Cover Art from The Infernal Hulk #3 - Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson with Art by Kevin Walker and Nic Klein, Colors by Matthew Wilson and Nic Klein, and Inks from Cam Smith and Nic Klein
“I will not go back to this! I do not accept this life! I don’t want it!”
The first two issues of The Infernal Hulk have shown us horrific displays of violence, fights with ancient beings beneath the sea, and that a nightmare has begun for the Marvel Universe. The being known as Eldest has been on a trail of destruction since taking over Hulk’s body and the world is suffering but—what’s been going on with the Hulk’s other half?
The Infernal Hulk #3 is a stark departure from what we have seen and read so far. In this issue, the curtain is pulled back on the current lives of Bruce Banner (“David Hamilton”) and Betty Banner (“Heather Hamilton”) as they try to live a “normal” life working at a vitamin factory in Indiana. Featuring the art of Kevin Walker, this issue asks the reader: Can Bruce Banner ever truly escape the monster that haunts him, and how does Betty Banner feel now that her entire world has changed?
Now, before I get into this review, there are some important things to note. First off, this specific issue of The Infernal Hulk deals with the issue of self-harm, and I want to share the same message that writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson was kind enough to put in the beginning of this issue: If you are struggling with thoughts of self-harm, or are worried about a friend or a loved one, please reach out to a counselor or someone you trust or dial 988 for the suicide and crisis lifeline.
Now, in my own words: this issue touches on some dark emotional places, and it might not be suitable for every person out there. Please know that the world is better with you in it and that there is always someone out there willing to help and willing to listen. You are not alone. An additional resource that’s available is the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). They can be contacted at 1-800-950-6264 or by texting “NAMI” to 62640.
With that being said, Spoiler Warning is now in effect. Let’s get into it. (Author’s note: This review also contains some panels from the section of the issue that deals with self-harm. I did my best to highlight the art while not picking any of the extra-violent panels. Just wanted to give an extra heads-up.)
Whatever Happened to Bruce and Betty Banner?
On the issue’s opening page, we see how Skaar, Hulk’s son, saved Bruce and Betty from the Eldest’s cave three months ago. Artist Nic Klein, the usual artist on this book, only draws the first and last pages to bookend issue #3. Klein’s art is fantastic as always and, in this case, also acts as a sort of analogy for this part of Banner’s story—while the Hulk might not be around in his life right now, he still surrounds it, and his impact can be felt whether he is rampaging in Bruce’s life or not.
Klein has been one of my favorite artists since I saw his work on Johnson's original run on the Hulk, and it’s always a pleasure to see him use his talents to craft the Hulk’s world; but for the bulk of this tale this week, Kevin Walker shines as Johnson takes us through this time of change for Bruce and Betty Banner.
Beginning on the second page of the issue, Johnson takes us three months after that fateful night in the cave (when Hulk and Bruce were kicked out of the Hulk’s body), and we are shown that Bruce and Betty have taken up residence in Indiana and are doing their best to live some semblance of a normal life. Walker has a much different style than Klein, but I love the way he especially draws the faces of the characters. Even in this opening scene, when Bruce is just waking up and getting out of bed, you can see he’s got plenty on his mind as he tries to keep his calm facade on. It’s never hard to judge the emotion these characters are feeling, and it's truly a blessing that Johnson has been partnered with two artists who enhance his stories as much as Walker and Klein do.
As Bruce prepares breakfast, we see Betty come downstairs with a small wound on her wrist and Bruce thinks nothing of it. He intrinsically trusts her that everything is ok, and later this minor detail becomes very important in the issue. On the way to work, when Bruce notices a man holding a sign warning of the Hulk’s wrath, he imagines himself as the Hulk knocking the guy out. It’s a clever way to remind us that the Hulk is still on Bruce’s mind.
When the couple arrives at work and goes through their typical morning routine, the Hulk is shown on TV, and Betty immediately begins to freak out. When Bruce notices her scratching her arm and opening her wound from earlier, he takes her to the bathroom to try to calm her down. Her eyes and her facial reactions say it al,l though: Betty Banner is not ok, and to the reader it seems she's possibly dealing with some sort of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from her time under Eldest’s control. While she's in the stall, she even hallucinates a form of Eldest tearing through the stall door.
Two of my favorite single panels in this issue come during this scene. Before Bruce and Betty leave the bathroom, Bruce tells her that they have to be careful and their new co-workers can’t ever know who they are. He says he knows it’s not perfect but they have a chance to be somewhat normal and that they’re safe. Walker again nails the couple’s facial expressions with Betty still having this off-putting blank stare on her face while Bruce has this neutral look on his face like he doesn’t even believe what he’s saying.
The next panel is when the stars of the show shift to colorist Matthew Wilson and inker Cam Smith. Betty simply responds and says “Yes, Dear,” as the couple is bathed in shadow with the brightness of the bathroom around them. You can’t see their features, their expressions, or even get a good read on their outfits, but that’s not what this scene is for.
