The Incredible Hulk Visionaries: Peter David, Vol. 1

The Incredible Hulk (1968) #331-339

by Peter David, Todd McFarlane (Illustrator), John Ridgway (Illustrator)

Peter David's 100-plus-issue run on INCREDIBLE HULK remains one of the character's most popular periods. Now, see how it all began in David's first string of Hulk stories as the gray-skinned goliath – or is that the sardonic strongman? – leaps into action against horrors from the grave, the stars and the house next door! Featuring the revitalization of one of the Hulk's longtime foes, the Leader! Guest-starring the original X-Men!
Collects INCREDIBLE HULK #331-339.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2002

About the author

aka David Peters

Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.

Reviews

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating 3.6 stars.
I like the difference in Grey Hulk, where he isn’t some unstoppable monster who wrecks through everything in his path.
I mean, he still kind of wrecks stuff but we see his intelligence when he makes plans against Bruce.

I’m excited to see this version of The Leader. I was a little surprised he wasn’t in this very much.
Also surprised to see that moustache…

I don’t know how I felt about Bruce. He’s always just stressed and terrified (understandably) but it doesn’t give us much variety for him.
Plus, why’d they make Betty leave with her ex-husband when she leaves Ramón like, two issues later?

I really liked the crossover with the X-Factor. I mean, not the part with all the fighting but the part with SHIELD and how Hulk figured out about the Gamma bombs (I’m not gonna question how he knew about them).

The last issue was a bit of a different story.
Strange that Bruce defended his father when the abuse he endured created a literal monster inside of him… At least that’s what Quarterman thinks.

I did like that we saw an empathetic side to Grey Hulk!

Overall, I’m excited to delve a bit more into Grey Hulk and see how he develops.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Featuring Todd McFarlane before he become a superstar, you can see his art start to evolve into what it later becomes on Spider-Man and Spawn. The stories and characterizations are a bit clunky to start out. Peter David was saddled with a lot of baggage when he came on the book, like a Rick Jones Hulk and the Hulkbusters. He jettisons both during the book in favor of a Jekyll and Hyde version of the Hulk. We get the first Grey Hulk since his earliest days back in the 60's and he has his own distinct surly personality. No longer the Hulk of few words, this Hulk is cunning and all out for himself. By the end of the book, the stories are already getting more sophisticated. David has running subplots that won't pan out until later in the series. David also starts peppering in issues that remind me of early Vertigo books like Swamp Thing and Sandman. They're much darker in tone than regular superhero books.

I liked the little Easter eggs put in the book during the X-Factor crossover. They fight in the printing press where all Marvel comics were printed back in the 80's. I had friends whose parents worked in a sister plant in my hometown and they had boxes of comics we'd read from when they worked at the Sparta press. I used to love going over to Brad's house for that reason.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter David was hailed as the greatest Hulk writer ever. Al Ewing Hulk is also considered now as to be the best, or atleast one of the best. Reading the current Immortal Hulk I'm in agreement, it's amazing. So I had to go back in time and read Peter David's to see if it lived up to the hype. Did it? Well it's starting to.

I'll admit the opening feels jarring. Apperently Peter David had to finish up a arc that had already begun so this is a weird start with another character, not Bruce Banner, being the hulk. The hulkbusters (not the Ironman hulkbuster) are a group of hulk haters and hunting him down. Soon into the arc Peter David introduces Gray Hulk. All the power of the hulk but not stupid either.

After the first shaky arc we settle into one shots and two shots. Vary in quality, The X-men one being the worst but still somehow fun and cheesy. Then we have a one shot of a killer on the loose and Hulk shows him what a REAL monster is. We have one of a creature who is basically like the angel of death, coming for hulk. We have Bruce also dealing with his wife and trying to balance his life but the Gray Hulk doesn't want to be apart of that shit.

What really works well, despite the aging of this, is you care about the characters. Sure some slang is super outdated, fights look silly, but the horrifying moments of Hulk's unsettling rage, Bruce's fight to be normal, betty's love being shattered, and more all work really well.

