Essential Hulk

Rating:
Summary: So this is how it all started!
Review: The seventies television version of the Hulk was my only experience with this character. What a surprise to find out how Banner originally changed into the Hulk and that the Hulk could talk. The stories are classic sixties era, and in my opinion a lot of fun. My only complaint is that Stan Lee and Marvel really had a thing for aliens. That gets old in a hurry. But if you want a fun read, you can't go wrong here. I also love the black and white format. It gives the art a crisp, clean look as well as allowing you over THIRTY issues for a great price. You can't go wrong here, even if you've never read the Hulk.

Rating:
Summary: Some great stories overshadowed by bad
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Some great stories overshadowed by bad
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible Hulk-Incredible Book
Review: Very good reprint of original comics to familiarize readers with the marvel superhero the Hulk. Reccommended reading

Rating:
Summary: The Hulk movie was largely based on these stories....
Review: Well the makers of the new Hulk movie have asknowledged that they read and used the early Hulk stories as the basis for the film itself. A bit of the early Peter David stories were also used but about 90% of the research they did was with the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby Hulk stories. In the almost 100 issues that they did, Stan and Jack created the Hulk and then mapped out the world that he lived in. The supporting characters, the villians, how the public sees the Hulk, references to the Frankenstein story that forms the basis for the Hulk. They used all that, and if you read these stories, you can see how good the Hulk translated to the cineama as well as he did. Stan and Jack always did their stories like they were films.

Rating:
Summary: The Hulk movie was largely based on these stories....
Review: Well the makers of the new Hulk movie have asknowledged that they read and used the early Hulk stories as the basis for the film itself. A bit of the early Peter David stories were also used but about 90% of the research they did was with the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby Hulk stories. In the almost 100 issues that they did, Stan and Jack created the Hulk and then mapped out the world that he lived in. The supporting characters, the villians, how the public sees the Hulk, references to the Frankenstein story that forms the basis for the Hulk. They used all that, and if you read these stories, you can see how good the Hulk translated to the cineama as well as he did. Stan and Jack always did their stories like they were films.