Infernal Hulk Reading Order: Where to Start and What to Read First

There is now a Hulk who is no longer Hulk. Since November 2025, Infernal Hulk has told the story of what happens when the green monster is emptied of Bruce Banner and occupied by something else, and the series only makes sense through the thirty issues that come before it. This reading order tells you what to read, in what sequence, and what you can leave aside.

As always in this guide, we only state verified information (creators, issue numbers, dates); the analysis is our own, with no reproduction of protected art or dialogue.

What to read first

The question comes up in every comic shop: do you need to read Immortal Hulk before you start? That series by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett runs fifty issues, published from August 2018 to December 2021, and it established a horror Hulk that Phillip Kennedy Johnson openly acknowledges. When his own Incredible Hulk launched, he cited Ewing and Bennett's work as a major influence, while saying he was going back to Stan Lee's roots: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll. So you do not have to reread all fifty issues to follow what comes next. If you want to read them anyway, our Immortal Hulk reading order breaks them down by arc.

Between the two, a short series bridges the gap: Hulk (2021) by Donny Cates and Ryan Ottley, fourteen issues published from 2022 to April 2023. It is optional. Johnson and Klein's series starts from a situation clear enough that you can open it without that run: a Hulk trying to take permanent control of Banner's body, and an immortal adversary preparing to unleash the monsters of the Marvel universe. That is the launch hook announced by the publisher, and it stands on its own.

For readers coming to the character through this door, the longer lineage is covered in our Peter David Hulk reading order, which shows where the ambiguity between Banner and his alter ego comes from. None of this is mandatory. A reader who knows that Banner becomes Hulk when he gets angry, and that the monster can think for itself, is ready.

Step 1: Incredible Hulk Annual #1 and #1 to #5, Age of Monsters (2023)

The optional entry point is Hulk Annual (2023) #1, released May 17, 2023: the main story is by David Pepose and Caio Majado, and the single issue contains a short preview of the upcoming series by Johnson and Travel Foreman. The real starting point is Incredible Hulk #1, on sale June 21, 2023: Johnson writing, Klein on pencils, Wilson on colors.

This first arc, Age of Monsters, collects issues 1 to 5 and the Annual. Klein draws the first three issues; Travel Foreman takes over for #4, where Man-Thing appears, and #5 also contains a backup story featuring Power Man by Vita Ayala and Alitha E. Martinez. The engine is set up right away: an immortal entity, later identified as Eldest, turns Marvel's monsters against Banner in order to free their creator, the Mother of Horrors. Remember those two names, because they come back all the way to the last issue of Infernal Hulk.

Step 2: Incredible Hulk #6 to #14, with Giant-Size Hulk #1 (2023-2024)

Issues 6 to 8 feature a World War II Ghost Rider, whose cameo already slips into the first issue, before an interlude handled by Danny Earls for issues 9 to 11. This stretch corresponds to the second trade paperback, War Devils (#6 to #11, plus material from War Is Hell #1 from 2019). It is a more war-driven moment of adventure that changes the setting without abandoning the monster mythology.

Giant-Size Hulk (2024) #1 slots in between #11 and #12. Written by Johnson with Andrea Broccardo on art, it offers an adventure aboard a train and reprints Incredible Hulk #372 by Peter David and Dale Keown, a direct nod to David's era. Then come issues 12 to 14, the last of which contains a companion chapter to Deadpool/Wolverine: Weapon X-Traction.

The last milestone of this step is Hulk: Blood Hunt #1, by Johnson and Danny Earls, which ties into the 2024 Blood Hunt event. Read it after #14 and before #15. These pieces are collected in the third trade paperback, Soul Cages, with issues 12 to 14 and the Giant-Size.

Step 3: Incredible Hulk #15 to #25, City of Idols and beyond (2024-2025)

This is the longest step. The fourth trade paperback, City of Idols, covers issues 15 to 19, with Danny Earls on pencils for issues 15 and 16, and Klein and Earls splitting #18. Issue 19 carries a special number: by the series' historical numbering, it is issue #800. Johnson, Klein and Earls handle the main story, surrounded by short stories by Greg Pak, Lan Medina, Torunn Grønbekk, Lynne Yoshii, Benjamin Percy and Geoff Shaw. This is the issue to keep if you like anniversary copies.

Next come issues 20 to 25, which the Gods Drink Blood trade paperback collects. Earls draws #20 and #21, Kev Walker arrives on #24, and #25 brings in Thor as a guest. Read in one sitting, this part makes the series pivot: you can feel the three-part plan Johnson announced later falling into place, with what he calls a thirty-issue first act meant to set the pieces on the board.

Step 4: Incredible Hulk #26 to #30, Monster Road (2025)

The last stretch of the numbered series is called Monster Road in its trade paperback edition, published in 2026. Kev Walker draws issues 26 to 28, Adam Gorham draws #29, and #30 closes the series. In that last single issue, Eldest separates Bruce Banner from Hulk and seizes the monster's body: the Hulk you find afterward is no longer the one from the previous thirty issues.

If you had to pick only one issue to reread before moving on, this would be it. The title changes and the numbering restarts at 1, but the story continues without a break: the trade press sees it as a rebrand more than a fresh start.

