Bruce Banner: The Hulk Appreciation 2018

[Gamma Irradiated Being]

Oh hell. How do I rate that?

For me, my sweet spot would be #179-426.
You've got Wein/Stern/Mantlo -- followed by Byrne, Milgrom and PAD.
Artistically, you've got Trimpe, Buscema, Mignola, Byrne, Milgrom....

Ugh...tough to say.

Yup! That's it.

[Speed Force League Unlimited]

Oh hell. How do I rate that?

For me, my sweet spot would be #179-426.
You've got Wein/Stern/Mantlo -- followed by Byrne, Milgrom and PAD.
Artistically, you've got Trimpe, Buscema, Mignola, Byrne, Milgrom....

Ugh...tough to say.

That's a good spot.

If I recall correctly, I think John Byrne also contributed to the scripts of a couple of stories.

[GreenScar1990]

Sorry guys, but I'm getting a little worried that they're just setting this great run up so the Hulk can get jobbed by the juiced up She-Hulk because the trend these days is to make female heroes the lead/depower male heroes. Are you guys getting that feeling or is it just me? If that is the case, how will you feel about it?

I doubt that will happen. Al Ewing already stated that when it comes to 1-on-1, nothing and nobody can defeat the Hulk in a fight. And even if he's facing a team of heavy hitters, they're gonna be hard pressed to match or even stalemate him.

As for the bullcrap from Jason Aaron's Avengers #8 where he boasts that she's more powerful and radiates more power than Bruce, it's a total lie and utterly false. She doesn't have the power or feats to match even the weakest Hulk incarnations. Take it with a massive grain of salt. Plus, Jason Aaron hates the Hulk and dislikes the fanbase after they rejected his horrific garbage of a run, so he's got an ax to grind and is a total a-hole who is known for his inconsistency in loads of stories.

It won't happen. Specially in Ewing's Hulk. Hulk alone is more than a match for any team.

She should be careful. Otherwise, Hulk will absorve her gamma and leave her powerless too. From the pics we have so far, the avengers won't be in good shape after the fight. LOL.

And I don't believe this bs about "female heros being written as getter than male heroes".

Agreed. Jen will be lucky if she manages to get a few hits in or even hold her own with 7-8 other Avengers backing her up in the fight against the Hulk. 1-on-1, he'd slaughter her. Pummel, smash, and drain the gamma away.

That is an ever present scratching on the inside of my skull.

We had two replacements for Hulk awhile back. Neither caught on, but it does feel as if Aaron is trying to do the same thing with She-Hulk as what he did with Jane-Thor.

I'm hoping that Marvel, and Ewing will avoid that. A big thing is that while Jane-Thor had sales, none of the other replacement characters have been able to replicate that.

I'm hoping we don't see that in the next issue or after, but I don't think we can rule that out. Thor fans were riding high while we were suffering through the lackluster Post-Pak period. In the end I think we git the better end of that stick. Hulk took a short dirt nap while Thor was drug through the dirt, and worse.

The thing is Ewing has been doing well so far, and I feel that a loss to Jen here just to put her over would be a misstep. A big part of Hulk's place in the greater Marvel U is that he"s this force that is insanely powerful and uncontrollable.

He's at once an element of chaos and uncertainty for Earth and its heroes, and something that stands again and again, as a bulwark against annihilation and subjugation.

If he could be shut down easily by any of the heroes, you lose the first part, and if he can easily be replaced you lose the second. And then, what is the point of the Hulk?

I think Marvel has backed off this kind of push as of late. We're not seeing characters, beloved for generations, thrown out for new characters who will, whatever their merits may be, be scorned because of the treatment of their predecessors.

What worries me more is that if the rumored 'Hulk gets trashed by Captain Marvel' scene takes place, that will be it.

Marvel has been hell-bent to get themselves a Supernan for awhile. The fact that the fans don't want this, the general public doesn't want this, that they have several powerhouses that already fit that kinda of rolls in different be ways, or even the fact that DC quite honestly isn't sure what to do with their Superman doesn't seem to matter.

If Hulk gets trashed by Carol in the next movie, I'm positive that the comic Hulk will finally be transformed into the Avengers giant green pet who gets his ass kicked to show how tough the threat is.

I doubt that will happen. Captain Marvel can barely reach 20k in comic book sales and her film will be hard pressed to best or even get near Wonder Woman's level of success. With Marvel finally giving Axel Alonso and several other people the boot, Marvel is starting to regain some of it's classic awesomeness that it's been sorely lacking for the most part these last 7 years or so.

Unfortunately, sometimes the point of the Hulk is to save the world, and other times its to sacrifice him to demonstrate the elevated threat (Red Hulk) or heroism (Thor, Silver Surfer, etc.) of whoever jobs him.

I agree with you, though. The Hulk should stand as the greatest mortal power, capable of rising to face cosmic-level threats. No, I don't think he should be able to defeat Galactus, but defeating a Cyttorak-powered Juggernaut, holding his own with Thanos and even threatening the likes of Zeus in physical battle should be in the cards at Hulk's highest levels.



Yeah, I hate to sound like a pessimist, but my gut tells me Hulk will get jobbed by Jen or Carol and then be "allowed" to come back to face the green door threat because the unique gamma characteristics make him the better hero to face that particular threat, not because he is the strongest (that will be Jen and/or Carol).

I hope I'm wrong and the Hulk whips the lot of them! But movie money (the need to pump up the next MCU hero in the comics) and societal trends are telling me to bet otherwise...

