being is, they had better come ready for the fight of their lives, as Eldest’s power is only increasing as the days go by. I can’t wait to see the impact this mysterious figure is going to have on the fight ahead. So… who could it be?
There sure are some interesting possibilities, and with a creature as strong as Eldest is, it needs to be someone who can hope to combat that strength level enough to make a difference. Is it the Silver Surfer? Galactus? Adam Warlock? Any of these characters would be a really interesting addition, and we thankfully don’t have to wait too long to see who it’s going to be. With Carol now in space and Tony presumably going back to rejoin the Avengers, we turn our attention to the main event: Bruce Banner’s visit with Doctor Voodoo and his insane plan inside the horrifying Soulcage.
Two Doctors Take a Journey into Madness
After the impactful revelation in the last issue that Bruce can no longer absorb gamma radiation, his options have run quite short if he hopes to regain his bond with the Hulk. In a fit of desperation, he visits Doctor Voodoo at Strange Academy in “the Big Easy,” New Orleans. For the first time since The Incredible Hulk #13 from Johnson’s original run, one of Marvel’s most powerful mystics makes his return, and he has a big part to play in this issue and the overall story moving forward. If you didn’t read Johnson’s original run or need a quick reminder, the soulcage is a realm that's linked to a magical totem at Strange Academy that Doctor Voodoo can seal away demons and other terrifying nightmares in.
Bruce makes it clear to Doctor Voodoo that he understands how dangerous it is to be going back into the soulcage; he understands that the things in there hate Voodoo for putting them there and that they could be in serious trouble if his plan fails. Knowing all that, both gentlemen make their way back into the demented realm and, after encountering some unsavory creatures, eventually find who they’re looking for: Sumanguru, the Flesh-Weaver.
Before we continue looking at and analyzing the story, I want to give a big shoutout to artist Adam Gorham and colorist Matthew Wilson for their work during this section of the issue revolving around the soulcage. First off, when Bruce is transported into the soulcage, we get one of the coolest visuals in a comic I’ve seen this year. Transported isn’t even the right word to use for this part; he’s essentially ripped into pieces in our realm by a mess of hands, arms, and tentacles before reforming in his human form inside the soulcage. It’s brutal, it’s gory, and it perfectly encapsulates what kind of realm the duo are entering. When the entrance is that brutal, whatever lies beyond must contain horrors beyond comprehension.
The realm gives off this almost David Cronenberg-like vibe and feels like a character in itself. The color choices of the sky of the soulcage give this, and excuse me if this sounds strange, by a fleshy tone, and it just all feels really unsettling. It feels like the realm is bathed in sickness. The creature designs are great, also with each having a distinct scary look, with a personal highlight of mine being the monster Sheyalim. The soulcage should not feel inviting and Gorham and Wilson did a great job of making it look like a place I would never want to be trapped in. Now let’s get back to our doctor duo and see how they’re faring inside the soulcage.
The short answer is: not great! The doctor duo quickly finds out that Sumanguru no longer needs to live up to his flesh weaver moniker because he finally has the body of… well, honestly, this is something I won’t spoil, but you just might be able to put two and two together here. Sumanguru has something Bruce desperately wants, and Bruce ends up challenging Sumanguru to a something called Neferib’s Riddle Game. We aren’t given the specifics of what this game might entail, but Sumanguru comes off as very confident that he is going to win. It clearly isn’t going to be a walk in the park. Bruce promises Sumanguru one last thing, and while I won’t spoil what that is here either, it's pretty despicable, and I hope Bruce has a trick up his sleeve to avoid it.
What is Neferib’s riddle game? What challenges will Bruce have to overcome? Can Doctor Voodoo help him in any way, and would he even want to? This is going to be exciting to follow in the finale next month because the implications of what happens during this riddle game are going to cause shockwaves throughout this story for quite some time. Before we move on to the final part of the issue, I want to give Johnson a shoutout for the dialogue between the two doctors. The conversations they have from Strange Academy to the inner world of the soulcage are all extremely well written and give great insight to how both characters are feeling in the moment. Bruce and Voodoo’s conversation about addiction and how Bruce might just be addicted to power was a nice sequence. Voodoo isn’t a character I’m very familiar with, but it is nice to see him get more of a spotlight in Johnson’s Hulk run. Now, for the final part of the issue… It’s time to meet up with an old friend.
Paging Charlie Tidwell!
We head to West Virginia, where Eldest is marching her army of monsters, demons, zombies, and all the other foul creatures at her command across the state with the goal of getting to Washington, D.C. now within just a day's walk. But, like any army, they need to eat, and Eldest tells them to eat anything they find in the mountain towns ahead in their path. Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be around there either. The scene then cuts to one of my personal favorite characters in Johnson’s Hulk run: Charlene “Charlie” Tidwell.
It turns out that the town Charlie has been hiding out in and working in is in Eldest’s path. Charlie originally plans to evacuate the town, but a local resident and friend of hers named Ray refuses to, so she tells him to get inside the house, and she’ll ride it out with him. What follows when night falls is one of the most badass fights in this series so far as Charlie transforms into her wolf god alter ego, Lycana, and murders two werewolves that dare try to kill her. Shoutout once again to Adam Gorham and Matthew Wilson for their visceral depiction of Charlie’s transformation process and the accents of blood that drip from Lycana’s mouth after her brutal killings. Just awesome artwork from a team that has been killing it for a huge chunk of this run.
The issue comes to a conclusion as one of Eldest’s right-hand monsters asks, “Who the hell is she?” and Charlie/Lycana is shown getting ready to assault Bridger… but we’ll have to wait for the finale to see the outcome of this fight although I think I have a pretty good idea of who is going to get ripped apart. I’m very pleased to have Charlie finally back in this nightmarish story, and I can’t wait to see how her role progresses and how much her presence is felt in the coming battles against Eldest. Charlie has been one of my favorite characters introduced during this current era of comics, and it’s great to see her in the spotlight again.
Final Thoughts and Rating
The Infernal Hulk is rampaging towards a very promising finale and this ninth issue lives up to the series' lofty expectations. Featuring visceral art from Adam Gorham and Matthew Wilson, and a great narrative in three parts from Phillip Kennedy Johnson, I couldn’t be more excited to get my hands on the final issue next month. Eldest has seemed nearly invincible… do our heroes stand any chance? It’s almost time to find out.
RATING: 9 (Hulk-outs) out of 10