A review by stadkison
Immortal Hulk Vol. 7: Hulk Is Hulk by
5.0
Hulk goes from critiquing capitalism to nostalgia. Nostalgia is, of course, not actually a melancholic fondness for a lost past, but an imagined one. This is not subtext, but text in Xemnu. In addition to being a fun tie-in for continuity junkies, it’s a good Freudian point.
And we get the reveal of the secret Hulk villain. I’ve always thought The Leader was an underrated Hulk villain waiting for a modern age starring turn that it looks like he might get here. There is a tendency to try to out-Hulk the Hulk in his villains that makes for decent action figure fights but not much else. It definitely wouldn’t make sense for this determined and focused Devil Hulk. I’m glad we get now a mental counterpoint to the Hulk’s physicality. The Leader’s problem is that, as smart as he is, he is a determined egoist. He’s the perfect counterpoint to our new socialist Hulk.
And we get the reveal of the secret Hulk villain. I’ve always thought The Leader was an underrated Hulk villain waiting for a modern age starring turn that it looks like he might get here. There is a tendency to try to out-Hulk the Hulk in his villains that makes for decent action figure fights but not much else. It definitely wouldn’t make sense for this determined and focused Devil Hulk. I’m glad we get now a mental counterpoint to the Hulk’s physicality. The Leader’s problem is that, as smart as he is, he is a determined egoist. He’s the perfect counterpoint to our new socialist Hulk.