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Incredible Hulk #2

Jul 2023
Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Nic Klein

Story Name:

The Old Time Religion Part One


Synopsis

Incredible Hulk #2 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

In a deserted town outside the abandoned church, a wooden tombstone for Sister Sadie has a fiery hand burned into it and the grave starts to open. Meanwhile, there’s something down in the local mine with a huge purple eye….

Bruce Banner awakens to find the runaway girl Charlie waiting for him; she knows who he is and wants to see the Hulk. She throws a small rock to hit him in the head and make him angry but he warns her that summoning Hulk is suicide. Then a walking corpse passes them by, telling them he is going home to Red Creek to see Sister Sadie, summoned by Brother Deep….

Charlie tells Bruce that she wants to be Hulk’s kid sidekick like Captain America had Bucky. Bruce reacts angrily and she steps back and trips over her backpack. Bruce apologizes and asks about her bruised face; Charlie responds that she got it at home which is why she wants to be strong like the Hulk. Bruce reminds her Hulk is a monster; Charlie knows but she wants the awesome parts too….

That night, Charlie dreams of hymns summoning her to a spooky church; a monster in a tree that resembles her father tells her Brother Deep is calling for her because she is with the Fractured Son (Hulk). She responds that she has already defeated him as she is the strongest one there is….

Bruce dreams that he is trapped in the ribcage of a dead giant crow. He falls out into a river and Hulk, vowing revenge, reminds him that soon, Hulk will be all that’s left of Banner….

The local sheriff finds Bruce and Charlie hiding under the bridge and warns them that it’s dangerous out there. He offers to give them a ride to a safer place, ready to persuade them at gunpoint if necessary. They get into his car and he announces he is taking them to Red Creek and we realize the sheriff is also one of the walking dead….

The church at Red Creek is having a revival meeting, full of corpses, led by Sister Sadie, singing the praises of Brother Deep. Brother Deep’s been resurrected by the Eldest and the church is called on to dig to free Brother Deep and restore to him the kingdom he had before the time of man. The sheriff arrives with Bruce and Charlie and presents them as the offering. As Bruce is put on the sacrificial table, he sees the Hulk reflected in the big knife, refusing to help him. Bruce is held still and the knife plunged into his chest. Then his blood turns green and he transforms into the Hulk….


 

Review / Commentaries


Incredible Hulk #2 Review by (July 26, 2023)

Review: And the monsters are coming though what we see here is “The Walking Dead go to Church” with a promise of a creature straight out of Lovecraft. With issue #2 the grimmest new development is that Hulk hates Banner (not entirely new) and is seeking revenge via his psyche (this part is new). Charlie is still a bit of a cipher, an abused child who wants to be strong enough to fight back, though her father/abuser is dead. We’ll need to see a bit more development in her life for her to be a significant character in the series. Meanwhile, zombies and tentacle monsters are the order of the day.

Comments: Title comes from a Protestant hymn. The hymns sung at the “church” appear to be the creation of writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson. Nic Klein switches to painted art for Charlie’s and Bruce’s dream sequences on pages 8-11.




> Incredible Hulk comic book info and issue index

Elektra

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Preview Pages




Nic Klein
Nic Klein
Matthew Wilson
Nic Klein (Cover Penciler)
Nic Klein (Cover Inker)
Nic Klein (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Cory Petit.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Bruce Banner
Bruce Banner

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Hulk
Hulk

(Robert Bruce Banner)