Hulk Just Smashed The King in Black's Army Without Throwing a Punch
Warning: this article contains spoilers for The Immortal Hulk: King in Black #1!
The King in Black crossover event has impacted every major Marvel Comics hero, including the Hulk. Knull has succeeded in taking over the world. The entire planet is enveloped in darkness similar to the abyss he once called home before the creation of life and planets. Knull has conquered Earth using his army of symbiotes, Grendel dragons, and symbiote-Celestials. And while Tony Stark and the Avengers were looking for 'the big guy' to aid them in their battle, Hulk was going through some challenges of his own.
The Leader's latest plot has severely weakened Hulk and left him with only two alternate personalities: a scrawny Savage Hulk and Joe Fixit. Savage Hulk is the dimmest of all Bruce Banner's alters and, thanks to Hulk's recent challenges, he is now also the weakest he's ever been. The heavy-hitting Avenger stumbled into Knull's invasion clueless, exhausted, and lacking muscle mass, and yet he still walked away successful - all without throwing a punch.
In Immortal Hulk: King in Black #1 by Al Ewing and Aaron Kuder, Hulk faces a holiday horror. The childlike Savage Hulk walks the streets on the night before Christmas, encountering a predatory symbiote. It attacks him, and the weakened Savage Hulk unsuccessfully attempts to smash it with a street light. The symbiote almost devours him, but Savage Hulk reaches towards the street light's base, electrocuting himself and killing the symbiote. Where muscle failed, the Savage Hulk used his durability to defeat the terrifying enemy.
After Savage Hulk is emotionally triggered by memories of his abusive father, he reverts back to Bruce Banner's human form controlled by the Joe Fixit personality. Joe almost instantaneously encounters yet another horrifying symbiote creature. This time, the creature is two-headed and much larger. Joe is clearly outmatched, so he runs into a mall to regroup and strategize. The scene is very reminiscent of Home Alone: a small but intelligent protagonist takes on huge enemies using the resources around him. Joe cleverly trails bloody footsteps and leads the horrific symbiote creature into an electronics store.
The creature takes the bait and Joe blasts music at full-volume through an enormous speaker when the symbiote is close, using a remote control he found. The vibrations blow the symbiote to pieces. Joe then uses a stove lighter and an aerosol spray can to ignite the symbiote and singe its remains. Hulk is known for smashing, but he has proven that he is so much more than a violent green giant. The Hulk has multiple personalities that can assist him in different ways. The Hulk is not one big green monster, but instead a collective of capable personalities residing inside one complex gamma-powered being. Even when he's low on muscle, Hulk can still deliver the smackdown. The King in Black better watch out; the Hulk is still undefeated, and won't ignore the alien invasion forever.