"The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect" by Peter David, Jerry Novick, Frank Lovece. and Barry Dutter

            The following is a review of the Epic Collection presentation of “The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect” graphic novel by Peter David, Jerry Novick, Frank Lovece, and Barry Dutter. It contains the two issue titular storyline, as well as several issues that tie in to the titular stories.

            Okay, so some of you may know nothing about the Incredible Hulk and are reading this review anyway, so I feel a brief explanation of Hulk’s origin story is required for your understanding of this review or you may have no idea what you’re reading and give up after a paragraph or two, which I totally do not want, and if you read this review all the way to the bottom, you are THE BEST! (If you’ve never read any of my posts before, note that I say that a lot, but my regulars will know I say this a lot, and if you’ve ever read any of my posts before and are returning to a new post out of like for me, or for obligation, you still are THE BEST!) Okay, let’s start. Doctor Robert Bruce Banner is a nuclear physicist. He created a gamma bomb that would be very useful if it ever were needed as it is VERY destructive. So Banner, of course, had to test it. He had it starting the countdown to detonation when he noticed teenager Rick Jones driving into the testing site. He rushed out to save Rick. He got Rick into a ditch, but could not save himself from the blast. Instead of dying, he absorbed the radiation. Then, in times of anger, stress, or fear, Banner would turn into a muscular and green and uncontrollable and unintelligent creature called the Hulk. Hulk wanted to be left alone, but the United States military decided they wanted to capture him, reproduce the effects of his accident, and destroy him. Hulk, of course, did not want that and had been on the run for quite a while. General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross was the most adamant in the Hulk’s capture because, as Bruce, Bruce was in love with Ross’s daughter Elizabeth “Betty” Ross. Bruce and Betty eventually got married, and Bruce was stuck in Hulk’s body but still maintained Bruce’s personality. He teamed up with a group of demigods called the Pantheon and became a true super hero.

            Okay, maybe that wasn’t a brief history, but I feel it was needed, especially since the last two sentences are not known to casual Hulk readers who did not read “The Incredible Hulk” in the 1990s (including me) are aware of, and if you’ve never read anything of the Hulk before, it is definitely needed. Of course, those of you who have seen the Marvel Studios film “Avengers: Endgame” know what the Banner Hulk is like as this was the persona of Hulk in the film, so this may not be as alien to you as it might have been to those who haven’t seen the film or read “The Incredible Hulk” in the 1990s.

            Now, this graphic novel, being an Epic Collection, had three main storylines in it and the supporting chapters around them. We’ll start with “The Troyjan War.” This was about an alien prince named Trow-Mah (also called “Trauma” as a wordplay) who is in love with Pantheon member Atalanta and is forcing Atalanta to marry Trauma or else Trauma will destroy all the other members of the Pantheon. Hulk and the Pantheon travel into space to confront Trauma and stop the wedding of Trauma and Atalanta, teaming up with the Silver Surfer (the former herald of the planet eating being called Galactus) and the space pirates called the Starjammers along the way. I leave the rest of the story up to you if you wish to read this book following the conclusion of this review.

            The next and titular story is “Future Imperfect.” This takes place ninety years in the future. A nuclear war had occurred, and a lot of the humans on the planet are now dead. One of the surviving areas is called Dystopia, where the humans living there are lorded after a monster called the Maestro who is actually an aged Hulk. Some of the surviving rebels obtain the time platform created by the long-time archenemy of the Fantastic Four named Doctor Victor Von Doom (Doctor Doom for short) and bring the Banner Hulk of the 1990s to their future to confront the Maestro. One of the rebels is the granddaughter of Rick Jones. Rick is miraculously still alive, but none of the heroes of the Marvel Universe have survived to this Future Imperfect and Hulk is their only chance of survival.

            Finally, we’ll touch on the story of the wedding of Rick Jones and his longtime girlfriend Marlo Chandler. I think that’s all I should say, but this wedding has some interesting guests (including photobomber Drax).

