Doc Green Opens His Gamma-Powered Practice in Duggan's "Hulk"

[gerryduggan]

Wasn't it retconned that Professor Hulk was simply another personality created by Doc Sampson,which was a retcon I hated.

I can't ask because Doc Samson is dead.

...right?

[leo619]

Skipped right over Uncanny X-Men?

Also, you apparently are not part of the overall trend. Comics are rising while manga is falling in the U.S.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...le-market.html

Oh fortunately not all comics follow the same boat. I read Ultimate Spider Man, Miles Morales, which is one of the farthest you can get from the status quo. True a big portion of that is the fact that he's in the ultimate universe, but I respect that universe for being bold enough to make changes and stick with them. So fortunately not all comics fit under the bill but most of them definitely do.

And you link provides the manga situation a year ago, not 2014. Comics however has not been on the rise as per comichron, current sales is -5% in comparison to 2013.
http://comichron.com/

Isn't having multiple Hulks the current status quo and one that's been in place for some time? Isn't it wrong to keep all these characters around just because some fans don't want the present status quo to change? The fact is, some fans will be unhappy regardless of what happens in their comics. They want things to change, but not too much. They want things to stay the same, but they don't want the book to become stagnant. It's impossible to please everyone.

All I know is that the first issue of Omega Hulk was awesome and I'm eagerly anticipating the rest of the storyline.

when I refer to status quo I'm referring to the original story's and outlet. Meaning how they first started. resipsaloquitur made a post about how comics always revert back to the default, and that static aspect of comics is a major hindrance. It's like the Falcon and Thor announcement. I'm slightly interested, but I would be far more interest if I knew these storylines would stick. Of course, that's not the case. Cap is going to get his super soldier juice back eventually in about 2 years and Falcon will be demoted back to side kick like before. So there's really no point in being really interested in these stories as they are just going to be undo anyway in a few years time frame.

[Maestro Hulk]

Professor was Banner merged with the green and grey etc - Doc Green is NOT that. He doesn't identify with Banner or Hulk. He's smarter than Banner thanks the extremis.

You said what separates this Hulk is he’s never been as smart as he is now. His intelligence is greater than Banner’s or the Professor’s. But is he smarter than the Maestro Hulk?

[dswynne]

To clarify - This new extremis powered brain in the Hulk is the one that wants to get rid of the other Hulks. Are his motives pure? Maybe, maybe not. The new Hulk persona is quite ruthless. (Let's talk after you've read issue 9)

I hope you enjoy the ride - the art is worth the price of admission alone. I've already written the end of this story, and I can promise you - we stick the landing.

IF some Hulks are depowered, I hope it's not your favorite Hulk, but just remember - bad things happen to good characters. My favorite scene thus far us Rick Jones in issue 8. I'd be curious what your reaction is to Rick in that issue.
Smash you all,
Gerry

Mr. Duggan,

You were brought on to tell a story, and I respect. My only problem with Doc Green's mission to neutralize gamma-powered weapons (living or otherwise) is that it seems so arbitrary. Since the Hulk's creation, all he wanted was to be left alone. Now, he wants to be proactive, even to the point of neutralizing his own FAMILY, when clearly the guys who shot Banner were developing their own gamma-weapons program (starting with the Abomination). Regardless of what the end result of the Omega Hulk stroryline, I really hope that Doc Green's motives are explored.

Nevertheless, good luck on your tenure.

DSW

[Joecooler2u]

To clarify - This new extremis powered brain in the Hulk is the one that wants to get rid of the other Hulks. Are his motives pure? Maybe, maybe not. The new Hulk persona is quite ruthless. (Let's talk after you've read issue 9)

I hope you enjoy the ride - the art is worth the price of admission alone. I've already written the end of this story, and I can promise you - we stick the landing.

IF some Hulks are depowered, I hope it's not your favorite Hulk, but just remember - bad things happen to good characters. My favorite scene thus far us Rick Jones in issue 8. I'd be curious what your reaction is to Rick in that issue.
Smash you all,
Gerry

Hey if you get rid of A-Bomb that's a win in any column. Rick Jones needs to go back to what he does best. Be the cool sidekick. Ideally I'd like Hulk, Red Hulk, She Hulk and maybe Red She-Hulk the rest can all go. Even if Betty got to go back to normal(though I like the conflict of her being a Hulk creating tension with Bruce/Hulk) that's ok but Hulk, She Hulk and Red Hulk would be a nice trio of Hulks. What readers often don't get is that a story where the characters are all happy isn't very interesting. You have to have bad things (conflict) to create an interesting story and unfortunately as you said bad things have to happen to good characters to get that conflict. Do what you do best, let the story speak for you. Fans who go by whether a story is good or not will be the true judge. It's easy to sit back and say this is going to be cool or going to suck without reading a word but really it will depend on the story. It's a pretty damn interesting idea in my opinion. Best of luck.

