Hulk by Donny Cates and Ryan Ottley Announced

[Somecrazyaussie]

What the -? Hulk is one of the few Marvel characters to have multiple outside media appearances before the MCU. He’s been one of the most popular characters going back decades. The Bill Bixby TV show? The animated cartoon? Multiple (admittedly bad) movies? The Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction video game? Hell he and Wolverine were the only ones to get animated movie adaptions of comics back when Marvel made their brief attempt to copy DC’s animated department. Hulk along with Spider-Man and Wolverine was the true “Marvel Trinity” back in the day.

Hulk was absolutely A-List before Ewing, Ewing just restored his brand. A C-Lister would be someone like Iron Fist or Wasp, and it’s laughable to say Hulk was that low.

When was the last time a Hulk book was top of the charts before Ewing? I'd wager it was likely Loeb and McGuinness Hulk #1 and even then it was mostly due to the mystery of who Rulk was. There were serviceable runs (Waid and Duggan) but the book suffered a stretch of mediocre writing. Stuff I bought, and tolerated, out of loyalty to the character.

This "A-list" status isn't a constant thing. Let's not delude ourselves here. The character has always had the potential to be "A-list", but he was never naturally one. The book was canned after 6 issues. The book was almost cancelled outright in the 80s and that is why David got it in the first place. It sold enough to be a decent earner, but it was never Amazing or Uncanny level popular.

The tv series worked, true. But they had to strip it down to the core story of a man on the run looking for a cure. A set up so popular the book adopted a similar situation.

Don't get me wrong, I love Hulk. I have the run from the early 100's onwards. But he has never been a consistently popular character. You get writers who come in and can elevate the material to stratospheric heights. But he often goes years on end where his book is just "there".

He has always had the potential to be A-list. But he isn't constantly A-list. If that makes sense.

[Somecrazyaussie]

Not all change is good change. My feeling is all this start/start/renumber publishing method where the writer has been given near supreme creative breadth with little editorial oversight has been more bad than good.

When is the last time a Marvel title got past #50 issues? Immortal Hulk is in rare air for sure in the publishing cycle of the last 15 years, especially at Marvel. DC has done better at trimming back on the frequency of the start/start/renumber.

The last Marvel 616 comic or any comic published by them? Star Wars got to 75 before it relaunched. Amazing is currently sitting on 67 and is solicited up to 75.

[ChrisIII]

The TV series has influenced the Immortal Hulk comics a bit, although it's mainly just making 616 versions of Mcgee and Frye-not so much the "Banner going from town to town" stuff, although that sort of happened in the first few issues.

[Intothevoid]

When was the last time a Hulk book was top of the charts before Ewing? I'd wager it was likely Loeb and McGuinness Hulk #1 and even then it was mostly due to the mystery of who Rulk was. There were serviceable runs (Waid and Duggan) but the book suffered a stretch of mediocre writing. Stuff I bought, and tolerated, out of loyalty to the character.

This "A-list" status isn't a constant thing. Let's not delude ourselves here. The character has always had the potential to be "A-list", but he was never naturally one. The book was canned after 6 issues. The book was almost cancelled outright in the 80s and that is why David got it in the first place. It sold enough to be a decent earner, but it was never Amazing or Uncanny level popular.

The tv series worked, true. But they had to strip it down to the core story of a man on the run looking for a cure. A set up so popular the book adopted a similar situation.

Don't get me wrong, I love Hulk. I have the run from the early 100's onwards. But he has never been a consistently popular character. You get writers who come in and can elevate the material to stratospheric heights. But he often goes years on end where his book is just "there".

He has always had the potential to be A-list. But he isn't constantly A-list. If that makes sense.

Believe it or not both Waids and Aarons run had really good sales on their Hulk book, i am not sure how myself but it's true, the only that didn't was Duggan but he got on the book 5 issues in and he isn't what i would call an A-list writer, especially back then.

Anyway Hulk has always been a very popular character, plenty of polls done on the internet can attest to this, hell back in the 80's they did a poll among College kids asking them their favorite fictional or real characters ever and guess which 2 characters made it in the top 25 out of all the comic book characters? Spider-man and Hulk.

So Vordan is right Hulk has had way more movies and series and games merch sold than almost any other Marvel character, except for Spider-man, hell after Infinity War that featured Hulk for like 2 minutes Marvel still managed to sell more toys of Hulk than Captain America, Thor and Ironman combined.

