Bruce Banner, The Incredible Hulk Appreciation 2023

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

Incredible Hulk #470
“Circus People”
Cover Date: November 1998
Sale Date: September 16th, 1998
Writer: Joe Casey
Artist: Ed McGuinness
Inker: Nathan Massengill
Letterer: John Workman
Colorist: Steve Buccellato
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Guest Stars/Supporting Cast: Rick and Marlo Jones, Doc Samson, General Ross, Col. St. Lawerence, D. Elizabeth Spar, Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Justice.
Villain: The Clown and the Circus of Crime
Synopsis: We open to Doc Samson and the Clown from the Circus of Crime going over an incident that happened in Las Vegas. The scene shifts to Bruce Banner using a fake name to get a hotel room. A few minutes later, he makes a phone call to Suzy Berengetti, who then informs him that Marlo is there. Another flashback reveals the Clown and Ringmaster having a discussion at a diner. The talks make it sound like the Ringmaster is off to bigger and better things, and abandoning the Circus of Crime. Scene-shift to the Clown and the Circus robbing a bank while Bruce and Marlo are catching up over recent events. Tension between Rick and Marlo have led to a separation and she starts to admit that she’s gotten herself into a little bit of trouble. In New Mexico, we see General Ross and Dr. Spar having their usual heated argument about the Hulk when she makes a call to arrange a visit to see Rick Jones. Upon arrival, Spar is shocked to see Rick in very sad shape. A quick call to the Avengers has them escort him back to Avengers Mansion (which leads to the Avengers Forever maxi-series). Before leaving, she overhears a message left by Marlo. She wants him to head out and talk to Bruce. Anxiously, Spar makes arrangements to Vegas. We then cut to some shady characters waiting for someone (Marlo) and come across Banner instead. He states that Marlo has changed her mind in participating in whatever is about to go down, but he’s taken at gunpoint as a hostage/associate. Hours later, we see the trio robbing a bank – which also happens to be the bank that the Clown and the Circus of Crime are after. The criminals start shooting at each other, a bullet grazes Banner’s shoulder and he transforms into the Hulk. He takes care of the wimpy trio and then goes after the Clown. Much to his surprise (and Samson’s), we find out that Princess Python’s snake is able to take down the Hulk. To be continued….
Commentary: Ohhhhh, the infamous snake issue! Rabid anti-Hulk fanboy battleground fodder. Personally, I don’t have had a stake in it. Didn’t in 1998, don’t in 2023. As Joe Casey TRIED to explain in an interview years later, the Hulk wasn’t thinking with his usual battle instinct and forgot to hold his breath and the snake was supposed to drawn bigger. Or wait. Maybe it was just the snake needed to be drawn bigger? I dunno, but Ed McGuinness here isn’t too shabby. Not as stylized as his later work, but still recognizable…and good! I would have liked to see him as a regular artist had the series not undergone a reboot. One item of note, when Banner is flipping through the phone book on page 3, the narration “Gray thoughts creep into his brain, he pushes them away.” I wonder if Casey was wanting to use the Gray Hulk for this issue. Probably would have gone over better with the snake incident with a weaker Hulk….

[PlatinumThorns]

Hulk Annual #1 preview: https://comicbook.com/comics/news/hu...ics-preview/#1

[Intothevoid]

Some preview images of the Hulk run in June

https://twitter.com/PhillipKJohnson/...85321235718145

The transformation look awesome, we are going back to body horror again

also an interview by PKJ

https://t.co/xpepT9JkBE

[Vordan]

Looks like this is connected to that Immortal Hulk one shot about a prehistoric Hulk from a while ago.

[Intothevoid]

Looks like this is connected to that Immortal Hulk one shot about a prehistoric Hulk from a while ago.

Yea i figured it was that Hulk and PKJ confirmed it for me on twitter, that's a really cool connection.

Also ties up the loose end, because otherwise it was weird that a per-historic Hulk was left wandering the planet and we never heard anything about it, now we are finally getting a real closure on it.

[Mantis-Ray]

Looks like this is connected to that Immortal Hulk one shot about a prehistoric Hulk from a while ago.

See thats a better design than the Avengers BC Starbrand which essentially tried to be a prehistoric Hulk. Starbrand aped the design too much, so he just wound up being an off-color regular Hulk in appearance.

This though has a more unique look so he just doesn't come across as another diet version of regular Banner-Hulk.

[GreenScar1990]

Yea i figured it was that Hulk and PKJ confirmed it for me on twitter, that's a really cool connection.

Also ties up the loose end, because otherwise it was weird that a per-historic Hulk was left wandering the planet and we never heard anything about it, now we are finally getting a real closure on it.

