A four issue miniseries with a cute title (spoofing “Astonishing Tales”) about the relationship between Bruce Banner and his bigger, meaner, greener alter ego. Lots of people have written this kind of story, but what made this take so great was that it focuses on aftermath.
Hulk destroys a city, and Doc Samson is brought in to handle the political and personal ramifications of the devastation. Banner is doing his usual hand-wringing over what he’s done, but the relationships between him, Samson, and General Ross (Hulk’s main pursuer) are handled with depth and maturity here.
And humor. Here’s where Banner tries to kill himself, on the last page of issue #1…
…And he spits out the bullet at the opening to issue #2…
Now, that means it DID penetrate his head, and somehow ended up in his sinus or mouth, but DID NOT kill him.
This isn’t about Banner figuring out how to make Hulk safe, it’s about regret and fear. Plus, the art is by horror great Richard Corben, which only increases the suspense and intensity of this book. Last time I tried to get it, it was out of print, but I found a used trade on Amazon for pretty cheap. It’s a great read.
Not sure it’s canon, though.
This is one of the best Brian Azzarello comics, according to the brilliant writer who posted a Top 9 list here.