Hulk is a very popular character, maybe his comics aren't always selling the best but that really depends on who is writing and what, but in terms of recognition he is right up there at the top with other comic book characters.

[Vishop]

Ottley is a lot better than Bennet

I love these preview pages.

Ottley is better off with skinny characters. Not heavyweights and certainly not Hulk.

[stingray]

When was the last time a Hulk book was top of the charts before Ewing? I'd wager it was likely Loeb and McGuinness Hulk #1 and even then it was mostly due to the mystery of who Rulk was. There were serviceable runs (Waid and Duggan) but the book suffered a stretch of mediocre writing. Stuff I bought, and tolerated, out of loyalty to the character.

This "A-list" status isn't a constant thing. Let's not delude ourselves here. The character has always had the potential to be "A-list", but he was never naturally one. The book was canned after 6 issues. The book was almost cancelled outright in the 80s and that is why David got it in the first place. It sold enough to be a decent earner, but it was never Amazing or Uncanny level popular.

The tv series worked, true. But they had to strip it down to the core story of a man on the run looking for a cure. A set up so popular the book adopted a similar situation.

Don't get me wrong, I love Hulk. I have the run from the early 100's onwards. But he has never been a consistently popular character. You get writers who come in and can elevate the material to stratospheric heights. But he often goes years on end where his book is just "there".

He has always had the potential to be A-list. But he isn't constantly A-list. If that makes sense.

Sorry, this is just dumb. I started reading comics in the late sixties, and Hulk has always been A list. You say some runs of his book don't sell really well? Hulk has ALWAYS had a self titled solo book on sale every month, for over fifty years. He's one of only a handful of other characters to do so. His book must have sold pretty well in every run, otherwise it would have been cancelled. How many times have characters like Moon Knight, Luke Cage, or Iron Fist had short runs on solo books, only to be cancelled and rebooted every few years? And look at merchandise. Hulk has more action figures, halloween costumes, toys, figurines, statues, busts, etc. than pretty much any other Marvel character. Ask a kid who Iron Fist is, they have no idea. Ask who the Hulk is, and they know right away. Not sure what other criteria you're basing your opinion on, but it's just wrong.

[Frontier]

Ottley is better off with skinny characters. Not heavyweights and certainly not Hulk.

His Viltrumites, Battle Beast, and Alan the Alien says otherwise.

[Vishop]

His Viltrumites, Battle Beast, and Alan the Alien says otherwise.

So you say. Ottley's Viltrumites or Battle Beast are soooo visually appealing than Supes or even Doomsday when drawn Reis or Gary Frank eh

I think Ottley style is a bit too traditional superhero comic book.

[Intothevoid]

His Viltrumites, Battle Beast, and Alan the Alien says otherwise.

His Hulk is OK looking from what i have seen before but overall i am not a fan of his cartoonish style, especially now that it follows Bennetts which seems a direct opposite. Although judging from his latest sketch of Hulk i gotta say it does retain that monstrous and dark version of Hulk we've seen so far.

E3DUmM6VoAMRwmy.jpg

[Frontier]

His Hulk is OK looking from what i have seen before but overall i am not a fan of his cartoonish style, especially now that it follows Bennetts which seems a direct opposite. Although judging from his latest sketch of Hulk i gotta say it does retain that monstrous and dark version of Hulk we've seen so far.

E3DUmM6VoAMRwmy.jpg

Different runs, different art styles. It works for me .

[xcoijoi]

Immortal Hulk is a tough act to follow. So I won't bother following it.

I wish Cates luck.

[Somecrazyaussie]

Believe it or not both Waids and Aarons run had really good sales on their Hulk book, i am not sure how myself but it's true, the only that didn't was Duggan but he got on the book 5 issues in and he isn't what i would call an A-list writer, especially back then.

Anyway Hulk has always been a very popular character, plenty of polls done on the internet can attest to this, hell back in the 80's they did a poll among College kids asking them their favorite fictional or real characters ever and guess which 2 characters made it in the top 25 out of all the comic book characters? Spider-man and Hulk.

So Vordan is right Hulk has had way more movies and series and games merch sold than almost any other Marvel character, except for Spider-man, hell after Infinity War that featured Hulk for like 2 minutes Marvel still managed to sell more toys of Hulk than Captain America, Thor and Ironman combined.

