Essential Incredible Hulk, Vol. 1 TPB (Marvel Essentials) [Paperback]

Stan Lee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 20, 2003

Caught in the heart of a nuclear explosion, victim of gamma radiation gone wild Dr. Robert Bruce Banner now finds himself transformed during the times of stress into the dark personification of his repressed rage and fury: the Incredible Hulk, the most powerful man-like creature ever to walk the face of the earth! Relive his earliest adventures here! Collects HULK #1-6 and TALES TO ASTONISH #60-91.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Marvel Comics (April 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785109935
• ISBN-13: 978-0785109938
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,010,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stan Lee is a man who needs no introduction. Nevertheless: Having begun his career with wartime Timely Comics and staying the course throughout the Atlas era, Stan the Man made comic-book history with Fantastic Four #1, harbinger of a bold new perspective in story writing that endures to this day. With some of the industry's greatest artists, he introduced hero after hero in Incredible Hulk, Amazing Spider-Man, X-Men and more -- forming a shared universe for rival publishers to measure themselves against. After an almost literal lifetime of writing and editing, Lee entered new entertainment fields and earned Marvel one opportunity after another. He remains one of Marvel's best-known public representatives.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Is he MAN or MONSTER or . . . BOTH?", July 22, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Essential Incredible Hulk, Vol. 1 TPB (Marvel Essentials) (Paperback)

Ol' Greenskin did not rake in as much green at the box office this summer as the movie moguls might have hoped, but there should still be enough interest generated by the film version of "The Hulk" to send a few people looking at Volume 1 of "The Essential Hulk." Collected within the pages of this trade paperback 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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Astonishingly Incredible, September 11, 2004

By 

EVIL Scientist Dude (Subteranean Laboratory) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Incredible Hulk, Vol. 1 TPB (Marvel Essentials) (Paperback)

Right now the Incredible Hulk is one of the most famous comic books of our time. But like the X-Men, it was not famous at first. Hulk's first series was crushed after only six issues. After that he was stuck in guest star limbo for about a year(but he got a major role in the early issues of the Avengers) until he was brought back in Tales to Astonish #60, but the stories were only half as long to make room for stories about Ant/Giant-Man (and later the Sub-Mariner), which were also halved. It wasn't until Tales to Astonish became the Incredible Hulk(Volume 2) with the 102nd issue that Hulk was back in his full-length comic. But I'm getting ahead of myself there- ah yes, the premise.

Dr. Robert Bruce Banner was an atomic scientist working at a New Mexico missile base when he was caught in the test-explosion of his very own invention, the deadly G-Bomb. Irradiated by the gamma rays, Banner know possessed the ability to transform into the Hulk under conditions which vary throughout the series. As Banner, he is an intelligent yet weak human. As the Hulk, he is a large green monster-like person with bulging muscles and a limited vocabulary. Unlike other superheroes, Banner often cannot control the Hulk or his transformations(except when Banner's mind winds up in the Hulk's body at times). As the Hulk he is also hounded by the military and General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, father of the woman Banner loves. His only confidant early in the series is Rick Jones, whose life Banner saved before he was caught in the G-Bomb's explosion. At times Rick is the only person who can control the rampaging Hulk except for maybe the beautiful Betty Ross.

This anthology contains all six issues of The Incredible Hulk (Volume 1) as well as issues 60-92 of Tales to Astonish-but only the Hulk's stories are collected. For the other, non-Hulk stories you'll have to check Ant-Man Essential or Marvel Masterworks: Sub-Mariner.

The Incredible Hulk (Volume 1) is one of the only problems with these stories. After a sensational first issue the series starts to degenarate. Changes are made to the Hulk in nearly every issue which are changed later(for instance in Isuue 3, Hulk is exposed to more radiation which allows him to fly and gives him a mind link with Rick Jones. The mind link disappears by Issue 5, and the flying is later retconned into just wide leaps.) The villains are weak too. I enjoyed Gargoyle, but the Toad Men and all the Communists(these comics were made during the cold war in the 60's if I forgot to mention) bring down the first issues. The only ones who become ongoing villains from the first six issues are Tyrannus and the Ringmaster's Circus of Crime. Don't get me started on the Metal Master.

Tales to Astonish fulfills its name, as it's filled with cliffhangers, fresh villains and less commies (they get REAL annoying after a while). There's Hulk's greatest nemiseses, the Leader and the Abomination. There's guest stars like the Chameleon and Hercules. The first appearances of Boomerang and the Secret Empire, who move on to be pains in other people's asses. There's also the Leader's wide range of mechanical Humanoids. The story also evolves into one that may be more familiar to modern day readers: a man fighting the monster within him while on the run from the military. It also intriduces Major Glenn Talbot, a charming soldier who hates both Banner and the Hulk and falls in love with Betty Ross instantly. And it gets much better in the second volume.

Classic stories by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. But if you bought the Marvel Masterworks Incredible Hulk Volume 1, you'd get it in color and see that the Hulk was colored gray instead of green in the first issue, which makes way for a vital retcon much further down the road. You also would have paid more money, but you would have gotten it in a more durable format with clean, crisp pasges unlike the Essential's flimbsythird-grade pages. But then agian you only would've gottne the first six issues of the Hulk, and no Tales to Astonish to make up for it! And there isn't a volume 2 yet that I know of, so I reccomend the Essential in this case.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome hulk collection from lee and kirby..., January 16, 2007

By 

mark twain (ramakandraazanionipot, thai) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Incredible Hulk, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials) (v. 1) (Paperback)

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.