Hulk

Hulk
File:HULK077 COV.jpg Cover to Incredible Hulk Vol. 3 #77 Art by Lee Weeks
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The Incredible Hulk v1 #1 (May 1962)
Created by	Stan Lee Jack Kirby
In-story information
Alter ego	Robert Bruce Banner
Team affiliations	Avengers, Defenders, Secret Defenders, Fantastic Four, Pantheon, Horsemen of Apocalypse, Sentry, The Order
Notable aliases	Savage Hulk, Grey Hulk, Joe Fixit, Merged Hulk, "The Professor", Captain Universe, Mechano
Abilities	Vast superhuman strength, stamina, and durability. Able to leap miles within a single bound. Regenerative healing factor. Ability to see astral bodies. Absorbs radiation. Transformation.

"The Incredible Hulk" redirects here. For information on the live action television series based on the comic, see The Incredible Hulk (TV Series). For the Ang Lee film see Hulk (film).

The Incredible Hulk is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Hulk first appeared in Incredible Hulk # 1 in May 1962. His true identity is that of nuclear physicist Dr. Bruce Banner (later called "Robert Bruce Banner" as a way of "explaining" a storyline in Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) # 25-26 which mistakenly referred to him as "Bob Banner" throughout)

Publication history

File:Incrediblehulk1.jpg

Cover to The Incredible Hulk #1. Art by Jack Kirby.

In the first issue of The Incredible Hulk, the character's skin was grey. However, the publishers of the time had difficulties printing a clear, consistent shade of grey, so after the first issue, the character's skin color changed to a bright emerald green in #2. Subsequent reprintings and retellings of the Hulk's origin over the next 20-odd years featured him with green skin from the start, but in 1986, it was revealed that the Hulk "really" was grey in his origin, and he soon after reverted to his original coloration (remaining that way until 1991).

It is interesting to note that both the Hulk (in #1) and Iron Man (in Tales of Suspense #39), both crucial new Marvel Comics characters in 1962-63, each began in grey color which only lasted one issue in each respective case (Iron Man's armor was altered to gold in Tales of Suspense #40).

Origin

Dr. Robert Bruce Banner is a military scientist working on developing a new type of weapon called a "Gamma Bomb". As the bomb is being tested, however, Bruce notices that a teenager, Rick Jones, has driven his hot rod onto the test site. Banner leaves the safety of his bunker, grabs the young man, and throws him into a nearby ditch, but the bomb explodes before Bruce himself can get to safety. As a result, he absorbs an enormous dose of gamma radiation, and this is what causes him to transform into the rampaging Hulk.

Up till this moment, the latent multiple personality disorder of Bruce had not yet been released. It seems the trigger effect was what happened shortly before the gamma bomb went off. Bruce Banner had mental problems, and was without knowing it himself considering suicide. When Rick Jones was driving into the test area, he saw it as an excuse to end his life, even if he probably wasn't fully aware of this himself at that point. The chain of things that happened next supports this. When he spotted Rick in his car, he gave Igor, a man he didn't trust at all, orders to stop the count down. Because he was in charge, he was fully capable of doing this by himself. He could have contacted the guards and some others in the crew, but only told it to Igor. And then he was running out in the open himself, not giving himself time to reflect over what he was doing. If he had trusted Igor, he wouldn't have screamed to Rick that they both were in terrible danger and had to seek cover as soon as possible. When he tosses Rick into safety, he does not jump into the ground together with him. Instead he is still standing in the open, telling Rick what he is supposed to do instead of actually doing it. And then the bomb explodes. In that moment, Bruce knows he is going to die, and all the self control and all other protective mechanisms his mind has built through a whole life is no longer needed. And he can finally allow himself to let go and not holding anything back anymore since nothing matter as he is soon to be dead. In his mind he is dying and gives room to whatever that is inside him to break free to come to the surface without caring to try stopping it. What goes on in his mind at this moment triggers what happens shortly after. And at the same time he is exposed to the radiation. His first alternative personality is born at the same moment he is transforming psysically because of the exposure to the gamma radiation from the bomb. Because of this, his new personality gets its own body and brain too, making itself just not just a reflection of Bruce Banner's mind, but becomes a real being. At first Bruce becomes the "Grey Hulk" whenever the sun goes down, but after being exposed to further radiation in space, he begins transforming into the larger, more destructive Green Hulk whenever he grows angry, frightened, or panicked. Whereas the Grey Hulk seemed to possess normal human intelligence and an arrogant, dismissive attitude toward "puny humans," the Green Hulk has the intellect and temperament of a small, angry child.

Many of the early Hulk stories involve General Thunderbolt Ross continually trying to capture or destroy the Hulk, with his "Hulkbuster" U.S. Army battalion at his side. Ross's daughter Betty is in love with Bruce Banner and often criticizes her father for pursuing the Hulk so relentlessly. Meanwhile, General Ross's right-hand man, Major Glenn Talbot, is in love with Betty, and is torn between pursuing the Hulk or trying to gain Betty's love in a more honorable way. Teenager Rick Jones served as the Hulk's friend and sidekick for a time. Later, another teenager named Jim Wilson also befriends the Hulk.

