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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
The Longer this Collection Goes, the Lamer it Gets, August 1, 2000
"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.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great Silver Age Comics from Lee/Kirby/Ditko..., June 20, 2000
'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.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Some great stories overshadowed by bad, December 28, 2000
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.
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