[comicfan298]

While I like all the Hulks, I will be sad to see some go. But it will be nice to see some we haven't seen in a while, like Lyra and Skaar. Looking forward to see this play out. Gerry have you been talking to Charles Soule when it comes o She-Hulk? Will Jennifer be putting the legal smackdown as well as her fists?

[king of hybrids]

i'd say lyra and betty at least will be depowered for sure; if only because they don't have any potential "synergy" potential (notice how fast reptil bit it once squad was cancelled?). as i understand, Agents of SMASH is terrible and no so wel lreceived, so odds are skaar and a-bomb aren't protected either. rulk and she-hulk probably won't be permenantly affected (physically at least, i imagine bruce/regular hulk may be due some smashing at a later point by those 2).

whether or not its partially reversed by the end of the run, or by the next guy is another question, but i still want to see how this goes.

[L.R Johansson]

This storyline sounds more and more fascinating... I might actually have to pick the Hulk-book up again. I've been propagating for a depowering of the variant-hulks for a while now, so this sounds like pretty sweet christmas to me.

Cudos to Duggan and Editorial for having the balls to DO IT! = D

[consafo80]

This sounds interesting to me and I'll give it a go. Also do we actually know he's going to kill off or depower all the hulks? Or do we just know he's going to try.

[Cmbmool]

I wonder if the creative team consider the whole "Rick's guilt over the Hulk's origin" thing when doing this ?

[Prof. Warren]

when I refer to status quo I'm referring to the original story's and outlet. Meaning how they first started. resipsaloquitur made a post about how comics always revert back to the default, and that static aspect of comics is a major hindrance. It's like the Falcon and Thor announcement. I'm slightly interested, but I would be far more interest if I knew these storylines would stick. Of course, that's not the case. Cap is going to get his super soldier juice back eventually in about 2 years and Falcon will be demoted back to side kick like before. So there's really no point in being really interested in these stories as they are just going to be undo anyway in a few years time frame.

This argument always strikes me as particularly silly. "I'd like this story if I knew it was going to stick." Unless a change is permanent, it's not a story worth enjoying? I don't know how long Sam will serve as Cap but I'm excited to see how his time wielding the shield will play out. Maybe it'll be long term, or short term, maybe Steve will be Cap again, maybe someone else will take Sam's place. Who knows? A good story is a good story and Sam as Cap has the makings of one. He likely won't be Cap forever but that's ok. Just because Peter Parker is Spider-Man again doesn't mean that Doc Ock's time as Spidey was any less entertaining. It was fun and it gave a whole new spin on Spidey's world. If Ock had stayed as Spidey forever, that in itself would become stagnant over time. No change in comics is ever permanent. Comic characters are always experiencing upheaval and their lives are never static. As soon as things get "back to normal", something else comes along to turn their world inside out.

If most of the other gamma-powered characters are taken off the board in Hulk, there's a good chance they'll return down the line, or a whole new set of characters will populate the book. For every fan that's unhappy about whatever change occurs in a book, there are always others who will love it.

[Vic Vega]

It's always interested me how much harder a time Marvel characters even popular ones like Hulk, have in maintaining a family of books than DC characters do.

No matter how popular Cap, Thor Hulk or Spider Man get they can only maintain one solo book a piece on average. A character like Spidey might be able to maintain 2 or 3 books but even there, they can only be about Spider Man.

I always liked the idea of a Gamma Corps working under Banner or as a team. But none of the Gamma Gang seem to sell.

[Wildfire2099]

Anyone else see the irony here? So Extremis creates a super smart Hulk... the same Extremis that, a couple years ago, Tony Stark vowed to destroy. (As he had with his other inventions in the past... see Armor Wars).

Now, Hulk gets infected with Extremis, and we're getting a Gamma version of Armor Wars? Very strange. I may give the series a shot (probably in trade)... I thought Waid's idea of having Banner do science stuff was good, but somehow the delivery didn't quite work... this is at least a new idea (for Hulk, at least) so perhaps it'll be good

Any chance of the Pantheon visiting?

[Knightsilver]

I can't ask because Doc Samson is dead.

...right?

Going by the rules of comics,he'll be back!

[gerryduggan]

Mr. Duggan,

You were brought on to tell a story, and I respect. My only problem with Doc Green's mission to neutralize gamma-powered weapons (living or otherwise) is that it seems so arbitrary. Since the Hulk's creation, all he wanted was to be left alone. Now, he wants to be proactive, even to the point of neutralizing his own FAMILY, when clearly the guys who shot Banner were developing their own gamma-weapons program (starting with the Abomination). Regardless of what the end result of the Omega Hulk stroryline, I really hope that Doc Green's motives are explored.

Nevertheless, good luck on your tenure.

DSW

Thanks. It's a blast to help make, and I hope you enjoy it. Keep the faith, DSW...