Immortal Hulk, Volume 6: We Believe in Bruce Banner
Author: Ewing, Bennet, Reilly, Bergara
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Publishing Date: 2020
Pgs: 112
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
Bruce Banner is just getting started! He has an underground fortress. He has powerful allies. He’s even got henchmen. He’s got everything he needs to declare total war on human society. Bruce Banner is the most dangerous man in the world! Now, the Immortal Hulk is taking the fight to Earth’s lords and masters: the Roxxon Corporation. But when you mess with the Minotaur, you get the horns! Meanwhile, who are the members of the new Teen Brigade, and what role will they play in the Immortal Hulk’s newest scheme? Plus: Years ago, the first Gamma Bomb unleashed a terrifying creature with impossible strength who raged against the world. The authorities gave the beast a name — a name the whole world knows. But it was someone else’s name first, and now the Hulk That Was has returned to take the name back!
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Genre:
Marvel Comics
Comics
Superhero

Why this book:
Because I read the other volumes.
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Cover and Interior Art:
The Minotaur is a great character. But damn his design needed more work. He's Giffen-esque. And I'm not a big fan of Giffen-esque, especially if not drawn by Keith. The Minotaur seems almost drawn by a different hand than other characters in the same scene with him.

Hmm Moments:
So, they outed McGowan after protecting her from prosecution, as long as she agreed to work for them. Could be an official outing, or sour grapes from some of the rats who jumped from the ship to other black-budget projects. Fortean wouldn’t have been the only true believer in a program of that size. Just as he was a Ross fanboy, there would be Fortean fanboys.

Roxxon got themselves a kaiju, no four kaiju. Nice.

Uhm Moments:
Did Bruce and company communicate to Sunset Bain that something bad was about to happen to the Roxxon soc media servers? Does preknowledge and planning for a superhero/super terror attack constitute insider trading?

Meh / PFFT Moments:
I believe in Bruce Banner. ...really? Are we headed for a green messiah arc or is he going to lead a gamma terrorist organization, secretly... Not so secretly since he just announced he was leading a "secret" group with a government-funded black budget?

Wait...What?:
A government black budget program openly lead by the Hulk. …yeah, there wouldn’t be bipartisan furor in Washington and committee meetings and investigations into that. Sure there wouldn’t be.

Suspension of Disbelief:
Oh c'mon. Xemnu the f-ing Titan shows up as the savior, backed by Roxxon, the dirtiest corporation in the Marvel Universe, and everyone is going to accept it and treat Hulk as the villain of the piece. C'mon. Incredulity just snapped.

The Unexpected:
Xemnu the Titan, always good to see that villain/force of nature show up in comics.
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Last Page Sound:
This was just a collection, not a complete story. Nothing in this is complete. This went cliffhanger. I hate that. Even the title of the purported collection failed to pay off. Meh.
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It's a bit weird to see all the stuff about anarchist protestors and their conservative haters here on the other side of June 2020.

But other than that unsettling coincidence, there are just too many boring talking heads, overuse of the always awful Dario Agger Minotaur character, and a dumb it's-obviously-a-trap-but-we-must-walk-into-it situation.

This is normally the point in a series where I'd stop seeking out subsequent volumes, but I've heard it might be ending at #50, so I might come back for closure after the entire last half is available at my library or on Hoopla. ( )