Incredible Hulk: Return of the Monster

The idea of Bruce Banner on the run is nothing new, as everybody who remembers the television series that had Banner doing the "Fugitive" routine on a weekly basis well knows. But people have been ripping off Homer's "Odyssey" for thousands of years and what matters here are the stories being told more than their originality. In addition to being hunted by the law Banner has also been targeted by a mysterious group that has its own reasons for wanting to get their hands on the Hulk. Banner has no place to go and when he starts off on this long road his only friend is "Mr. Blue," who sends cryptic but helpful messages to "Mr. Green" on his laptop computer.

Do not take the title of this one literally, because the Hulk makes few but strategic appearances in these six stories. Banner's appearance is radically different because since everybody is looking for a fellow with a beard, Bruce shaves off everything (yes, this affects the Hulk's look as well, as we see on the cover of issue #58, a homage to Norman Rockwell by artist Kaare Andrews). The most off beat of the stories is #35, "Silent Running," which is told without spoken dialogue, while #39 "Tag...You're Dead!" plays off of both of James Whales' Frankenstein movies for Universal.

Although Doc Sampson makes an appearance in several issues, but the chief supporting characters are Slater and Sandra Verdugo, a pair of top rate assassins who are used to working solo and who are engaged in a constant battle of one-upmanship that has its moments. The key thing is that the subplots are as interesting as the main thread following Bruce as he flees across the country from everybody who is chasing him. Clearly, Jones finds Banner more interesting than ol' Greenskin, and given what he has come up with for this storyline so far it is hard to argue with him. The key thing is that Jones is taking his time in telling this tale, and you just know he is setting things up and building to something big. This is just the beginning of the story, which is continued in the next volume, "Boiling Point."


Understated Behemoth   October 9, 2003
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This is an awesome graphic novel, and considering how grossly powerful and vast a presence the Hulk is it is a very understated comic. The scripting by Bruce Jones is very tight providing a convincing portrayal of a world in which the gamma mutant exists, his dialogue crisp and rings true.

Bruce Banner is more hunted than ever, his identity well and truly public, pursued for a terrible crime he may or may not have commited. Banner is continually travelling and now always looking over his shoulder, helped by a distant and very well informed contact via his laptop.

Banner looks as drained and tired as a man travelling all the time surely must: the art is magnificently subtle, coloured in pastel tones. On the short bursts when the Hulk appears this changes to often enormous single page images of the raging monster. The continual atmosphere is that of oppression and deceit.

The Hulk himself is hardly to be found except in very brief one or two frame instances. A particularly well executed instance towards the start shows no sign of Mr Green, but every sign he's been there, and left a lasting impression!

Doc Samson makes an important appearance, as does a particularly clandestine and unpleasant organization employing what appear to be indestructable agents- all this combined with some interesting ideas on Banner attempting to control the beast within him makes for a highly entertaining, and thought provoking story. The end sequence and dream sequences of the comic are extremely reminiscent of the original Frankenstein movie, doubtless intentional, and have a very similar impact on the reader- they both sooth and shock. If a Hulk 2 movie is to be made this should be it!

A classic comic book- buy it, read it, re-read it!