The Hulk appeared in his own self-titled comic book series during the early 1960s, at the same time as other famous Marvel characters including the Fantastic Four and The Mighty Thor. The initial Hulk series ran for only six issues, however, before being cancelled by Marvel in order to free up space on the publishing schedule to give Nick Fury his own comic ("Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos"). Shortly after the official cancellation notice was issued, creator Jack Kirby received a letter from a college dormitory stating that the Hulk had been chosen as their official mascot. Kirby and Lee realized that their character had found an audience in college-age readers -- a demographic that had been almost entirely ignored by comic book publishers until that time. This inspired them to keep the Hulk alive through numerous guest appearances in other books, and by adding him to the founding ranks of the Avengers.. The Hulk was then given a regular backup feature in Marvel's ongoing series Tales To Astonish. After several years, the series was retitled The Incredible Hulk due to the character's popularity, and its run continued until March of 1999, at which point the series restarted with a new issue #1. The third and current Hulk series premiered in April 1999, with the title being changed once more to The Incredible Hulk with issue #12.

The Peter David Years

Shortly after the re-emergence of the Gray Hulk, writer Peter David took the reins of the series, a role he would continue to fulfill for almost twelve years.

David expanded on an earlier story which established that Banner had suffered abuse as a child, which fostered a great deal of repressed anger and rage within the character, which in turn triggered a latent case of multiple personality disorder. David had three Hulks emerge from Banner's psyche, the Savage Hulk, the Grey Hulk, and "The Professor", a merger of the Savage Hulk and Banner. David's changes also included altering Banner's pre-Hulk characterization, and the nature of Banner and the Hulk's relationship. Originally, Banner was written as a normal (albeit shy) man whose negative emotions (the normal, repressed anger that all humans have) found expression through the Hulk. David, however, turned Banner into a victim of mutliple personalities who had serious mental problems long before he became the Hulk.

In 1998, David followed a suggestion by his editor Bobbie Chase to kill the character of Betty Banner. In a recent interview in Wizard Magazine, David revealed that his wife had recently left him at the time, hence providing real-life inspiration for the storyline. Meanwhile, executives at Marvel used Betty's death as an opportunity to push the idea of bringing back the Savage Hulk (who had not really appeared in the years since David took over the title). David disagreed, believing that there was limited story potential in doing this, and the disagreement quickly led to David and Marvel Comics parting ways. At this point, Peter David had written nearly every issue of The Incredible Hulk for almost twelve years. Interestingly, the author chose to use his final issue (which was the issue following the death of Betty) to summarize where he might have taken the character given the opportunity.

The Third Hulk series

When Peter David left the Hulk, Joe Casey was brought in to serve as a temporary writer. During his short run on the series, he brought the character in the direction that Marvel had requested earlier (focusing on a mute Hulk), but met with little critical success. Casey soon found himself reluctantly ending the series (something which he pointed out in the final issue that he was somewhat uncomfortable doing) when John Byrne was brought back for a second run on the series, now retitled simply "Hulk" and renumbered back to issue #1, with Ron Garney doing the art.

Although Byrne spoke of his plans for the first year, he and Marvel had creative differences that led to his departure before his first year was up. Erik Larsen briefly filled scripting duties in his place, continuing the story of the Savage Hulk. Shortly thereafter, the title of the book was returned to The Incredible Hulk with the arrival of Paul Jenkins, who wrote a story arc in which Banner and the three Hulks (Savage, Gray and the Merged Hulk, now considered a separate personality and referred to as the Professor) were able to mentally interact with one another, each personality taking over their shared body for a time. He also introduced the mysterious General Ryker, who was in charge of the original gamma bomb test responsible for the Hulk's creation.

Jenkins had a fairly successful run for several years until he was replaced by controversial author Bruce Jones. Jones was initially lauded for his unusual take on the Hulk, which seemed to harken back to the Bill Bixby TV series (see below) to some extent. Jones' run featured Banner using yoga to take control of the Hulk as he was pursued by a secret conspiracy (later revealed to be led by The Leader) and aided by the mysterious Mr. Blue (later revealed to be the resurrected Betty Banner). As the series continued, Jones received criticism regarding the comparatively slow pace of his stories and his controversial re-interpretations of several of the characters. By the time he had left, Jones had written 43 regular issues of the series (plus the four-issue mini-series Hulk/Thing: Hard Knocks), making him the fourth most prolific Hulk writer (behind Peter David, Stan Lee, and Bill Mantlo).

The Hulk went into a temporary hiatus with the departure of Jones (filled primarily by the above-mentioned Hulk/Thing: Hard Knocks mini-series), after which Peter David returned as writer. David had initially signed a contract for the six-issue Tempest Fugit mini-series, but, with the series in hiatus, it was decided to make this story part of the regular book instead. David then signed on to complete a year on the title.

"Tempest Fugit" has already had possibly lasting effects on the series, including expanding the Hulk's backstory. Perhaps more importantly, it revealed that Nightmare has been manipulating the Hulk for years, tormenting him in various ways for "inconveniences" caused to him by the Hulk. This included manufacturing events that appeared to be real, impregnating the comatose Betty Banner (who would give birth to his daughter "Daydream"), and taking him to an island where he was forced to go through a series of seemingly random obstacles. In the wake of Nightmare's revelations, it is uncertain how much of the Hulk's history from the last few years really happened.

After a four-part House of M tie-in story arc featuring the new Scorpion, plus a one issue epilogue to that arc set in the Marvel Universe, David is due to leave the title once more, this time citing the need to do non-Hulk work for the sake of his career [1]. Daniel Way is due to do at least one arc following David's departure. That will be followed with Greg Pak writing the big "Planet Hulk" event, which sees the Hulk "completely out of his element, stranded on a distant world with inhabitants just as powerful as he is. So is it possible for the Hulk to survive this harsh planet? And possibly even thrive there?"

