Superheroes are more popular and more mainstream than ever. It seems like every week there’s a new superhero movie, TV show, or videogame hitting the screens. Nearly all of these superheroes and their stories originated in comic books. Of course, there are decades and decades worth of comics out there, and to a new fan it can be daunting trying to figure out which ones to read. In this column, I’m gonna try my best to give new fans fun, easy to understand jumping-off points into the world of comics. As far as accessibility goes, most of these comics are collected and readily available from comic shops, bookstores or online from subscription services such as Comixology, Marvel Unlimited, and D.C. Universe. Additionally, I always recommend your local library as a free source of comics to read, and with inter-library loan systems you can get your hands on pretty much anything.
For this edition of Where to Begin, I’m going to look at the Strongest Avenger himself, the Incredible Hulk. Hulk may seem at the outset like a simple character, nothing more than a big dumb green guy who gets angry and smashes things. However, when written well, the character is one of the deepest in Marvel’s entire roster. His stories often explore themes of persecution and isolation, all while providing dynamic superhero action. For everyone who enjoyed Hulk’s parts in the Avengers movies and Thor: Ragnarok, here’s where to begin.
The Originals: Incredible Hulk and Tales to Astonish, by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and others (1962-)
As with many of Marvel’s historic characters, the Hulk’s original run still holds up as one of the finest depictions of the Green Goliath. Believe it or not, in his first days Hulk was not considered a big enough sales success to warrant his own continued series, and so his solo stories were relegated to sharing space in Tales to Astonish. Because of these monthly space limitations, Hulk’s stories ended up being shorter and much more serialized, allowing Lee and Kirby to tell longer episodic stories. This is the norm for current comics, but at the time it was much rarer and innovative, giving these Hulk comics a modern feel. In addition to Kirby, many of Marvel’s best artists take turns on the Hulk in this run, including Herb Trimpe, John and Sal Buscema, and Marie Severin. I want to shed special light on Marie Severin because she was one of the few women working on comics at the time. Her husband John was a comics artist as well, and I believe both of them to be some of the most talented, underrated comics artists of all time.
“The Leader Saga”, by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Mickey Demeo, and Bob Powell (1965-1966)
I thought I’d highlight one story from Hulk’s original run that made a lasting impression on me, taking place in Tales to Astonish 63-74. Hulk was created as an inversion of the typical monster story, turning the mindless brute into a persecuted hero worthy of sympathy. It’s therefore very interesting to see an inversion of that inversion in Hulk’s nemesis, the Leader. Like the Hulk, the Leader was turned green given powers by gamma rays. Unlike the Hulk, those gamma rays gave the Leader incredible intelligence at the cost of shrinking his body, and unlike the Hulk the Leader chose to use his gamma powers for evil. So begins this longform story of the evil Leader looking to manipulate Hulk, who he sees as a sort of brother, into helping him take over the world.
Every trademark element of good Hulk comics is present in this arc: Hulk and Bruce Banner struggling with changing form at all the wrong moments, Hulk being pursued by Thunderbolt Ross and the army, Hulk’s friendship with Rick Jones, and Hulk fighting impossible odds with nothing but his fists and his endless supply of anger. This story has genuine emotional impact and artwork from Marvel’s two most legendary artists. It’s a great introduction as to why Hulk has been so beloved for so long.
AVENGERS 1-3, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (1963)
Hulk has achieved his most film success as a member of the Avengers, despite his often tumultuous relationship with the rest of the team. Hulk generally doesn’t play well with others, and that group dynamic is reflected early in the first three issues of the Avengers. In the first issue, much like in the first Avengers movie, the Avengers come together to defeat the trickster god Loki. By the second issue, Hulk accuses the rest of the Avengers of hating him and quits the team, which isn’t exactly sad to see him go. In the third issue, Hulk actually teams up with the Sub-Mariner in an attempt to destroy the Avengers. These issues are a perfect illustration of Hulk’s role in the Marvel universe. He plays the tragic hero in his solo stories, but becuase the other heroes see him as a monster, that is how he is often portrayed in other characters’ series. Hulk can be at his best as a guest star, wandering among the pages of Marvel comics from Amazing Spider-Man to X-Men and every series in between. Pretty much every Marvel superhero or team fought and eventually teamed up with the Hulk at one point. Matt Murdock, Daredevil, even represented him in court.
Hulk: Future Imperfect, by Peter David and George Perez (1992)
If you’re a fan of the intelligent Professor Hulk in Avengers: Endgame, this one’s for you. This story, written for Hulk’s 30th anniversary, finds Hulk, in full capacity of Bruce Banner’s mind, transported into a dystopian future and forced to do battle with its warlord ruler, the Maestro. Maestro is the only being capable of surviving and thriving in a wasteland of nuclear fallout: the Hulk himself. Age has not dulled Maestro’s mind nor his gamma strength, but it has warped him into a vicious megalomaniac driven insane by constant anger. In order to defeat him, Hulk has to confront the worst aspects of himself, and use the heroic spirit of the past to set the future free.
This story features several brutal, wince-inducing fights between Hulk and Maestro. Clashes of that magnitude need an artist that can capture the epic scale of the battle. Fortunately, George Perez is just about as epic an artist as ever drew the Hulk, and the series’ art is colorful and exciting while still capturing the grimness of the imperfect future. This story is also a relatively quick, satisfying read. Other writers would’ve tried to stretch this story out with filler, but Peter David tells it perfectly in about a hundred pages. His dialogue between the Hulk and Maestro is great, and showcases a side of the Hulk that is not seen in his more savage, brainless iterations.
Greg Pak: Planet Hulk and World War Hulk (2006-2008)
In his run on Incredible Hulk, Greg Pak wrote some of the most iconic Hulk stories of all time. Planet Hulk provided the inspiration for Hulk’s role in Thor: Ragnarok. Hulk is shot into deep space by a coalition of Marvel heroes who think he’s too dangerous to remain on Earth. He ends up on the alien slave planet Sakaar, forced to fight to the death as a gladiator in an arena. After winning his freedom and freeing Sakaar, Hulk finds something he never had on Earth: people who love and respect him. It’s very cool to see the perennial outsider Hulk in a place that accepts him for who he is.
Of course, no superhero can be happy forever, and Hulk is forced to return to Earth. This leads to World War Hulk, where Hulk sets out to take revenge on the heroes that cast him into exile. What follows is a classic Hulk vs. the whole Marvel Universe story, where Hulk runs through pretty much every one of Marvel’s major players on the way to taking over New York. Greg Pak’s run shows the versatility of the Hulk, using both the hero and antihero aspects of Hulk’s character very effectively. Plus, who can say no to gladiator fights?
That concludes my introduction into Hulk comics. Hulk is definitely one of my favorite Marvel characters, and his adventures are almost always action-packed and satisfying. If you’re interested in the current state of the Hulk, he’s starring in the gruesome, horror-inspired Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett, available in every comic shop in America. Leave a comment below if you have any favorite Hulk stories, or if you have another character you want to see covered in a future edition of Where to Begin.