Hulk is a very popular character, maybe his comics aren't always selling the best but that really depends on who is writing and what, but in terms of recognition he is right up there at the top with other comic book characters.

I'd like to think the bulk of the interest in Aaron's run was due to Marc Silvestri being announced as the artist at launch. Then he only did 1 - 2 issues solo and a bit of the 3rd before bowing out. Shame, because I like Silvestri. Waid's run was, I liked what he was going for, and the first few arcs were interesting, but it kind of derailed after the first 12 issues for me.

Popular doesn't always mean A-list. That varies from person to person. I said that Hulk has always been a solid B-lister for me. Doing enough to keep a book going, but not enough to set the comic world on fire. The book, and the character, very nearly ended up cancelled in the 80s. None of the top writers wanted to touch it. Bob Harras then offered it to Peter David and tossed McFarlane on it when he was still relatively new.

The less said about the MCU Hulk the better. They've always played it for laughs. The character who comes in and smashes stuff up (which is fun). What I would give for someone to come and return the actual rage, fear and torment that Banner feels. It's part of the reason the character resonates with me because I suffer with mental illness.

As I said in another post. I have a complete run from 112 onwards. A few issues before that and most significant appearances of characters like Abomination and The Leader. But he has never been as "important" important. Not trying to offend, but that is how I see the character. Only a few writers have ever truly managed to show the readers just how great a concept the Hulk is - Mantlo kicked it off, David followed that up, Pak continued it, Ewing reminded people of it.

I buy the book regardless. Have done for 30 plus years. That isn't changing. Never has and never will.

[Intothevoid]

I'd like to think the bulk of the interest in Aaron's run was due to Marc Silvestri being announced as the artist at launch. Then he only did 1 - 2 issues solo and a bit of the 3rd before bowing out. Shame, because I like Silvestri. Waid's run was, I liked what he was going for, and the first few arcs were interesting, but it kind of derailed after the first 12 issues for me.

Popular doesn't always mean A-list. That varies from person to person. I said that Hulk has always been a solid B-lister for me. Doing enough to keep a book going, but not enough to set the comic world on fire. The book, and the character, very nearly ended up cancelled in the 80s. None of the top writers wanted to touch it. Bob Harras then offered it to Peter David and tossed McFarlane on it when he was still relatively new.

The less said about the MCU Hulk the better. They've always played it for laughs. The character who comes in and smashes stuff up (which is fun). What I would give for someone to come and return the actual rage, fear and torment that Banner feels. It's part of the reason the character resonates with me because I suffer with mental illness.

As I said in another post. I have a complete run from 112 onwards. A few issues before that and most significant appearances of characters like Abomination and The Leader. But he has never been as "important" important. Not trying to offend, but that is how I see the character. Only a few writers have ever truly managed to show the readers just how great a concept the Hulk is - Mantlo kicked it off, David followed that up, Pak continued it, Ewing reminded people of it.

I buy the book regardless. Have done for 30 plus years. That isn't changing. Never has and never will.

Whatever the reason is the comic still sold well, even after Silvestri left even though it was an abysmal comic. Waids run was a mistake unfortunately, not that Waid had bad ideas but his knowledge on Hulk was poor and he would constantly make mistakes regarding the character, his lore and history, etc.. But on top of that the biggest problem is Waid himself was not interested in writing Hulk, before he started Indestructible Hulk he did a podcast where he was asked which character is he least interested in writing and he answered Hulk, but shortly after i imagine editorial forced it upon him because of how shortlived Aarons run was.

I think it this sense it does mean exactly that. Actually you said he was a C-lister. That's untrue given that Hulk has quite literally set the comic book world on fire even before Immortal Hulk, the Planet Hulk run has literally reached mainstream recognition, it's one of the most mentioned stories since the first Avengers movie that fans wanted to see made into a film, so much so that multiple directors and even Kevin Feige have been asked about it by both fans and journalists. Hulk was never gonna be canceled btw, they just couldn't find who would write him at the time but they would have literally given it to anyone just to write, this also isn't unique to Hulk, this has happened to multiple A-list characters in he past as well. It's just so happens that the stars align in comics that lasted for over half a century that at some point you run into writers that just don't have a pitch for a Hulk at the time, it's kinda he opposite of nowadays because even Ewing when he pitched his Immortal Hulk run has said he had fierce competition with lots of different writers vying to write Hulk and he barely won out.