I hear it only gets better from here, and for that I'm super excited. But even as it stands here, it's pretty solid storylines. A 3.5 but I'll bump it to a 4.

[Subham · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read like 170 pages of it and its kinda bad.

It starts with Rick being the hulk and something with Leader and then the rick hulk is gone and bruce hulk stays and becomes the threat, something with betty and a drama with her ex Ramon but then the story doesn't go anywhere and it is just left as a filler and no resolution to it and then we switch to Gray causing damage fighting some shade villain which is never clear and then something with X-Factor (the original 5 X-Men) and SHIELD after him and he on the run, while that plot sounds exciting, it was a chore for me to read through and killed the enjoyment of the series.

There is no resolution to anything and it just feels like Bendis-level filler crap at times and ugh a frustration to read. The pencils of Todd feels so 90s and in not a good way and yeah wasn't for me so my recommendation will be to skip it.

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter David inherited a bit of a mess when he took over writing duties on The Incredible Hulk, so this volume is kind of all over the place as it ties up loose ends. It is still pretty fun, though, and the start of the classic Grey Hulk run.

[Jedhua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book Info: This collection contains Incredible Hulk issues #331-339.


ABSOLUTE RATING: {3/5 stars}

STANDARDIZED RATING: <3/5 stars>



I think if you're cool with older comics, give this one a chance. For me, what did it in was that it was just a bit too old-fashioned in terms of the writing. Still, it's got to be one of the best things Peter David has put out there in his career as a comic book writer. A couple issues into this trade, I quickly got the impression that David had a serious vision for the future of this title; there were just too many ideas and creative energy pulsing through the pages. So it came as an extreme disappointment when I decided it would be best to stop here with the series.



Perhaps at the top of my list of things that impressed me about this volume had to do with David's treatment of the Banner/Hulk relationship. Rather than the defeated (or absent) Banner featured in many more recent Marvel publications, this story portrayed a Banner that was proactive in his attempts to fight against the inner monster. I don't know if I could quite describe what that alone did for my enjoyment of this volume. It would be a shame if I found that no one subsequently picked up that approach and made it work elsewhere. It just grants the story a level of humor, pathos, and spontaneity that keeps you guessing and interested. This was especially the case for issues #332-334; this was, for me, clearly the best part of the entire volume.






Three of the nine issues (#335, 338-339) included in this volume were pretty much standalone stories, with only marginal relevance to the larger story. So there was definitely a strong Swamp Thing vibe going on in this one, and I think in one way, David gets it right where Moore couldn't. Particularly, the writing was a lot less dense, and thus more inviting. This means that there were less panels with elaborate and long-winded narration, and more stuff actually happening. But on the flip side of that, David's writing failed to conjure anywhere near the same level of creepiness Moore so easily created.

And just like Swamp Thing, McFarlane's art for this volume was very impressive. I think I finally get the hype surrounding the artist. The only other thing I had ever read illustrated by McFarlane was Spawn , but that was years ago, and I had to little to compare it against.

I've read some 80's stuff through the years, and little has been able to measure up to this. I was hoping to at least be able to get to the Wolverine story, but that's featured in the next volume. I doubt I'll read much of it, but I may just take a peek to refresh my memory. Of all the issues in that volume, it was *that* one that has stuck with me since I read it all those years ago.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 stars. This omnibus collects one of the better Hulk runs featuring stories by Peter David and art by Todd McFarlane. I particularly enjoyed the "Grey" Hulk hanging out in Vegas under the name Mr. Fixit.

[Himanshu Karmacharya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter David's run in the Hulk is considered one of the best, if not the best, runs in the character's history. This was the reason I decided to pick up the book and give it a go.

Reading it, its hard not to miss the fact that Peter David was left with a mess, but he does a fine job cleaning it all up and setting things for what's to come. Todd McFarlane's artwork can be seen in its incipient stage, it's not as great as the work that he is actually known for, but it's still decent.