Step 5: Infernal Hulk #1 to #5 (2025-2026)

Infernal Hulk #1 came out on November 26, 2025, still written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson with Nic Klein on art, Cam Smith on inks, Matthew Wilson on colors, Cory Petit on lettering and Jordan D. White as editor. The publisher's solicitation sets the scene: Eldest has torn Banner away from Hulk and taken over the monster's body; stripped of his powers, Banner has to stop this creature, which promises to turn heroes into beasts.

Issue 2 came out on December 10, 2025. It sets the action in Atlantis, where a very ancient evil awaits the call of the Mother of Horrors, while Ngathiil the Endless must choose between serving Hulk or ruling the Earth in place of her mother. Meanwhile, Earth's heroes search for Banner, who may or may not have survived. Kev Walker joins Klein on issues 2 and 3, then pitches in again on #5.

Between #5 and #6, a short Hulk story appears in Amazing Spider-Man #1000 / Queen in Black #1, an issue given away for Free Comic Book Day on May 2, 2026. It is a curiosity piece: it offered the first glimpse of the "Infernal Avengers," heroes turned into monstrous versions of themselves. It reads separately and is not essential.

Step 6: Infernal Hulk #6 to #10, drawn by Adam Gorham (2026)

From #6 on, Adam Gorham draws the interiors, with Nic Klein keeping the covers. Klein, according to announcements, is devoting himself to drawing Hulk War: Infernal Rage.

Issue 10, on sale August 12, 2026, is the last of the series. In the publisher's solicitation, the heroes have run out of last chances against Infernal Hulk, who is closing in on New York; Bruce Banner and Doctor Voodoo risk their lives and their souls, and Lycana, the shapeshifting alter ego of Charlie Tidwell, joins the fight. Nic Klein stated publicly that this was not a cancellation: the plan was always to make Infernal Hulk the second part of a three-act story.

Step 7: Infernal Hulk vs. Wolverine #1 and the bridge one-shots (2026)

Marvel published a run of single issues known as "Infernal Hulk vs." ahead of the final event. The first, Infernal Hulk vs. Wolverine #1, came out in September 2026, with Johnson writing and Jonas Scharf on art, as a link before Hulk War: Infernal Rage. More one-shots are announced through the end of 2026; the schedule details are in our Hulk War key issues guide, linked above.

The event itself, Hulk War: Infernal Rage, is announced for early 2027. Johnson writes it and Klein draws it. No issue has been released yet: nothing can be said about it without making things up. So it is better not to buy speculative copies blind before you know what the first issues actually contain.

Single issues or trade paperbacks: how to read it

The choice depends on what you do with your books. With single issues, you chase the variant covers and the anniversary issues, like Incredible Hulk #19. With trade paperbacks, you read faster and avoid hunting down the small series in between. Here are the volumes whose contents are established:

• Incredible Hulk volume 1, Age of Monsters: #1 to #5 and Annual #1 (2023), published in January 2024, 168 pages;
• volume 2, War Devils: #6 to #11 and material from War Is Hell #1;
• volume 3, Soul Cages: #12 to #14, Giant-Size Hulk #1 and Hulk: Blood Hunt;
• volume 4, City of Idols: #15 to #19;
• volumes 5 and 6, Gods Drink Blood and Monster Road: the end of the series, through #30;
• Infernal Hulk: one volume collecting issues 1 to 10, 240 pages, announced for November 10, 2026.

For a reader aiming for the complete series at the lowest cost, the trades are enough: a single volume now contains all of Infernal Hulk. For a single-issue collector, count mostly on the first issues of each series and on the round-number issues. Incredible Hulk #19 has the advantage of an anniversary you can read right on the cover.

Recap: the complete order

1. Hulk Annual (2023) #1, optional, released May 17, 2023;
2. Incredible Hulk (2023) #1 to #5, from June 2023;
3. Incredible Hulk #6 to #11;
4. Giant-Size Hulk (2024) #1;
5. Incredible Hulk #12 to #14;
6. Hulk: Blood Hunt #1;
7. Incredible Hulk #15 to #19, including the 800^th issue;
8. Incredible Hulk #20 to #30;
9. Infernal Hulk #1 to #5;
10. Amazing Spider-Man #1000 / Queen in Black #1 (Free Comic Book Day, 2026), optional;
11. Infernal Hulk #6 to #10;
12. Infernal Hulk vs. Wolverine #1;
13. Hulk War: Infernal Rage, announced for 2027.

Why this series matters to a collector

Infernal Hulk is a ten-issue series, which makes it easy to complete, and it sits at the junction of three moments: the end of a thirty-issue series, a publisher-driven title change, and an announced final event. The collector who already owns Immortal Hulk will find the same horror ambition here; the one starting from scratch will find an almost self-contained story.

The context, finally, is that of an editorial line that relaunches titles more often than it used to. Johnson himself explained that relaunches and short series within a single run follow a commercial logic that does not change the story. For your shelving, then, treat the whole stretch from 2023 to 2027 as a single saga, what the writer calls the Infernal Saga, and file your single issues by step rather than by title. That helps you find a specific issue and keeps you from wrongly assuming that a gap in the 2023 series is filled by the next one.

To place this Hulk in a broader history, the Al Ewing entry shows how a run can transform a character without breaking his past, and our article on how many Hulk issues there are helps explain why the numbering of Incredible Hulk could reach an 800^th issue.

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