RECOMMENDED READING: BRUCE JONES’ ‘THE INCREDIBLE HULK’

Science fiction! Horror! Monster Battles! Adult Themes! Conspiracies! Shadow Organizations! The Dead Back To Life! Assassins! More Questions than Answers!

No, it isn’t the X-Files. It’s Bruce Jones’ 2002 run on The Incredible Hulk!

In the early 2000s, Marvel brought in writers to bring a new edge to their comics. J. Michael Straczynski of Babylon 5 fame (a truly great TV show that needs to be watched from start to finish to fully enjoy) on Amazing Spider-Man and Grant Morrison for New X-Men. Bruce Jones was next to be brought in—a well-known horror writer on one of Marvel’s flagship characters. Up until this point the title was flailing in sales like a young child trying to grab hold of something as he drowns. Okay, horrible analogy, but it fits.

Since the end of Peter David’s legendary run, we had a brief stint by Joe Kelly, which was nothing but a placeholder until the reboot. A return by writer John Byrne, should have been amazing yet Byrne was let go halfway through and it became a mess. Then Peter Jenkins who had great moments (Ryker, Devil Hulk, Banner having Lou Gehrig’s disease, the multiple personalities) but it never blew me away as a whole (maybe I will write about this run in the future). Then you had Bruce Jones stepping in with a fresh take. What if you focus on Bruce Banner the man as he is on a run for his life with nowhere to turn? It’s the 70’s Incredible Hulk tv series merged with the X-Files.

Banner finds himself on the run from a shadowy organization while being accused of the murder of a small child. The only ones he can trust are long-time frenemy Doc Samson and a mysterious Mr. Blue. As he finds himself dealing with an enemy who seemingly has everyone on their side, can he even truly trust those two?

Eventually this organization, known as Home Base, raises the stakes by blackmailing long time Hulk villain and murderer of Banner’s wife, Abomination. Allowing us to be treated to an amazing fight between the two! In this run, we have to see Banner rely on his survival instincts at every turn more than he ever has before as he tries to uncover the mystery of the child, Ricky Myers, who may or may not actually be dead. I can go on and on about the story. But it is a full run that you have to read consecutively in order to appreciate. There are multiple characters that return at different points as well as betrayal and questions answered while new ones are raised.

To say this isn’t the typical Hulk book is an understatement. It isn’t Hulk go smashy for 18 pages while we usually get a version of Banner who is nothing but meek in the remaining pages. With all respect to Peter David, we don’t get a character plagued by dissociative identity disorder (formerly Multiple Personality Disorder). What we get is a character plagued by the demon inside — a demon he is desperately trying to save others from.

Bruce Jones accomplished something all other writers failed to even attempt. Make the Hulk the Jaws type character in the story. We never know when Banner will Hulk-Out during this run as he actively tries to fight it with meditation. He wrote the character in a way which was much more realistic, frightening and cinematic. The Hulk is a monster. A terrifying savage beast who we should not want Banner to transform into unless his life is in immediate danger.

This run highlights that to the infinite degree. Not only is Bruce Jones an amazing graphical storyteller that showcases multiple supporting characters’ inner demons. Most–if not all–of these characters are reflections of Banner’s struggle to control his own demon while being placed in a story where each character comes close to breaking first.

Along the way a few mysterious pop up and keep us guessing.

What is Home Base? It isn’t the cliche military organization that usually pursues our antagonist. What we do know is that they have high tech surveillance and technology — even a gun that can subdue and possibly kill the Hulk. They seem to hire the best assassins available to do their bidding. As well as also having cracked the genetic coding for allowing a person to regenerate after being killed, enhancing those who work for them into mutated things that rival the Hulk’s power, and can clone just about anyone. Most threatening of all is they seem to be master manipulators who seem to always be able to keep pace with Banner.

Who is Mr. Blue? At the start of this run, Mr. Blue seems to be the only one trying to aid Banner as they give him updates on where his pursuers are via instant message on a computer. Always speaking in military like code language, Mr. Blue is the one asset Banner trusts. But who is this person? Could it be Reed Richards trying to help an old friend? Rick Jones? Even Captain America? But as the series plays out and we see that no character is who they seem, the most important mystery is if Mr. Blue can be fully trusted.

And of course the main mystery of Ricky Meyers. We have all seen the Hulk be blamed for murder before so this hook is rather cliche. Yet when we find out that the child might still be alive, his Mother on a path for vengeance, and we discover whom the boy’s father truly is, it picks up dramatically.

Not all runs are flawless though. About halfway through this arc, editors felt it was needed to tie in the Absorbing Man in effort to gain audience members who just saw the 2003 Hulk film directed by Ang Lee. While Bruce Jones tries to rectify his predicament by putting a unique spin on the villain, it feels sorely out of place.

I can word vomit more, but to tell more on this truly underrated arc would be giving away the thrill ride. All that is needed is for the reader to go in expecting to see a suspense-filled arc focusing more on Banner than the monster he becomes. The artwork, while constantly changing, features names of John Romita Jr, Lee Weeks, Stuart Immonen, and Mike Deodato with truly great cover work by Kaare Andrews.

It isn’t your typical Hulk story. It’s the X-Files with the Incredible Hulk starring in it. It may have left a poor taste in the mouths of Hulk purists at the time, but it is worth another look with an open mind.