The End?

According to "Hulk: The End" by Peter David and Dale Keown, Bruce Banner's life ended/will end in a future where humans had wiped themselves out, along with nearly all life on earth. The only survivors were the Hulk and an evolved breed of cockroaches, who regularly swarmed on the Hulk and would eat his organs. Like a modern Prometheus, the Hulk would continually rejuvenate and then again be attacked by the creatures. In this story we also learn that he is able to digest almost everything organic. Bruce Banner died of a heart attack after living a long life, but the Hulk continued to survive, finally fulfilling his oft-stated wish to that "Hulk just wants to be alone," but at a price: Once The Hulk's rage subsides, he will revert back to Banner, which will lead him to his final death. However, Marvel's "The End" series is not considered part of Marvel continuity and is merely another alternate reality/timeline.

Character biography

Bruce Banner before the Hulk

Bruce Banner dealt with a difficult childhood. His father, Brian Banner, was convinced that his work as an atomic physicist researching radiation at Los Alamos had resulted in a mutant son, whom he had never intended to have. Although Bruce's mother Rebecca loved the boy, this only led to Brian becoming jealous and hating Bruce all the more. He used excuses to keep Bruce away from his mother, often leaving him in the care of Nurse Meachum, who barely tolerated the boy. When Bruce demonstrated an abnormally high intellect, Brian took it as proof positive that his son was a monster and began physically abusing both Bruce and Rebecca. Rebecca eventually tried to flee with Bruce, but was killed by Brian in the attempt.

Bruce initially refused to testify against his father, but was eventually convinced to reveal the truth, leading to his father being institutionalized for many years. In the meantime, Bruce was left in the care of Brian's sister Susan Drake. (Susan divorced her husband while Bruce was in high school and took the name Susan Banner again. Note that some early sources state that Susan was actually Rebecca's sister.) As a coping mechanism, Bruce developed an imaginary friend that he called "Hulk". This Hulk shared qualities of both the later Savage and Grey Hulks, but physically resembled the Savage Hulk. Bruce continued to use this technique at least into his high school years.

Banner was a loner in high school, and spent time at an old, abandoned shed making "gadgets", including a time bomb. This bomb was attached to a boiler in the school by Banner's "Hulk" persona in revenge for a beating that Bruce had received, but Bruce's "normal" personality disabled the bomb. Susan was offered a deal by the school so that the incident would be forgotten if they moved. The time bomb that Bruce built attracted the attention of the U.S. Army Department of Research & Development (and, in particular, of a Major Thaddeus Ross), who saw potential in Bruce as a weapons designer and took a hand in his education.

Bruce was transferred to the aptly named Science High School, but remained an outsider even to his classmates there. He eventually went to graduate school at Caltech, where he was at the top of his class. He also drew the attention of fellow classmate Phil Sterns, whose obsession with Banner would later lead to him turning himself into Madman. It was also there that he met future neuro-psychologist Angela Lipscombe, who may have been his first serious romance. The two broke up when Bruce entered a period of depression after having several applications for grants turned down as institutions dismissed his theories predicting the spontaneous formation of gamma particles in a vacuum. After leaving college, he began working on the development of a weapon involving gamma particles that would destroy buildings and other structures while keeping people unharmed. Ross, now a general, approached Bruce on behalf of the military and attempted to convince Bruce to alter his design to that of a localized destructive weapon. Bruce refused.

It was during this period of time that Brian Banner was released from the institution and briefly moved in with Bruce. Brian's insanity led to an attack to kill Bruce at the site of Rebecca's grave, but instead led to Brian's death at Bruce's hands. However, Bruce blocked out these memories, choosing instead to forget that his father had moved in with him at all. Instead, he remembered meeting his father again at the site of the grave, having a confrontation, and then watching his father leave. The police reports would state that Brian Banner was killed by muggers, and Bruce went on to believe this until the truth was revealed to the Hulk years later.

Bruce Banner continued his work on the Gamma Bomb (altering its design at Ross' request) and at the same time began to develop a relationship with Betty Ross, the General's daughter. The Hulk would make his first physical appearance during this period.

Early biographical history

File:Hulk181.jpg

The Incredible Hulk #181 (Nov. 1974), featuring the first full appearance of the popular X-Man, Wolverine. Art by Herb Trimpe.

The Hulk's personality and intelligence level has varied wildly over the years, even from his earliest days. In his very first issue, he is easily confused, and rather brutish. In his second, as well as assuming his trademark green skin color, he acts almost as an outright villain. In the third, he becomes the mindless thrall of Rick Jones, and in the fourth, Bruce Banner gains the ability to impose his personality over the Hulk — although this is short-lived, as the personality later associated with the gray-brute-Hulk emerges in #5-6.

This remains his dominant personality in many of the guest appearances he makes in Fantastic Four and The Amazing Spider-Man between cancellation of his series and his reappearance in his own feature in Tales to Astonish. The best-known incarnation of the character — "the savage Hulk" who almost invariably spoke in the third person, as in his famous catchphrase, "(object) make Hulk angry! Hulk smash (object)!" — began surfacing periodically in here, with the trademark speech pattern first appearing in issue #66 (April 1965).

Later, due to a side-effect of a teleportation beam, Bruce Banner gained control of the Hulk's body, and the ability to transform at will. Gradually, though, he again cycled downward, losing intelligence and gaining aggression in Hulk form. Finally, due to the interference of the dream-demon Nightmare, Banner committed "psychic suicide," causing the Hulk to become a near-mindless, rampaging monster, which the sorcerer Doctor Strange banished to an inter-dimensional "Crossroads". While there, the savage-Hulk personality gradually reasserted itself, and finally Banner himself re-emerged.

