World Famous Comics: Incredible Hulk Visionaries - Peter David, Vol. 1
Incredible Hulk Visionaries - Peter David, Vol. 1
By: Peter David, Todd McFarlane Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Marvel Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 224 Publication Date: February 02, 2005 Reading Level: Young Adult
Glory Days... I'll be the first to admit, I was NOT a fan of the gray Hulk when he first appeared. I grew up with a green Hulk who talked in broken third-person, not a gray, cunning brute. I was even more disappointed when they got rid of the Rick Jones Hulk, who had potential of his own, (Hey, it was the 80's, a long-haird Hulk? Cool...) Yet the combination of Peter David and Todd McFarlane began to convince me otherwise. It starts slowly because of the need to tie off old storylines by previous writers and it's also interesting to note McFarlane's evolution in his penciling style. By the end of the volume, you'll find that PAD has settled into his own niche and McFarlane is ready to burst in popularity. If you've never had a chance to get a hold of these comics individually, and wanted to read the early Hulk stories by PAD, this volume is for you.
The cover story says it all I wasn't as impressed with the material about Leader trying to get his gamma-head back as most. I found it rather standard fare, even as the grey hulk showed a cunning that the green hulk was never capable of. However, the storyline with the abused wife who shoots her husband in front of the Hulk made me take notice. The story focuses on her, rather than the Hulk (whose function is to emerge as the Hulk after getting thrown in jail as Banner) and when she shoots her husband (after "humiliating" him by saving his life during a beating by the Hulk), Hulk's reaction to her declaration that she didn't mean to kill him (a sarcastic "sure you didn't") made me take notice. This was not the Hulk that had been kicking around the Marvel universe since the 1960s. This was an actual new character.
Peter David eventually turned the Hulk green and then stupid but not before a good 3-4 years of excellent stories. This volume (and the next one) is well worth the money.
The beginning of the greatest Hulk stories ever told Whenever a comic fan thinks of the Hulk, they think of Peter David, and the same can be said the other way around. This TPB collects the first nine issues of David's unheralded run on the title, these issues find the green turned grey skinned and cunning goliath attempting to free itself from the mind and soul of Bruce Banner; no matter what. Featuring a run in with the original X-Men, the Hulk's greatest foe the Leader, and with S.H.I.E.L.D. waiting in the wings, this collection is a reminder of the kind of magic that Peter David worked on his 100 plus run on the title. Todd McFarlane gives the Hulk the most frightening and iconic look the character would have for years, but the best was yet to come from the duo on the title. All in all, it's about time that Marvel started re-printing David's classic run on the series, and hopefully more will be on the way.
Bringing back the good ol' days. I gave my review of the Incredible Hulk: Ground Zero trade paperback the title of "The beginning of a legend." Little did I realize that Marvel was soon to release a collection of Hulk stories from an even earlier point in the tenure of fan-favorite scribe Peter David: the actual beginning.
Finally freed from the depths of Bruce Banner's soul, the crafty gray Hulk starts taking steps to eliminate his human alter-ego permanently; steps which include turning to one of his oldest enemies for help. Meanwhile, the covert organization SHIELD is seriously re-thinking their policy on the gray goliath, leading to an unexpected turn of events that will alter the lives of the Hulk and his supporting cast forever.
Peter David kicks off his twelve-year run with a bang, taking several long-underused concepts from the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby era to breathe new life into the character. Todd McFarlane, who became the book's regular artist an issue before David's arrival, gives the gray Hulk a truly frightening appearance unlike anything seen before. The child-like green Hulk might be referred to as a "savage", but his cunning counterpart shows he's more than capable of redefining the term.
Featuring the very first appearances of bizarre Hulk villains Half-Life and Mercy, a confrontation with the original X-Men (then under the title of "X-Factor"), an all-new intro by Peter David himself, and a special preview of Incredible Hulk #77 (David's return issue), Hulk Visionaries is an instant Marvel Masterpiece. Bring on the next volume!
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