DC comics equivalent to the Hulk?

[phantom1592]

Scientist turned monster? My first thought went to Man-bat... Though that's probably closer to Lizard, but there's a lot of overlap.

[NeathBlue]

Hulk is pretty much a copy of Grundy, at worst Grundy is the inspiration behind him... Only difference being one is a hero and the other a villain.

[Robotman]

Even though Hulk was created 20 years after Grundy I really don't think he's a rip off character. I think they were both inspired by Frankenstein (and of course Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the Hulk's case).
Grundy was used as DC's answer to The Hulk in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon. In fact they even created their own version of The Defenders. Aquaman as Namor, Dr. Fate as Dr. Strange, AMAZO as Silver Surfer, and Grundy as Hulk.

[phantom1592]

Hulk is pretty much a copy of Grundy, at worst Grundy is the inspiration behind him... Only difference being one is a hero and the other a villain.

I kind of doubt that. One was a basic swamp zombie.... the other pretty clearly took his roots from Jekyll and Hyde with a dash of Frankenstein's monster.

Even when Hulk first debuted he was much smarter and articulate then what people consider 'classic green hulk'. Not to mention he still switched forms. Over the decades some basic similarities may have come to the front... but I don't think Lee and Kirby were thinking Grundy when they put ink to paper.

[Walter West]

I hate these "Who is DC's equivalent to Marvel character (fill in the blank)" that ASSUME DC is always ripping off Marvel comics.

HINT: DC was publishing superhero comics BEFORE MARVEL.

HINT: The Fantastic Four was created in response to the success of DC's Justice League of America!

I thought Fantastic Four was created in response to Challengers of the Unknown, and The Avengers were created in response to the JLA?

[MajorHoy]

I thought Fantastic Four was created in response to Challengers of the Unknown, and The Avengers were created in response to the JLA?

DC came out with the Justice League of America at the beginning of 1960 (in The Brave and the Bold #28). The concept of a modern superhero team had proved successful for DC, so in 1961 Stan Lee was told by then publisher Martin Goodman to create a superhero team for their company.
The result: 1961's debut of The Fantastic Four, which while it deviated from the formula used to create the JLA, was a direct response to DC's superhero team.

[Agent Z]

Wouldn't Orion count? He's got the anger issues, a villainous dad and is a hero

[millernumber1]

Scientist turned monster? My first thought went to Man-bat... Though that's probably closer to Lizard, but there's a lot of overlap.

Same thought here.

[PyroTwilight]

I know they're not all that similar but I've kinda become fond of comparing Firestorm to Hulk though they're not similar outside of origin in a way.

Both are beings transformed/formed by radiation and housing multiple personas in the same form. And involve a scientist risking their life to save a youth who was in the wrong place and would otherwise die which then led to the form they achieved.

And admittedly there was a Hulk-ish character in Planet of the Capes who had something of a similar combined origin so I've liked to think about it on occassion.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

Scientist turned monster? My first thought went to Man-bat... Though that's probably closer to Lizard, but there's a lot of overlap.

Lol. I literally posted the exact same thing.

[Jim Kelly]

There's also Congorilla.

[justinslot]

What was Grundy like pre-Hulk? I'm guessing not very Hulk-like and he's become more PUNY BANNERish due to Hulk's influence, but I don't actually know.

I don't think DC has a clear Hulk parallel character. Angry, destructive, invulnerable man-monster who sometimes can be talked into fighting with the heroes...the DC ecosystem doesn't have a role for that.

[K. Jones]

He's not admittedly at "Hulk" powerlevels, but I was thinking Blockbuster.

Moreover, Blockbuster II kind of ends up being like the various times Hulk has had the "smart guy scientist" in charge of his mind.

Anyway, I grinned hard when Grayson Annual had t-shirt and jeans depowered Superman fighting Blockbuster because it reminded me of Golden Age Superman but also of "What if Superman and Hulk fought".

[Wandering_Wand]

I'm not going to get into the "who copied who" argument, because quite frankly, the big two and even other publishers all copy one another to an extent.
Add that to the fact DC came up with a bunch of their core characters decades before Marvel… Then I think we understand DC should have the upper hand in most of these arguments.

But, I'm shocked to see the lack of mention of Bane. A super intelligent man who is well studied and discovers who Batman is before officially meeting him.
He's a common guy who, when injected venom becomes a "hulkish" figure of super human strength.

Grundy is a good one.
Doomsday might be more appropriate.
There's a couple other mentions already that are worthy of comparison as well.

You can see a theme here, though, DC's "hulks" are generally villains. DC probably didn't think to add yet another being with super strength since they had Superman already, and a few others.

[Jim Kelly]

The 1955 Bugs Bunny cartoon, "Hyde and Hare," has Jekyll transforming into a green-skinned monster Hyde. But Atlas, the precursor of Marvel, was known for publishing a load of monster stories. That's probably where both the Hulk and the Thing come from.