Bruce Banner, The Incredible Hulk Appreciation 2023

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

Peter Davids health hasn't been great these last few years and because of that he has piled up a lot of hospital bills. So anyone that can spare any money to donate to the family, feel free to do so.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/peter-dav...term=undefined

Without PAD there would be the Hulk that we know and love today. Also gotta say how shameful it is that Marvel really doesn't take care of their writers/editors/artists, etc... the way they deserve.

Goddamn, that's horrible.

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

Incredible Hulk #459
“Last Legs”
Cover Date: December 1997
Sale Date: October 15th, 1997
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Adam Kubert
Inkers: Mark Farmer and Bud LaRosa
Letterer: John Workman
Colorist: Digital Chameleon
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Guest Stars/Supporting Cast: General Ross, Col. St. Lawrence,
Villain: The Abomination, Mercy
Synopsis: The Abomination is walking the streets of New York City, vowing revenge on the Hulk, should he find him. While we didn’t see the Hulk’s safe landing of the airplane from last issue, we did see the immediate fallout – as he left in what appeared to be fear. A cut to Washington D.C. shows General Ross and Col. St. Lawrence discussing the Hulk’s whereabouts and actions and it abruptly cuts back to NYC as the Abomination spots the Hulk wandering the streets. He’s still glowing, and his mind is continuously flashing back to different aspects of his life. The fear he was leaping away from at the airport was from believing the aircraft was a giant gamma bomb; he’s flashing back to the first gamma bomb explosion, etc. Again, Mercy makes an appearance, claiming that she has “pushed” he and the Abomination together, thinking he will be strong enough to end his life. Blonsky calls out the Hulk, but his state of mind doesn’t see the Abomination, but his own alters from years gone by. At first, it’s a Kirby Gray Hulk (Hulk #1), then a Ditko version (Hulk #6), then his classic savage self. Each shift angers the Hulk even further and in reality, it’s a one-sided slugfest against the Abomination. He cannot catch a break and there is little or no offense in return. He makes a connection to the Hulk’s glow, stating that it feels like his strength is being drained from him. The battle makes its way to the subways and this time, the Hulk sees his past self dressed as “Mr. Fixit”. Another beatdown has Blonsky begging that he’s had enough. Hulk says never, as he sees the Merged Hulk in a heap against the wall. One last punch sends the Abomination above-ground and into the sky. An exhausted Hulk tries catching his breath, and he collapses in an alley, telling Mercy to go ahead and finish him off. She states that it doesn’t matter anymore, that “they are coming” and when “they” arrive, the Hulk will wish that she had finished him.
Commentary: Besides the ugly cover dress, this was another crappy cover. Fun issue, action packed. Standard hollow Kubert styles kind of made it look too rushed, but I loved the callbacks to previous incarnations. We see the Kirby Gray Hulk, the Ditko Hulk and a shaggy-haired savage mixed with a “Fixit” apparel and Merged. This Hulk wanted to smash his older selves, as he is his own stand-alone intelligent and thinking identity, despite the absence of Bruce Banner. Add to the fact from the revelation that he’s a conduit between the 616 and Heroes Reborn universes, he’s a little out of whack.
The next issue blurb says that Bruce Banner is set to return, so technically, we need to steer off into the Heroes Return mini series. I really should cover them, as it impacts the Hulk’s reunion with Banner and his status quo going forward. I have just regained my lead on these reviews after a bout with bronchitis, along with regular life getting in the way, and I need to keep it that way. So rather than an individual issue-by-issue, I’ll probably just do an overview, with a focus on the Hulk and Banner. Maybe. Somehow.