We know the MCU Hulk is basically there just so they would sell merch on him, since they don't have the rights to distribute him and his movies, Marvel can't do much about him in terms of live action.

And that's fine if you have that opinion but that's just factually not true... Hulk is one of the most recognized comic book characters out there, is very popular and has like other proper A-listers spawned countless other copy cats of him in other comics, publishing houses or fiction in general.

I think the best answer as to why Hulk is an A-list character is the 2 films that they picked to kick off the Marvel cinematic universe with was Ironman and Incredible Hulk and the biggest A-list star they had probably even to this date in Marvel was Edward Norton. It's a shame the movie had so many problems because if the movie succeeded i imagine we would have seen a completely different MCU today with Edward Norton as the Hulk, with multiple other Hulk titles as well.

[Somecrazyaussie]

Different runs, different art styles. It works for me .

Absolutely works for me, too. Actually, if that is representative of how Ottley is going to approach the book, I am for it. I think he'll be a much better fit here than he was on Amazing.

[Somecrazyaussie]

Whatever the reason is the comic still sold well, even after Silvestri left even though it was an abysmal comic. Waids run was a mistake unfortunately, not that Waid had bad ideas but his knowledge on Hulk was poor and he would constantly make mistakes regarding the character, his lore and history, etc.. But on top of that the biggest problem is Waid himself was not interested in writing Hulk, before he started Indestructible Hulk he did a podcast where he was asked which character is he least interested in writing and he answered Hulk, but shortly after i imagine editorial forced it upon him because of how shortlived Aarons run was.

I think it this sense it does mean exactly that. Actually you said he was a C-lister. That's untrue given that Hulk has quite literally set the comic book world on fire even before Immortal Hulk, the Planet Hulk run has literally reached mainstream recognition, it's one of the most mentioned stories since the first Avengers movie that fans wanted to see made into a film, so much so that multiple directors and even Kevin Feige have been asked about it by both fans and journalists. Hulk was never gonna be canceled btw, they just couldn't find who would write him at the time but they would have literally given it to anyone just to write, this also isn't unique to Hulk, this has happened to multiple A-list characters in he past as well. It's just so happens that the stars align in comics that lasted for over half a century that at some point you run into writers that just don't have a pitch for a Hulk at the time, it's kinda he opposite of nowadays because even Ewing when he pitched his Immortal Hulk run has said he had fierce competition with lots of different writers vying to write Hulk and he barely won out.

We know the MCU Hulk is basically there just so they would sell merch on him, since they don't have the rights to distribute him and his movies, Marvel can't do much about him in terms of live action.

And that's fine if you have that opinion but that's just factually not true... Hulk is one of the most recognized comic book characters out there, is very popular and has like other proper A-listers spawned countless other copy cats of him in other comics, publishing houses or fiction in general.

I think the best answer as to why Hulk is an A-list character is the 2 films that they picked to kick off the Marvel cinematic universe with was Ironman and Incredible Hulk and the biggest A-list star they had probably even to this date in Marvel was Edward Norton. It's a shame the movie had so many problems because if the movie succeeded i imagine we would have seen a completely different MCU today with Edward Norton as the Hulk, with multiple other Hulk titles as well.

I think people like the idea of the Hulk. But they aren't too bothered with the actual "world" of the Hulk himself. Characters I consider A-list are ones where you can ask a person on the street any question about that character and they can likely answer it like, "who is Batman's arch-enemy?" And they'll likely go "Joker". "Who is Superman's love interest?" And they'll respond "Lois". If I walked up to a random person tomorrow and go, "who is Hulk's arch-enemy?" Will they say The Leader? Would they say Betty Ross if I asked the love interest one. The image of the Hulk is viable and lends itself well to toy sales. But that is often all you see. Just the Hulk bit. Whereas the supporting cast of Peter Parker is just as known as Peter/Spidey himself.

B to C lister is what i stated.

Incredible Hulk should have had more eyes on it. But it came 5 years after the Ang Lee version and I just feel they obviously thought it would be a sequel. Plus it was never going to net Marvel Studios the gross they needed due to the deal with Universal. Mark Ruffalo has done well with what he has been given. But I am still saddened we never got more Norton. Not certain if he is the type to be a ensemble player though. Still, he had a clear vision of where he wanted to take it.