Following The Immortal Hulk would’ve been an impossible task for just about any creative team. Al Ewing and Joe Bennett’s horror-adjacent saga about the Bruce Banner’s demons was an instant all-timer for Marvel, almost unanimously considered one of the best Hulk runs in comic book history. Where do you go after 50 issues of near-perfection? After a short, controversial detour of another Hulk series, writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson has arrived with the answer.ย
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Treating Hulk as a Marvel stand-in for wayward icons like Hellboy and the Goon was an absolutely outstanding decision by Kennedy. This run has leaned into spiritual horrors and monster tales in each of its arcs, giving Hulk no shortage of memorable villains and intriguing character beats. In The Incredible Hulk #11, the story of the villainous “Frozen Charlotte” comes to a satisfying end.
The “Frozen Charlotte” storyline, which began in The Incredible Hulk #9, sees Hulk and Charlie make their way to New Orleans, the most haunted city in the country. While away from Hulk, Charlie gets spooked by a man in the streets and takes refuge in an old woman’s shop. That woman, however, turns out to be the real danger, a powerful sorceress serial killer who has been stuffing young souls into antique dolls and trapping them for eternity.ย
This entire arc has been a departure of sorts for the series, thanks in large part to a temporary change in artists. Danny Earls took over from Nic Klein for “Frozen Charlotte” and brought a completely different style to the book, making the story arc feel unique to its New Orleans setting. Earls creates such an eerie atmosphere with his backdrops and settings. New Orleans is a city that you can feel breathing when you step foot on those cobblestone streets, and Earls pays so much attention to the details in his depiction of the city that it translates wonderfully to the page. There’s also a pulpy element to the character expressions in Earls’ work that fits this kind of story. It invokes some of the same feelings of Mike Mignola’s work at times, leaving a little more interpretation up to the reader.
Frozen Charlotte’s journey in Hulk started a little weaker than some of the other monsters we have seen in this run, but her finale is maybe the strongest exit of the villains so far. She’s such an interesting contrast to Hulk, not just in terms of her visual aesthetic or power set, but also when it comes to her place in existence. She has ties to angels and the devil, and her purpose for the doll entrapment could be construed as noble, in a way. It makes her a more worthy adversary than most.
It wouldn’t be a killer comic without a good hook, and The Incredible Hulk #11 ends with a great one. That final page is more than enough to keep the series in your pull box, even though the twist is really just the cherry on top of another wonderful issue.ย The Incredible Hulk is the last Marvel title any comics reader should be sleeping on right now.
Published by Marvel Comics
On April 10, 2024
Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Art by Danny Earls
Colors by Matthew Wilson
Letters by Cory Petit
Cover byย Nic Klein
