Boy, I love great villains. There is nothing better then an emotional driven plot with complex characters and themes. If you've read my last blog entry, then you know I love the Abomination. Everything about him painted him as the perfect rival for the Hulk. The ending of issue 25 was an excellent way to end it while still leaving open the possibility for a return.

At some point writer Bruce Jones took over for Vol 3 of the Incredible Hulk. He presented a seemingly darker version of the character with plot lines to match. But does that make for a good story? Well that all depends on how well you handle the material. How true to the source you stay. That brings us to issues 50 through 54. Dark Minds, Dark Hearts. What was meant to be a revival of Hulk's rivalry with Abomination. The Ang Lee film was near its release date, the timing couldn't have been better. The hype was real. But what we got was something that would cause a damaging echo for years.

Lets dive deep into how this story nearly turned a great villain into a mediocre one.

At some point in time, a sinister and secret organization (hell-bent on capturing the Hulk) sends two agents to the facility the Abomination is locked up in. Using toxic gases, everyone there drops like a sack of bricks, allowing the duo to advance deeper into the compound, where they find the Abomination, still locked away, with the monitors still playing the loop of his passionate hug ad kiss with his wife. At first he appears unresponsive; however, once they blow a dart into his neck, his eyes open.

The two agents promise Blonsky that if he agrees to aid them in capturing the Hulk, he gets his freedom. But despite the proposal, Abomination remains silent. They begin to go over his history with the Hulk, and their numerous fights. They start to discuss their plans and ask once again if he will aid them. A moment passes and Emil begins to chuckle. Hysteric laughter fills the room as the building begins to quake. Terrified, the two agents flee the building.

Meanwhile, Bruce arrives at a cafe that also doubles as a supply store, a few miles away from where Blonsky is being kept. Once inside he meets a nice lady who works there, seemingly alone. He strikes up a conversation with her; however, a group of roughnecks show up and start causing trouble. Bruce gets into an altercation with the group of trouble makers as he attempts to stop them from causing the shop keeper harm. Tapping into his power, Bruce deals with the problem, without transforming, and goes Terminator 2 on their ass.

Grateful, the young lady offers a place for Bruce to sleep for the night. She leads him into a dilapidated shack nearby. That's when we get a peculiar name drop.

Hmm...

So, late at night it starts pouring rain, and the shack begins to flood. Nadia comes to take Bruce inside and both have a little talk about life. Nadia kind of suddenly seduces Bruce and the two have sex. Afterword Bruce asks her about a scar she has on the side of her face but all she gives him is a cryptic response.

The two agents from earlier return to Blonsky, who is once again as silent as the grave. One of the agents begins to play a recording of events taken earlier that day. It is Banner arriving at the cafe, and him meeting Nadia. That's when the agent says something unusual.

Now when first reading this I chose to ignore what she was saying, as she is just trying to manipulate Blonsky. Not necessarily the fact that this is his wife, but everything else. She has been in America for a while now and believes Emil to be dead. She wouldn't know anything about him being alive, let alone being transformed and locked away. This is only issue 50, the beginning of the story arc, maybe things will be explained later? Lets continue.

So in the footage, they show him that Nadia and Banner have made love. The agent begins to sarcastically mock Abomination and as expected, he goes berserk. The next day, Bruce wakes up to some breakfast and takes a shower with Nadia. Bruce suddenly collapses as it is revealed that Nadia has drugged him. She then drags him back to the bedroom and lays him on the bed. She also whips out a laptop and begins to speak with the head of the organization. Apparently they have made a deal that if she helps them capture Banner, she will be reunited with her husband.

At this point I was thinking that these guys possibly found Nadia and told her about her husband and now, out of a need to see him again, is working with them. I could believe that. So what happens next.

Well, aside from the agents going over the plan with Blonsky again, Bruce begins to wake back up and she makes up some crap about him slipping on a bar of soup. She tells him to stay where he is while she heads out to the store to find some aspirin. While inside the place starts to rumble and and once she exits, she is face to face with the Hulk. That's when we get some odd visuals of Hulk sniffing her breasts, but there is another odd one too.

Wasn't sure what to make of that, but anyway that slap to the face causes Bruce to snap out of it, and he regains control. He awakens with hardly any recollection of what has happened and Nadia helps him back inside. Bruce asks her again about her scars. That's when we get another odd visual and cryptic response.

At this point I was starting to get worried. The implications. Before then, the story was just a bit odd and kind of boring at times. The story doesn't seem to go anywhere, with these characters. Most of the time it follows a man who uncovers certain secrets about the organization, but that goes nowhere in this story arc.

Anyway, Bruce takes a gamble and reveals himself to be the Hulk and that a secret organization is hunting him down. That they have played the world against him, turning him into a fugitive. Nadia is inquisitive while also acting nonchalant.

Meanwhile, The two agents once again discuss their plans with Abomination. I feel like this story is just beating a dead horse here. They have gone over this four times already, though something different and kind of out of nowhere happens. Once they wrap up discussing the plan, Not-Michelle Rodriguez decides to turn on her partner and attempts to kill him for reasons and points a gun at him; however, he fights back. The struggle causes Emil's shackles to come loose and he drops the both of them like bad habit and leaves.

