Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Artist: Nic Klein
Color Artist: Matthew Wilson
Cover Artist: Nic Klein
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
The eldritch being called Eldest has sent out the call to all the Marvel monsters on Earth to attack the Hulk. But it’s the Hulk, and so far no one who challenged him has walked away alive, and as more monsters emerge other forces also stir from their slumber. In this issue of Incredible Hulk #6, the Green Goliath is confronted by a Ghost Rider he’s never known who’s more than willing to pick a fight with him.
Review:
All right, things are heating up! pun intended. It’s the Incredible Hulk vs. Ghost Rider, but not a Rider that neither the Hulk or the readers have seen. But before we get to the good stuff, the comic takes some time to show the new location, Texas, for this comic. We see a calm little family just minding their own business and going about their lives until a monster that resembles the Eldest attacks them. All seemed lost for the family and those around them until someone came to their rescue. I’ll give you a hint, he rides a fiery motorcycle.
After that, the comic transitions to Bruce and Charlie walking on a highway in Texas as they’re having small talk about looking less conspicuous before the conversation gets a little more serious as she asks if the reports of her accidentally killing her abusive father were true. The subject matter of the conversation emotionally grounds both characters especially Bruce considering his origins concerning his father and upbringing. And it’s the way he handles it in both comforting Charlie as well as making sure she doesn’t feel blameless. But I have some criticisms about this moment, and I’ll get to them in the SPOILERS section.
From there, the two encounter the same family from the beginning who give them a lift to a nearby farm where they work. During their ride, the comic shows another character who’s dealing with a series of disturbing, violent images flashing into his mind which establish a connection between him and the monster from earlier in the comic. Soon enough the comic transitions back to Bruce and Charlie as things calm down a bit for everyone, until the Hulk mentally rears his head and taunts Bruce to run away so he can come out. And just as he does, the family’s motorcycle comes to life with Hellfire and we get two epic splash pages of a gruesome Hulk transformation and the new Ghost Rider speeding into action.
SPOILERS:
Back to the conversation between Bruce and Charlie. I understand what Phillip Kennedy Johnson was going for, but the conversation felt unnecessary in my opinion since Charlie’s father was a stereotypical, abusive redkneck father. So, he’s getting no sympathy from anyone least of all Bruce, and it makes no sense why Charlie would feel bad about his death. On top of that, the comic sidelines the juicier conversation that the two should’ve had for the one we got, mainly about encountering Betty in the last issue and the deal the Eldest is offering Bruce and Betty in exchange for the Hulk. I mean, that’s a huge plot point and yes, Charlie was present when this happened. So, she’d have dozens of questions, mainly if Bruce is really going to give up the Hulk. Now, the comic recap says he declined the offer, but really Bruce just avoided giving an answer, showing that he might be thinking it over. Also, don’t let the synopsis fool you, it’s revealing far more about the rest of the plot of this story arc than the actual comic does.
Either way, it felt like PK Johnson wanted to just have a moment when Bruce and Charlie bond instead of having them discuss what most readers are actually interested in. Now, I’ll just come out and state that this new Ghost Rider is not a case like the Cosmic Ghost Rider or the new samurai Ghost Rider from Jason Aaron’s Avengers run. This is a new Ghost Rider in the traditional fashion, by that I mean he’s a spirit of vengeance who’s actually riding a motorcycle, this time a WWII Harley, but we still don’t learn much about him yet other than his name is Sal. We’ll definitely learn more about Sal in the next issue, but what we get here is still undeniably cool. What’s even better is that it looks like this will be an actual fight between the two.
What do I mean by that? In previous reviews for this series, I’ve noted that while we do get new monsters for Hulk to face, none of them have actually been a challenge for him. All of the battles have been too one-sided and they ended pretty quickly, though they do look good thanks to the artists. I say this because the Immortal Hulk series proved that the Hulk, regardless of the persona in the driver’s seat, can be genuinely challenged by super-villains in unique ways both physically and mentally. It’s just all up to the writers, and what’s clear is that Hulk has not gotten a real challenge throughout this series. Until now, and I’m genuinely looking forward to Hulk having a real fight on his hands instead of delivering another one-sided curbstomp.
Final Thoughts:
Incredible Hulk #6 gets the ball rolling with a new location, new side characters, a new threat on the way, and a new Ghost Rider on the scene. The comic does a solid job of setting the stage for this encounter between Hulk and the new Rider without sidelining the main plot involving the Eldest and the monsters answering her call to hunt the Hulk. And when the Hulk and the new Ghost Rider show up, Nic Klein delivers on the art for both characters as the story sets up the fight to come.