Warning: contains spoilers for Immortal Hulk #43
Part of the Hulk's appeal is that he is the eternal outsider. Even when he's on teams like the Avengers, he is often mistrusted and disrespected by more conventional heroes who fear the Hulk's raw destructive power and few teams have clashed with the green brute as much as the Fantastic Four. Despite Hulk's countless battles with Thing though, Marvel's first family has made peace with Hulk and now serve as his allies more than opponents. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for their dark counterparts. In Immortal Hulk #43 Hulk faces off against the evil Fantastic Four, the U-Foes.
The new issue from writer Al Ewing and artist Joe Bennet is following up on more than a few plotlines from throughout the Immortal Hulk series. Hulk has been in a bit of a bind ever since the Leader framed him for the destruction of a small town. This led to the death of Devil Hulk and the brutal torture of Bruce Banner, leaving only Joe Fixit and the Childlike Hulk left to fend for themselves. Hulk was killed, brought back, then held captive in a space station by the government. Even after Joe Fixit blew a hole in the Space Station to escape, his woe wasn't over as he then had to face off against the Thing while sapped of his famous strength. Luckily, after a punchout, Ben agreed to let Hulk go and say that he got away. Realizing that the real Fantastic Four was on Hulk's side, the government decided to hire a new squad of Hulk hunters, the U-Foes.
Only caring about his own survival, Joe wanders around New York, attempting to lay low while the government searches for him. When a child wearing a Hulk hoodie is threatened by police though, even Joe can't stand idly by. The weakened Hulk roars to life and boasts that he's the strongest there is. The cops free the kid, but that's not where Hulk's troubles end. Detecting the pulse of gamma radiation that comes when Joe Hulks out, the U-Foes appear almost immediately. The group's leader, Vector, uses telekinetically charged energy blasts to burn holes into Hulk. The wounded brute looks back in agony only to see the group of villains standing above him, ready to dismantle him piece by piece and assure him that he's no longer the strongest.
While the Hulk has no shortage of people both good and bad who despise him, the U-Foes Hulk hatred borders on obsessive. The team got their start trying to replicate the rocket launch which ended up creating the Fantastic Four. In a fit of sheer arrogance, they removed the shielding from their ship, meaning the already lethal dose of cosmic radiation they were attempting to absorb would end up killing them in seconds. The Hulk stepped in to save them just in time, a favor which the team has eternally resented him for. To the four villains who became known as Vector, Ironclad, Vapor, and X-Ray, the Hulk's intervention didn't save their lives, it prevented them from becoming gods.
One of the things that make the team unique among Hulk villains lies with X-Ray's ability to control radiation, including gamma radiation. He has the power to send out anti-gamma radiation, making him one of the few people who can turn Hulk back into Banner. Considering the Hulk has lost strength, this will make an already tough set of opponents nearly impossible. If there's one thing readers should know about the Hulk though, it's that his different personalities make him a one-man army.
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