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4
Cover Date: December 1997, shipped weekly in October 1997.
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Salvador Larroca
Inker: Art Thibert
Letterer: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Colorist: Steve Buccellato and Mad Science Media
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Guest Stars/Supporting Cast: Spider-Man, Franklin Richards, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Man-Thing, the X-Men, the Thunderbolts.
Antagonists: Ashema
Synopsis:
Issue #1:
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Heroe...Return_Vol_1_1
Issue #2:
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Heroe...Return_Vol_1_2
Issue #3:
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Heroe...Return_Vol_1_3
Issue #4:
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Heroe...Return_Vol_1_4

Commentary: I tried, but man, it was verbal diarrhea that made little or no sense. In a nutshell, the heroes from the Heroes Reborn/Pocket/Counter-Earth (whatever the hell it’s called now) universe regain their memories, and team together to return to the 616. It’s the reunion of the Hulks and Banner that I thought were the focus, but that was a bust. As with previous Hulk vs. Hulk encounters, I loved seeing the two of them go at it. This time, it was green vs. green – bowl cut vs long hair. (I had flashbacks of the Gray and Rick Jones Hulk fight from issue #326.) One interesting point is that ever since their separation, the Hulk has been craving “more”. That he’s incomplete. Once he sees Banner, he doesn’t want him anymore. Sadly, the fight was less than stellar. 616 Hulk made short work of the Counter-Earth Hulk and the two are reunited in issue #4. And the Counter Earth Hulk is never brought up again. I thought the narration was more than it claimed to be but it just explains how Banner and the Hulk are once again reunited on a molecular level. No longer does he radiate or leak energy between the two dimensions, and that surge sends all the displaced heroes back to their dimension. As far as the Hulk, well, that’s explained in #460.

[Triniking1234]

Honestly forgot about Heroes Reborn mostly because that universe's Hulk just showed in random Heroes Reborn books.

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

Honestly forgot about Heroes Reborn mostly because that universe's Hulk just showed in random Heroes Reborn books.

I did like how they tied Iron Man and Hulk's origin together, but after that...yeah, running around naked and fighting other heroes...kinda bland.

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

Incredible Hulk #460
“Homecoming”
Cover Date: January 1998
Sale Date: November 26th, 1997
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Adam Kubert
Inker: Mark Farmer
Letterer: John Workman
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski/Digital Chameleon
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Guest Stars/Supporting Cast: Bruce Banner
Villain: Ghostly apparitions of Brian Banner, the Maestro and the Leader
Synopsis: The Hulk’s reunion with Bruce Banner has led to his bodily systems breaking down and overloading with gamma energy. In reality, the brute lies in a near lifeless state in a fiery crater in the southwest desert next to the site of the original gamma bomb, while on the mental plane, Bruce Banner struggles against apparitions of Brian Banner, the Maestro and the Leader. As the Hulk’s body begins to dissolve, the excessive energies are siphoned off into the Maestro’s skeleton. On the mental plane, the villain explains that HE is the reason for the Hulk’s ability to find his way back to New Mexico. This enabled the Maestro to reenergize himself little by little over time. In the desert, a police helicopter gets too close to the strange gamma energies and it crashes. A zombified Hulk is able to muster the strength and help the pilot to safety, as Banner is able to confront and conquer the apparitions on the mental plane. It is Banner, not the Hulk, who emerges from the gamma flames with the chopper pilot and he wanders off into the desert. The issue ends as we see the reanimated corpse of the Maestro emerge from the crater and shuffle its way across the desert.
Commentary: With the end of the “Heroes Return” storyline, the Hulk and Banner are remerged and much like what happened in issues #323-324, the Hulk has returned to his early era roots. He’s intelligent but brutish. It isn’t “Fixit”-era quips or broken 3rd person dialogue. If he does, it’s using his name as a title “Nobody can stop the Hulk!” He’s not very talkative and when he does, it’s with a minimal amount of words. The status quo is restored and in a way to get the wheels back on track, PAD starts moving in a different direction with the Banner/Hulk dynamic. Banner wants a stable life, and the Hulk wants attention and acceptance.

[Intothevoid]

https://screenrant.com/geoff-johns-i...l-millar-time/

Geoff Johns has a Hulk story he really wants to write, he even has it all planned out and written down and according to him it's just a matter of when he will get the opportunity to do so.

[GreenScar1990]

http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news/tih-2-2023/

I cannot believe nobody posted this yet! We'll be eating good for the rest of 2023 and into 2024 with Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Nic Klein's THE INCREDIBLE HULK!!!