I'm so happy about Tammuz. Hopefully he becomes the permanent replacement of Abomination as Hulk's main physical antagonist. Because, let's face it, it's absolutely necessary given how bland, boring, stale, weak and pathetic Abomination is.

I just wonder how his head was removed. Was it done by the Elder Gods, The Mother of Horrors, or did the Eternals and 1 Million BC Avengers have a play in it? 🤔

It had to involve something powerful and/or mystical in order to temporarily halt/incapacitate Tammuz as decapitating him didn't work in Time of Monsters one-shot.

[ChrisIII]

It was sitting in the leader/hulk's ancestor's room in Immortal #50 I think.

Tammuz is probably going to get it back though

[Rzerox21xx]

https://aiptcomics.com/2023/05/12/ma...hulk-annual-1/

Hulk annual Preview

Is it me or do I see Dante from Clerks.

[Intothevoid]

https://aiptcomics.com/2023/05/12/ma...hulk-annual-1/

Hulk annual Preview

Is it me or do I see Dante from Clerks.

Yea he does lol.

I will be honest this artwork for this looks atrocious and the premise i don't really care for since it seems to be more about these random one-off characters than Hulk, with that said i am looking forward to the last 5 pages, since they are gonna show some stuff from the new Hulk run.

[ChrisIII]

The new transformation isn't quite as grotesque as the ones in Immortal, although it certainly "sounds" very painful.

[Intothevoid]

The new transformation isn't quite as grotesque as the ones in Immortal, although it certainly "sounds" very painful.

It's not on the level of Immortal Hulk, it's true but lets be fair despite what kind of a person Joe Bennett is, his artwork was a perfect fit for a horror story filled with body horror. Seeing Dario Agger after Xemnu ate him and then regurgitated him is not an image i can erase from my mind.

With that said i still love Nic Kleins art, i love the colors, the Hulk feels like he has so much weight to him and mass. Even if the transformations are not on IH level i can't wait to see all kinds of creatures be introduced in the book

[Vordan]

Wasn’t sure about long haired Hulk initially, but I am digging how he looks in that transformation sequences

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

Damn, those teeth...

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

Incredible Hulk #471
“Odds and Sods”
Cover Date: December 1998
Sale Date: October 21t, 1998
Writer: Joe Casey
Artist: Ed McGuinness
Inker: Nathan Massengill
Letterer: John Workman
Colorist: Steve Buccelato
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Guest Stars/Supporting Cast: Doc Samson, Marlo Jones, Dr. Katherine Spar, General Ross, Qnax (cameo)
Villains: The Circus of Crime
Synopsis: The Clown continues to recount his story to Doc Samson as Katherine Spar has made her way to Las Vegas and introduced herself to Marlo Jones. Their discussion is interrupted by a phone call and a few minutes later at the Three Rings Casino, are shocked to find the Hulk is the number one bet in the city. Elsewhere in the flashback, we a flustered Clown angry at the leaked information that the Circus of Crime has the Hulk prisoner. Princess Python convinces him that this is a good thing and not to worry. Back to Marlo and Spar, as they make their way into the basement of the casino. They’re shocked to find a very sedated Bruce Banner, chained and caged. Spar breaks out an adrenaline sample and gives Banner an injection and they quickly make their way back to the casino level. The Circus, meanwhile, is performing to a sold out show in the arena when a very angry Hulk makes his presence known. This time, the Circus is outmatched and easily taken out. The Hulk leaps away and General Ross arrives the next morning, gruffly believing he’s in hiding within the city limits. We found out later that he’s transformed back into Bruce Banner and haggardly shuffling across the desert in the middle of the afternoon. Unexpectedly, the alien Qnax and former Hulk-Hunter arrives to introduced himself…
Commentary: Neatly wrapped up and while it was nice to see some story for Marlo and the Hulk in Vegas again, I’m more of a believer in thinking this would have been a better fit for the Gray Hulk. Hell, he was on the page 3 splash. At this point, I don’t think any writer, nor any higher up at Marvel wanted to deal with multiple Hulks again. They got what they wanted in a green, savage, mute Hulk and were expecting big numbers…
On a side note, this is Bobbie Chase’s final issue as editor on the Hulk. Her working relationship with Peter David helped steer the title into the directions that we consider classic eras. I’ve never heard David say a bad word about her, he loved working with her, and vice versa. I don’t think she was a heavy-handed editor in the sense that she mandated that THIS MUST BE DONE THIS WAY, like Harras was with Claremont (towards the end of his first X-run). From what I gathered she pretty much let him do things his way.