I’ve written previously about the great work writer Al Ewing has been doing on defining the Hulk for the 2020s. Last week, in fact, I looked at his excellent work on The Immortal She-Hulk. This week, things are slightly different as we look at a stand-alone Hulk story from another writer.
The Immortal Hulk: The Threshing Place
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Mike Del Mundo
Of course, when that other writer is Jeff Lemire, it’s fair to expect good things, and in this one-shot he and artist Mike Del Mundo deliver. In The Threshing Place, Bruce Banner winds up in Kansas, trying to track down a young girl who has gone missing. The clues all point to gamma experimentation, and Banner has to deal with a town not interested in having their secrets revealed.
The Immortal Hulk books have been delving deep into horror territory, and Lemire and Del Mundo continue to work in that vein in The Threshing Place, especially in its depiction of the Hulk and his big brain, and the monster that he ultimately comes up against. There’s also an element of violence that you don’t find in your typical Marvel book, with heads being crushed and blood spurting everywhere.
Judging by the cover alone, there’s a little bit of a Frankenstein thing going on in The Threshing Place; the misunderstood monster theme is still in play, and you can almost hear The Incredible Hulk tv show theme playing by the end of the issue.
It’s always fun to see writers play in each other’s playgrounds, and in The Immortal Hulk: The Threshing Place, Jeff Lemire does a solid job maintaining the tone Al Ewing has honed for The Immortal Hulk, while delivering a story that feels perfect for October reading.
