Incredible Hulk (1962) #1

Issue: The Incredible Hulk #1

Name: The Hulk

Published: Marvel, May 1962

Blurb: From Comixology:

Is he a man, monster or both? It's the Incredible Hulk, born of a gamma blast that scientist Bruce Banner was caught in.

Creators:

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Inker: Paul Reinman
Letterer: Artie Simek

Characters:

The Good: Dr. Bruce Banner (The Hulk), Rick Jones, Betty Ross, General “Thunderbolt” Ross
The Bad: Igor, The Gargoyle

Story (B):

The story is a bit of a mixed bag. I really enjoyed seeing the origin of The Hulk. Dr. Banner saves Rick from the G-bomb explosion, that Bruce asked Dr. Igor to cancel. Absorbing all the gamma rays, Banner becomes the Hulk. In a split from the Hulk I'm familiar with, this Hulk is triggered by the day/night cycle rather than anger.

It's clear from the start that The Hulk is powerful, breaking down walls and proving impervious to bullets. He bashes Igor when he finds him going through the notes for the g-bomb and then he attacks Rick when he mentioned Bruce's name, but daylight saves him. It also stops the army from trying to arrest The Hulk since he turns back into Banner. They do grab Igor though and we learn he is a Soviet spy.

That's where things start going a bit wonky. Igor contacts the Gargoyle, a Soviet agent, who flys a rocket to the US and captures the Hulk using a gun that saps his will. Little does he realize at the time, but the Gargoyle finds that Banner and The Hulk are the same as he transports him and Rick to the USSR. The villain reveals that he just wants to be normal and Dr. Banner helps him use radiation to become a normal man again.

Freed of his curse, the Gargoyle sends Rick and the Hulk back to the US and then blows up the Russian base to cover their escape.

Art (A):

While the Hulk is grey for most of the issue rather than his more common green, I think he is drawn really well. He does have a Frankenstein type feel, but I think it fits the almost horror monster that is described. Also, with the day/night cycle, we get a vibe of Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde, so the horror aspect is definitely in the forefront.

The look on Banner's face when he gets hit by the gamma rays is enough to make this an A in itself. But then, the soldiers are drawn similarly to the little army men I had growing up and that's just cool. I'm also impressed with all the activity depicted in the different panels – there is so much going on in each and they are all clear and well laid out – I'd say this is the best art I've seen in the issues from the 60s.

Characters (B):

I love the Hulk. He's straight forward and it seems Stan knew what he wanted from the character from the start. Rick seems like a teenager of the time or any time taking a dare from his friends.
The General seems a bit too cartoony and stereotypical for my tastes but he fulfills his role well and it will be interesting to see if they go in the beauty and the beast route for the Hulk and Betty – my bet is yes.
On the villain side, I wonder why the army hired someone named Igor in the first place, but I guess there had to be a foil for Banner to create the Hulk. As for the Gargoyle, I kinda feel he's a bit underdeveloped. I mean he certainly seems like a one-and-done villain along the lines of the Moleman from FF #1, and similar to that villain, the Gargoyle just wants to be normal or he'll take out his anger on humanity, or in this case, the evil Americans.

Enjoyment (B):

I have always liked the Hulk and was really happy to be reading his introduction to the world. As I mentioned, it seems Stan knew what he wanted with the character from the outset and I think it worked pretty well. I was, however, a bit surprised by the horror leanings and I certainly did not know that the transformation started as a day/night cycle thing.

Special extra (A):

All I need to say is the origin of The Hulk. This is an iconic story that is historic in the Marvel universe.

Overall (A):

This definitely gets an A in my book. Could it be better…sure. The villain could have been better fleshed out but that would only have been icing on the cake. I don't see any reason why such a classic origin story would get anything less than an A.

A Rookie Perspective:

I grew up with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferigno as Dr. Banner and The Hulk and I could see them playing the roles in this comic. One thing I remember about the tv version of the Hulk is that Banner was always trying to help people, very much in the manner he helped the Gargoyle in this issue. The book definitely brought back fond memories of growing up watching the show and ever year going to Comic-Con and seeing Lou Ferigno.

This comic can be found on Marvel Unlimited and Comixology.

Comics Corner 1.5