Issue(s): Hulk annual #16
Cover Date: 1990
Title: "Quality of Mercy / You can't always get what you want / The nightmare never ends!"
Credits:
Peter David / Bill Mumy / Alan Grant - Writer
Angel Medina / Chris Wozniak / Dan Reed - Penciler
Larry Mahlstedt / Tim Dzon / Jeffery Albrecht - Inker
Gary Barnum - Assistant Editor
Bobbie Chase - Editor

Review/plot:
For the third part of the Lifeform event, we get to hear directly from Lifeform, aka George Prufrock, himself.

The story is told through narration and flasback. A cute scene in the beginning has the Hulk in the desert, assuming that the army is coming after him, but that turns out to not be the case.

Meanwhile, in New York, the assisted suicide character Mercy pushes a homeless man in front of a truck, and then gets yelled at by a homeless woman, who tells her that not everyone means it when they say that they want to die.

This issue is also notable for featuring art by Angel Medina, who will become the regular Hulk artist circa 1996. Medina's later work will feature a kind of obsession with drawing big ropey veins all over the Hulk. That's not in evidence here with the Hulk (although it is, appropriately, with Lifeform), but there are more general signs of his loose style. The art can sometimes get a little weird and cartoony...

...but it works well when we get to the part where big ugly monsters start slugging it out.

Mercy's conversation with the homeless woman happens while the mop-up from Daredevil's part of the Lifeform story is still going on.

So when Mercy encounters Lifeform and he asks her to kill him...

...she's conflicted. So she decides to get advice from the Hulk.

Hulk has meanwhile found an abandoned theater and is weirdly putting on a show for himself.

Hulk is also a little conflicted when Lifeform shows up, due to his misunderstanding with the army.

The Hulk tells Mercy that she really wants to talk to Banner, so she turns into her ooze form and goes into his head.

When the Hulk wakes up, Banner is there, and they get into a discussion about intent.

And also about whether or not Lifeform should kill himself.

Eventually Lifeform's evil side gains control and attacks.

There was a little mystery about whether Mercy had actually separated Hulk from Banner or if she was just posing as one of them, but during the fight Banner is knocked into a light fixture and electrocuted, and it turns out he was really Mercy (who is fine). Lifeform is (seemingly) killed in the fire caused by the electrical surge.

But of course since he's narrating the story we know he's not really dead, and in the end he reverts to Lifeform form and kills Lamar Kwait, the infected Progamma scientist from the Daredevil story.

Peter David does a good job using the similarities between the Hulk and Lifeform (dual personalities, transforms into a monster) to tease out some ideas about the Hulk. Much better than Gregory Wright did with Typhoid Mary. On top of that, the unusual narration device and a sprinkling of humor make this a fun part of the crossover even as it deals with the suicide question.

Back-ups include:

1) She-Hulk and Weezie meeting a man trying to find a sunken treasure that turns out to be a pirate looking for his vial of water from the Fountain of Youth. She-Hulk doesn't mention that she's actually seen a Fountain of Youth (She-Hulk #7-8). It's also weird that the story ends with Weezie saying "Who'd want to live forever, anyway?" since her whole reason for joining She-Hulk's supporting cast was to extend her life with "Marvel time".

2) Bruce Banner perusing a photo album showing pictures from his "10 best brawls".

3) Doc Samson recounting a dream of him fighting the Hulk in a psychiatrist's office, and the visit to the psychiatrist also turns out to be a dream.

Quality Rating: B

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP place the main story between Hulk #369-370. Continues from Daredevil annual #6 and concludes in Silver Surfer annual #3.

References:

• There are recaps of the earlier parts of the Lifeform story from Punisher annual #3 and Daredevil annual #6.
  
• No footnote, but Mercy previously appeared in Hulk #338.

Crossover: Lifeform

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A