Product Description: Dr. Robert Bruce Banner may have the appearance of a mild-mannered scientist, but after being caught in gamma bomb explosion, he became the unstoppable engine of destruction know as the Incredible Hulk! Marvel is proud to present the tales of the everyone's favorite man-monster from the very beginning: From the earliest Stan Lee and Jack Kirby issues that put an irradiated angle on the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde complex to the Steve Ditko's psychological slobbernockers in Tales to Astonish and the Jade Giant's return to his solo series, this Hulk-sized collection is the foundation for every purple-pants'd adventure ever! Featuring artwork by a who's who of Marvel Age luminaries and scripts by Stan "The Man" Lee, they'll introduce to you to General Thunderbolt Ross; the tortured woman who loves both the man and the monster, Betty Ross; the Leader; the Abomination; and a series of earth-shaking fights between the Hulk and the Silver Surfer, Thor, Giant-Man, Namor, Hercules, and more! Collecting the first adventures of the Jade Giant in one painstakingly restored volume with every page, every pin-up, and every letters column. Not to mention unused covers, critical essays, and bonuses galore! Collects Hulk #1-6, Tales to Astonish #59-101, and Incredible Hulk #102.
let me explain the stars i just finished reading this and felt a few different things. if you're a hulk fan and want a great reprint of the old stuff then you can't go wrong with this. my only problem i have is that so many of the stories are cookie cutter. i know that that was the norm back then but they don't seem to have aged well. i loved seeing how all the old villians came out though, it was just getting there that was tedious.
By the Zesty Zither of Zeus! This review's title is a line that the mighty Hercules happily shouts as he does battle with the Hulk and finds it much to his liking.
This huge volume of early Hulk stories is a blast.
I'm not sure it would appeal to kids or people who've seen the movies and want more. But for comic readers/collectors who've always been curious to read the early Hulk stories, I highly recommend it.
You really get a feeling that Stan Lee and his collaborators were trying to get a handle on who the Hulk was. So, instead of 50 issues of the calcified "Hulk Smash!" character we know from the 70s, here we get stories with a nocturnal Hulk, a cunning Hulk, a brutish Hulk, a savage Hulk, a Hulk-with-Banner's-Brain-who-sorta-talks-like-The-Thing, and so forth. These experiments in trying to define the character and his relationship with Dr. Banner -- and the fact that the bulk of the stories are only 11 pages instead of the usual 22 -- make for a surprisingly unexpected experience and a load of fun. It's a much different experience than the first two Fantastic Four Omnibuses in which Stan Lee/Jack Kirby on all the stories. Those have a much stronger continuity: these Hulk stories lurch all over the place.
The artwork is done by a Who's Who of the 1960s Marvel Bullpen and it's fascinating to look at the variations and compare inking styles:
Ditko inks Kirby Ayers inks Kirby Romita inks Kirby Everett inks Kirby (a great combo!) Roussos inks Ditko (and it looks oddly like Chic Stone's work) Coletta inks Ditko Gil Kane, Frank Giacoia, Marie Severin, Herb Trimpe and John Buscema all show up for several issues as well.
NB: Normally I'd say support your local comic book store, but Amazon offers 37% off, which which means you can buy this on Amazon and then STILL have $37 left over to go spend at your local comic book store. 'Nuff said!
Failed the Test of Time... Aside from it being a great collection of stories and because of these original tales we now have the amazing character of today, this collection isn't for light or even moderate fans of the current Hulk. Yes, he goes green, and yes, he gets angry.
Yet, the intensity has faded over the years. Science Fiction fans rejoyce at the genre storytelling, marvel fans of Planet Hulk enjoy blissful ignorance.
HULK SMASH HIT What can I say this was a good book. I was excited to hear this was coming out in light of the new Incredible Hulk movie. I also have the Essential Hulk but this is good because the pictures are in color. I also love the art work from Alex Ross. Anyone who is a fan of the Hulk or wants to learn more about him this is a must read.
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