            Okay, I know you want to know how I felt about this book in an effort to aid you in deciding if you want to read this book or not, which is vitally important to you. Then I’ll discuss how much knowledge of the “Incredible Hulk” you must know in order to have a total understanding and appreciation of the book. Then, of course, my numeric score of the book. This will all be done as one storyline at a time, then as the book as a whole. Some of you might think I’ve done contradictions when I score, but I assure you, there are none.

            First, let’s start with “The Troyjan War.” As I previously said, I did not read “The Incredible Hulk” in the 1990s (the issues in this book range over the course of 1992-1994, when I was alive but much too young to read this book), so some of the background story was unknown to me, but I pieced it together in the origin story, but if any of that is incorrect I thoroughly apologize to you. Okay, I loved the presentation of Banner Hulk. This was just so fun for me. Sure I know and like Banner/Hulk separate conscious to this day (which was recently “The Immortal Hulk” and I don’t fully understand it), but I think I rather prefer Banner Hulk from the 1990s. Sometimes Hulk being an unintelligent brute isn’t compelling for me (but if he is for you, I respect that. I am, after all, entitled to my own opinions, and I totally wish for you to formulate yours as you and I are not the same person and think differently.) HOWEVER! This story was not to my liking. I didn’t feel satisfied by the events, the creatures at Loch Ness, the Troyjan Trauma, and the Hulk/Pantheon/Silver Surfer/Starjammers team-up.

            Next is “Future Imperfect.” This fascinated me. I found the setting of ninety years into the future of the world after a nuclear war and the location of Dystopia to be very compelling. I could actually imagine the Future Imperfect world (but not the events with the Maestro) was actually believable to me, especially as I’ve always believed World War III could happen any day. The Maestro as Hulk’s dark reflection was compelling for me. We all have our dark side, but seeing the possible future of the Hulk’s transformation into the Maestro was interesting for me, especially since the Maestro was not a witless brute like the Hulk I’ve always known. He was intelligent, yet corrupt, but surviving a nuclear war would always change a person’s life, so it made sense to me.

            Let’s finish off with the wedding of Rick Jones and Marlo Chandler. The bachelor party movie faux pas was unexpected, but I honestly didn’t like the objectivizing of Marlo, I felt it was not needed. The battle at the bachelorette party, however, gave me a laugh as it was almost a total deviation of Rick’s party. And the unexpected, yet invited appearances to the wedding entertained me (particularly Drax’s photobombing).

            Okay, time to move on to accessibility. My regulars know I don’t give a score, but I still give a warning. But, in this case, I honestly don’t have a warning. I found it to be rather self-contained. I didn’t know “Incredible Hulk” stories from the time period, but was easily engaging. If you don’t know anything about “The Incredible Hulk,” I think it might be a good excursion into the world of Bruce Banner/Hulk for you. If you know things about Hulk, but have only seen the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, or are a classic/recent reader but not a 1990’s “Incredible Hulk” reader, it might possibly your cup of tea.

            Okay, now the scores. I’ve gone on for quite a while, and if you’re still with me, you are (of course) THE BEST! So let’s get right to it. Oh, yeah, my scoring system. I score on a scale of one to ten. One is I thought that this was trash, ten is I thought it was an incredible masterpiece (no pun intended). “The Troyjan War”: six. “Future Imperfect”: I give it, possibly for the first time, as perfect ten! The Wedding of Rick Jones and Marlo Chandler: eight. The book as a whole, a complete Epic Collection: nine! I personally LOVED this book, and if you are a Hulk fan of ANY kind, I feel you should totally read this book! My regular readers know I am VERY hard to please and a very harsh scorer, so if I give anything a perfect ten (I don’t think I’ve ever given this before), it’s worth a looksee. A nine as a whole Epic Collection is pretty epic, even incredible.

            So, I know you must be getting rather tired of me prattling on for so long, so I’ll sign off for now. Expect more content from me soon, check out my past posts, come back again (you are THE BEST!) tell your friends (if you found me on Twitter follow me, and please give some retweets!) and I’ll be back soon! Well, until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!