When the Hulk finally returned to Earth, Doc Samson, a green-haired scientist whose strength had been enhanced by a controlled dose of gamma radiation some years before, managed to capture the Hulk and remove Banner from the Hulk's body by the use of a "nutrient bath". While Banner, finally free of his curse, was finally able to wed Betty Ross, Samson rebelled at plans to execute the again-mindless Hulk and accidentally freed the violent brute in attempting to prevent the execution. After much rampaging, it was discovered that Banner and the Hulk were dying from the separation, before the Vision managed to reunite them. This merger proved unstable, with Banner's head emerging from the Hulk's torso while the Hulk's personality flicked back and forth from savage-Hulk to gray-brute-Hulk (although his color remained green). Finally, the Hulk was captured and placed in the nutrient bath to stabilize him, but Rick Jones also fell in, emerging as a green, savage-Hulk-like creature. Banner briefly emerged as a gray Hulk until the sun hit his skin, reverting him back to Banner.

Later biographical history

File:GreyFixitHulk.jpg

The Grey Hulk as "Joe Fixit"

The craftily intelligent Grey Hulk allied with the Leader to restore the Leader's intelligence by draining Rick Jones' gamma power, in return for the Leader making it possible to allow him to remain the Hulk in both day and night (since the Grey Hulk now appeared during the night, and Banner during the day). While the first step was accomplished, an explosion meant the Leader escaped without having to make good on his promise. Soon after, the Hulk apparently died in a Leader-induced gamma bomb explosion, but actually escaped and took a job as a Las Vegas casino enforcer named "Mr. Fixit," working for casino boss Michael Berengetti, with no Banner to trouble him. For a time, he lived a hedonistic life, including a brief relationship with Marlo Chandler. When Banner reemerged, however, "Joe Fixit"'s life began to fall apart, since he could no longer appear in the daytime - with his problems helped along by the well-meaning Glorian, whose desire to turn the Hulk into a "noble, self-sacrificing individual" led him to a deal with the being Cloot (actually the demon Satannish), and the destruction of the Hulk's life, terrifying Marlo into dumping him and Berengetti into firing him.

Finally, with the Hulk realizing that he'd go to the same Hell as Glorian was being dragged down to too, eventually, it boiled down to him and Cloot playing Craps for his and Glorian's souls: if the Hulk won, Cloot could never take him or Glorian. If he lost, Cloot got them both immediately. The Hulk rolled the pair of giant dice, over twice as tall as himself, and jumped to land as they bounced, to make them roll a double-6. As Cloot complained about the Hulk's "cheating" and tried to take Glorian anyway, Glorian's master, the Shaper of Worlds intervened, saying that with Cloot's deal broken, he had no power. Cloot vanished, swearing to get Glorian and the Hulk someday, and the Shaper warning the Hulk to think about his future life "and after."

Three dominant personalities had emerged over the years: the quiet intellectual Banner, the Grey Hulk which embodies his more antisocial cunning side, and the Savage Hulk which embodies his inner child and repressed rage. Doc Samson, with the assistance of the Ringmaster, managed to prompt the merger of Banner's personalities into one apparently healthy personality which embodied Banner's intellect and conscience, the Grey's cunning and confidence and the Savage's color and strength. (Doc Samson would later claim, when something resembling the Merged Hulk emerged alongside his apparent component parts, that this was just another personality released from Banner's mind, who became known as the "Professor." However, since it was shown at the time of the merger that Samson had little control over the process, exactly how much truth there is to this remains unknown.) This "Merged Hulk" shortly thereafter joined up with the group known as the Pantheon, all of whom took their names from Greco-Roman mythology. The immortal leader and patriarch of the family, Agamemnon (from whom all of the other members were descended to some degree), and Ulysses convinced the Hulk to join them between his desire to do good in the world, and his desire to stick it to the U.S. Government for years of hounding him by taking down a U.S.-supported government with an abominable human rights record, among other things. As he joined, however, Delphi, the Pantheon's prophetess, saw "violence, death and pain, and a soul no longer sane" in the future: the Hulk laughing maniacally, while covered in blood.

File:MergedHulkwithPantheon.jpg

The Merged Hulk, surrounded by other Pantheon members

The Hulk spent some time with the Pantheon. The merger of personalities began to destabilize beginning with a battle with the Leader and the reanimated body of General Ross that led to both foes' deaths. As the Pantheon's home and headquarters, the Mount, crumbled around him and Delphi's vision of insane anger came true, the Savage Hulk came out in Banner's body, thanks to the Merged Hulk's feelings of helplessness, frustration, and rage. After this, the Hulk went into hiding for some time, hampered by the "Savage Banner" coming out whenever he got angry. Finally, in battle with the psychic creature Onslaught, he was once more physically separated into both Hulk and Banner. Banner went on to be teleported to the Heroes Reborn universe, and the Hulk left behind was not mindless but soulless, a mixture of the Fixit and Savage personae. The Hulk became a conduit of energy between the two universes, growing physically stronger, but coming ever closer to dying; meanwhile, Banner relived an altered version of his life, becoming a Hulk similar to the Savage Hulk again, in the other universe. Eventually Banner (along with the others who ended up in the other universe) returned home, and Banner was reunited with the soulless Hulk in the process, although the Hulk's personality was not significantly changed.

