Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

Hulk

All Smash, No Pass: The Best Hulk Comics Of All Time!

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An intelligent, sensible man strapped to a gamma-born bulldozer (or is it the other way around?), Dr. Bruce Banner, first among the various other characters to carry the Hulk name at Marvel, is a ticking time bomb.

A founding member of the Avengers, a father, a friend, and a deeply flawed man, the Hulk has more in common with DC’s Swamp Thing than Marvel’s own Man-Thing does. A man out of time, out of place, and with a dangerously close connection to something primal. His best stories understand this, the unique position he commands both physically and philosophically in the comics sphere, and they deliver on that promise with a marriage of the intense depth that come from both Bruce’s raw humanity, and yes, a whole lot of Hulk smashing. These are the best Hulk comics:
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The Leader Reading Order!

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When it comes to Hulk villains, there is no greater match for the Jade Giant than the Leader. Like Bruce Banner, Sam Sterns got his powers after being bombarded with gamma rays, but instead of his muscles growing like the Hulk’s, Sterns gained incredible intelligence and a brain the size of a soccer ball.

As The Leader, Sterns matches the Hulk brains-for-brawn, but it doesn’t stop there. In many ways, Bruce Banner and Samuel Sterns are two faces of the same coin; one is a self-loathing and guilt-ridden man who wants to be left, while the other is a would-be Ruler of the World, reveling in the strength of his own grey (green?) matter. One man seeks isolation to protect the world from what his strength and rage might do; the other puts himself above other people because they’re not as smart as him. And while other the Hulk villains — from General Thunderbolt Ross to the Abomination — might have come to blows with the emerald enforcer more frequently, the Leader is the one who feels like his true nemesis.

With The Leader featuring in both the end phase of Al Ewing’s Immortal Hulk and promotional material for the upcoming M.O.D.O.K. show (and perhaps in Disney+’s She-Hulk?), now is the perfect time to catch up on Samuel Sterns’ comic book history, from 1964 to today. [Read more…] about The Leader Reading Order!

The Maestro (Future Hulk) Reading Order!

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A character with a 60-year history set in a multiverse will see countless alternative versions created to support the story creatively and/or commercially. The ability to take an already successful character and make fundamental changes without impacting the original character is a valuable tool. The Hulk is no stranger to this idea and this has allowed the character to be taken to unique places. We have seen a “Nerd Hulk”, a “Punk Hulk”, Worlds where Hulk and Banner have been successfully separated, and whatever the hell Ultimate Hulk was trying to accomplish.

The Maestro stands apart from the other variations and has created his own gamma footprint in the Marvel Universe. The Maestro is the nightmare future scenario where a Post-Apocalyptic Hulk and Banner live as one with Banner’s intelligence and the Hulk’s strength aligned, and a malevolent dictator forged. [Read more…] about The Maestro (Future Hulk) Reading Order!

I Can Legacy Clearly Now #9: Incredible Hulk #709 – Planet Hulk Redux

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There are three major Marvel characters that writer Greg Pak (in some cases alongside writing partner Fred Van Lente) has absolutely owned since the mid-2000’s: The Incredible Hulk (Bruce Banner), The Incredible Hercules, and Amadeus Cho (with pup in tow). [Read more…] about I Can Legacy Clearly Now #9: Incredible Hulk #709 – Planet Hulk Redux