Absolute Carnage: Immortal Hulk#1(2019)

In an endless black void, Bruce Banner sets down a chair and sits in it, addressing the Venom symbiote and thanking it for providing the venue. Introducing himself, Banner says that Venom should remember him from when they fought together in the past. Banner then says that - after talking to Eddie Brock - he thinks that the symbiote, himself, and his various Hulk alters can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement. Saying that he knows that trust is an issue for the symbiote and that it has been hurt before, Banner offers to tell it how he arrived in the situation that they have found themselves in. A few days prior, Banner had come to in a motel room in California, a note from Joe Fixit telling him not to bug Jackie McGee, Betty Ross Banner, or Rick Jones. Grousing over Joe calling him too needy, Banner checks in on Betty, finding her in the bathroom with Rick's corpse in the bathtub. As Banner is shocked by the sight of her Red Harpy form, Betty tells him to ask Jackie for information and slams the door in his face. Narrating that he spoke to Jackie and was incredulous as to why the Hulks trust her, Banner sits down to watch the news and is greeted by a report that General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross' corpse was exhumed and stolen, with red slime being found at the site; immediately assuming that either Shadow Base had stolen Ross' corpse or that something worse had happened. Banner's narration is interrupted by the arrival of Joe Fixit, who complains about not being in his Gray Hulk form in Banner's mindscape. As Joe leaves to wake up Banner's other alters, Banner explains to the symbiote that Gamma Mutates resurrect if they are killed and are linked to an immensely powerful and malevolent deity called the One Below All, which can indwell them when they resurrect. Resuming his narration, Banner states that he told Betty about Ross' corpse disappearing despite being afraid that she might go berserk and attack him like she had Rick's handlers, lamenting that he no longer knows her and possibly never did. Banner asks if Betty can track Ross in the same way she did the Hulk, and Betty calmly states that she can. Banner asks if she can fly him there, but Betty states it would blow their cover; Banner begrudgingly suggesting that she crumple him into a ball. Snapping his neck, Betty complies - Banner's soul confronting the One Below All impersonating his father, Brian, in the Below-Place, though he notes to the symbiote that he never remembers what happens when he dies. Taking over, the Devil Hulk watches Betty fly away - Banner noting that the Hulk shared these memories with him and speculating that she either needed to be alone or that she just did not care. In a spiral-shaped pit with countless other corpses, many of them little more than skeletons, Ross' corpse lies with its spine torn out. In Banner's mindscape, the Savage Hulk manifests and asks if Betty was there, angrily berating "puny Banner" for turning her into a monster. Confronting the Venom symbiote, the Savage Hulk demands to know why he hurts so much and then storms off in a huff. Sighing, Banner states that the mass grave was at the site of an old mental institution in New Jersey, a location where it would have eventually been found by someone. Banner notes that the Devil Hulk decided to do the unprecedented and call it in, hiding in the bushes and eavesdropping as two paramedics discuss how one of the corpses - Angelo Fortunato, the son of the Maggia crime boss Don Vincente Fortunato - had briefly been the host of the Venom symbiote. Deciding that if he wants to find Venom, he should start with Spider-Man, the Devil Hulk sets off to Manhattan. In Manhattan, Spider-Man frantically web-swings through the dawn-lit city, trying to remember all the super-heroes who have bonded to symbiotes. His spider-sense goes off as a water tower narrowly misses him, and he quickly snares it in a net of webbing. Telling a civilian to contact Damage Control, Spider-Man drops into the alley below and spots Banner. As Spider-Man gives him a spare change of clothes, Banner explains the arrangement regarding his Hulk alters and that he was the one who found the mass grave. Banner tells Spider-Man that his main concern was Ross' corpse being stolen and asks him to fill him in on what is happening with Venom. Spider-Man quickly explains that Venom is one of the good guys, but that Cletus Kasady is back and is collecting codices - trace remnants of symbiotes that were left in former hosts - in order to unleash Knull, a dark Elder God who is older than the universe itself. Speaking to the Venom symbiote, Banner says that Spider-Man's description of Knull immediately reminded him of the One Below All, and speculates that Knull could be a facet or a pawn of the Demiurge. Banner states that that makes it his problem, but the Devil Hulk - now in his reptilian form - interrupts and says that it is not. The Devil Hulk snaps that getting involved with the Venom symbiote is a mistake, reminding Banner of their mission to destroy the world and that their allies are waiting for him. Banner retorts that he has no intention of letting a cosmic god of darkness beat them to it, pointing out that they are already involved. Resuming his narration, Banner recaps revealing his survival to Captain America, who apologizes for the Avengers attacking him and asks if they can at least sit down and talk after all of this is over. Banner also introduces himself to Eddie Brock - the symbiote later transferring to him when Dark Carnage attacked with his horde, kickstarting their mental conversation. The Devil Hulk interrupts and says that only a few seconds have passed in the real world despite hours having seemingly transpired in Banner's psyche, protesting working with the symbiote and threatening to rip out his own spine if that is what it takes to purge it. Banner refuses and makes a case for collaborating with the symbiote, Joe Fixit and the Savage Hulk both siding with him. The Devil Hulk storms off in a huff, growling once again that they are making a mistake and that he warned them, but Banner grins creepily and welcomes Venom to their little family as, in the world outside, the Venomized Savage Hulk towers over his opposition.