Red Hulk Identity REVEALED – A Reaction!

Hulk 22As you may have heard, Hulk #22 hit stands yesterday.  We spoke to Jeph Loeb on Monday on the latest episode of Don't Miss where he confirmed that the identity of the Red Hulk would be revealed and boy, he was right.  Hulk #22 ended with the reveal of who the Red Hulk has been all along. 

You may recall a few months ago, we posted an article by our pal Gary Miller about his theory as to the Red Hulk's identity.  Now that it's been revealed, we checked back in with Gary to hear his thoughts.

SPOILER WARNING – the rest of this post contains details about the reveal of the Red Hulk, so if you haven't read Hulk #22 yet and do not want the identity to be spoiled, then stop now!  You've been warned. 

That said, I hand it over to Gary….

 


 

So, you've heard the news?  Quite expectedly, Hulk #22 and Incredible Hulk #609 hit comic shops today–and, quite unexpectedly, both Red Hulk and the Red She-Hulk now stand revealed.  The answers will shock no one who's read my previous article on the Red Hulks' identities.  (Or maybe they will, as plenty of readers still pegged me as wrong. To which I say: Nyah!)

Since the original article, posted in December on the iFanboy site (although version 1.0 went up on my blog in August '09), I've enjoyed the ride, with the end result never in doubt.  I even had the pleasure of pow-wowing with writer Jeph Loeb at the L.A. premiere of the Planet Hulk animated film (and he autographed my big honking Planet Hulk promo poster with the words, "Good luck with your Red Hulk theory!").  It's been fun.  But the question remains, how do I feel now that the theory is fact?

What we know is that General Ross is Red Hulk, and he and Banner elaborately faked his death in Fall of the Hulks: Gamma.  Besides the above, I've only speculated at the surrounding events.  We Hulkamaniacs will have to wait until June's Hulk #23 for the true origin of the Red Hulk, filled to the brim with guest artists Tim Sale, Herb Trimpe, Sal Buscema, Leinil Yu, Mike Deodato Jr., Ian Churchill, John Romita Jr., and Dale Keown.  Now, I'll say that most of those artists had some key Ross-related issues in their runs, some of which you can match up to moments in my previous article (substitute Sale for Kirby, as he did draw Hulk: Gray), and some are close enough.  It'll be a good romp through Hulk history.

The way I feel is pretty much the same as when I first deduced his identity–it couldn't have been anyone else.  And Red She-Hulk could not have been anyone else but Betty, his daughter.  (Ross doesn't show his age a la the Maestro because his transformation was patterned after the Hulk's; similarly, Betty has not become a Red Harpy because her change was patterned after She-Hulk after the Intel captured her in Incredible Hulk #600.)  Ross became that which he hated and hunted for so long, and his involvement with the Intel led to his daughter's having become another monster.  He stands an utterly broken man, and it'll be interesting to see how he digs himself out of this mess.

It's also interesting to see that indeed, as theorized, Colonel Glenn Talbot has been resurrected, and would now appear to be in the thrall of the Leader.

Then, there's this big, green guy who's about to return, also…

It wasn't a bad mystery, although I get that it was more about the "why" and the possibilities afforded the characters than the "who."  Better that we get the originally intended answers than any "shock" answer that didn't make sense just because too many people had it figured out (a la Armageddon 2001 –who remembers that?).

So, bottom line: Many interesting puzzle pieces are coming together in World War Hulks so far.  And I'll be first in line on June 9th to grab that 48-page special where we see how Marvel pieces it together.

I hope you'll join me.

– Gary M. Miller
Blog: http://delusionalhonesty.blogspot.com

Hulk #22 and Incredible Hulk #609 are both now on sale at your local comic shop.


Click the images below to see the identity of Red Hulk revealed!

Hulk 22 - Red Hulk Revealed  Hulk 22 - Red Hulk Revealed

Comments

  1. Where oh were does that mustache go when he changes!?!?! That’s what the world wants to know.

  2. I’m so relieved that we finally know who the Red Hulk is.  I’ve been unable to sleep recently because I couldn’t stop my mind from racing through the various facts and theories.  Such a relief.

  3. I like Gary’s response here. I hope we don’t see a flood of responses like "Oh! I knew it! So obvious! Lame!" The fact that Gary deduced this answer doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good mystery. It just means that Gary was paying attention, and that Loeb’s story logic was consistent. As Gary notes, a good mystery isn’t about the who, it’s about the why. I don’t know about the execution of this story (I’ve only read the first volume or so), but it sounds like this makes sense to what was set up, and it seems to me that the story can still be interesting from this point forward.

  4. For an old dude, the General works out a lot.

  5. Watch the spoilers in the comments ending up on the main page.

    Well, I guess that’s not really your problem. 

    I AM PUSHING.

