"HULK IS THE STRONGEST ONE THERE IS!" The Incredible Hulk Appreciation 2024

[ChrisIII]

It's interesting that 323 and 324, when the Hulk and Banner get combined, he's not talking like the Savage Hulk but like the 60's Hulk before the Savage persona took shape later on in "Tales to Astonish". Rick kind of notes this.

Wonder if it was Al writing this as the Grey's persona pretty much being in place beforehand with the nutrient bath mainly changing his colors and strength by siphoning some of the gamma radiation-years before it became more established that Grey/Joe and Savage are completely separate personalities in the lead up to the Merged Hulk.

As it reads it almost seems like the Hulk is more or less given a "hard reset" back to his "factory settings" (60's Hulk).

Grayage Hulk is sort of more of a fan term still I think. There's some evidence of the 60s Hulk intended to be Devil in Ewing's run ("I was the first before the others") although it's certainly not this one given that Devil had a generally more protective attitude towards Banner in Ewing's run. Pre-Saakar Green scar maybe?

[Mister Mets]

The Incredible Hulk #325-327

After exposure to a gamma solution in a previous story, Rick Jones now transforms into a Hulk as well. He and Bruce have to figure out how to get to safety before they transform, although this is complicated by General Ross gaining the electric powers of Zzzax.
Steve Geiger takes over on art. He’s pretty decent, especially a sequence where a delirious Bruce recalls his upbringing. He seems to have a Michael Golden/ Brian Bolland vibe, in depicting emotion and monsters. He definitely elevates Milgrom’s writing.

The culmination of the General Ross story may just go too far. By his nature, a supporting character driven to insanity is frustrating, but it’s annoying that he’s getting so many chances. I do like the idea that he’s assigned to a mission by people who are likely making a bad decision as a way to get involved in the story the first time he tried to kill Rick Jones.
B

[ChrisIII]

The Red Hulk faced ZZazx years later, and there's a flashback where Fortean advises Ross about it (although I don't think the continuity matched up).

[Mister Mets]

The last three issues before Peter David takes over as main writer, including I suppose his tryout.

The Incredible Hulk #328

Bruce Banner is troubled. Out for a drive in the desert near the gamma base he’s delirious enough to fall for a mirage, and isn’t even sure he’s going the right way. He encounters a man with terminal cancer who has hired a hitman to take him out.
Peter David comes to the series for a one-off, before becoming the main writer with #331. We immediately get a sense of his tendency to focus on the absurd. A hero saving a guy from a hitman he hired is a very Peter David story. There’s certainly an effort to get to the core of Bruce’s character.
Dwayne Turner seems like a similar style of artist to Geiger. He handles solitude and dream sequences well enough.
The end is a bit cliched, and this is a type of Hulk story I’ve seen many times, sometimes better. But it is appropriate that Peter David already has this statement on the Hulk before his regular run begins.
B

The Incredible Hulk #329

Rick Jones looks for solitude in a place Bruce used to hide when he was the Hulk. The situation is reversed because he finds himself transforming into a Hulk. He encounters desert creatures given intelligence and super-powers through exposure to the gamma bomb. And they want to be friends with his version of the Hulk. But the problem is that when Bruce finds them, SHIELD follows.
As a single issue story it’s fine. There are plenty of stories where the Hulk briefly finds a community where he’s accepted and then loses it, but the concept of animals altered by the gamma bomb is a decent one (I’m pretty sure this was adapted into the 90s cartoon) and it’s okay to see Rick Jones experience something Bruce often struggles with. This may be Milgrom’s best issue.
B+

The Incredible Hulk #330

Al Milgrom finishes his run and Todd McFarlane joins as artist. General Ross recovers from his coma, and still wants to kill the Hulk, which sends Betty into a nervous breakdown. A body hopping villain who has been seeded earlier in the run, draining various people for their life-force, targets the Hulk, and possesses Samson in the process.
It is apparent how Todd McFarlane immediately became a star artist. His Hulk run might be underrated in the context of the response to his work on Spider-Man, and his influence as an Image founder.
Milgrom ties the threat to the General Ross story pretty well, and Ross’s moment of clarity is earned because we saw him back at his usual delusional self earlier. That scene was better than most of Ross’s breakdowns; maybe it’s Todd McFarlane’s skill at selling his emotion- he’s obviously wrong, but he wouldn’t realize that.
The story ends with him getting killed off. I know he comes back, and part of that is that it was selfish to take one of the Hulk’s great enemies out of the picture.
B+

I will say that Milgrom found his footing after the first story.

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

I still enjoy the Rick Jones Hulk to this day...and a potential Banner Hulk/Rick Hulk team-up could have been fun.
I remember choosing NOT to purchase #328 and 329, as casual reads left me going "meh." Turner's Hulk was...not good. The Rick Hulk and the irradiated creature...bleh.
#330 was elusive, as I remember reading it and enjoying the art, but with no letter column or "next issue" blurb, I thought that the series was canceled! For whatever reason, I didn't get it (probably didn't have enough allowance money) but with #331...I was along for the ride.

[ChrisIII]

Rick wound up with five gamma forms later on (A-bomb, Abomination Subject B, the leader-possessed glowing eye/floating one, the twisted one after Hulk exploded that was also controlled by the Leader, and then the merge with Del) but none were a 'true' Hulk (Although he referred to himself as a Hulk a few times while as A-Bomb).

Granted, his Hulk form was gamma directly from Bruce (and Ewing's "Hulk syndrome" kind of explains why he talked like Savage).

[Ptrvc]

Rick wound up with five gamma forms later on (A-bomb, Abomination Subject B, the leader-possessed glowing eye/floating one, the twisted one after Hulk exploded that was also controlled by the Leader, and then the merge with Del) but none were a 'true' Hulk (Although he referred to himself as a Hulk a few times while as A-Bomb).

Granted, his Hulk form was gamma directly from Bruce (and Ewing's "Hulk syndrome" kind of explains why he talked like Savage).

I think the glowing eyed floating power set was the most interesting. Kind of a darker gamma infused version of the Captain Marvel power set.

[ChrisIII]

It was kind of extra creepy in the early issues when he was basically a desiccated corpse that was slowly regenerating after being seperated from the Abomination symbiote.

[Mister Mets]

The behind the scenes stuff during the Bruce Jones run was interesting to see unfold.

Here's what I wrote in an old thread:



A few things have been consistent over the years. Hulk has always been about change. Editorial tinkers with the title A LOT, when it works it's great (Planet Hulk, beginning of Jones run, Illuminati, Red Hulk, etc) and eventually messes things up (Pak/Loeb double shipping, firing writers over direction (PAD, Jones), and changing writers/directions when the title drops to the 30k range (which went as low as 20k at one point).

I read the Bruce Jones run, and finished my thread.

https://community.cbr.com/showthread...59#post6813559

I can definitely understand the points on editorial interference. I wonder who Jones meant for Mr Blue initially.

[Ultimate Captain America]

Rick Jones also became Hulk at the end of the animated series' first season

[Vordan]

If they’re bringing back other 90s shows I hope Hulk’s is up for consideration. I loved that show.

[ChrisIII]

Think Morph turned into him recently in the show.

[ChrisIII]

Rick Jones also became Hulk at the end of the animated series' first season

They did an adaptation of late Milgrom/early PAD stuff, although with some adjustments. Riot Squad for example became Gamma Warriors and were far more toy friendly.

Ogress was voiced by supermodel Kathy Ireland!