Part of an ongoing series revisiting graphic novels and collected editions from days gone by....

The Incredible Hulk (smart version, with the mind of Bruce Banner wearing the green skin) shows up in the future, where his much-older self, now going by the name Maestro, rules the surviving race of humans in a post-apocalyptic future. Maestro has turned evil and leads his city with ruthless power but, when his younger self shows up to stop him, finds he misses having a challenge and decides to enjoy the experience for a while.

Hulk, on the other hand, is hard pressed to defeat what is basically a stronger, smarter version of himself.

The Hulk has been brought forward in time at the behest of a very old Rick Jones, who has collected the remains and relics of many of Earth's heroes and villains, among them Doctor Doom's time machine. Hulk's purpose is to defeat Maestro and restore some hope and freedom to the surviving humans.

The book is fairly short -- I believe, before it was collected into a single volume, Future Imperfect was released as two standard-sized comic books -- and is divided fairly cleanly into four sections: establishment of the dystopian future, initial fight between Hulk and Maestro, Maestro's attempted seduction of Hulk into accepting their new reality, and climactic denouement. It's too brief for any kind of thorough plot or character development, but even so it stands as a solid glimpse into the potential evolution of an all-powerful being who finds himself without anyone else around to check his behavior. As they say, absolute power corrupts absolutely; the question is, will our present-day Hulk be enticed by that fate?

Writer Peter David and illustrator George Perez are both very good at what they do, so the story is told well ... even if I might wish it was twice as long to allow for more story development. Some aspects of the story are a little uncomfortable -- such as Maestro's use and abuse of women in his new society, and the implied rape of the Hulk (at Maestro's order) while he is incapacitated -- but I guess that just hammers home the depths of Maestro's evil.