(As for the movie, I don't consider the Hulk in the MCU the same power level as, say, the Green Scar from the comics. He's more like the Grey Hulk, and they've been pretty consistent with that. He did lose to the Hulk Buster Armor after all! That should never happen to ANY green hulk.)

Technically, Hulk is and has always been immortal. It, along with other powers/abilities, is just finally getting to be explored in more depth. As for how powerful Hulk should be, he should always be the most physically powerful being there is and one of the most powerful heroic/antiheroic beings in existence.

Alone he can take on the most powerful villains and threats, so how powerful he can become and needs to be is up to the writer. And given that his power knows no limit, that makes it all the easier for him to reach even the greatest magnitude of power necessary to deal with any being or threat he faces.

But, as stated a few pages ago, that's not all there is to the character. There is more to the Hulk/Bruce Banner than power and intellect. Far more. It's just the nature of the character. Something unstoppable, that can never be controlled or die.

[Gamma Burst]

The Avengers with their hands full, hehe!

https://www.cbr.com/immortal-hulk-fi...mpression=true

[Shadowcat]

Btw, people; what your favorite creative teams (a top 5, maybe) of the HULK?

5. PAD/Gary Frank. Especially that Juggernaut/Hulk/Avengers storyline.
4. Pak/Lopresti/Pagluyan—basically Planet Hulk’s creators.
3. PAD/Purves (such an under appreciated Hulk artist).
2. Stern/Buscema (Buscema is MY Hulk artist).
1. Mantlo/Buscema/Mignola—the Hulk run I measure all other runs.

[GreenScar1990]

The Avengers with their hands full, hehe!

https://www.cbr.com/immortal-hulk-fi...mpression=true

It's so great to see the Hulk smash his way through an entire team of Avengers! I mean, honestly, they deserve it and had it coming to them. This wouldn't happen if they would just leave Banner/Hulk alone. But they never learn, do they? Oh, well. Time to SMASH!!!!

[Jekyll]

It's so great to see the Hulk smash his way through an entire team of Avengers! I mean, honestly, they deserve it and had it coming to them. This wouldn't happen if they would just leave Banner/Hulk alone. But they never learn, do they? Oh, well. Time to SMASH!!!!

This!! Leave the man alone and stop needing him when it’s convenient for you.

[Ptrvc]

It's so great to see the Hulk smash his way through an entire team of Avengers! I mean, honestly, they deserve it and had it coming to them. This wouldn't happen if they would just leave Banner/Hulk alone. But they never learn, do they? Oh, well. Time to SMASH!!!!

Well, maybe not T'Challa and Robbie Ghost Rider.

I'm actually more excited for the verbal beatdowns as opposed to the physical. And I'm really excited to see certain Avengers.get their teeth smashed in.

[madeforTV]

It's so great to see the Hulk smash his way through an entire team of Avengers! I mean, honestly, they deserve it and had it coming to them. This wouldn't happen if they would just leave Banner/Hulk alone. But they never learn, do they? Oh, well. Time to SMASH!!!!

Nice. That's how every fight with the Hulkbuster armor should go...

[Ptrvc]

https://comicsverse.com/immortal-hulk-7-preview/

Preview just dropped.

[Kuwagaton]

After hearing that stuff about Jen being stronger I was like "oh boy." But this apparently is making great use of that set up.

2. Stern/Buscema (Buscema is MY Hulk artist).
1. Mantlo/Buscema/Mignola—the Hulk run I measure all other runs.

These are my top two as well. I like PAD best in the collaborative era with Keown, Kubert, and Frank.

[Cmbmool]

https://comicsverse.com/immortal-hulk-7-preview/

Preview just dropped.

I am hoping they bring in T'challa's Hulkbuster into this fight itoo. I mean he is Avengers Chairman and shouldn't he bring in EVERY WEAPON he has to help the Avengers stop the Immortal HULK ?

[Digifiend]

Didn't Amadeus destroy it?

Hulk's Infinity Warp is with Ant-Man: Little Monster.
https://www.cbr.com/infinity-wars-hu...ittle-monster/

[Seren]

Yes I'm idiot. Please don't laugh at me. I'm going to put on my flame suit anyway.

I still haven't figured out why the Avengers didn't call Jessica Drew? Aren't she and the Hulk friends? Can't she control him?

Either way, I need to pick this up either way because everyone is talking about it.

[Ptrvc]

Yes I'm idiot. Please don't laugh at me. I'm going to put on my flame suit anyway.

I still haven't figured out why the Avengers didn't call Jessica Drew? Aren't she and the Hulk friends? Can't she control him?

Either way, I need to pick this up either way because everyone is talking about it.

No reason for self-denigration. It's a valid question.

Ultimately, it comes down to the fact that Jessica Drew was friends with the Savage Hulk. (The Classic, speaks in third person, Hulk.)

There are lot of different personalities within Dr. Robert Bruce Banner's head, including multiple Hulk's who often exist simaltaneously in his mind.

Ultimately, the current Immortal Hulk is something of Enigma. We have no idea what kind of reaction he would have to Jessica Drew, or anyone else really, Betty, Skaar, Cho, Doc Samson, Dr. Strange, the Surfer, Ben Grimm, and so on and so forth.

Honestly, from the perspective of the other Avengers, if Jen wasn't going to get through to him, nobody else was going to.

(I suspect Brian Banner's ghost is mucking around with his neice some how, like he has others in this book so far. But neither she or the other Avengers have any idea about that.)