This is the culmination of Parker/Hardman/Breitweiser’s majestic Hulk run, one of the most deeply humane and fun comics Marvel has put out in a while.

I wasn’t sure how they were going to sign off on this cracklin’ creative combo but Parker goes internal on T-Rulk and finds Red Gold. The entire run has been about characters who aren’t quite human looking for or losing their humanity. Who knew I would fall in love with an LMD and MODOK?

Ross solves his problems by going against everything in his nature, this is a fantastic nuanced character we’ve grown attached to and one I don’t think Marvel banked on with their stuntcasted identity reveal.

Like the best of The Outer Limits or Kubrick the form informs the function of the story. Hardman finds the perfect balance between realism and fantasy. His Hulk carries weight and sadness on him. Breitweiser as ever knocks it out of the park with a mix of smoke fumes and faded memories.

As with his work in ATLAS Parker is able to give each character an inner life and struggle in addition to a believable viewpoint from which to act and react. They’ve given compelling personalities to androids, space aliens, genetic mutants, and made us care about a villain who could end up blandly anonymous is less skilled hands. Hopefully Zircher can step up to the plate, but if there’s a Red Hulk Omnibus I wouldn’t be sad if this was the last issue.

Oh, and we finally see what happens to the mustache, and it almost made me cry.