Incredible Hulk vol. 3 #59Incredible Hulk vol. 3 #59
Title: “Hide in Plain Sight”
Writer: Bruce Jones
Penciller: Leandro Fernandez
Inker: Leandro Fernandez
Colors: Steve Buccellato
Editor: Alex Alonso
Outside the cemetery, Creel says that facility with his body is below. Creel says that Bruce is going to break through the shield and retrieve his body for him. Bruce says that he means what the Hulk is going to do for him. Bruce asks why Creel didn’t just inhabit Johnson’s mind and free himself. Creel asks Banner how many failsafes he would put in if he were keeping him prisoner. They climb over the cemetery fence. Bruce asks how he is supposed to get through the shield. Creel says that his sessions inside Zhan’s mind have taught him that the shield is weak at the top where the protons collide. He says that it is soft like a newborn’s head. Creel tells Banner to go ahead. Banner says that he can’t just turn the Hulk on and off like a faucet, and that once he comes out there is no assurance that he will go back. Creel says that they all have their burdens to bear. Bruce asks why Creel doesn’t just invade his mind and bring out the Hulk himself. Creel says that Bruce is being modest and that the last time he tried that Banner proved to be a most formidable mind-foil. Creel says that he is only requesting a simple errand. He says that once he is back in his body that he won’t bother Bruce or Pam again. Pam tells Bruce that he can’t do this. She says that she knows he is a good man and that he has a back up plan. She tells him to use it. The fat little girl says that he would very much like to hear Banner’s plan. Banner is silent. Creel says that it is just as he thought and that Banner has no plan at all. Bruce says that Creel wins, but that Pam goes free. Bruce says that he has one stipulation: they leave the Hulk out of it. Bruce rips off the cross from one of the headstones. He starts digging until he comes to a two foot thick concrete ceiling.
Inside the prison the alarm is going off.
Zhan and his guard hear the alarm. Bruce comes crashing through
the ceiling onto Creel’s plasma prison. The guard opens the
door to Zhan’s cell to see what is happening outside.
Johnson says that it is the general alarm and to keep Zhan
inside. The guard turns back and Zhan hits him with a statue. The
guards are firing at the shield. Johnson tells him to stop and
that they can’t penetrate it. Bruce if lifting Creel’s
body. Creel compliments Bruce and tells him to hand up the body.
Bruce starts punching Creel’s body and Bruce says that he is
going to soften it up. Creel says that he will kill it. Bruce
says that he is just waking it up. Johnson deactivates the
shield. Creel, back in his own body at last, punches Banner into
one of the guards. Creel says that is more like it. Hulk punches
Creel, but Creel hits back and knocks Hulk through the wall.
Creel absorbs everything in the room. 
Now giant in
size, Creel asks if his butt look big in this.
The fat little girl asks where her mother is. Pam says that it is okay and that she won’t let anything hurt her. Creel and Hulk come blasting up through the ground.
Johnson calls out to Zhan. He holds Zhan and says that the shield is destroyed. He says that he should have listened to him. Zhan says that there is only one way to defeat Creel. Zhan points to his head and dies. Johnson asks what Zhan is trying to tell him.
Creel tells Hulk to admit that he is just second rate now. Creel picks up a mausoleum and throws it at Hulk. Creel laughs as Hulk looks and sees Pam and the fat little kid hiding behind a tombstone. Creel hits Hulk again. Creel asks Hulk if he knows what happens when you combine the nitrogen from decaying bodies with the energy absorbed from the facility. Creel says that it is a real gas and electrocutes Hulk. Hulk hits the ground and Pam and the fat girl fall into a hole.
Pam and the fat kid walk over to Johnson and the dying Zhan. Johnson introduces himself and says that Zhan is dead. He says that he is dead because of his stupidity and jealously. Johnson says that he was jealous of Zhan’s genius. Johnson says that Zhan was trying to tell him something at the end, but that he didn’t catch it. Johnson says that he thinks Zhan was trying to tell him to lure Creel there, but that the plasma shields are useless without a control console. He wonders what Zhan was trying to tell him.
Creel tells Hulk
that he is looking tired. Creel hits Hulk again.
Johnson says that Zhan told him to “bring him’ and then touched his temple. Pam realizes what Zhan meant and says, “Of course! Hurry! We haven’t a second to spare!”
Creel is holding Hulk and says that it is time to call it a night. He slams Hulk into the ground. Creel hits Hulk again on the ground and then turns his attention to Pam and the others. He says that it has been a long time since he has been with a woman and asks Pam if she wants to participate. Pam says that the only thing she wants to participate in is Creel’s death. Creel says that he just defeated the Hulk and that he rules. He says that no one can stop him. Pam asks Creel if he thinks a man of Zhan’s genius wouldn’t have back-up shields. Hulk looks over at them. Creel says that she is bluffing and that he will grind them all into powder. Pam tells him to go ahead, but that only Zhan knows how to navigate the maze of shields surrounding the facility. Creel asks if that is a fact. He ties up Pam and Johnson in a piece of steel. Creel says that he doesn’t want anyone messing with his body while he is out.
Creel enters Zhan’s mind only to find that he is dead. Creel’s body starts decaying instantly. Bruce says that Creel is a prisoner again, but this time of decaying flesh. Johnson, Pam, the fat kid, and Banner walk out of the cemetery gates. Johnson says that it is time he was back among the living. He asks Banner what he is going to do. Bruce says that he doesn’t know. Johnson says that he will keep Banner’s secret and they shake hands. Bruce asks how he can find the words to tell Pam what he is thinking. Pam tells him not to and tells him to just move fast so they don’t find him. Johnson wonders where he will go and says that he can’t go back to New York. Pam says that she lives in New York and that some say it is the best place to go to remain invisible.
In distant Asia, a man and woman are having a fight about if the woman’s baby is really the man’s. He says that she doesn’t look like him or her. He says that it is something about the eyes. The woman tells him not to insult his son. She says that he has beautiful intelligent eyes. The baby’s eyes are glowing.
No Excuses rating: 0 out of 10
Well this issue, plus the previous four condensed into one issue is all this “arc” needed to be. At least it would have only been boring instead of long and boring. I don’t get why Creel needed Hulk at all. Banner seems to dig into the prison in about fifteen seconds, and since Creel knew where the weak spot is I’m wondering why he didn’t just absorb the properties of his chair or the floor and just break up out of the prison. Creel even had the shields down and then re-installed them himself! All those “failsafes” seemed to have failed. Creel beats up the Hulk and then loses when tricked into going into a dead guy. So what? I’m not sure why this mattered at all, and explained to an even lesser degree is how Creel became an Asian baby. Could someone come along and explain that this was a mentalist disguised as Creel instead of being the actual Absorbing Man. Jones is systematically destroying every character important to the Hulk mythos. Oh man has it been along time since Creel had a woman… oh wait. He’s married to a giant red head with long legs and the body equivalent to the She-Hulk… maybe Bruce Jones forgot that along with everything else. This is smoke and mirrors people and you’re eating it up with a ladle-sized spoon!
Review and pictures by The Leader