Today, Shelby and Ethan are discussing Indestructible Hulk 4, originally released February 20th, 2013.

Shelby: There’s a certain peace that comes with accepting yourself for who you are. It can be hard to acknowledge your faults, especially the ones you know you can’t really change, but once you learn to celebrate your awesomeness and manage your un-awesomeness, you’ll sleep like a god-damn baby. I know “learn to love yourself” can come off as trite and overly sentimental, but it is both true and relevant. In the hands of Mark Waid, Bruce Banner has finally come to accept his terrifyingly dangerous faults, and through that acceptance has learned to love pretending to get mad to freak people out. That sort of behavior is what makes this title so great.

It’s a big day for Dr. B.; he’s meeting his new lab assistants! But before they can get beyond, “Yay, let’s science,” Bruce is sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. to the bottom of the ocean to fight some Atlanteans, of all things, led by Marvel’s king of Atlantis, Attuma. The seamen (heehee) shove Bruce into a torpedo tube, transforming him into the angriest, greenest torpedo the Navy has ever seen, and fire him directly at Attuma. A fight ensues, and things go badly for our favorite destructive force of nature; the sub retreats, and the Hulk is pulled into a trench, seven miles below the surface.

As exciting as an underwater Hulk fight is, the strength of this title lies in Waid’s characterization of Bruce Banner, specifically the humor he brings to the table. I wasn’t kidding about how much Bruce loves to try to freak people out by pretending to be mad.

I love the voice Waid has developed for Banner; it’s light-hearted, charming, and funny in a realistic, I-want-to-hang-out-with-you sort of way. He’s a lot like Hawkeye (on sale today!*) in that regard; Bruce certainly hasn’t replaced Clint as my fictional mega-crush just yet, but give it time. But what I really like about Waid is he knows when to shut up and let the artist work. Leinil Francis Yu frames the scene perfectly with the four dialogue-free closeups of Bruce’s assistants. You can feel everyone holding their breath in anticipation waiting to see what will happen. With only half a page and 5 panels (and zero text), Yu creates an incredibly suspenseful moment, which Waid immediately diffuses with a joke. These two make a great team.

After three issues establishing the “Hulk breaks, Banner builds” rule with one-off fights and simple science, it looks like we might be settling down for some longer term plot and character development. The lab assistants intrigue me; we keep getting reminded they have secrets of their own as to why they’d want to work with a ticking time bomb, and I look forward to seeing their personalities develop further. But what I’m obviously most interested in seeing is how Bruce’s relationship with the Hulk continues to develop.

I love this panel, I love the simple elegance of Bruce seeing the Hulk as his reflection. It’s something you could miss, if you’re not paying enough attention. This panel is a part of Bruce’s walk through his hilariously creepy nuclear-test-site of a home; the lack of desert-battered mannequins makes this something the eye can slide right over. But Yu and Waid are reminding us, in one image, of Bruce’s new attitude towards the monster inside him. I’m hoping his acceptance of the Hulk will lead to a cooperation between the man and the monster. Maybe the secret to controlling the Hulk is to not try to forcibly control him; maybe if Bruce can learn to work with the Hulk, the Hulk can learn to work with Bruce as well.

I never thought I would enjoy this title as much as I do. Waid’s approach to Bruce and the Hulk’s relationship and Yu’s dynamic style perfectly compliment each other. What about you, Ethan? What do you think about this new, sassy Bruce Banner and his acceptance of his meaner, greener half? Also, hi Ethan! This is our first time writing together, it’s good to have you on board! Any friend of that huge jerk Taylor is a friend of mine.

*See, I can do it, too.

Ethan: Hi Shelby! Nice to virtually meet you, too. I’m also really enjoying Mark Waid’s new spin on Bruce Banner/the Hulk – I have to say your use of the word “sassy” makes me picture the Hulk in makeup and snapping his fingers at someone, which would be awwwwesome. Sassy, mischevous, egotistical, brilliant, dare I say nuanced… these definitely aren’t words I was expecting to use when writing about the guy who tends to grunt his way through life without being slowed down by little things like proper sentence construction (“Hulk Smash”, “Hulk is strongest there is,” “Hulk like dubstep before puny human like dubstep” etc). And yet here he is, showing more drive and focus in his Bruce Banner form and hints of higher thought and compassion in his Hulk form.

Before jumping into the undersea-adventure plot that this issue revolves around, I do want to pay some homage to the art team of Leinil Francis Yu, Sunny Gho, and Chris Eliopoulos. This issue is my favorite so far in terms of the visuals, one lovely example being the nuclear testing façade-town of Nuclear Springs, NV, aka Bannerville. We see Banner wake up in what seems to be a normal house and stride out into what appears to be – at first glance – a Pleasantville-style neighborhood. He even greets the local postman by name while thinking “Everything’s normal.”

I love the cognitive dissonance triggered by this panel. We’ve seen Banner moving about in society, and for a split-second, this scene seems to be reinforcing the idea of him bringing things under control to live a normal life with all the signs of suburbia – a look-alike houses, the silhouettes of people going about their daily life. As your eye tracks the rest of the scene though, it’s clear that somethings is off. Refuse lines the street, rust and mold has started to take over in the distance, a water tower imitates the Tower of Pisa, listing to the side. As soon as we hit the next few panels, the truth becomes clear:

Banner’s neighbors are revealed to be dummies with faces of flaking paint; the kite being “flown” by a little boy lies decaying in the dust. If you’ve ever played a game in the Fallout franchise, the setting is strongly familiar of that post-apocalyptic world. Like Banner himself, this town is not all it seems. I especially enjoyed the Jekyll/Hyde moment you mentioned, Shelby, when Banner sees his Hulk-reflection in the window. The artists are clearly having a great time digging in to the themes of duality we get with this volume.

But back to the story: after momentarily freaking out his new staff with a feigned temper flare-up, Bruce is summoned to deal with the latest crisis on S.H.E.I.L.D.’s plate: the aquatic turmoil being orchestrated by Attuma. As awesome as the Hulk’s power is on dry land, I immediately started wondering what his limitations would be down deep underwater. Can the Hulk suffocate? R.O.B.’s commentary about the “oxygenated pressure field” that his armor creates would seem to imply that the answer is yes. Is the Hulk even a good swimmer? Can the Hulk be squished by the intense pressures exerted by deep-sea environments? The answers to these questions are quickly answered to the tune of “It doesn’t really matter” and “Maybe?” as he first flings himself into Attuma’s artillery and then finds himself trapped by some kind of sentient seaweed that pulls him into a deep trench.

This fight is something that I was waiting for during the first few issues. Yes, the Hulk is terrifyingly powerful in almost any situation. Super-villains (and even B-list villains) in comics tend to rely on really big, powerful machines or powers to make life miserable for everyone else, and the Hulk is quite well suited to matching blow for super-powered blow. But what about more delicate circumstances or attacks? Say bank robbers take hostages during their heist – sending in the Hulk would be a recipe for disaster. Or, say your villain has mind-control abilities, or can teleport the Hulk away from the fight – all of those megatons of gamma-particle-fueled testosterone badassery won’t get you very far. With the Hulk falling deeper into the void at the end of this issue, I’m eager to see whether or not Banner’s brain rather than his infinite brawn will get him out of this situation.

For a complete list of what we’re reading, head on over to our Pull List page.  Whenever possible, buy your comics from your local mom and pop comic bookstore.  If you want to rock digital copies, head on over to Comixology and download issues there.  There’s no need to pirate, right?