Finally, just as Banner looked like he was about to settle down with Betty, she died of gamma radiation poisoning. Although Banner and an again-resurrected General Ross believed the source of the poisoning to have been Betty's close relationship with Banner, it had actually been caused by the Abomination, who hated the Hulk for having kept him away from his estranged ex-wife. The Abomination was exposed and defeated in retaliation by the Hulk twice: first as the Professor, who saw reason to forgive the Abomination, and again as the Savage Hulk, who was manipulated by Ross into beating the Abomination nearly to death.

Planet Hulk

Main article: Planet Hulk

After the events of House of M Hulk was removed from planet Earth by The Illuminati. The reason for this enforced exodus ties in with the encroaching Civil War which looks to rip apart the Marvel universe.

Personality and behavior

The Hulk is the alter ego of Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, a genius in nuclear physics. As a result of exposure to gamma radiation, Banner often becomes one of a number of large, superhumanly strong green or grey creatures.

Although the Hulk is usually classified as a superhero (although he is actually an antihero), he and Banner share a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-like relationship. In his most well-known incarnation, the Hulk has little intelligence or self-control and can cause great destruction. As a result, he has been hunted by the military and other superheroes and Banner considers the Hulk a curse.

In recent decades, comic book writers have portrayed the character as a symbol of inner rage and Freudian repression. The Hulk's existence has been retroactively explained as an after-effect of child abuse and latent multiple personality disorder.

Incarnations

File:Hulks.jpg

The four main Hulk incarnations. Clockwise from top left: Bruce Banner, the Savage Hulk, the Grey Hulk ("Joe Fixit") and the Merged Hulk ("the Professor")

Initially, the Hulk was characterized as being almost a separate entity from Bruce Banner, a distillation of his normal human anger and negative emotions (albeit greatly magnified), which gradually developed its own personality and memories separate from Banner's. However, due to retroactive continuity established by writers Bill Mantlo and later Peter David in the 1980s, Banner was said to suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder (although the proper diagnostic term is Dissociative Identity Disorder), which stemmed from abuse he suffered as a child. Today, there are many different Hulks, each one representing a different part of Banner's psyche. Banner and the most dominant of the other incarnations have in some cases been awake at the same time, and have communicated with each others. Which indicates that they really are different personalities, even if they all can be traced back to Banner.

Bruce Banner

Bruce Banner, the core personality, is a genius in nuclear physics. He has often been emotionally repressed, with alternating periods of depression and acceptance of the Hulks. Although on occasion he has been able to usurp the Savage Hulk's body, he has generally been limited to human form and strength. When Banner was able to usurp control of the Savage Hulk's body, his inability to get as angry as the Hulk limited the strength level he could achieve. He is the source of all the other personalities, which "birth" are based on specific parts of his personality. Banner is also able to transform into all the existing versions of the Hulks, while his alter egos only seems to be able to transform into Bruce Banner. And he is the only personality with the potential to give rise to new incarnations, although the already existing ones can evolve in their own directions over time.

Savage Hulk

The Savage Hulk is arguably the strongest and best-known of the comic book Hulks. This Hulk had the longest consistent tenure (appearing from approximately 1965-1983), despite not appearing continuously for more than a year at a time since the early 1980s. The Savage Hulk diverged from Banner during early childhood, due to Brian Banner's abuse. He possesses the mental capacity and temperament of a young child, and typically refers to himself in the third person. He often claims that he wants to be left alone albeit in an attention-seeking way, with frequent "Hulk smash" temper tantrums. Sometimes he also shows behavior that reminds more about an angry animal than a small child. The savage Hulk also seems to be immune against mental attacks that would stop normal humans because of his more bestial brain (Incredible Hulk #259).

The Savage Hulk is normally depicted as green-skinned and heavily-muscled with a loping, ape-like gait. The mouth area of his face is greatly enlarged, and his nose is extremely short as a result. He rarely wears upper body clothes (which are almost always ripped off in transformation), but usually wears the remnants of Banner's trousers (which are often colored purple).

When Banner was separated from the Hulk and drawn into the Heroes Reborn universe, he became a Hulk which resembled the Savage Hulk there due to Franklin Richards reverting the heroes he placed there to the forms he was most familiar with. However, this was apparently not the true Savage Hulk persona.

Although the Merged Hulk has the highest "base" level, the Savage Hulk's sheer capability for anger, combined with the propensity of all the Hulks to get stronger with rage, means he is potentially the strongest of the Hulks.

The different incarnations have to some degree continued to evolve their personalities in different directions since they first appeared. Especially the Savage Hulk, who has been around longer than the other incarnations and had more time available to develop. Even if he started his existence as a reflection of a child, he is showing mental abilities not usually found among children. He is very independent and can find food and other things necessary to survive by his own wherever he is. And unlike normal children, he is not easily scared and never appears to get lost. His intelligence is much lower than average, but still he has gained a lot of experience and is able to understand more than one would expect from him. According to the Leader, some of his changes can be traced back to changes in the solar activity, which he seems to be sensitive to (or at least used to be sensitive to at some point in history).

Grey Hulk ("Joe Fixit")

The Hulk was grey in his first appearance. As a distinct character, he first emerged in the mid-80s, with the grey skin which would become associated with this incarnation just prior to the start of the lengthy Peter David run. The character's most notable spell was as a Las Vegas enforcer called "Mr. Fixit". Berengetti, the man he was working for, referred to the Hulk as "Joe", so this was later combined to form "Joe Fixit".

