Immortal Hulk: The Green Door
Author: Ewing, Bennett, Garbett, Simmonds
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Publishing Date:
Pgs:
Dewey: YA 741.5973 HUL V.2
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
_________________________________________________
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
The mystery of what could be Bruce’s father continues. The green door looms before them all. The Hulk is hunted by friend and foe. Shadow Base isn’t kind to it’s inmates...or it’s friends. And something is trying to get out...or draw them in...something behind the green door.
_________________________________________________
Genre:
Comics
Graphic Novel
Superheroes

Why this book:
Hulk SMASH!!!
_________________________________________________
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
Captain Marvel and the Avengers...that doesn’t ring true. Considering what happens to the Hulk when General Fortean and Shadow Base get hold of him, the Avengers are shit. This is far, far o-o-c for the team, especially if you’ve been reading the Avengers book from this time frame.

Favorite Scene:
Dissection...really?

Hmm Moments:
Took me a minute...but I recognize that guy. Him they got right. If Fortean knew who he was, why did he go along with needing “another” Hulk, since he had that guy, right there. Provided I’m right about who he is. Alright...it wasn’t The Leader, but it could’ve been.

My money is on Mephisto being behind the green door. Though even for him that seems pretty Machiavellian. Seems there would have been easier paths from Point A to Point B. Might not be him. Hmmm.

WTF Moments:
So Langowski’s Sasquatch is involved in some murders and instead of turning him over, whether it was his fault or not, they’re going to go after the Hulk. Who despite everything before, doesn’t seem to be doing any evil in these pages. Nice civil liberties and protecting the American way there on Captain Marvel and the Avengers.

The Sigh:
The Avengers didn’t learn a lesson at all from the Illuminatti/Planet Hulk/Worldbreaker/World War Hulk.

Wisdom:
Gosh, imagine that, they went screwing around with gamma irradiated people and started irradiating their own to use as weapons and something went wrong.
_________________________________________________
Pacing:
Pace was great.

Last Page Sound:
Well...Hell.

Author Assessment:
Some bumps, but mostly good stuff.

Editorial Assessment:
Editorial should’ve seen where the Avengers came off out of kilter. Since the Squadron Supreme is the government’s enforcement arm at this time, they should’ve used them instead.
_________________________________________________ ( )

This one isn't as strong as the first volume, imho, but I love how smart, gut-driven, and crafty the green guy is now. Banner is almost a sock-puppet now.

The whole obligatory Avengers vs the Devil Hulk was... overblown, kinda silly, and ultimately pointless. But it's also the money shot for these kinds of comics. We love to see our favorites fighting each other.

Alas, it's not all that interesting to me. Not interesting like the psychological horror aspects going on under the surface. Or on the surface now. I can't believe how awesome our green guy is now. That kind of regeneration is making him an honest god or devil.

Oh, he kills people now. :) Very interesting how, too. :) I'm loving this run. ( )

Lots of cool imagery on the page even if the story seems to immediately evaporate from my brain. I appreciate they are trying something different with Hulk, even if it is mostly just body horror. ( )

Bruce Banner supposedly died killing the Hulk with him. But there have been sightings of the Hulk around as Banner, who did not die after being shot in the skull and the heart with a special arrow by Hawkeye in an attempt to kill himself or see if he could be killed failed. There has been some damage done to his brain due to the arrow. He has a harder time putting the pieces together and must depend on the hunches given to him by the green guy to figure out what is going on in a given situation where he is trying to seek justice for a person or a town. These are short tales pieced together by the common thread of a reporter Jackie Mcgee. Jackie feels she is on to something when Banner's old college roommate Walter Langkowski, who once worked for Alpha Flight as Sasquatch, a being similar to the Hulk in that he was created with gamma rays but he changes into an orange fur ball, reaches out to her. Hulk absorbs all of his gamma radiation since he was up to something. Hulk is trying to keep the Green Door closed because what's on the other side of the door is pretty awful, though there are others who keep trying to open it.

In this book Banner is walking toward home. Alpha Flight is out to try to find him with the help of Lankowski. But they're not the only ones looking for him. They're just the first to find him. The Avengers go out to meet him and find him changed from the old Hulk. Tony feels the need to use the Helios Laser on him which would annihilate the area around him. All that's left is a skeleton that the government takes.

Alpha Flight goes in search of him as a group of scientists experiment on him. He breaks free and the government sends Carl Creel, the Absorbing Man after the Hulk to absorb his gamma radiation. But things go wrong. Can Alpha Flight get there in time to help? This is an amazing comic and the ending is so great. What is drawing the Hulk to this home? And can he prevent the green door from being opened? This is a fabulous book with incredible art and the colors just pop off of the page. I give it five out of five stars.

Quotes

For I do not exist: There exist but the thousands of mirrors that reflect me.

-Vlandimir Nabokov (The Eye)

We are each our own devil, and we make this world our Hell.

-Oscar Wilde (“The Duchess of Padua”) ( )