What was Hulk's Tempest Fugit all about?

[PeterCSM]

Good evening! I just finished reading the Tempest Fugit arc in The Incredible Hulk #s 77-81 by Peter David and Lee Weeks and I'm a little confused by what it all meant. I never read Bruce Jones' run but I understand this was a soft retcon saying that maybe his run had all been a dream (or maybe not).

But I didn't get the parts about Nightmare's daughter inhabiting Betty Ross' comatose body or who the blind guy named Ripley was? Or what role Nightmare's daughter played in everything and the final scene with Betty Ross washing ashore into Nightmare's arms? Or if nightmare having his head ripped off but being fine means that all the scenes with Nightmare and Hulk were all a dream too because how else could he survive that? Or why/how Nightmare brought Hulk to the island instead of continuing the subtle attack he had apparently been doing for years? And what was then really going on while Hulk was hallucinating, was that ever discussed? And I'm rambling a bit but I'm really confused by this storyline and shortly after the Hulk ripped a great white shark in half at the beginning it lost me.

I appreciate any input from those more knowledgeable in Hulk lore or who remember reading this arc from '05!

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Good evening! I just finished reading the Tempest Fugit arc in The Incredible Hulk #s 77-81 by Peter David and Lee Weeks and I'm a little confused by what it all meant. I never read Bruce Jones' run but I understand this was a soft retcon saying that maybe his run had all been a dream (or maybe not).

But I didn't get the parts about Nightmare's daughter inhabiting Betty Ross' comatose body or who the blind guy named Ripley was? Or what role Nightmare's daughter played in everything and the final scene with Betty Ross washing ashore into Nightmare's arms? Or if nightmare having his head ripped off but being fine means that all the scenes with Nightmare and Hulk were all a dream too because how else could he survive that? Or why/how Nightmare brought Hulk to the island instead of continuing the subtle attack he had apparently been doing for years? And what was then really going on while Hulk was hallucinating, was that ever discussed? And I'm rambling a bit but I'm really confused by this storyline and shortly after the Hulk ripped a great white shark in half at the beginning it lost me.

I appreciate any input from those more knowledgeable in Hulk lore or who remember reading this arc from '05!

I think this is one of those stories that's open to interpretation--it means whatever you want it to. Don't put a lot of thought into it--all it means is that Nightmare had been manipulating the Hulk for awhile and thrown his past into question. Anything in the story may be real, or none of it.

[PeterCSM]

You're probably right. I didn't know if any of the threads from it had ever been picked up by other writers but doesn't sound like it. Unless it's wildly creative or full of beautiful art it seems a waste to me to draw out an arc that's essentially a dream sequence for five issues. The issue after was pretty good with Jae Lee art but Bruce's pants went from brown to purple as Hulk to blue when he was Banner again. Even the trousers in the Marvel Universe have super powers.

[The Black Guardian]

Even the trousers in the Marvel Universe have super powers.

Not the least of which is even being present at all, in Hulk's case.

[grahamgg]

Various Marvel series, especially the Hulk, from that early 2000s era frequently blatantly contradicted and/or mis-characterized past events and characters. The Avengers issues post-Busiek, Mackie's Spider-Man, Chuck Austen X-Men, the post-Claremont FF issues, Morrison's New X-Men all experienced this "to heck with the past" type storytelling in one degree or another.

As it specifically related to the Hulk, during the Bruce Jones era, the Hulk was often rarely seen in his own comic for months on end. Worse, the characterization of Betty, Bruce, Hulk, Absorbing Man, the Abomination and his wife Nadia were terribly inconsistent with how these characters had been shown before. I'm not even sure how they resolved the whole "Betty isn't really dead, she's secretly Mr. Blue" subplot.

Essentially Bruce Jones couldn't be bothered to do past research to make sure his stories didn't contradict other previous stories. I'm not saying he, or anyone else for that matter, should be slavishly beholden to past comics, but man, it was like he wasn't even trying. This was all during the early Quesada/Jemas regin at Marvel.

Fans had tired of the long drawn out, purposefully vague, mysteries in the Bruce Jones Hulk stories, and welcomed PAD back to the title with open arms. To provide readers with an "out" or possible explanation for these contradictions, PAD wrote Tempest Fugit on his return to Incredible Hulk. The whole point of the arc was that maybe some of those stories happened, maybe they didn't, and it was purposefully left open for individual interpretation. Personally I enjoyed the arc but do wish things had been slightly more resolved at its conclusion.

Thankfully, next up was Greg Pak and the whole Planet Hulk/WWH era.

[PeterCSM]

Yeah, especially with Betty washing ashore at the end. It really left me thinking this was a big deal and then I could find no subsequent issues paying it any mind. So what do I know. Thanks for the great responses!