INCREDIBLE HULK #45
"Remember Me Never"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Bruce Jones
Pencils: Stuart Immonen
Inks: Scott Koblish
Colors: Studio F
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Axel Alonso
Price: $2.25 US/$3.75 CAN |
The Fugitive meets The Twilight Zone in this quietly unsettling issue of The Incredible Hulk. Jones has managed to breathe new life into this property, but at the same time, he's remained in touch with its roots, and not just in comics. He harkens back to the setup of the 1970s television incarnation while injecting greater darkness and maturity into it. And Immonen and Koblish's inky artwork reinforces that low-key intensity.
Bruce Banner awakens to find he's being cared for by a mysterious young woman who struck him with her car in the middle of an alley. He was out for days, recovering in her flophouse room, despite the concerns of an overbearing landlady. Laurie, who's having some trouble with the law herself, nurses him back to health, but has to leave for her home in Kansas City to attend to a family matter. Reality and perception begin to twist around Bruce, though, as he discovers others don't think he is who he really is, and he's done something unthinkable.
Immonen and Koblish's work here is incredible, really bringing out the paranoid tone of the title's current direction. Immonen grants Laurie a sincere air, but also a raw sensuality that makes her an alluring draw not only for the title character, but the reader as well. The subtle colors add to the quiet tension of the story. I love how Bruce is framed in a dull green in many of his appearance in this issue. It's an almost unconscious reminder of the danger that lurks below the surface.
The art also serves to drive home the main purpose of Jones's script, and that's to get the reader to question everything s/he is reading. Bruce is clearly a bit fuzzy as to what's going on around him. Memory fades in and out, and he's quickly distracted from what's going on by Laurie's charm, which blends an innocence and purity with a roguish, dangerous edge. By the end of the issue, the reader shares in Bruce's bewilderment and fear. It's thoroughly effective pacing and storytelling.
In the end, this boils down to the beginning of a fascinating murder mystery, one unlike any other I've read or seen. I have no idea what Jones is up to here, and I can't wait to find out. Others should join in the fun as well. Jones offers an accessible jumping-on point here. A couple of brief paragraphs on page two is all one needs to catch on the current premise that's pushing the title character forward.
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