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It is often said that while the first issue sets the stage for the story to come, it’s the second issue of a comic is the one that’s truly indicative of what the series will be like going forward. If that’s true, Hulk #2 (2021) indicates that Donny Cates (writer), Ryan Ottley (penciler), Cliff Rathburn (inker), Frank Martin (colorist), VC’s Cory Petit (letterer), and Wilson Moss (editor) have set a continuity-packed foundation for the bulk of their run on Hulk with this action-packed trip through the multiverse — and the minds of Hulk and Banner.
Interdimensional Hulk
Hulk #2 opens with Starship Hulk hurtling through the multiverse after stepping through Project A.R.K. at the end of the last issue, where he faces off against a group of superpowered individuals that commands him to stop. Completely ignoring their imperative, Starship Hulk simply flies straight into the team, crushing them to bits. (Readers who are strictly Marvel fans might find the seemingly random inclusion of these unfamiliar bit characters to be odd — however, comic fans who are also DC Comics readers will recognize them as expies of that company’s super-team The Authority — a clever reference on Cates’ part.) We then cut to Bruce Banner’s mindscape, where we find the scientist asleep, explaining his unresponsiveness to the threat he just faced — until he’s awakened by Starship Hulk’s onboard computer. The computer informs him that his creation has been captured by an energy beam originating from a dimensional fissure and is in danger of reverting to its human form — Banner himself — unless more rage energy is fed to it.
Banner pulls a lever on the console in front of him as we cut to the original Hulk in his isolated portion of the mindscape. The issue’s main action sequence begins as he is faced with a host of illusory creatures chock-full of cameos from Marvel Comics’ past, including creatures from the classic 1960s monster comics by legendary Marvel creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby like the alien dragon Fin Fang Foom (possibly the best name in all of Marvel Comics) and Orrgo the Unconquerable as well as a “Giant-Sized” version of X-Man Wolverine clad in his original 1974 costume.
This is a twofold reference since Wolverine first appeared as a Hulk antagonist before going on to star in other books and Marvel’s comic books with a greater-than-average page count were often marketed as “Giant-Sized” in the 1970s and 1980s. As the Hulk leaps into battle once more against his false foes, the scene switches to Banner being approached by a presumably equally false apparition of Betty Ross, his love interest from the original 1960s Hulk stories. The apparition warns Banner that he’s made “a deal with the devil” in order to control the Hulk’s body and mind. Suddenly, Starship Hulk’s systems crash, rendering it helpless as it careens into the dimensional vortex and Bruce Banner finds himself face to face with his captor — an alternate dimension version of himself!
Snarling Creatures Or Simply Cameos?
Donny Cates ties Hulk #2 into Marvel history in a far more concrete way than last issue by integrating a host of references to and characters from the Marvel Universe’s past into the plot. While these references and cameos might be fun for longtime fans who have an encyclopedic knowledge of Marvel Comics lore, new readers will likely find themselves a bit confused at the least, if not outright lost. In order to understand all of these references, one must be familiar with at least three separate decades of the publisher’s history as well as a somewhat obscure group of DC Comics characters. This wouldn’t be as much of an issue if the references did not take up so much of Hulk #2‘s page count.
Roughly 9 out of the 19 pages that comprise the Marvel Unlimited digital version of the issue are essentially just clever references to comics of the past. As a result of these copious cameos, very little actually happens in this issue. We do learn that Bruce Banner made “a deal with the devil,” whatever that may entail, and we do witness his arrival in the alternate universe, but there being only two major plot beats in the issue might frustrate some, especially if they don’t understand the references. Additionally, we don’t even get to see the Hulk really battle the assortment of classic monsters making their cameos. There’s a single page of him defeating Fin Fang Foom, then they all just sort of disappear to make sure there are enough pages in the book to fit the Wolverine fight.
On a more positive note, Cates’s unhinged version of Bruce Banner continues to unnerve and entertain. The mystery of how exactly he created Starship Hulk continues to deepen as the story progresses, and the introduction of an alternate, seemingly still heroic version of (from what little we are shown in this issue) Banner serves to highlight exactly what he has become. Even the large amount of references themselves will delight comic fans who love this kind of minutia.
Bloody Battles
Artist Ryan Ottley really increases the horror factor in Hulk #2, employing a bevvy of “blood and guts” visual effects in what is presumably an effort to marry the horror stylings of the previous Immortal Hulk run with the more classic Incredible Hulk approach that this run is trying to evoke and subvert. Considering how “classic” his art style is, this creates a surreal, unsettling effect that fits extremely well with the “hero goes insane” theme of this run. As in the last issue, readers are watching their beloved childhood comic book character unexpectedly become bloody and violent.
Cliff Rathburn’s inks perfectly match the way Ottley inked his own pencils just an issue prior so as to make sure there isn’t a clear visual difference from chapter to chapter when the first few issues of this run are inevitably collected as a trade paperback volume. This is great to see, as this is sometimes a problem from issue to issue in more recent comic book runs. Beyond that, there isn’t much to say — Rathburn did his job very well.
Colorist Frank Martin doesn’t get to switch from his brightly-colored “superhero” palette to his muted “surrealist” palette as much this issue since most of it takes place in the mindscape, but the Authority cameos at the beginning and the illusory Wolverine still provide a bit of those brighter tones. Nevertheless, Martin paints Ottley and Rathburn’s bombastic two-page spreads with a color sense right at home with the twisted version of classic Marvel that they’re evoking.
An Issue For Longtime Fans
The creative time veers off from the new reader-friendly ethos they set in Hulk #1 to create a smorgasbord of continuity references in this issue. This is truly a bit baffling considering how new volumes of a long-running comic often serve as jumping-on points for new readers — a philosophy that this run on Hulk appeared to follow last issue, but simply doesn’t this issue.
All this being said, while new readers and those less interested in the more obscure corners of the Marvel Universe might walk away from Hulk #2 thinking that it hardly advanced the main plot of the book, veteran Marvelites will enjoy the plethora of connections to past books.