Customer Reviews

Essential Incredible Hulk Volume 1 TPB (Essential (Marvel Comics))

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Essential Hulk" collects the 1st 6 issues of the classic comic and a whole pile of the greenskinned goliath's Tales to Astonish run. As long-serving Marvelphiles know, the Hulk was originally cancelled after six issues as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby found themselves worn thin by all the other Marvel titles they were cranking out. The series was later revived in Tales to Astonish along with a backup feature.

Would that the original series had simply continued, for those first six issues represent some of the most amazing comics to come out of the Silver Age. During the initial run, the Hulk played as more of a Mr. Hyde to Bruce Banner's Dr. Jekyll, and Banner's noble struggle to control his darker side drove a powerful tale of regret and redemption, gorgeously illustrated by Jack Kirby. As with Mr. Hyde, the Hulk possessed much of his alter ego's intellect, and actively schemed against his better half to ensure his survival.

With the "Tales to Astonish" run, Lee lost this momentum and soon turned the Hulk into a pedestrian version of Frankenstein, a dull-witted, misunderstood freak. I find this version of the character to be much less compelling and gnash my teeth at the "Hulk smash!" dialogue.

The art is terrific, however, and almost saves the collection. Aside from Kirby, legends Steve Ditko, John Buscema, John Romita, and Gil Kane (!) all take a turn at the drawing board, and no matter how goofy the story gets, the art is invariably gorgeous.

However, if you read comics for something approximating writing, you'll be disappointed with much of this collection. Essential for true Hulk fans only.

'The Incredible Hulk' was one of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's earliest and best creations. Kirby brought the Hulk character to life on the page as such a monstrous loose cannon that his menace was always believable and real. Hulk was more of a monster than a super-hero but fit into the Marvel "heros with problems" mold with the greatest of ease. In addition to the masterful Kirby artwork, you are also treated here to a delightfully different interpretation of the character by offbeat Spider-Man artist Steve Ditko. The book reprints the earliest stories in chronological order, so you get the first issues of 'Incredible Hulk' and the short-story series that ran in 'Tales To Astonish' (for years before Hulk got his own title back later in the 60s.)

One word of caution about this collection (and the reason for my only giving it 3/5 stars): the reprint quality of some of the 'Tales To Astonish' issues is very poor. (Stan Lee even includes a one-page apology of sorts up-front about it). They look like badly xeroxed copied compared to the other issues presented within. Sadly, much of the Gil Kane artwork -- which is terrific -- is badly reprinted in this otherwise spledid collection.

This volume reprints much of the early 60s Hulk. The 6 issues of his original title run start off the book. What starts as a promising run soon degenerates when the character is given shorter stories in Tales to Astonish. It's clear that Stan Lee at this stage had no idea of where he wanted to take the character. Bruce Banner becomes the Hulk at night...or when under stress... or just where the plot requires it. There is no set plan for the character. At one point, he even reverts to Bruce Banner when the Hulk is under stress. How stupid is this idea when the Hulk is under stress whenever he meets a villain. And the villains-aside from the early Leader stories and the brief 2 story Abomination origin, the villains are very lackluster. One expects the early Marvel stereotypical "Red Menace" villains, but an evil major league pitcher turned mercenary under the guise of Boomerang? As one of Marvel's conceptually weakest villains, he still gives the Hulk a run for his money. Of course, we get Betty Ross and Rick Jones thrown into constant peril. The Hulk's identity is revealed only to be forgotten so it can be revealed again several stories later. He goes from an intelligent Hulk to the ignorant Hulk time and again with no rhyme or reason. The original stories were published over the course of several years and read as a group in several sittings, they suffer immensely. The reprint quality on some of these stories is horrible to say the least. I'm sure the publishers used the best available archival copies, but several are very poor reproductions. For completists and rabid fans this book is a must, for anybody else it is a disappointing mess.

The epic saga of Marvel Comics' misunderstood monster starts here!

