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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
By the Zesty Zither of Zeus!, June 19, 2008
This review is from: The Incredible Hulk Omnibus, Vol. 1 (v. 1) (Hardcover)
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!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
HULK Omnibus the STRONGESTof ALL!!!, August 10, 2008
Due to the wear-and-tear of rereading old comics, I have always been a fan of collections, especially those that include extra art or interviews of the creators reflecting on work deemed classic with the passing years. Collected works have even greater weight when the volumes pertain to hard to find or very expensive comics. The Marvel Masterworks seemed to be the best there was even when compared to graphic novels or trade paperbacks because you could get 10 issues for each volume that included the annuals. Sure, they were more expensive but considering the amount of issues you could get for around $55, it was certainly a better deal than buying the comics themselves if you wanted less degeneration of these precious issues. At least you got a chance to read years old stories without wearing gloves or paying a mint, if you'd ever found them at all.It seemed the best value and quality for any collected works.
This ALL changed when Marvel upped the stakes with their Omnibus collections. The Marvel Omnibus collections are bar none the best quality and value to date. The characters are given a heightened sense of their contribution to the comics industry; we care more about the issues we're collecting because Marvel has shown how they care about the character as well.
The Omnibus collections are literally the "red carpet" for their volumes, no less for the HULK OMNIBUS. The sheer SIZE of their pages show you Marvel's dedication to underlining, capitalizing and bold-facing their subject matter's importance here and their rightful place in comics iconic history: much larger than their original comics, sturdy binding, glossy pages, every page of each original comic, AS WELL as unreleased art, current and former interviews (including everything that was in the Masterworks counterpart), alternate variant covers and --best yet--up to 30 ISSUES per volume, whether they be annuals or special appearances (i.e. "What If?" etc...). All this for the cost of less than TWO volumes of the Marvel Masterworks that would only give the reader 20 comics. Much lees if you purchase or pre-order here from Amazon.
I'm not knocking the Masterworks because I still feel they have tremendous value, especially when considering what you can get from those that have yet to be released from the Omnibuses. Also, many Masterworks have become less expensive on the resell market due to the Omnibuses' popularity. Some may not see the difference bewteen the Masterworks vs. Omnibus and just want the issues for sheer volume.
The Marvel Omnibus' are every bit as good as the DC Absolute series and sometimes much better because not all the DC Absolute series have nice glossy pages. Here, every Marvel volume is as good as the last and the next.
The fine line is that the Omnibus collections are the best there is that Marvel has to release. As a Marvel fan,I am more than likely to collect every volume I can for my favorite superheroes, maybe even those I'd never considered owning before. The Omnibuses remind us just WHY they are icons. X-men, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Iron Man and now Hulk; comic book stars given the star treatment, a Director's Cut for their comics. I can't see it getting any better than this.
J.R. Mounts
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just Beneath The Surface, September 30, 2008
This review is from: The Incredible Hulk Omnibus, Vol. 1 (v. 1) (Hardcover)
Just below the surface lies untamed and incredible power, once I cracked the cover I found undiscovered stories of the Hulking Thing I had never seen. I didn't start reading Hulk comics until about 1974 so all of these stories were new to me. But I never looked back into the older Hulk comics, so this was a real treat, I didn't know what I was missing.
It was a surprise to find stories where the Hulk is an intelligent, cunning and conniving Hulk. This is a real switch from what I'm used to; "HULK SMASH PUNY HUMAN!" The other thing noted by one other reviewer is that these stories are like the abridged version of comics, very short. It's good to get in a quick story while you wait for something like a TV commercial break. The dichotomy between the indestructible and the fragile is always present and remains the struggle throughout.
This Omnibus Collection of the Incredible Hulk does not read like a graphic novel. Although there are progressions and story threads that run through the different stories there is very little continuity. To me this was exciting because instead of reading something to a conclusion what I read was the evolution of the Hulk, Dr. Banner, The Leader, General Ross and Betty.
I am very happy to have this Incredible Hulk Omnibus Collection. For true believers, it is a must have. The overall quality is outstanding, the inks and page treatments are vibrant and archive quality.
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