This is where Hulk's greatest run is supposed to start, but the book suffers from the mess that Peter David was left with. However, hearing only good things about his run, makes me want to keep reading further.

[Alex Sarll]

I've been meaning to embark on Peter David's epic Hulk run for a while, having acquired almost all of it in one or another Comixology sale over the years, but it took his recent death to actually spur me into it. I did read this volume before, on an abortive attempt at the same project in the noughties, but remembered almost nothing of it – and to be fair, it's very much transitional territory, David inheriting a messy status quo from departing writer Al Milgrom and spending much of this volume blowing it up. So Gamma Base and its hi-tech Hulkbusters need to be taken out of commission, Rick Jones de-Hulked, Bruce Banner's marriage to Betty Ross upended...and, most famously, Banner himself, recently cured by a 'nutrient bath', needs turning back into the Hulk. But not the familiar green figure with the speech patterns of a caveman – something closer to his very first appearances, grey and a little less strong, but still more than strong enough to do some smashing, and crafty and vicious with it, not least as he seeks to ensure that when he does transform back into human form, Banner will be in no position to take control of the situation. Against this background, the two of them will wander into essentially stand-alone small-scale stories, which I suppose could be inspired by the Hulk's old TV show, but made me think more of Swamp Thing's American Gothic cycle, especially when that was also a ground-up reinvention of a scientist/monster character whose possibilities had hitherto been thought limited. And a lot of these stories hinge on some form of abusive relationship, setting up the revelations towards the end of the volume about Banner's own upbringing, and establishing the way everyone around the Hulk seems to get dragged into his madness as a more spectacular version of the old, unhappy cycle of abuse. Inevitably, this can sometimes butt up against the clunky exposition still expected in mainstream comics at the time, though David already has a better handle on that than many – and while he's yet to really lean into the excesses that would make his name and his fortune, I'm not sure Todd McFarlane would have been my first choice on art. But for all that, it doesn't need too much benefit of hindsight to see something special taking shape here.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Look, Hulk. No matter what you say, there has to be some traces of Bruce Banner in you. You used your own body to SHIELD me from the blast."

"Don't be stupid. You just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Just like you were years ago. When you wandered out on the testing field of that Gamma Ray Bomb, and Bruce Banner ran out to save you. That explosion let me loose for the first time. I guess, in a way, you gave me my life. So now, whatever the reasons, I've given you yours. We're EVEN. Next time I see you, I'll STEP on you."

from Quality of Life

After reading Al Ewing's Immortal Hulk series for first time, I decided to re-read the start of Peter David's "visionary" run with the same character--and I was surprised to find the characters and the themes similar. Raised almost solely on the 1970s Hulk television series, I thought Ewing was breaking new ground, opening up new vistas with this comic stalwart. Seems the comic world was always focused on certain issues the television series and films never mention: The uneasy association between Bruce Banner's abuse as a child and what exactly manifested itself when he absorbed the gamma blast to save Rick Jones.

Peter David begins writing for the series in the middle of a bloated, uninteresting story where Rick Jones has become a hulk while Bruce and Betty's marriage is strained because Bruce has not been honest about his relationship with his green alter-ego. David pulls the Hulk back to the initial manifestation as a squat, gray monster and, over this collection, begins to craft a different way of understanding his uneasy relationship with Bruce Banner. Like Ewing's Immortal Hulk, it's fascinating. There's hiccups on this path, of course, but Volume 1 of this series slowly sheds outdated perspectives for a fresh take.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was never drawn to the Hulk as a kid. I just didn't find him to be very interesting. Big, mad and strong, and that was it I thought. Clearly, I just didn't know the good stuff. Peter David's epic 12 year run on the Hulk begins here, and it's pretty damn good stuff. I am drawn to this character now in a way I never expected. Also in a way that we still haven't seen on screen. In addition to facing his own rampaging psychosis, Dr. Banner faces threats of psycho-mystic villains, dirtbag cops and government security organizations, and romantic fallout. I wish had no idea that the art in this run was done by a pre-Spawn fame Todd McFarlane. Although you can see he is still a few years away from reaching the artistic heights of that run, he still does an excellent job here. All of these make for a very compelling story that im excited to read more of.