Significant differences between the personalities of the original Grey Hulk and the version that emerged in the 1980s lead to some debate as to whether these are the same version of the Hulk - although the (green) Hulk in the latter issues of the Hulk's original series and Avengers appearances bears a far stronger resemblance in all but colour. In early issues after the re-emergence of the Grey Hulk, the character is referred to as the original Hulk, so it is possible that these differences are simply a result of these being variations of the same personality, just as the Savage Hulk has gone through many variations. However, not all agree that these truly are the same character, and suggests the Savage Hulk over time could have evolved gradually from the original Grey Hulk.

The Grey Hulk diverged from Banner during late adolescence or his college years, as the repressed Banner attempted to deny his sex drive. He has average intelligence, although he would occasionally display knowledge and intellectual ability that were normally associated with Banner (when Banner starts to change and the grey Hulk awakes, he can also "borrow" some of Banner's intellect in the process, like he did when he built the machine that cured Rick Jones and transformed Sterns into the Leader again). He is cunning, crafty, hedonistic, arrogant, and hard-to-reach, with a conscience he often tries to hide. He is the only Hulk who has both manipulated and suppressed Banner, as Banner has often attempted to "cure" himself of being a Hulk. For most of the Grey Hulk's existence, he appeared only at night. According to the Leader, the Grey Hulk persona of this period was strongest during the night of the new moon and weakest during the full moon, with the reverse holding true for Banner. There are indications that this is because of Banner's shame of this side of his personality: He only lets it come out when it is dark, and no one can see him.

Although the smallest of the Hulks, he still towers over the average human and is much larger than the largest man. He has the lowest base level of strength. The Grey Hulk has the capacity to increase his strength according to his rage, but it starts out at a somewhat lower level than other incarnations. Otherwise, he looks like a less extreme version of the Savage Hulk, with normal length arms and less of a hunched back. He dresses in made to measure suits when he can. When left in Banner's clothes before a transformation, Banner's clothes are often left on in whatever condition they were in after transformation.

The Grey Hulk was romantically involved with Marlo Chandler for some time, but the two broke up as a result of Glorian's machinations. Marlo later became involved with (and married) Rick Jones.

Merged Hulk ("The Professor")

This Hulk was created by the merger of Banner and the two above Hulks. A later story would attempt to retcon this, with Doc Samson claiming that he just released another incarnation from Banner's mind - despite the original issue (Incredible Hulk #377) showing Samson as having little control over the merger process. This Hulk's most notable spell was as an associate, and later the leader, of the Pantheon. This form is devoid of most of Banner's emotional hang-ups, but can still be prompted into insane rage, as when he killed the Leader and later destablised enough for the Savage Hulk to re-emerge.

The Merged Hulk (a.k.a. "Smart-Hulk" or Professor Hulk) possesses Banner's intelligence, the Grey Hulk's cunning, and the Savage Hulk's strength, and his strength level starts at the highest level off all the "Hulk personas." After the "Savage Banner" began to re-emerge, he was forced to restrain his rage to avoid becoming "helpless in mind and body". However, the Professor Hulk isn't able to tap into the famed rage/enhanced strength with the same efficiency as the Savage Hulk.

The Merged/Professor Hulk is green-skinned and is the tallest and largest incarnation. Despite his exaggerated musculature, he looks basically like a scaled-up human and walks normally. He has a proportionally larger version of Banner's face, and always dresses in clothes appropriately sized for him (although he occasionally foregoes shirts and shoes).

This aspect of the Hulk is one of the most controversial. Peter David, who created this personality, considered him to be a true unification of the existing personalities. However, many decried this incarnation, as it virtually eliminated the Banner/Hulk conflict that was so central to the character's longtime success. Paul Jenkins, who was the first author to refer to this personality as "the Professor", considered him a separate personality, able to co-exist and even communicate with the other existing personalities. Peter David states that the personality for the Merged Hulk was originally modeled after Val Kilmer's role as "Chris Knight" in the film Real Genius.

Maestro

Main article: Maestro (comics)

The Maestro is a version of the Hulk from a future timeline where he conquered a world which had brought itself to the brink of extinction through nuclear warfare. The Maestro's skin is a darker green than the "mainstream" Hulk and his hair is grey and balding on top. Due to the increased radiation due to nuclear fall-out, the Maestro has increased strength around twice that of the Merged Hulk, and his strength still increases with rage, making him more powerful still.

Other incarnations

There were a number of periods where the Hulk presented was neither the Savage nor Grey Hulks, but showed clear traits of both, usually with green skin. Notable instances of these include:

• Post-Onslaught/Unleashed Hulk: During a fight with the villain Onslaught, Banner was separated from the Hulk. As Banner went missing this Hulk became a nexus gateway to the "Heroes Reborn Universe" created by Franklin Richards. This Hulk may have been a combination of the Grey and Savage personalities, judging from his behavior. Due to separation from Banner and an influx of energy from the Heroes Reborn Universe, the Hulk had a deteriorating physical condition which caused his strength to increase steadily while his durability was very erratic. At one point, the "Unleashed Hulk" was impaled by landing on a jagged street sign.
• Post-Heroes Reborn Hulk: When Banner and the Unleashed Hulk were remerged, Banner's influence moderated the Hulk somewhat, making him a more level-headed version of the above Hulk. With Banner's return, this Hulk no longer suffered from a deteriorating physical condition.

