Warning: contains spoilers for Hulk #2!
While traveling through space, the Hulk just unleashed one of his most brutal attacks—and Bruce Banner slept through the whole thing. In Hulk #2, on sale now in print and digital, Starship Hulk is denied passage by a group of extra-dimensional beings. As the Jade Giant rips through them, Banner never stirs.
Donny Cates and Ryan Ottley recently relaunched the Hulk in a grand fashion, moving the character away from the body-horror of Immortal Hulk to a more science-fiction-oriented approach. In their run, Banner has done the impossible: split himself into three beings. The first being is the Hulk’s body, which Banner has turned into a starship. The ship’s engine room is powered by the Hulk’s psyche, the second being; if Banner needs more energy to the engines, he sends an opponent to fight the Hulk, utilizing the energy released to power the ship. The final being is Banner himself, who is orchestrating it all, claiming he is about to transform, and no one on Earth will be able to handle him. While the Avengers and the other heroes of the Earth decide what to do about Hulk, Banner continues to pilot Starship Hulk, and In Hulk #2, he encounters what should be a serious threat—but it turns out to be anything but. The issue is written by Cates, with art by Ottley, inks by Cliff Rathburn, colors by Frank Martin, and letters by Cory Petit.
The issue opens with Starship Hulk face to face with agents of the Alternate Timeline Universe Hazard Operations Response and Intervention Team. Not only is he facing four intimidating warriors, but an entire starship. The lead agent does not even get to finish rattling off the team’s name (which is actually an acronym for AUTHORITY) before Hulk tears through him and the rest of the team, even destroying their starship in the process. As the Hulk drifts through the debris, including blood, guts and machine parts, readers see Banner slept through the whole conflict, only stirred when reinforcements arrive.
This was truly one of the most brutal attacks the Hulk has ever unleashed. The Hulk had no regard for the extra-dimensional beings who made the mistake of trying to stop him and tore through them without a second thought. The truly outrageous part is that Banner, now a separate being totally in control of the Hulk, slept through it entirely. It shows just how powerful Starship Hulk is, able to utterly destroy god-like beings without even stirring its captain. The Hulk’s actions here could have ramifications down the line: will more agents of AUTHORITY come looking for Starship Hulk? And will Bruce Banner be able to truly control the raging power at his fingertips?
In deep space, in the place between universes, the Hulk has smashed, unleashing one of his most brutal attacks, but he has grown so powerful it did not even awaken Bruce Banner.