The Fresh Start “Immortal Hulk” Goes Horror… Like When Axel Was Hulk Editor?

The Hulk is getting relaunched and this time, it’s a horror take.  The Immortal Hulk will be the new title, here’s Marvel’s solicit:

IMMORTAL HULK #1
HORROR HAS A NAME.
You’d never notice the man. He doesn’t like to be noticed. He’s quiet. Calm. Never complains. Why, you can walk up and shoot him in the head… and all he’ll do is die.

Until night falls. And someone else gets up again.

The name is Banner.

The horror is THE IMMORTAL HULK.

On Sale 6/6
WRITERS
Al Ewing

PENCILS
Joe Bennett
COVER
Alex Ross

If you’ve been around the Hulk long enough, you know that the Hulk cycles through a few modes: mindless beast, childlike, wiseguy, Banner’s brain staying in charge, a different person assuming the Hulk identity (possibly with a different color) and then there’s the horror take.  And this is where it gets a little ironic.

The last time I can remember a big horror take on Hulk was when pre-EIC Axel Alonso arrived at Marvel and assumed editorial duties on Hulk.  His initial team on the title was Bruce Jones/John Romita, Jr./Tom Palmer and the emphasis was on the Hulk as a sort of ticking time bomb of a monster that would periodically emerge, while Banner roamed the highways in hiding while communicating with a mysterious Mr. Blue via his computer.  It was a pretty popular run for awhile, though the arc lost a bit of steam and took too long to resolve the overall arc for a lot of readers.

It sounds like Ewing is going to take the horror and monster angle a bit further by the sound of “Why, you can walk up and shoot him in the head… and all he’ll do is die. Until night falls. And someone else gets up again.”  However, he’s also calling back to the old Bixby/Ferrigno TV series even more than the Jones did with the wandering Banner.  According to an interview with CBR, one of the new supporting cast will be:

Then there’s Jackie McGee, who’s a slight borrowing from the TV show – since we were looking at Banner walking the Earth and moving from one situation to the next, I thought it’d be nice to have a reporter tracking him, looking for the story. After all, in a world where the Hulk is a beloved celebrity in some states and a natural disaster to be feared in others, his comings and goings have the potential to be big news. Jackie finds herself on Banner’s trail in Arizona, and as the Hulk makes his presence felt in the world more and more, she’s right behind him. Banner, of course, doesn’t want to be found, or written about, or noticed, and he especially doesn’t want to be questioned. People in denial about themselves rarely do.

And Walter Langkowski/Sasquatch with be moving over from Alpha Flight to round out the supporting cast.

If you’ve got Sasquatch and the Great Beasts are being teased, it’s probably not going to be quite the same ground level paranoia thriller as the Jones run under Axel, but it’s awfully ironic that when Marvel does a Fresh Start relaunch of one of Axel’s old titles, the relaunch it in the same general direction as when Axel took over and put his stamp on it.  If this one is as hot out of the gate as the Jones/JRjr run, Marvel will be happy.