Incredible Hulk vol. 3 #35Incredible Hulk vol. 3 #35
Title: “Silent Running"
Writer: Bruce Jones
Penciller: John Romita Jr.
Inker: Tom Palmer
Colors: Studio F
Editor: Tom Brevoort
(Essentially what we do here at Leader’s Lair is to bring you a summary of the issue with one or two interesting pictures. With the advent of the ‘Nuff Said month of comics a summary has been provided at Marvel.com. Instead of trying to tell you what the writer was trying to say better than they could I’ve decided to simply paste the summary provided with a picture or two. To read the other summaries of other ‘Nuff Said books please click to Marvel.com- Thank you)
Bruce Banner steps inside a roadside diner, turning to wave thanks to a departing semi trailer truck. He’s grubby and road-worn but strong-looking. This is shown as a reflection in the pupil of an eye.
Banner seats himself in a booth by the window with a view of the gravel lot where we can see the big truck departing. The place is redolent with rednecks, jaded locals. Most noticeable is a mother and her YOUNG DAUGHTER in the booth opposite Banner. The little girl’s BIG PUPILS watch Banner with interest.
Banner looks up at the TV over the bar, which shows news images of, wouldn’t you know it, a picture of the little boy named RICKY Meyers being loaded into an ambulance (this is the kid who was reportedly killed by the Hulk).
The waitress (seasoned, mid-forties) comes over, takes his order.
Banner glances at the table next to his booth:
The little girl is being read to by her mother: "JACK AND THE FRIENDLY GIANT." The mother is clearly not from around these parts, passing through, like Banner.
But it’s the little girl who’s most arresting: She doesn’t seem to be hearing a word her mother says.
She just stares blankly at Banner.
Even when he smiles and wiggles his fingers, she stares blankly at him with empty blue eyes.
Zoom in on those eyes for at least a panel, with Banner reflected in them.
Then Banner notices the other books in front of the mother: "THE AUTISTIC CHILD," "THE DREAM WORLD OF AUTISM," "IN A LONELY REALM," stuff like that.
Banner sets up his laptop, types:
MR. BLUE, Arrived. Taylor, Kansas. Request weather report.
He waits for a response. Glances over, notices
. . .
. . . the little autistic girl is staring past Banner at the window.
He turns.
A black sedan is pulling into the lot.
Banner’s laptop reports:
Mr. GREEN, Possible threatening weather headed your vicinity — suggest you revise vacation plans.
Three men in black suits and black sunglasses emerge from the car, as out of place here as snapdragons in a cornfield. They are all white, all more or less the same build: trim but strong. Banner stiffens -- they’re headed for the screen door, one of them accidentally stepping on the tail of the lop-eared mutt as they pass.
Banner eyes them wearily, then scans the diner for an escape route. No back door, but there is a restroom.
The Shade Men seat themselves at a counter about two down from Banner’s, order coffee and nothing else. Two of them have their backs to Banner; one of them faces him. They don’t notice him, don’t pay him any special attention, but there’s tension in the scene.
The TV blares above the counter. They ignore it ... until a report on that renegade Bruce Banner comes up, at which point they all turn their attention to the screen.
That’s it! Banner grabs his bag and laptop, throws some cash onto the counter, and makes for the restroom, acting as nonchalant as possible.
As he passes the Shade Men, the guy nearest the aisle glances up -- we see a close up of his mirrored glasses, Banner’s face reflected in the lenses.
Banner steps into the little restroom, and sees that there is one small, high window, maybe big enough to squeeze through.
Outside in the diner, the Shade Men converse and one of them points to the bathroom. They converse.
One of the Shade Men gets up, walks to the restroom, his hand in his blazer, and steps inside. This is observed by the little autistic girl a few table away.
The Shade Man spots the broken window!
He quickly motions to his companions, who immediately leave the table, quickly if nonchalantly, and follow the leader out the back door of the diner, drawing their own weapons.
Banner is nowhere to be seen. The leader signals the others to scour the area.
Back inside the restroom, Banner steps out of a small storeroom.
He peers through the restroom door at the diner interior.
Banner moves out of the bathroom, doing his best to act nonchalant (maybe a few people glance toward him as he makes his way out the front door).
The little autistic girl’s blue eyes seem to follow him every step of the way.
Banner steps from the screen door, combing the lot. No one. Just the big lop-eared mutt.
Banner takes a carton of discarded food from the dumpster and sets it down for the dog, which scarfs it gratefully.
Banner hesitates at the front steps, scanning the surrounding area carefully. Nothing. No one in sight.
Banner walks casually through the gravel lot, and into the cornfield behind the diner . . .
Banner walking -- looking -- the cornfield coming closer and closer to us, no enemy in sight. . . just a few more yards and he can hide amid the head-tall stalks . . . just keep moving, don’t panic, it’s going to be all right, it’s going to work . . .
He’s made it! We can see a visible sigh of relief on Banner’s face as he moves into the camouflaging stalks.
Banner moves through the cornfield, walking more at ease. He’s safe. He’s okay, he’s -- he glances down at his arm . . .
. . . And sees a small feathered dart sticking into the material.