  6. So here we are, Red Hulk is General Ross. What? I remember thinking first thing (like everyone else), General Ross is Red Hulk. Then Loeb threw everyone for a loop and made it look as though he wasn’t Red Hulk.  At this point I dropped the title because I wasn’t going to get strung along waiting for a reveal and I stand by my decision.  I know that everyone describes this book as "big dumb fun" but it wasn’t for me.  I missed out on the whole Red She-Hulk/Betty Ross thing too and that sounds like a more intriguing story to me.  I know Loeb is a great writer but since he came back to Marvel I haven’t liked any of his stuff.  Now that the cat is out of the bag and it sounds like the green guy is returning, I hope we can more on to better Hulk stories. I also hope he finds a good project that I’ll enjoy next time around.

  7. I meant General….Tso. General Tso chicken, because it is so delicous.

  8. THANK YOU!

    Now I can never, never, ever….EVER think about this series again. Now let’s move on and pray this series get’s cancelled sooner then later. 

  9. I’ve spoken to several die hard Hulk fans and everyone has said the same thing: that this has been a fantastic story and very true to the history of the Hulk.  and Loeb is clearly a longtime fan of the Hulk, so if you’re a Hulk fan, things seem pretty good right now…

  10. @drakedangerz: I still think it should have been Julian Keller. Now THAT would have made more sense. I can’t think of anyone else in the Marvel U who Red Hulk resembles.

  11. I have the 1st 6 issues…then I dropped the book.  But it really sounds like this is a fun book.  Only question is how big of a part of the puzzle is Skaar’s 12 issue series and Incredible Hulk 601-605?

    I know all of the stuff is out in trades so I was thinking about going and picking them up.

  12. Skaar hasn’t yet been handled in Loeb’s book–but he’s been a key focus of Greg Pak’s INCREDIBLE HULK from #601-up.  And it looks like he’s about to get what he’s wished for in #610, if the solicitations and what happened at the end of 609 are any indication.

     ~G. (That writer-guy who theorized correctly, c’est moi)

  13. @Hulksmash272: When Hulk (Green Scar persona) and Skaar through down I’ll be back in.

  14. I read the first trade a long time ago, and don’t remember much about the Red Hulk.  If the Hulk fans are happy, then I’m happy.

  15. @JesTr You might want to check out INCREDIBLE HULK #610 and 611, then.

    ~G.

  16. Hush redux

  17. I was expecting someone more out of left field like Clay Quartermain.  He seemed to important of a character to kill off panel in issue 3 or whenever that was.  But this does make the most sense.  The reveal is a big deal.  But I can’t wait to see what the ramifications are; what’s this going to mean for Bruce, Betty, Ross, Skaar, Samson, Leader etc.  How will the dynamic work between Bruce, Red Hulk and She Hulk?  I really think all hell will break loose. 

  18. how does it come back and go away during the transformations? really it’s not there when he is all hulked out then bang it’s back? stop messing with my mind Charles!!!!

  19. Snore? This is kind of what most people thought from the beginning. I’d put my money on Talbot, but Loeb has no imagination. Talbot would have been interesting, and useful for a long term enemy… Ross is just… same ol’ same ol’.

  20. The best theory for the identity of the Red Hulk I ever heard of was a mutated Missing Link given a copy of General Ross’ mind.

    That to me was an amazing idea and one Marvel has used repeatedly in the Hulk mythos ranging from The Leader’s mind in The Rhino’s body, to Tyrannus’ mind in The Abomination’s body and lastly General Ross’ mind in the body of Zzssaxx.

    Regarding the moustache, it is a cheat but if Red Hulk had a moustache it would be a dead give away. 

    When they first revealed this picture the moustache was on it Marvel got the artist to remove it straight away.  That story is now part of Hulk folklore!

     

     

  21. @KingHulkMarco – I do find that bit of "Hulk folklore" hard to swallow, especially given that the pencil sketch of Red Hulk that’s shown as McG’s "first" rendition of the character is mustache-free.  I’ve never seen the #1 cover with the ‘stache, and until I do, I might have to file the idea under "Hulk hooey."

    Missing Link, eh?  I miss ol’ Linc.  Haven’t seen him since ROM #29.

     ~G.

  22. Bad, awful, predictable and terrible.

     Absolutely not worth over 2 years of pointless teasing to get to this point. 

     

    From the get-go, you have an aggressive, arrogant Hulk, who hates and obsesses over Bruce Banner but has advanced military and tactical training and SHIELD clearance.

     Could that be General Ross, by any chance? Why, yes it could.

     

    For the love of god, how many times can you read the same dialogue boxes of "I have my own agenda but now is not the time to think of that or explain. My word, I hate Banner more than life itself for some indistinct wrong he did to me in the past, but I need him for now, for reasons that must remain my own"

     It’s been going on like that for at least a year! Ever since the issue where Domino learned of his true identity, the ENTIRE story (except for a Doc Sampson interlude and one with Banner and A-Bomb) has been related via the Rulk’s inner monologue – which by definition can reveal NOTHING that might further the plot!

