Review: The Immortal Hulk Omnibus

In 2018, Marvel announced a new Hulk series written by a British writer relatively unknown in the American market (Al Ewing, scriptwriter for 2000 AD and The Ultimates) and illustrated by a veteran Brazilian artist (Joe Bennett). The premise was unusual: The Hulk as a horror comic. Most of us readers thought it would be a niche experiment that might last 20 issues. It lasted 50, won multiple Eisner Awards, and has been regarded by critics and serious readers as the best run of The Hulk since Peter David in the 1990s.

The entire run is collected in a single volume: The Immortal Hulk Omnibus. It comprises 1,616 pages and is the most ambitious project Marvel has published in the last decade.

The radical premise

Al Ewing took an idea that Peter David had suggested decades earlier but had never fully developed: the Hulk does not transform out of anger; Banner transforms out of death. By day, Bruce Banner is clinically dead. By night, when the sun goes down, the Hulk returns from the afterlife with indestructible rage and a body that cannot be destroyed. You cannot kill the Hulk because the Hulk is already dead.

This premise turns the Hulk into a supernatural creature, not a superhero with control issues. And that allows Ewing to do something no Hulk writer had done before: write the character as a ghost story.

Body horror

The first half of the run is pure body horror. Ewing and Bennett take the fact that the Hulk is an impossible creature seriously: his transformations are gory, his regenerations are slimy, his clashes with villains leave the body in states that other Marvel comics never show. There are scenes in this omnibus that would have been censored in any other mainstream series. Marvel approved them because the tone of the run justified it.

Joe Bennett draws the Hulk with a very clear influence: Bernie Wrightson’s Swamp Thing. Muddy greens, organic flesh, detailed bodily interiors. It is an aesthetic not seen in a mainstream Marvel comic for a long time, and one that runs through the entire volume with impressive consistency.

Existential horror

The second half of the run changes tone. Ewing is no longer interested solely in physical horror; he is interested in existential horror. What if every time you die you go to a place where an entity called The One Below All awaits you? What if gamma rays aren’t radiation, but a form of cosmic life with intentions of its own? What if Bruce Banner is, deep down, an unwitting vessel for something far older and greater?

Ewing constructs a complete cosmology for the Hulk in fewer than 50 issues. There is a Green Door, a place called the Below Place, a hierarchy of gamma entities that have existed since before humanity knew of radiation. It’s Lovecraft meets superheroes, and it works.

The political aspect

Halfway through the run, Ewing introduces a theme that is unusual in mainstream American comics: a critique of contemporary capitalism. Enter the villain Roxxon, an energy corporation that tarnishes heroic reputations with disinformation campaigns, funds politicians to pass anti-superhero laws, and buys up media outlets to control the public narrative.

Ewing makes no secret of the fact that he is writing about the real world. The Hulk becomes a metaphor for resistance against corporate power: something that cannot be silenced, cannot be destroyed, cannot be narratively framed by those who control the media. It is a level of political engagement that few Marvel comics achieve.

The cosmic climax

The run concludes with a cosmic showdown between the Hulk and the One, the primordial entity of the Gamma Beyond. I won’t go into detail because it’s worth discovering for yourself, but suffice it to say that the ending redefines the Hulk’s powers and nature in a way no other writer had attempted before. It’s the climax the run deserves.

Honest weaknesses

The run is dense. It’s not a comic you read in 30 minutes on your commute. Ewing writes each issue like a chapter of a novel, with twists, reflections and internal monologues. It requires a leisurely read.

Furthermore, the bodily horror of the first half may be unsettling for sensitive readers. There are scenes of regeneration and organic violence that are graphic. If you’re looking for a Hulk story with straightforward fights, this isn’t the comic for you.

Finally, the mythology Ewing constructs is complex. It’s not light reading: if you leave six months between volumes, you’ll have to go back and refresh your memory of who’s who. Best to read it consecutively.

What’s inside

The omnibus collects all 50 issues of The Immortal Hulk in a single volume, plus the Giant-Size specials, bonus material and original covers. It’s a complete read with no gaps. If you get hooked on issue 1, you’ve got the whole run to read non-stop.

Artwork is mainly by Joe Bennett, with occasional contributors on the Giant-Size issues. Bennett maintains incredible visual consistency throughout the 50 issues, which is rare for a regular Marvel series.

Verdict

If you’re looking for a superhero comic that will surprise you and make you think, this is one of the best Marvel has published in the last decade. Winner of multiple Eisner Awards (the highest accolade in the American comic book industry), regarded by serious critics as a contemporary masterpiece, and essential reading for any reader who wants to understand what’s happening in mainstream comics today.

This isn’t the Hulk from the film Ragnarok or the Hulk from The Avengers. It’s a different character—more adult, more unsettling, and more consistent with what a creature that returns from the dead every night should be. If you’re only going to buy one Hulk comic in your life, buy this one.

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