Banner holds it up curiously, almost not believing what he’s seeing . . . he’s been shot by a goddamn tranquilizer dart!
He looks over his shoulder and sees one of the Shade Men, smiling under his reflector shades.
A black curtain descends over Banner.
Cut to a wide shot of the cornfield. Rows and rows of corn. Pull back to reveal them reflected in the cool blue eyes of the little autistic girl, who is looking out the diner window. It’s as if she can see what’s going on in there.
Cut to a shot of something vague and out of focus. Pull back to show a close-up of Banner’s eye, rolled back in his head.
We are inside the Shade Men’s limo, where Banner lies on the back seat, semi-conscious. The Shade Men are communicating via walkie-talkie with someone. Closer on Banner’s rummy eyes. Dissolve to...
Jagged panel borders to indicate dream sequence – all seen from Banner’s P.O.V.:
Banner is in a weird forest full of tall trees that look strangely like towering stalks of corn, a shadow ahead of him.
He sees the little autistic girl gazing blankly at him with her wide blue eyes, the loppy mutt at her side.
He approaches her, reaching out a hand.
She runs. He chases . . . the corn-trees grow thicker, slapping at his hot face.
Abruptly the corn parts. Banner is at the edge of a beach. There is a shadow on the edge of the surf.
A lovely woman walks from it toward him, smiling. We recognize her as the woman from Banner’s dream sequence in issue #134.
She approaches Banner, stands before him, holds out something dripping in her hands:
Close on her hands, holdikng a ticking metronome . . .
Pull back again to show the metrononome is now in the hands of the little girl. She is pointing down the beach.
A large pilot whale has beached itself, stranded at the edge of the surf.
The little girl goes to the stranded whale, tries to push it back into the water.
She looks at Banner imploringly.
Banner places a hand on the beached giant, tries to help.
Suddenly the giant’s eyes open!
Very close shot of another pair of eyes opening:
Banner’s -- and they have turned bright green!
Pull back from this to show Banner in the back seat of the black sedan, the two Shade Men beside him -- getting the shock of their lives!
Cut outside the car, zooming down the country road as it suddenly begins to veer wildly.
Cut inside for a close shot of the driver, his sunglasses askew, eyes bright with fear as he clutches at the spinning wheel.
Something big in the back seat! Something big and green and pissed-off. (John: I’d suggest you show this through a close up of the rear-view mirror. – Axel)
Cut outside the car . . .
We see one Shade Man, then another go, then another catapulted through the side doors of the car.
Back inside, the poor, terrified driver clings desperately to the wheel, trying to stay on the road and watch the melee in the backseat at the same time.
Abruptly a big green arms reaches over his shoulder and grabs the wheel, yanks it from the steering column. The driver’s eyes go wide as --
-- the sedan hits a tree head-on!
The hulk explodes from the twisted wreck of the car like a living volcano, metal flying skyward. (John, make this shot count -- a nice big shot -- but please obscure the Hulk’s face with twisted wreckage. – Axel)
The Hulk stands
for a moment in the twisted wreckage dripping debris, looking
around -- anyone else want to play? (John, We still can’t
see his face or head. Perhaps shoot from behind? – Axel)
No one seems to. Certainly not the unconscious men in the black suits.
Close on the Hulk’s big green feet, next to which we see a pair of mirrored sunglasses lying amid the debris.
Big green hands reach down to pick up the glasses . . .
. . . we see the Hulk’s reflection, face curious as he sees the bald scalp. He tilts his head, curious. Huh?
Cut to the sun, now low on the horizon.
The vague silhouette of a man appears against it.
Pull back to reveal this scene reflected in the eye of the little autistic girl.
It’s some time later, and she and her mother still sit at their table finishing up. Several patrons have left, replaced by new faces.
The door opens and Bruce Banner walks into the diner, wearing the black suit and reflector shades of one of the men.
He reclaims his booth.
Banner glances over to see the woman at the table next to him getting up, taking the little autistic girl by the hand.
As the mother pulls the little girl from the table, her daughter drops a book.
Banner reaches down and picks up the book: "JACK AND THE FRIENDLY GIANT"
Banner kneels down and hands it to the little girl, who accepts it blank faced, before her mother leads her away.
As mother and daughter are headed toward the door, the little girl hesitates for a moment
. .
. . . turns her head . . .
. . . and smiles.
Banner smiles too.
Then . . . Banner emerges from the diner with his tote bag under blood-red skies.
He turns to the lop-eared mutt with the remains of his plate of fries.
Banner stands at the edge of the highway hitching for a ride in the gathering dusk. Behind him, the fields of corn billow like gold under the dying sun.
End
No Excuses rating: 5 out of 10
Well this is extremely unfortunate timing for Bruce Jones. Not many questions were answered in Bruce Jones' first issue, and then he is forced into an issue where there is no text to explain any further this issue. Clearly something is going on with the transformations into the Hulk, and there must also be something going on with the Hulk's healing factor since the Hulk remains bald. Romita does a pretty good job with this issue. He keeps it visually interesting despite the fact that there is essentially no story happening here. (3 out of 5)