Incredible Hulk vol. 3 #53Incredible Hulk vol. 3 #53
Title: “Dark Minds, Dark Hearts part 4: Enemy Mine”
Writer: Bruce Jones
Penciller: Mike Deodato Jr.
Inker: Mike Deodato Jr.
Colors: Studio F
Editor: Alex Alonso
S-2 stands out on the broken down catwalk at the secret government facility. He tells Abomination that this is his day of liberation. He says that once he is free that Abomination will head to the town of Entropy. He says that it is eight clicks north-northwest of there. He says that Abomination should head there as soon as possible and that his wife will meet him there at 1200 hours with Bruce Banner. He reminds Emil that they want Hulk, not Banner. He says that when the Hulk is delivered they will release the detonator to Emil and remove the dart. He says, “Go get your wife, Emil Blonsky… and kill that bastard, Banner!”
Home Base says, “… and kill that bastard Blonsky…”. He says that this is the moment of her revenge. He says that her husband awaits her in Entropy, which is north-northwest of her café. He tells her to be there at exactly 1200 hours and to bring Dr. Banner.
S-2 says that they are all in agreement. He
asks if S-3 has anything to add. S-3 holds up a gun towards S-2
and says, “Just this.” He asks what she is doing. She
says that it is nothing personal, but that she won’t really
miss him. S-2 asks if he is being pasteurized. S-3 says that this
is her own agenda. S-2 throws the detonator at S-3 and hits the
gun so it shoots wide. He tackles her and bangs the hand holding
the gun into the controls that frees Abomination. S-2 is about to
hit S-3 when 
Abomination
rises above the catwalk. He hits the catwalk to the floor. S-2
and S-3 are unconscious as Emil walks out of the hole in the
wall.
At the café, Nadia lies in bed awake next to Bruce. Bruce wakes up and says that he slept like the dead. He asks what is in her Chinese gunpowder. She says that it is just tea. Bruce asks if everything is okay. Nadia says, “Dandy. I’ll start the eggs…” At the table, Bruce is saying that maybe it is time for him to move on. Nadia says, “… they’re from my husband.” Bruce asks what she means. Nadia says that her scars are from her husband. She says that there are laws against abusing your wife in this country, but that there wasn’t in Russia. Bruce still doesn’t get it. Nadia says that she works for the people that are after Bruce.
A little girl tells her father that Beulah, her teddy bear, says that it is going to rain. The father, who is building a fence, asks how Beulah knows that. The girl says that Beulah hears thunder. The girl says that it is going to be a terrible storm. The father actually hears what he thinks is thunder as the Abomination stomps closer and closer to them. The father and daughter turn to see the Abomination coming at them.
Nadia says, “My real name is Nadia Blonsky. Blonsky as in Emil. As in the Abomination.” She says that she came to America two years ago looking for revenge against her husband for the beatings and the scars. She says that the organization that is after Bruce promised Emil to them on a platter in exchange for Bruce. She says that it will happen at Entropy, two hours from now. She says that it has all been arranged. Bruce says, “Except for this part.” Nadia agrees. Bruce asks her why she is telling him this now.
Abomination walks away from the destroyed building. Beulah lies among the wreckage.
Nadia says that the first time Emil hit her that she fought back. She says that he beat her every night for five weeks after. She says that Emil was an important man in Russia and that divorce wasn’t easy in those days. Nadia tells Bruce about how the Hulk confronted her outside the shack. Bruce says that he must have been from the drugs causing him to sleepwalk. Bruce asks if Hulk hurt her. Nadia says that he picked her up. She says that she was terrified just the way she was when Emil would hit her. She says that in terror she hit Hulk. Nadia says that she was sure he would crush her, but that he didn’t. She says that she could see Bruce in his eyes hidden there. She says that it was at that moment that she knew that she couldn’t betray him. She says that the memory of his eyes would haunt her for the rest of her life. Bruce says that they can still get in her car and drive away. Nadia says that she can’t. She says that it would be betraying herself. She says that Emil is going to pay for what he did to her. Bruce tells Nadia that she can’t kill the Abomination. He says that he isn’t even sure that the Hulk could do it. Nadia says not to worry about her, but that Bruce is going to stay there. Bruce says, “The hell I am!” Nadia says that he is and Bruce falls to the floor drugged yet again. Nadia walks to the door and says that it is better this way. She says that he can be as angry with her as he wants when she is gone with her own demons.
Abomination trashes the town of Entropy.
Bruce fights the drug with the Hulk’s strength. He focuses and sees the metronome. He sees the woman in the bikini at the beach and walks towards her. He crawls to a blue truck and gets in. He hotwires the truck.
Abomination screams over and over for Nadia. Nadia appears behind Emil and says, “I’m right here, Emil.” Abomination says that she has been a very bad girl in her loving husband’s absence. He says that he is prepared to forgive her and take her back after she has been disciplined. Nadia says that she knows all about Emil’s friends and the secret organization’s desire for the Hulk’s blood. She knows that he has been promised a reward, but that they made promises to her too for bringing Banner there. Nadia says that Banner couldn’t make it, but that she brought along the detonator for the dart in his neck.
Bruce’s truck has run out of gas. He looks and sees the beginning of Abomination’s destruction. Bruce gets out of the truck. He takes off his shoes, belt, and shirt. He holds his oversized pants in one hand and starts walking towards Entropy.
Nadia says that
this is to years of searching for him, to the unending nights of
abuse, and to seeing him in Hell. Nadia pushes the button.
Abomination smiles and looks down at Nadia. He says,
“Here’s to trusting strangers!” Emil says that
they lied and gave her a dud. Emil starts laughing when Hulk
says, “Hey, Emil… pick on someone your own size.”
No Excuses rating: 2 out of 10
It is now completely clear to me that Bruce Jones and Alex Alonso know NOTHING about the Hulk and that while these characters might bear a physical resemblance to the real characters that the similarities end there. Bruce Jones’ Bruce Banner is apparently so stupid that he never recognized the Abomination’s wife despite the fact that he has seen her on several occasions, live and recordings of her. We know that the people Nadia acted with in New York were great make-up artists to hide the scars that run across her face. We know that Abomination apparently pined away for his wife for the last DECADE because he just missed punching her. And we know that he was sniffing glue that night in #384 when he didn’t let Nadia know that he was Emil because he didn’t want her thinking of him as a monster. Maybe he forgot he abused her and that she already saw him as a monster. OR maybe Bruce Jones just sucks. I think I’m going with the latter. 0 out of 5 for writing. Apologies to Deodato for the low score, but this issue was so poor that I couldn’t even enjoy his pencils. Do you want to know the worst part? This garbage is selling like diamonds at a rich chick’s convention. They’ve turned the Hulk into the X-Men, complete with lack of detail to script and continuity. The movie comes out shortly. This should be one of the greatest times in Hulk fans history and I think I might cry.