Review: She-Hulk Faces Her Family In ‘Immortal Hulk’ #47
by Tony Thornley
Of all the heroes the gamma-powered hands of the Hulk have touched, one notable presence has been missing virtually the entire run of Immortal Hulk. Now, Jennifer Walters has entered the story and not a moment too soon.
The series has been setting up its endgame for some time now. Bringing Jen into the story is a natural final step, courtesy of Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy Jose, Belardino Brabo, Paul Mounts, and Cory Petit.
The last time the Immortal Hulk faced the Avengers, the encounter left Hulk in pieces. Now they face each other in the middle of the New York City, with Gamma Flight, the Harpy, and more in Hulk’s corner with him. In the midst of the most brutal battle imaginable, Jennifer Walters suddenly finds herself asking a question she didn’t expect — is she more of an Avenger? Or a Hulk?
One of the best things this series has done the last three years is its plot set-up issues. In many other series, I’d often shrug, as they don’t serve much purpose other than putting pieces in place. But Ewing is incredibly good at taking those issues and packing them full of events that keep me on the edge of my seat. He shows the Green Door affecting Earth, with one of the most brutal superhero fights I’ve seen in a long time, but also dives deep into Jen’s psyche. It’s a great superhero fist fight, an excellent look at the core of She-Hulk, and a major plot setter.
It doesn’t hurt that I get the feeling that there’s something we’re not seeing with the Hulk’s latest return to life. Is it really a Hulk in control? Or something more sinister?
Bennett, Jose and Brabo get to go full superhero in this issue. There’s still some major inventive horrific moments, like Hulk using his healing abilities to incapacitate Thor, which make for one of the most unique superhero fights I’ve read in a comic in a long time. The layouts through the issue keep changing styles too, shifting from standard grids to showing everything on a 30 degree angle, which makes the fight incredibly disorienting (in a good way). Mounts’ colors play a lesser storytelling role than they have in the past but they’re still as great as ever.
I can’t begin to guess where the story is going (outside there possibly being a twist to the Hulk’s latest return), and those are the best kinds of stories. With only three more issues, this is going to keep me guessing until the end. I’m excited to see what that means.
Immortal Hulk #47 is available now from Marvel Comics.
Overview
The series enters its endgame with a hell of a superhero brawl. This isn’t your typical hero versus hero punchfest, which is exactly why you need to pick it up.