Other incarnations of the Hulk (unofficially named) include :

• Mindless Hulk: Created when Banner committed a "psychic suicide", whereby Banner retreated deep into his mind, leaving behind a Hulk that was violent, animalistic, and incapable of speech. Still, the Mindless Hulk exhibited a range of emotions, befriending a number of alien beings and mourning their losses. It has been strongly implied in the comic book (specifically, in issue #310) that the Mindless Hulk could be another personality of Banner's.
• Bannerless Hulk: Created when Banner was physically separated from the Hulk's physical form by use of a "nutrient bath", removing (according to Samson) all memory and personality from the Hulk's body. Unlike the "Mindless Hulk", the only emotion this creature demonstrated was rage.
• Guilt Hulk: An incarnation that represents the guilt and rage that resulted from Banner's traumatic experiences, which never gained physical form. He appeared within Banner's mind in the form of a giant, Godzilla-like monster, and was soundly defeated by the Savage, Gray and "Professor" Hulks.
• Devil Hulk: A malevolent personality who attempted to usurp control during a period where Banner and all three primary Hulk personalities were active. This Hulk is the representation of his abusive father. This personality is presumably in control in the alternate timeline when Hulk becomes the Maestro. However, it may be a false memory implanted by Nightmare's manipulation. This incarnation also appeared in the game Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and claimed to be a "natural evolution" of Banner's gamma-irradiated psyche. This version is ultimately destroyed by Hulk at the Crossroads.
• Monster Hulk: For a time, through the practices of yoga and mediation, Banner gained a measure of control over the Hulk. During this "bleeding of the minds," Banner could impose his will and mind over the Hulk to a certain extent, and used some of the Hulk's physical strength in human form.
• War III: The Hulk was altered by Apocalypse, using Celestial technology, and served briefly as the Horseman War, the third to hold that title and the first non-mutant Horseman. In this guise, the Hulk was even stronger than usual, and brainwashed to be loyal to Apocalypse. The Hulk defeated the Absorbing Man and knocked away the Juggernaut, but broke free of his brainwashing when his actions threatened Rick Jones.

There have also been several occasions in which Banner possessed the Savage Hulk's mind ("Savage Banner"), or vice versa ("Banner-Hulk").

Powers and abilities

The Hulk possesses an incredible level of superhuman physical ability. His capacity for physical strength is potentially limitless, Savage Hulk and Merged Hulks having the highest "base" strength levels, able to lift huge amounts or make leaps spanning several miles. In most of his incarnations, and especially in the "Savage" incarnation, the Hulk's strength increases proportionally with his level of great emotional stress in general, and anger in particular. During the Secret Wars mini-series, for example, he was seen effectively holding up a small section of a 150-billion ton mountain (although he himself said that he had leverage and couldn't hold it for long.) which was dropped on them by the Molecule Man until the heroes buried inside could find a way to blast their way out. Hulk also seems to be stronger the more radiation he absorbs, which is the main reason why Maestro from the future has become stronger than the present Hulk. Hulk also demonstrated his strength when he did the supposedly impossible, he physically stopped the Juggernaut from moving forward. Also, The Hulk was the only superhero able to fight one on one with the psychic being Onslaught and hold his own after Jean Grey used her telepathic powers to effectively shut down his concious mind, resulting in the Hulk's rage increasing to the point where he was in a mindless, berserker-like state.

File:Hulk heal.jpg

Hulk's healing factor.

File:Hulk mount.jpg

Hulk holding up the mountain. Secret Wars #4

It may be theorized that the limit of Hulks strength may be calculated based upon the total potential kinetic energy of the universe. Hulks strength may indeed stem from a latent ability to harness the Law of Inertia.

The Hulk has shown a high resistance to physical damage nearly regardless of the cause (whether it be artillery shells, falls from a great height, or puncture wounds, such as the numerous slashings and stabbings he endured while fighting Wolverine), and has also shown resistance to extreme temperatures, poisons, and diseases. In addition, the Hulk's body can regenerate damaged or destroyed areas of tissue at an amazing rate.

In addition to his physical power and healing ability, the Hulk has demonstrated a couple of supernatural abilities. First, the Hulk has the ability to "home in" on the desert base where he was created. This appears to have been caused by a connection with the spirit of the Maestro, his evil future self, which ties into his second mystical ability: The Hulk is able to see and hear ghosts, such as the astral form of Doctor Strange. Because of the nature of astral bodies, and because no one else around can hear them, the direct communication between Hulk and astral forms appears to be of telepathic origin even if Hulk experiences it as normal talking and hearing.

The Hulk's body also has a gland that makes an "oxygenated perfluorocarbon emulsion", which creates pressure in the Hulk's lungs and effectively lets him breathe underwater and move quickly between varying depths without concerns about decompression or nitrogen narcosis. It is not known if the Hulk has always had this ability or if it has developed over time.

The Hulk is also a living generator of gamma radiation.

Related characters

Bruce Banner has a cousin, Jennifer Walters, whom he once had to give an emergency blood transfusion when she was critically wounded. As a result, she takes on the Hulkish condition as the She-Hulk.

Hulk in other media

Television and film

1960s cartoon

The Hulk started out in animation as part of the Marvel Super Heroes animated television series in 1966. The 39 (10 minute long) episodes were shown along with Captain America, Ironman, the Mighty Thor, and Submariner episodes and were based on the early stories appearing in both Hulk and Tales to Astonish comics.

Live action TV series

Main article: The Incredible Hulk (TV Series)

The most famous TV adaptation was the live action The Incredible Hulk TV series, starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno.

