Hulk: Future Imperfect Kindle & comiXology

This volume contains two now classic Hulk stories, both by Peter David. Hulk: Future Imperfect and Hulk: The End. The first one is, plain and simple, one of the greatest Incredible Hulk stories ever written in my humble opinion. Right up there with Planet Hulk, by Greg Pak. It really is the perfect combination of two great talents, Peter David on the writing side and George Perez fueling the artwork. You really couldn't ask for a better story, and there are some panels that could take your breath away. By now, in 2015, the whole dystopian, evil, alternate, future self in comics has been done to death, for pretty much everyone, but that being said it doesn't lessen the impact of this story. The story in question features the Hulk, the incarnation known as the "Professor" that appeared during David's run, (Which is said to be a perfect combination between the three personalities; the Grey and Savage Hulks, plus Bruce Banner) being transported one hundred years into the future, where the evil Maestro rules with an iron clad, emerald hand. As the cover of the volume should tell you, the Maestro is really the Hulk one hundred years into the future, ruling as a dictator. The majority of humanity and all other superpowered beings were wiped out a century prior by nuclear bombs. Of course, nuclear fallout would reak havoc on the world and everything on it, except the Hulk, who only grew stronger. This allowed him to easily take over and craft a world of his choosing.Both David and Perez pull their share of the weight in creating this future world, with the dialogue adding just as much as the art does. Furthermore, Hulk is finally pitted against someone who he can't just beat down while yelling "Hulk is strongest there is!" Because the Maestro is the Hulk, but is also stronger than the Hulk. He therefore knocks his younger self around like a ragdoll when they meet. This really leads to a satisfying conclusion, as Maestroy is defeated not through an act of strength, but through an act of cunning. And even then, he himself outsmarts and predicts the actions of the younger Hulk many times before this. And both tie back into the whole "Professor" Hulk that David created, which is a being with incredible strength, but also the genius of Bruce Banner, perhaps creating one of the most perfect lifeforms imaginable. This story comes with my highest recommendation, especially when there's another solid story to be read right after it.Hulk The End is a part of Marvel's "The End" line of comics, where they create a story about a hero or group of heroes, set in the future and showing a possible "End" or conclusion to the character's history. Fantastic 4 got one, Spider-Girl got one, the X-Men got one, Wolverine got one, etc. For anyone interested, I can personally say that i've checked out the Wolverine and X-Men minis for this line and both are decent. What you need to understand is that many concepts within the works may clash with or outright contradict later developments in the characters histories, but just keep in mind that many elements that existed to certain characters (Wolverine especially) didn't exist at the time these stories were written. Check them out though if you ever find the time.Back to the Hulk however, his personal "End' features him as the last surviving being on Earth after a , you guessed it, nuclear war. Actually a series of wars from the way Bruce Banner describes it. The only other living things are an endless number of mutated roaches. This is a very somber and thought driven story. There is very little in the way of physical conflict. This makes sense as there's really no one else for Hulk to fight, save the roaches, which we only see once. It's short, bitter, yet realistic. It gives one possible interpretation of the relationship between Bruce and Hulk, where even at the end of the world, when everyone and everything else is dead, they still can't come to an agreement with each other. Bruce at least is able to do this by the story's end, pleading with the Hulk to let everything, all the pain and anger go, so that the two of them will be able to enter the next world, paradise, together. The Hulk refuses however, showing his usual stubborness, which no longer serves any purpose. This truly leads to the Hulk being, as he's always wanted, alone. Though he also seems to realize that being well and truly alone might not be the best thing either.Overall, Future Imperfect is leagues better than The End, but you get both for a fair price, so go with this collection. Both stories are well written and can definitely make you think, not only about the characters, but about what constitutes human nature and if we really are doomed to kill each other off.