[ComicNoobie]

Incredible Hulk #459
“Last Legs”
Cover Date: December 1997
Sale Date: October 15th, 1997
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Adam Kubert
Inkers: Mark Farmer and Bud LaRosa
Letterer: John Workman
Colorist: Digital Chameleon
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Guest Stars/Supporting Cast: General Ross, Col. St. Lawrence,
Villain: The Abomination, Mercy
Synopsis: The Abomination is walking the streets of New York City, vowing revenge on the Hulk, should he find him. While we didn’t see the Hulk’s safe landing of the airplane from last issue, we did see the immediate fallout – as he left in what appeared to be fear. A cut to Washington D.C. shows General Ross and Col. St. Lawrence discussing the Hulk’s whereabouts and actions and it abruptly cuts back to NYC as the Abomination spots the Hulk wandering the streets. He’s still glowing, and his mind is continuously flashing back to different aspects of his life. The fear he was leaping away from at the airport was from believing the aircraft was a giant gamma bomb; he’s flashing back to the first gamma bomb explosion, etc. Again, Mercy makes an appearance, claiming that she has “pushed” he and the Abomination together, thinking he will be strong enough to end his life. Blonsky calls out the Hulk, but his state of mind doesn’t see the Abomination, but his own alters from years gone by. At first, it’s a Kirby Gray Hulk (Hulk #1), then a Ditko version (Hulk #6), then his classic savage self. Each shift angers the Hulk even further and in reality, it’s a one-sided slugfest against the Abomination. He cannot catch a break and there is little or no offense in return. He makes a connection to the Hulk’s glow, stating that it feels like his strength is being drained from him. The battle makes its way to the subways and this time, the Hulk sees his past self dressed as “Mr. Fixit”. Another beatdown has Blonsky begging that he’s had enough. Hulk says never, as he sees the Merged Hulk in a heap against the wall. One last punch sends the Abomination above-ground and into the sky. An exhausted Hulk tries catching his breath, and he collapses in an alley, telling Mercy to go ahead and finish him off. She states that it doesn’t matter anymore, that “they are coming” and when “they” arrive, the Hulk will wish that she had finished him.
Commentary: Besides the ugly cover dress, this was another crappy cover. Fun issue, action packed. Standard hollow Kubert styles kind of made it look too rushed, but I loved the callbacks to previous incarnations. We see the Kirby Gray Hulk, the Ditko Hulk and a shaggy-haired savage mixed with a “Fixit” apparel and Merged. This Hulk wanted to smash his older selves, as he is his own stand-alone intelligent and thinking identity, despite the absence of Bruce Banner. Add to the fact from the revelation that he’s a conduit between the 616 and Heroes Reborn universes, he’s a little out of whack.
The next issue blurb says that Bruce Banner is set to return, so technically, we need to steer off into the Heroes Return mini series. I really should cover them, as it impacts the Hulk’s reunion with Banner and his status quo going forward. I have just regained my lead on these reviews after a bout with bronchitis, along with regular life getting in the way, and I need to keep it that way. So rather than an individual issue-by-issue, I’ll probably just do an overview, with a focus on the Hulk and Banner. Maybe. Somehow.

I know this was posted awhile ago but is the Abomination wearing a trench coat? In the rain? That's cool they had one in his size.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I know this was posted awhile ago but is the Abomination wearing a trench coat? In the rain? That's cool they had one in his size.

He gets them from the same place Ben Grimm does

[FrazettaHulk]

http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news/tih-2-2023/

Cover and synopsis for The Incredible Hulk #2. Klein is crushing it!

[ChrisIII]

Looks like Charlie might be the latest variation on the Hulk sidekick, along with Rick, Jim, Amadeus, Jackie etc.

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

He gets them from the same place Ben Grimm does

Must have gone out of business into the next volume.
It was his turn to walk around naked in #24 and 25...

[ComicNoobie]

Must have gone out of business into the next volume.
It was his turn to walk around naked in #24 and 25...

Whoa! Abomination has Nadia as his dearest. How does Janet feel about that considering this was decades before her debut lol. Still it's a shame he lost his coat. He looked quite snazzy in it.

[Cth]

Here's Lenil Yu's alternate cover for issue 2.

There's a Bryan Hitch Hellfire Gala variant.. surprised it took so long for them to do one with the Hulk, especially given Fixit, seems like a no brainer.

hulk2.jpg