As much as I enjoyed it, this collection was not perfect. Peter David was dropped right into the middle of an already ongoing storyline, so it takes some time for the story to settle into place. Also, the last issue included is a preview for a newer comic written by Peter David. Why it was considered a good idea to drop that into this collection is beyond me. I found it annoying and idiotic.

[Clint · Rating 3 out of 5]

Al Ewing’s run on The Immortal Hulk has me hooked on Hulk. Credit for grabbing the Hulk-Football and initially running with it and taking it beyond what the character started as must go to Peter David with art by Todd McFarlan.

The introduction by Peter David is enlightening. Why did he take over the Hulk duties? Because no one else wanted the book. His legendary long run started with him just trying to get six issues done at a time.

I have read this run in bits and pieces, but have never made a concerted effort. These stories are pretty-okay. Some hold up well, others not as much; however, it’s interesting to see that much of what Ewing is now doing started in this volume.

Todd McFarlan’s early art on this book isn’t spectacular, but his style is developing here and at times his later stamped style is viewed in glimmers. It almost feels like he is turning down the volume trying to force his style to fit the Marvel way.

If you are enjoying Al Ewing’s The Immortal Hulk, give this book a read. Parallels shall be found.

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty strong start for David, wrapping up the previous Hulk storylines, and heading down the path Stan Lee started with a grey and more sinister Hulk who only comes out at night. Having a Hulk who can talk AND be more vicious is a scary thought. David admits to being more of a "dialogue" guy and there's plenty of it through this volume. Albeit a bit melodramatic, there's quite a lot of Bruce feeling the guilt of the Hulk's actions and also thinking about his responsibilities to Betty in their new relationship.

McFarlane's art actually looks halfway decent here. He doesn't ink his own work, leaving a much cleaner and less detailed design. It's not as cartoony as will be seen later, and even his panel layouts are much more traditional and subdued than the 90's splash panel era.

The story stretches some in the middle, a meandering path, but does contain some strong parts. David also plants some hints about Bruce's past affecting his personality, which is probably the core gem of an idea in David's run.

[Don Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

David was saddled with some dumbass Hulk plotlines, but he and McFarlane managed to turn a bland all-ages book into one of the most subversive and literary Marvel offerings of the mid-80s. Viewed in retrospect, David's ability to coax meaning and depth out of Marvel's silly crossover continuity is nothing short of remarkable. McFarlane's art was at its best when he was doing ASM, but it's nice to see him coming into his own here. Dale Keown remains the definitive Hulk illustrator, though. The standalone story in this collection about the abusive local sheriff is a five-star masterwork, a graduate-level course in plotting a 21-page narrative.

[Michael Emond · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been hearing how great Peter David's run on the Hulk was and I wanted to check it out myself. Oddly enough I had some of these single issues in my collection and have zero recollection about them.

The foreword by Peter was a bit amusing to me. First - it put down Todd McFarlane (the artist in this collection) by saying he only worked with him on the Hulk because Larry Hama didn't want him on G I Joe because he was a weak story teller. It is amusing because 1) Todd went on to much bigger fame than Peter David or Larry Hama and b) Peter is 100% right. Todd is all flash and a lot of basic anatomy and story telling he is no good at. Memorable cover or pose? He's your man. trying to tell a complex story with deep characters? Nope. Now, to be fair, Todd was just starting out and both his art and storytelling did improve but just look at his run on Spider-man when he was the writer you can see how weak he is at writing.

The foreword was also funny because Peter is all defensive, even years later, about any criticism people had about his choices for the Hulk. They (are we talking about a few dozen?) that it wasn't true to the character. When Peter is 100% correct - the Grey hulk who talks and is mean is what the character originally was and also a much more interesting character to read about. Peter - who is a brilliant writer - made the correct choice making Hulk smarter and meaner, instead of the usual stupid but innocent that came before it. But it is funny to be defensive when thousands of fans rave about this run. It just shows - one critique stays with us more than 100 compliments.

