Hulk: Gray (Comics) | Review

Most Hulk stories are about destruction. Hulk: Gray is about something far more painful: the moment Bruce Banner lost everything that made him human. It's not about rage unleashed. It's about the terrifying realization that you can't go back to who you were.

Writer Jeph Loeb (Catwoman: When in Rome, Fallen Son: Death of Captain America) and artist Tim Sale (Batman: Dark Victory, Batman: The Long Halloween) close out their acclaimed color series by stripping away decades of green rage to find the frightened man beneath, delivering their darkest and most deeply introspective work.

What separates Gray from typical origin retellings is its refusal to celebrate the monster. Instead, it mourns the man. Bruce Banner sits in therapy years after the gamma bomb, recounting those first days when he realized the creature inside him wasn't going away.

The framing device anchors everything. Bruce Banner undergoes therapy, talking through his transformation and those initial days as the Hulk with Doc Samson. The setup immediately establishes that this isn't about heroics or adventure. It's a trauma survivor trying to make sense of the catastrophe that destroyed his life.

We flash back to the gamma bomb test that changed everything. Bruce saves Rick Jones from the blast but absorbs the radiation himself. What follows isn't the power fantasy you'd expect. It's a nightmare of losing control, waking in strange places, realizing the monster is him.

The Hulk is gray in these early appearances, visually representing how undefined and unstable Bruce's condition remains. Here's what Loeb captures beautifully: the crushing isolation. Bruce can't tell anyone what's happening. He can't ask for help from those closest to him. The transformation forces him into complete solitude.

General Ross is hunting the Hulk while his daughter Betty tries to understand why Bruce keeps pushing her away. The love story between Bruce and Betty becomes the emotional anchor, made devastating because we know Bruce's condition will poison every relationship he has.

The connection to Marvel's color series is obvious. Like Spider-Man: Blue and Daredevil: Yellow, Gray uses a hero reflecting on lost love as narrative engine. But where those stories dealt with death and distance, Gray tackles something bleaker: Bruce is alive, still with Betty but gamma radiation created an unbridgeable gap between them.

He's trapped in a relationship he can't fully participate in because the monster is always there, always waiting. What makes Gray essential reading is how it re-contextualizes the Hulk's rage. This isn't just anger. It's Bruce's repressed emotions given physical form.

Every time he transforms, we see pieces of Bruce's psyche that he can't acknowledge: his resentment toward Ross, his fear of hurting Betty, his self-loathing over what he's become. Hulk smashes because Bruce can't express what he's feeling any other way. The monster becomes the outlet for everything the scientist has to repress.

The therapy sessions punctuate the flashbacks, reminding us Bruce is processing this years later. Doc Samson's questions force Bruce to confront truths: Did he want the monster? Does the Hulk represent freedom from his repressed existence? Gray doesn't provide answers.

Supporting characters get meaningful development. Betty isn't the love interest waiting to be rescued. She's someone trying to connect with Bruce while he destroys any chance of intimacy. Rick Jones carries survivor's guilt. General Ross embodies the militaristic mindset that created this disaster, seeing the Hulk only as a weapon.

One moment encapsulates the entire story: Bruce and Betty are on a date, trying desperately to have one normal evening. You can feel Bruce's anxiety in every panel. When Betty reaches for his hand, the simple touch becomes loaded with impossible tension.

The gray Hulk design is crucial and deeply unsettling. Unlike the green Hulk who would become iconic, this version feels incomplete and fundamentally wrong. He's not fully formed yet, representing Bruce's fractured mental state. The visual choice reinforces that we're watching something broken trying desperately to understand itself.

Tim Sale's artwork elevates Gray into something haunting. His style thrives on shadow and negative space, perfect for a story about a man disappearing into his own monster. The gray Hulk looks truly unsettling in Sale's hands, a creature caught between human and beast.

Sale's panel work uses perspective to make Bruce feel small and trapped. When the Hulk emerges, layouts become chaotic and disorienting, mirroring loss of control. Betty gets careful attention, expressive without being oversexualized. The way Sale draws her searching for the man she loves breaks your heart without dialogue.

Loeb's writing finds humanity in what could've been a monster rampage story. His dialogue feels natural in therapy sequences where Bruce struggles to articulate feelings. The pacing allows scenes to breathe. Gray sits with Bruce's confusion so we understand what he's losing.

Loeb also captures the tragedy of Betty and Bruce's relationship without melodrama. Their conversations feel real, two people who love each other but can't bridge the gap his condition has created. There's no villain keeping them apart, just the cruel reality that Bruce has become someone who can't allow himself to be loved.

Hulk: Gray is mandatory reading for anyone who thinks the Hulk is just smashing. Loeb and Sale crafted a story that honors the character's origin while adding psychological depth rarely seen in superhero comics. This is trauma narrativized, a man watching himself become the monster.

The therapy framing device works brilliantly, making this feel less like a superhero story and more like watching someone process PTSD in real time. Bruce's sessions with Doc Samson give the flashbacks weight and context, reminding us that even years later, he's still trying to understand what happened in that desert that day.

What makes Gray special is how it tackles ongoing trauma rather than lost love. Bruce hasn't lost Betty like Peter lost Gwen or Matt lost Karen. She's still there trying, which makes it worse. The monster prevents Bruce from accepting the one thing that might save him.

The ending doesn't offer resolution because there isn't any. Bruce is still the Hulk. He's trapped. That refusal to provide false comfort makes Gray resonate after you finish reading. Some transformations can't be undone and sometimes the monster wins not by destroying everything but by making sure you can never be whole.

Hulk: Gray is available in both trade paperback and hardcover editions at local comic-book shops, major bookstores and various online retailers. For digital readers, it's accessible on Amazon Kindle, ComiXology and Marvel Unlimited platforms.