It’s showing us that even though it may seem like everything is better in their lives with brightness around them, inside themselves, the darkness hasn’t gone anywhere, and both of them still have personal demons that they are dealing with. This two-panel section is another feather in the cap of an art team that has a perfect pulse on how to enhance Johnson’s story.
A Horrifying Scene Unfolds in the Banner Household
We rejoin Bruce and Betty at the Banner household that evening. Bruce is about to head up to sleep when Betty says she is going to stay up a bit and she will see him later. Before Bruce goes up to bed, we get an interesting three-panel sequence where first we see Bruce, then we see Betty picture him as the Hulk, and finally we see his face shrouded in Shadow. It’s a great sequence because we are shown that both characters are still struggling to come to terms with who they are without their beasts locked inside them. Before he goes to bed, a message pops up on Bruce’s phone that “David Hamilton” is hard to find…
This next scene is one of the most powerfully emotional scenes I’ve read in a comic in quite some time, and I want to stress to everyone again that this issue deals with some topics that might not be for everybody. With that being said, let’s talk about it. After finding their bed empty, Bruce walks downstairs, and what he sees is something that chills him to his core. Bruce finds Betty, with her back against their fridge, covered in blood with a knife in her hand, and ice cream all over the floor. It’s made clear over the course of the scene that these wounds on Betty’s arms and legs are self-inflicted, and she viewed her time with a gamma-mutated alter very differently than Bruce did with his.
Betty’s failure to open the ice cream was the last straw for her, and we get to see how she really feels about being without her alter. While Bruce has longed to be without the Hulk, we learn that Betty loved and even craves having the power her alter gives her. She hates how she no longer feels the freedom she once did when she could fly and have all that strength, and just being human makes her feel “weak and fragile.” She screams that she doesn’t want this life and that she doesn’t want to accept it. Bruce holds his wife on the bloodied and stained kitchen floor while she lets it all out. It’s one of the most heartbreaking and impactful scenes I’ve read in a comic, and I’m sure this couldn’t have been easy for the creative team to write and draw.
To offer some more commentary on this scene for a minute: It’s important to check in on our loved ones, friends, and family. Sometimes all it takes is to ask someone how they’ve been, how their day is going or if they need anything to start a conversation that could potentially be life saving. It could’ve been useful before this point if Bruce was more open emotionally and spoke with Betty during this time of huge change in their lives. “Betty, I know I lost Hulk, and you know how that makes me feel, but I know you also lost your alter. How do you feel about that?”
Bruce may be doing all he can to acclimate himself to this new life and feel that it's best for him and his wife, but it's clear that before this scene, he had not had the important conversation with his wife that he needed to. Bruce is now going to have to come to terms with the fact that Betty isn’t happy and needs to figure out how to move forward, and ultimately, what he can do to try to help her feel better. This scene was powerfully written, and the art that accompanies it was raw, visceral, and emotional to look at. Johnson, Walker, Smith, and Wilson deserve all the credit in the world for handling an emotional scene like this.
Bruce eventually gets Betty to bed, and we see her lying down with bandages wrapped around her arms and some sleeping pills next to her bed. She’s had an eventful night to say the least, and Bruce has something of his own he now has to deal with in the backyard of their home.
Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic have tracked down “David Hamilton,” and they want answers to what is going on with the Hulk and, frankly, how Bruce is even alive. We can see the terror in Bruce’s eyes as he describes how he and Hulk were ripped apart, and about the Requiem Plain hidden under the Nevada desert. Tony essentially calls Bruce a coward for turning his back on the world, to which he responds, “I’ve earned a little cowardice.”
One of the best parts of this scene is when Bruce is being berated by Tony Stark, and we see a cowardly version of the Hulk rip out of his body and scuttle underground in a daydream sequence. Just a cool sequence from the art team over the course of a few panels.
Concluding Thoughts and Rating
On Walker’s final page of the issue, Bruce goes into work and witnesses his co-workers huddled around the TV as news footage rolls in of Eldest (“Hulk”) and his monsters destroying a U.S. army base. What makes it even worse is that one of Bruce’s co-workers' sons is stationed there. We leave Bruce with a haunted look on his face as Walker’s art gives way to Nic Klein’s once again, and we see the Incredible Hulk in all his glory on the final page in an awesome splash panel.
The Infernal Hulk #3 is a grounded, Bruce and Betty-focused issue that takes a step back from the carnage but hits the reader with an emotional impact that they won’t soon forget. Bruce and Betty Banner have been through more pain in their lives than almost anyone else in the Marvel Universe, and even when they are trying to live a normal life away from the madness, they just can never seem to find the peace that continues to elude them.
This issue might not be for everyone with the tough topics it covers, but it's an important issue that doesn’t shy away from showing how trauma can affect someone's mental and physical health. Phillip Kennedy Johnson and his art team are rockstars, and it’s a pleasure to read The Infernal Hulk each month. Next month’s issue promises to show us what’s been happening to the Incredible Hulk locked away inside Eldest, and I can’t wait to see what happens.
RATING: 9/10