How is the volume? Well both the art and writing will get better in later volumes but the ground work is laid out. The stories are enjoyable which - for me - is saying a lot since I hate the Hulk as a character. Peter does the impossible and makes some interesting Hulk stories. and even though I think Todd stinks when it comes to drawing quiet moments (faces - people standing and talking, hands) because he isn't good at basic anatomy, you can see him grow as an artist with each issue and find the stylistic touches that made him such a fan favourite.

While I think Peter is amazing at dialogue and ideas there are times when the plot is a little too basic and his character choices are cringy. How he treats the Banner and Betty Ross relationship and how Betty is used is pretty bad. Betty rushes back to Ramon - who I thought used to beat her and treat her as a sex object - because she is upset with Bruce. Even Bruce's personality isn't consistent - when he is with Betty he is an oblivious scientist (ala Reed Richards) but when he is on his own he is more like the caring loner from the 70's Tv series.

So overall the Hulk moments were solid - the Bruce Banner moments? Not so much.

I really liked this start and want to read more to see where this goes.

[Alex E · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to start my Hulk chronology read with this run, which is considered essential by most who have read it. It was not the easiest read, I will be honest. But I think it has a lot to do with the fact that, one - it was written in a time where exposition was normal in comics, and two - Peter David's starting point is a bit of mess.

When we start the book, General Talbot is dead, Bruce Banner only changes into the (gray) Hulk at night, Rick Jones is a new green hulk, and a group of mercenaries named "hulk busters" are pursuing the new hulk. There's also the reappearance of the Leader, which will most likely pay off down the line. So there's a lot of stuff to get to and resolve, and from that angle, Peter David does a good job of keeping all the "ducks in a row", so to speak.

The art is done by pre-fame Todd McFarlane, and while its not quite to the level we all know and love yet, its getting there. Especially towards the end of the book, you start seeing his style coming through more and more. Its interesting seeing his path to finding his own specialized way of drawing issue by issue. There is a definite difference between the first issue of this volume and the last in terms of art.

Overall, this is definitely one that is necessary, but not necessarily pretty as far as the writing and plot. But I will stick with it to see how David can untangle this mess.

[Jason Tanner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection marks the beginning of Peter David's landmark Hulk run. It's...okay. It took me a little while to get back in the 80s flow of comic storytelling. (Today's pacing is much different.) I also don't know all that much about the Hulk. I've read the Bruce Jones run, but that might as well be an entirely different universe, because there is no point of reference between the two at this point (aside from Bruce Banner being on the run).

Most of this collection is a combination of David finding his footing and tying up loose ends from his predecessor's run. I have to admit I'm not crazy about it so far, but I'm going to stick it out because of David's reputation on the title and the fact that I bought all the "visionaries" books together on eBay. My main problem, as it were, is that neither Bruce Banner nor the Gray Hulk is particularly likable. I can't say at this point that I'm really rooting for either of them. I do think that by the end of the collection, David is finding his direction: focusing on the psychology of the Hulk.

All in all, it's a decent start. The slate is clean, a new direction for the Hulk is established, and great things are ahead.

[PulpMonkey (Chompa) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somehow the Hulk came up in conversation with my wife a few days ago and I mentioned the Grey Hulk. She had no clue about this incarnation of him, but I had vaguely fond memories of it and decided to revisit it. This was a good launching point.

Possibly the most interesting part of the book was Peter David describing how he came on board to write the Hulk. Short version? No one else wanted to and they paired him up with a novice artist named Todd McFarlane. Those who know things about comics know that Peter David's run on the Hulk is highly regarded and Todd McFarlane ended up being an insanely popular comic artist.

From my perspective reading this - the story, writing, and art were decent. I can see where Peter David is using his freedom to play around with the story might lead to something great. I'll move on to volume 2 soon.