1980s cartoon

After the live-action show had ended in 1982, the Hulk returned to cartoon format, airing with Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends in a combined hour. 13 episodes of this series were produced, which was generally more faithful to the comics than the live-action series (in that it at least featured more comics characters, such as Rick Jones, Betty Ross, and General Ross) but failed to find much critical acclaim. Typical of many "superhero" cartoons of the era, the show used a series of stock transformation scenes which include Banner transforming back with his clothing somehow restored intact. The She-Hulk and the Leader made an appearance in the show. Notably, this series (as well as the Spider-Man cartoon of this era) featured the voice of Stan Lee as a narrator.

Prior to the cartoon, Bruce Banner/Hulk made an appearance in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. His appearance is in the episode, "Spidey Goes Hollywood", where Mysterio forces a director to put Spider-Man in lead movie role. Each scenes consist of various devices to destroy Spidey, including a robotic Hulk. Unknown to Mysterio, the real Hulk is with the Spider-Friends as Bruce Banner is given a job as a set janitor. Later however Bruce hulks out in time to fight Mysterio's robot. Banner, however, isn't refered to by name throughout the episode. Also, his transformation back into Bruce does not have his clothes magically reappearing as they do on his cartoon.

See also

• IMDb.com Entry
• THE INCREDIBLE HULK 1982 CARTOON PAGE
• International Catalogue of Superheroes
• Pazsaz Entertainment Network: the Incredible Hulk
• X-Entertainment - 1980's Ads Volume ASKAKSKAK667

1990s cartoon

Main article: The Incredible Hulk (1996 television series)

In 1996, UPN brought the Hulk back to animated form. Lou Ferrigno returned to play the Hulk, this time as his voice. The first season was exceptionally dark in storytelling, with endings either bittersweet or complete downers. In 1997, the show's name changed to The Incredible Hulk and She-Hulk, and featured She-Hulk in several episodes with the Gray Hulk. The series became much lighter during this season and lost it's core fanbase and swiftly cancelled. The show was briefly aired on ABC Family following the release of the live-action movie in 2003.

See also

• IMDb.com Entry
• Marvel Animation Age - The Incredible Hulk
• DRG4's The Incredible Hulk: The Animated Series Page
• epguides.com - Titles and Air Dates Guide
• International Catalogue of Superheroes
• Pazsaz Entertainment Network: the Incredible Hulk
• SloCartoon info (Slovenian)
• Virtual Toy Chest

2003 Film

Main article: Hulk (film)

In 2003, Ang Lee directed a film based on the Hulk for Universal Pictures. In it, Eric Bana played Bruce Banner/The Hulk.

Ultimate Avengers

In 2006, the Hulk appeared in the animated movie Ultimate Avengers, which was based on the comic book Ultimates, which took place in the Ultimate Marvel Universe. The second Ultimate Avengers movie is scheduled for release in summer 2006.

Future plans

A sequel to the 2003 Hulk movie will be made by Marvel themselves and distributed by Universal Studios, unlike the first film where Universal both produced and distributed the movie. Hulk 2 is tentatively slated to be released in 2007.

Video games

Computer and video games based on the Hulk have appeared on many different systems, including the Atari 2600, Sega Genesis, SNES, Playstation, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and personal computer. Most have been based directly on the comics, although the most recent releases were drawn primarily from the 2003 movie. The latest playable incarnation of the Hulk is Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, in which his voice is performed by Neal McDonough.

In addition to starring in his own games, the Hulk has appeared in several Marvel-themed fighting games by Capcom, starting with Marvel Super Heroes in 1995 and including the Marvel vs. Capcom series. The version of the Hulk appearing in this game most closely resembles the Professor.

Themed products

Due to the Hulk's popularity (especially with children), various Hulk themed products have emerged over the years including; action figures, clothes, jewelry, video games, cards, pins, posters, cars, games, lunchboxes, toys, pinball machines, all types of collectibles and even a Hulk rollercoaster in Orlando, Florida.

Bibliography

• The Incredible Hulk #1-6 (Marvel Comics, May 1962 - March 1963)
• Tales to Astonish #59-101 (Marvel Comics, September 1964 - March 1968)
• The Incredible Hulk #102-474 (Marvel Comics, April 1968 - March 1999)
• The Incredible Hulk Annual #1-20 (Marvel Comics, 1968 - 1994)
• The Incredible Hulk #-1 (Marvel Comics, July 1997, ISSN 0274-5275)
• Hulk #1-11 (Marvel Comics, April 1999 - February 2000)
• The Incredible Hulk #12-76, #77-present (Marvel Comics, March 2000 - September 2004, January 2005 - present)
• Hulk Weekly #1-69, Marvel UK title published between 1979-1981. Featured new material produced by the likes of Paul Neary and Steve Dillon.

See also

• Ultimate Hulk

External links

• Official webpage at marvel.com
• Official Marvel UK Store
• MDP: Hulk (Bruce Banner) - Marvel Database Project
• Marvel Picture Store
• A fan site with extensive Hulk information
• Radical Entertainment's Hulk Games website
• Hulk's Blog
• The Hulk Library
• Gamma Base - An Online Hulk Resource
• The 1982 Incredible Hulk Cartoon @ Toon Zone
• DRG4's Incredible Hulk the Animated Series Page (1996)
• Hulk Angry Incredible Hulk fan site with wallpaper fan art section and comic book covers starting at the 1962 number one issue.
• Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards
• HulkNews.com - Featuring the latest news, reviews and information on all things Hulk
• Hulk: "Lonely Man" Fan comic with CG artwork.
• The Incredible Hulk Message Board