     I’ve never known a series this gleefully frustrating and more perfectly positioned to just piss people off en-mass. A series that on every page just punches the barriers around my suspension of disbelief with consistently illogical and out-of-character behaviour and which seems totally determined to just take an enormous steaming turd over the continuity of the entire 616 Universe. In doing so, it has revived and cranked up all the worst excesses of the 90s from an editor in Chief, writer and staff who should know better. A year or two prior to Civil War, variant covers were almost a thing of the past. Now we have to put up with 2 or 3 standard covers, plus sketches and chase variants? It’s Hulk’s fault along with Irredeemable (another book with probably less than 300 words or 60 panels per issue, and I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve picked up a wasted extra copy of an issue by mistake due to variant covers that bare no relation at all to the contents). They are ruining comics again and we should be smarter than this by now.

     As for out-of character behaviour and dire continuity, this is exactly what JMS had a problem with when he quit Thor in protest and I entirely support where he’s coming from – you can either choose to have an integrated universe or ignore it. Editorial mandating is just getting totally out of control, but the left hand is not talking to the right hand.

     

    For a few years now, Marvel has had a big crossover event running either parallel or concurrent with another much smaller event or major storyline. When Civil War was happening at the same time as Annihilation, Planet Hulk and all the cosmic stuff, it was a perfect arrangement. Then Bendis-time takes it’s toll. Reading, as I do, both Mighty and New Avengers in hardcovers, it’s obvious that the first 12 issues of Mighty take place over the space of 48hrs, before leading *directly* into Secret Invasion. Picking up in New, there is an impossible crossover with Mighty that cannot possibly happen within that timescale. And World War Hulk… goes where? Why is there no mention of it hardly anywhere else?

    My point is, the Hulk books have been very much doing their own thing since Planet Hulk and in a way that’s completely impossible to reconcile with anything else. That they are even consistent with each other even, is highly questionable. Jeff Loeb’s Hulked Out Heroes and this reveal are the the latest in a long line of slaps in the face – Thor-Hulk? I mean, really. I was prepared to give this title the chance to prove me wrong and NOT insult my intelligence further, but I was sorely disappointed. The final straw here was Doomwar, which I refuse to even give the time of day – running three major overlapping events is foolish at best, but not impossible. But having one character (in this case Doom) be pivotal to the ordering of events but not even address the conflicting needs of each story is just plain negligent, patronising and needlessly confusing.

     You guys complain a lot on the show about the X-men recently not crossing over with other Marvel titles and just doing their own thing too much – I think that can only be a good thing in times like these and a sign of a disciplined editor tending dutifully to his patch. As it is, the whole line of Hulk books are damaged goods insofar as consistency goes and a OMD reset of the Hulk waking up in his SHEILD shuttlepod 5 years later, Bobby Ewing style would be the only way to salvage the situation.

  23. One word: LAME!

  24. On top of which – I read this issue directly after reading Sentry: Fallen Sun, which makes Hulk look like Dostoyevsky by comparison.

    Seriously, did I die or get hit on the head and wake up in 1994 for some reason? Next thing you know, Rob Liefeld will be putting out a new series of Youngblood…

  25. RE:  "Hulk folklore"

    That’s not true.  I tried to dig up the source of that when it first surfaced, and it turned out someone mistook the WHAT IF cover as the new cover.

    That having been said, there is a panel that does look like he originally had a moustache and the artist was asked to reign it in (IMO)

    <img src="http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g9/Takion_photos/Hulk01-006.jpg"&gt;

  26. Guys don’t shoot the messanger!

    When Loeb started writing Hulk # 1 back in january 2008, the hype machine (has you know) went into overdrive.  Everybody wanted to know who Red Hulk is and what was his story. 

    On one of the sites I went on a guy said he had seen a preview on Red Hulk artwork with a moustache and that the artist in question was asked to remove it immediately.  That is it!

    Maybe this guy was telling a yarn or maybe he was telling the truth, I don’t know.  The reason why I mentioned it is because that story has made the rounds to other sites and now that we know that Ross is Red Hulk I thought it was relevant.

    For the record, I did try to find that initial link but, it was two and a half year’s ago.

    Jeez, tough crowd! 

     

  27. PS What do you guys think of the new Scorpion?  Bruce’s daughter or not?

    I am going with a strong yes, though I admit I could be wrong.  I hope she does play a role In World War Hulks though.

    Also Hiro Kala is coming to Earth in time for World War Hulks.  Should also prove intersting.

    Check out the August solicits from Marvel.  You will be pleasantly surprised regarding Hulk :-

    http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=26271  

  28. To Cth,

     I see what you mean.

    Guy’s here is the picture in full :-

     

     The bottom picture of Hulk on the right with the gun does look like he has a moustache.  It looks to me like Red Hulk painted green.  Either it’s a moustache or he’s part Skrull.

     Good job Cth!

  29. I thought it might be General Ryker for some dumb reason