[MetaComix · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this a lot more than I thought I would and I'm starting to get what's all the hype for Peter David is all about. I like that I can't just say that this is a horror comic, at least not 100%. Yet some parts definitely fit into the genre and it's clearly full of horror elements. Other times there's a reminder, that we are still in the Marvel Universe, I really liked the story with X-Factor for example. I decided to give this a go after reading some volumes of Immortal Hulk because I felt like I was missing a lot of context. This run feels a lot more accessible to me, so I'm definitely buying the second book, and I'll start over Immortal Hulk after I've read all of Peter David's run. Can't wait!

[Neville Wylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter David took an ailing title and brought it back to be a relevant title...
This book contains the first 9 of his 100+ issue run on the Hulk, its a bit of a jumble at the start to jump on but once you do and get by the all the loose ends David had inherited you can see where he's going to go as he starts to lay the ground work for what made this series a must read.
Plus as an added bonus you get to enjoy early Todd McFarlane artwork and if you ever read Spawn you can see some of that style here
Only reason I'm taking away a star is those pesky loose ends that had to be cleared up

[Nick R · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a collection, it’s a little all over. There’s a couple good stories and moments but it feels like Peter David was really working uphill from the beginning of his this run and it seems like he needed time to put Hulk and Banner into the places he needed to tell his story. Still, there’s some good stuff here. McFarlane’s art looks good and his rendition of the Hulk is brutish (pairing well with the mean streak David gives the character). Overall a decent read albeit maybe not the most required.

[Robert Noll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter David had a great run on “The Incredible Hulk” in the late 1980’s. This first volume has Dr. Banner on the run again, but the twist is Gray Hulk appears from dusk to dawn, with Banner appearing in the opposite. Grey Hulk’s hold over the persona is weakest at the full moon.

Gray Hulk and Banner are attempting to thwart more possible villains stemming from gamma radiation (or some foolishness). I think Peter David could have wrote a more compelling story without editorial constraints.

[Christa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for comic book club. Know about the Hulk from movies and children's storybooks (my son's favorite superhero is the Hulk). This is the middle of a storyline, meaning things have already happened to make this situation, and the story continues. There were some side characters we thought they spent too much time on.
According to my co-reviewers, it has an "80s comic" vibe to it, but that's when it was made.

[Thomas Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts off rough as incoming writer Peter David spends the first couple of issues rearranging the cast so he can tell the story he wants to tell, but after the initial setup, this story cooks, digging into the body horror that makes Hulk such a creepy character. At times this almost felt like the early Vertigo stuff. Plus it’s fun to see McFarlane beginning to develop his trademark style over the course of these issues.

[James Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many of the story ideas went into the making of The Hulk (2003) starring Eric Bana and Nick Nolte. These include the use of child abuse as an explanation of Banner's Hulk persona taking over during times of anger. Guest appearances include: X-Factor (the original X-Men), Doc Samson and the return of the Hulk's nemesis... The Leader.

[Pieter]

placeholder voor verschillende klassieke Hulk runs door Peter David:
- Incredible Hulk (1962) 331-450
- Hulk: Future Imperfect (1992) 1-2
- Incredible Hulk: The End (2002)
- Hulk (1999) 77-82 (Tempest Fugit)

ook uit die periode:
- Sensational She-Hulk (1989) 1-8 door John Byrne
- Hercules: Prince of Power (1982) 1-4 door Bob Layton

[Jdetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this isn't as good as Peter David's run will eventually get, you can feel the difference once he takes over as writer. The book has direction, subplots and much better dialogue than it had before.

[Michael Craft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stories of the infamous grey Hulk!

I love this version of the Incredible Hulk! The Hulk has so much depth in his character and the storylines were wonderful! Can’t wait to read the next graphic novel!

[Paxton Holley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Collection of 8 issues of Hulk featuring Peter David and Todd McFarlane. Okay. Not great, but good. McFarlane's art was okay in some places and not great in others. I remember liking these issues more back when I originally read them.