Bruce just wakes up from sleep, while Nadia got none, spending the night staring at the ceiling, after trying to get some answers from her employer. Nadia and Bruce eat breakfast again. Bruce begins to think that he may have stayed for too long as he is being hunted, and doesn't want Nadia to be put in danger. He suggest that after they are finished eating, he should be on his way. Nadia then begins to confess a lot, telling Bruce that the scars are from her husband. That she works for the organization, and more

What!?...Okay, Whoa Whoa Whoa

Back The F*ck Up!

None of this makes any sense. Nadia has been in America for a long time now and has believed her husband dead. And even more than this Nadia and Emil loved each other greatly. Emil cherished his wife and admired her.

All he ever wanted was to be in her arms again. This was all meant to be a parallel of Hulks relationship with Betty. That was the whole point of Issues 383 and 384 of Vol 2. To show that they are so much more alike than they thought. This was the driving force behind Emil's actions. Because of love, he rescued her from the chaos in the streets. Because of love, tries to convince her to stay with him. Because of love, he lets her go when he realizes that this life will only cause her harm. It is the acceptance of this that puts him at peace. But it was Hulk's sense of self righteousness that took it all away. He was so heartbroken over everything he had lost, from being unable to be with his soulmate to the slaughter of his homeless friends, that he became the very thing he didn't want Nadia to see. A monster. He hated himself seemingly more so than he hated the Hulk.

In fact I'd like you to read something. Read these pages.

Now ask yourself, Does that sound like the kind of person who would do this?

Or This?

This story has a complete lack of knowledge and understanding of what makes the characters it is using, who they are. The spirit is gone. Its been replaced with something else. Something foreign. I feel like the theme that Bruce Jones was going for was that Emil's outward appearance reflects who he is on the inside. That he really is a monster, while Bruce/Hulk is not. Thing is, he ditched nearly every aspect of the character and his history to make this happen. But if that is the case, then why keep this?

The whole reason why he was forced to watch that recording was because he loved Nadia more than anything. This was meant to be a form of torture for murdering Betty Ross. It also showed just how low Bruce had fallen. But now what meaning does it have? If there is no love between Emil and Nadia. Then what was the point? Is the torture that he cant go home to pummel his wife some more?

The complexity of the character is now gone.

The story itself is not even that good as it goes nowhere for a long time. This story is five issues long, and the only thing I can say that keeps it “interesting” is the subplot of who Not-Michelle is. Otherwise all the story is, is the two agents going over the plan numerous times with Abomination, Nadia and Bruce banging a lot, eating breakfast, and Nadia second guessing herself. All in the same to locations, only going somewhere else with the subplot mentioned, and that also goes nowhere in this story. Bruce Jones is known for plot twist, but there are so many in here that it stops being surprising and starts being annoying. The only thing I truly enjoy about this arc is the art by Mike Deodato Jr.

He knows how to make a comic feel cinematic. Some parts felt especially haunting because of his illustrations, but that is not enough to save this story.

I suppose there is some good news though. Legendary writer Peter David would return to retcon much of Vol 3 with a story called Tempest Fugit. Near the end of this arc it is revealed that many of the past events within Hulks life (primarily those written by Bruce Jones) would be discovered to be a dream state brought about by the villain Nightmare in an effort to torture the Hulk.

So none of this actually happened.

Well that's great... but the damage had already been done.

Abomination faded into obscurity. Many readers barely know of him and his story of love and loss. For so long, Abomination was absent from stories that he really should have taken part in. Several years ago, infamous writer Jeph Loeb killed off the character to make way for a new and rather uninspired antagonist. It wasn't until recently, that he would return after being brought to life to face off with the Hulk again; however, this time he was a mindless monster.

The emotional weight of everything these two have perpetrated against each other is missing from this battle. As epic as the action was, it just wasn't the same. I feel like because of this, he then faded back into obscurity. The Hulk has moved onto other things, such as dying and recently coming back himself. Imagine a story in which Emil where to learn of Banners death. Imagine if he himself were on the run. So many people are unaware of his tragic life. So many still think Emil beat Nadia, even trying to combine both versions of him saying something along the lines of him “loving his wife, but occasionally hitting her in fits of rage”. I implore you, do not believe any of that. Do not breathe life back into Dark Minds, Dark Hearts. That story arc is dead, as it should remain.

Emil is a character worthy of recognition. He is worthy of his own stories. Only time will tell if we will ever see him again in his former glory.

Thanks for reading

In the Nate Grey series there was an underground community led by Abom, IIRC.

@adamtrmm: Why yes there was. Before that, he showed up in Ghost Rider, as a brief enemy turned ally. Marvel was on to something with this character. I can only hope someone reignites the fire.

@warlordeternal:

Marvel comics are absolute worst right now so I think you should put your faith in better things lol

@adamtrmm: Indeed. They have fallen off the horse and there is no telling when they'll get back on.

Still my favorite Marvel character. Hope he gets back on his track.

@foxerdes: Me too.