In this collection, you'll find the first 6-issue run, followed by some issues of the character's revival in Tales To Astonish - the early stories here are either great or just average, depending on who was available to illustrate in the understaffed Marvel Bullpen of the early '60's.

Interestingly enough, it's here that we get to see some of the first Marvel work of Big John Buscema and Gil Kane, who were two of the artists that Stan Lee was able to recruit after Martin Goodman increased the pay rates for artists.

All in all, it's a worthy addition to your comics library...so what are you waitin' for?

The Incredible Hulk is one of Marvel's best, most fascinating characters, but you wouldn't know it from reading this. This's the Hulk in the alpha stages, he still hasn't evolved into the tragic green monster we know and love today. The Hulk doesn't even refer to himself in the 3rd person perspective until the second half of the book, and even then it's inconsistent. Seeing the evolution of the Hulk as a character is kind of cool, but there're better books out there, as well as essential collections.

if you are a fan of the hulk, you can't pass this one up. there isn't a dvd-rom collection of the hulk yet, so unless you want to pay big bucks for the masterworks collections (which are a lot shorter) this is the way to go. i don't mind it anyway, it's kind of nice just to see the king kirby's pencilwork without color. lee and kirby= the greatest team ever in comics.

Collected within these pages are the six issues from the original comic book of "The Incredible Hulk" and 32 stories from "Tales to Astonish" (issues #60-91). This becomes important because in the case of the latter we are talking 10 page stories because the Hulk shared space in "Tales to Astonish" with first Giant-Man and then the Sub-Mariner. Not that any Marvel superhero is particularly suited to this abbreviated storytelling format, but the Hulk certainly seems to be rather ill matched. After all, within each and every 10-page story Bruce Banner has to change into the Hulk (or visa versa), all without anybody getting a clue to the transformation ("Where did Doctor Banner go!"). That is why the original six issues of "The Incredible Hulk" stand out in such marked contrast.

But beyond that I think the idea of the Hulk is better than the stories. The combination of the Dr. Jekyll & Hyde transformation with the Frankenstein monster is inherently interesting. Those classic references also explain why the better stories seem to be those in which the army is going after the Hulk rather than the less than stellar super villains who pop up. Sure, the Leader would be rather ironic from the viewpoint of Dr. Banner, but the best conflicts with the Hulk involve not brains versus brawn but the one against the many. When "Thunderbolt" Ross has the U.S. Army go after the Hulk, then we are cooking with gas. Very few bad guys can go toe-to-toe with ol' green skin (notice they bring in Hercules) and the general rule is someone like Boomerang trying to stay one step ahead and avoid the inevitable for as long as possible. The validity of this viewpoint is certainly validated by this summer's blockbuster film (playing is a theater near you NOW!).

That also explains why the soap opera elements, with the Hulk coming between Bruce Banner and Betty Ross are more appealing. That is actually what provides the continuity over the course of these stories. Then there are the supporting characters, with Major Talbot, the son-in-law General Ross really wants, and Rick Jones, the teenage side kick who has no powers (at this point in Marvel history), just a big green secret. The end result is okay, but certainly not the best Marvel was putting out in the early Sixties. The origin story is arguably the best of the bunch. Stan Lee writes all of the stories and Jack Kirby does most of the art, but you will also find the pencil work of Steve Ditko, John Romita, John Buscema, Gil Kane and other diverse hands from the Marvel Bullpen. The Ditko drawn Hulk always strikes me as looking rather strange, but there is something to be said for Bill Everett inking Kirby's layouts. So there is no reason not to pick up this volume of "Essential" Marvel reprints, it is just not to be high on the list, except for the buzz generated by the film.

Very good reprint of original comics to familiarize readers with the marvel superhero the Hulk. Reccommended reading

The format of the Essential series is softcover, black and white (many times muddy), printed on cheap, pulpy paper. The classic stories in these books deserve better treatment by Marvel. Do yourself a favor and instead buy the Marvel Masterworks series, which are hardbacks, printed in color, on high quality paper. They are worth the difference in price.