Warning: spoilers for Immortal Hulk: Flatline #1!
Bruce Banner and the puny Banner” either. This dynamic has led to a lot of inner conflict and self-loathing between the two, giving writers a great platform to explore the topic of mental health.
Banner’s dark experiences with the Hulk are not exclusive to the comics. In 2012’s gamma-irradiated physicist revealed that, during a low point, he tried to take his own life to get rid of the monster inside. As the rest of the team falls silent from this shocking revelation, Banner - played by Mark Ruffalo - goes on to say, “I put a bullet in my mouth… and the other guy spit it out.” Although fans never actually see this take place, the mere mention of such an event shows just how much the scientist struggles with his second identity. Now, a new one-shot story reveals the Hulk’s response.
Declan Shalvey’s Immortal Hulk: Flatline #1 sees Bruce Banner working as a dish boy in a New Mexico pub when he gets an unexpected visit from a former professor and mentor, Noreen Noolan. The two sit down to talk, and Noolan starts pressing her former student about how he’s been ever since he became the Hulk, because she can tell he’s not well. Banner ends up deflecting and eventually bolts out of the restaurant, knowing that the Hulk is about to emerge. Once Banner transforms, Noolan tries to continue her discussion with the Hulk, but he isn’t too interested, dismissively telling her that Banner never listens to him. In order to get through to the Jade Giant, Noolan shows off her own telekinetic powers, which she gained after being exposed to the same gamma radiation as the Avenger.
As Noolan tears the Immortal Hulk apart, he flashes back to a range of times when he's woken only to find himself at the site of Bruce Banner's most recent suicide. The s are pretty heartbreaking, showing that Banner has drowned himself, hanged himself, and even thrown himself from a cliff. One even shows the familiar image of Hulk spitting out a bullet. A complementary series of s, however, show that the Hulk gets payback for these actions, making Banner wake up in random, inconvenient places, like a rooftop, a tree, and the top of a billboard. Luckily, Noolan’s words seem to get through to the Hulk, as the giant rage monster tries to tell Banner, “I know what you’re doing. You’re not alone. I’m always here.” With that, Bruce wakes up at a hospital to find that Noolan is dying of gamma poisoning, but as his mentor es, he seems to finally accept the Hulk, ending the issue on a hopeful note.
Banner is lucky that Noolan searched him out to give one final lesson, because without her help, it seems that Bruce and the Hulk would have continued on in an endless cycle of self-hatred that only made each of them worse. Neither of the hero’s identities were willing to look at things from the other’s perspective, leaving the Hulk to get enraged by Banner’s hatred, and leaving Banner to get upset at the Hulk for denying him any chance at a normal life. The solemn and serious story is a good reminder that everybody needs someone they can turn to, especially if they are having issues with depression or thoughts of suicide. For anyone experiencing these kinds of thoughts, talking to loved ones and calling the Suicide Prevention Lifeline are strongly encouraged.
