{"id":27020,"date":"2022-11-17T09:00:31","date_gmt":"2022-11-17T09:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=27020"},"modified":"2022-11-16T18:23:40","modified_gmt":"2022-11-16T18:23:40","slug":"essential-rampaging-hulk-volume-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2022\/11\/17\/essential-rampaging-hulk-volume-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Essential Rampaging Hulk volume 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Doug Moench<\/strong>, John Warner<\/strong>, Walter Simonson<\/strong>, Alfred Alcala<\/strong>, Alex Ni\u00f1o<\/strong>, Jim Starlin<\/strong>, Keith Pollard<\/strong>, Tony DeZu\u00f1iga<\/strong>, Herb Trimpe<\/strong>, Sal Buscema<\/strong>, Ron Wilson<\/strong>, Bill Sienkiewicz<\/strong>, Rudy Nebres<\/strong>, Bob McLeod<\/strong> & various (Marvel)
\nISBN: 978-0-7851-2699-7 (TPB)<\/p>\n

The Incredible Hulk<\/strong> was Marvel\u2019s second \u201csuperhero\u201d title, although technically Henry Pym<\/em> debuted earlier in a one-off yarn in Tales to Astonish<\/strong> #27 (January 1962). However, he didn\u2019t become a costumed hero until the autumn, by which time Ol\u2019 Greenskin was not-so-firmly established.<\/p>\n

The Hulk<\/strong> crashed right into his own comic book and – after some classic romps by Young Marvel\u2019s finest creators – crashed right out again. After six bi-monthly issues the series was cancelled and Lee retrenched, making the man-monster a perennial guest-star in Marvel\u2019s other titles (Fantastic Four<\/strong> #12, Amazing Spider-Man<\/strong> #14, The Avengers<\/strong> from #1 and so forth) until such time as they restarted his own exploits in the new \u201cSplit-Book\u201d format. The Jade Giant landed in Tales To Astonish<\/strong> where Ant\/Giant-Man<\/strong> was rapidly proving to be a character who had outlived his time.<\/p>\n

It all began in The<\/strong> Incredible Hulk<\/strong> #1 (cover-dated May 1962) which saw puny atomic scientist Bruce Banner<\/em> sequestered on a secret military base in the desert, and perpetually bullied by bombastic commander General \u201cThunderbolt\u201d Ross<\/em> as the clock counted down to the world\u2019s first Gamma Bomb test. Besotted by Ross\u2019s daughter Betty<\/em>, Banner endured the General\u2019s constant jibes as the clock ticked on and tension increased. During the final countdown, Banner spotted a teenager lollygagging at Ground Zero and frantically rushed to the site to drag the boy away\u2026<\/p>\n

Rick Jones<\/em> was a wayward but good-hearted kid. After initial resistance he let himself be pushed into a safety trench, but just as Banner was about to join him The Bomb detonated\u2026<\/p>\n

Miraculously surviving the blast, Banner and the boy were secured by soldiers, but that evening as the sun set the scientist underwent a monstrous transformation. He grew larger and his skin turned a stony grey\u2026<\/p>\n

In six simple pages that\u2019s how it all started, and no matter what any number of TV, movie or comic book retcons and psycho-babble re-evaluations would have you believe, it\u2019s still the best and most primal take on the origin. A good man, an unobtainable girl, a foolish kid, an unknown enemy and the horrible power of destructive science unchecked. It was clearly also the idea for a later iteration where continuity was rolled right back to the era of the first run: set in the Sixties and revealing previously \u201cuntold tales\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

In December 1976 that\u2019s how the retrospective spin-off series began. Now a literal and figurative Marvel powerhouse, the Jade Juggernaut was awarded a monochrome magazine free of Comics Code supervision to augment his many in-continuity appearances. The Rampaging Hulk<\/strong> took the controversial tack of telling stories of what Banner, Jones and the Big Guy did next during the further formation of the nascent Marvel Universe\u2026<\/p>\n

Keeping up the theme, early issues featured tales of monster-hunter Ulysses Bloodstone<\/strong>, but you\u2019ll need to look elsewhere for them\u2026<\/p>\n

The Hulk stories were set in 1963, after his own first series foundered, and – following a terse retelling of the classic origin cited above – scripter Doug Moench and illustrators Walt Simonson & Alfredo Alcala channelled primal Jack Kirby via a rather heavy grey-tone wash in a wild yarn of flying saucer sightings over Rome. The portentous sightings heralded invasion and, by also referencing the company\u2019s early Sixties monster mag triumphs, the second-generation creators tacitly acknowledged their target audience: a supposedly older magazine readership who were presumably many of the same kids who had bought the original fantasy masterpieces\u2026<\/p>\n

Moench\u2019s scripts and tone were wryly tongue-in-cheek, offering constant visual and verbal comedic touches whilst channelling early Marvel continuity and the tropes of the Sixties, if only as seen from the distant perspective of ten years after\u2026<\/p>\n

The magazine phenomenon had only a minor impact and effect on the Hulk\u2019s four-colour adventures at that time, but, as always, the fury-fuelled fugitive was alternately aided or hunted by General Ross and met a variety of guest-star heroes and villains\u2026<\/p>\n

Opening gambit \u2018The Krylorian Conspiracy\u2019<\/em> saw Banner and Jones teaming up with alien rebel Bereet<\/em>: a pacifist techno-artist hiding on Earth and seeking to prevent her bellicose shape-shifting people conquering humanity. The militaristic, monster-obsessed Krylorians – having failed to recruit the Gamma Goliath – attack Rome whilst enlisting the aid of The Hulk\u2019s first super-foe: renegade Russian mutant The<\/em> Gargoyle<\/em>. Of course, they intend to betray him at the first opportunity\u2026<\/p>\n

It all ends up in a colossal clash with lots of spectacular smashing, with Bereet, Jones, Banner and The Hulk all resolved to stop the invasion at any cost\u2026<\/p>\n

Embellisher Alcala switched to a drybrush technique for the second issue as \u2018And Then\u2026 The X-Men\u2019<\/em> finds the wanderers in Paris, contesting more Krylorian shapeshifters, robots and crazy creatures, and subsequently attracting the attention of a certain band of mutant hunting teenagers. After the customary violent misunderstandings, the clandestine outsiders join forces with the Hulk to stop the razing of the City of Lights\u2026<\/p>\n

Another early foe returned as #3 shifted the action to the South of France where \u2018The Monster and the Metal Master\u2019 <\/em>sees the treacherous Krylorians dupe and exploit another alien – a manic metal-moulding malcontent who appeared in the last issue of the original Hulk comic – into piloting their new weapon (\u201cThe Ferronaut<\/em>\u201d), whilst Rick, Bruce and Bereet seek to save little boy Spirou<\/em> from being abused by his guardian and hotel-running employer. When they also find the invaders, all hell breaks loose and another Krylor base gets rocked to rubble\u2026<\/p>\n

The Rampaging Hulk<\/strong> #4 diverts from the overarching plot arc as Jim Starlin & Alex Ni\u00f1o take the tormented Green Giant to another time and place situated on \u2018The Other Side of Night!\u2019<\/em> Scripted by John Warner from Starlin\u2019s plot, the tale reveals how extraterrestrial wizard Chen K\u2019an<\/em> abducts Banner and places his intellect into the Hulk\u2019s body to make him the ideal comrade in a quest to defeat evil and save his dying, demon-infested world. The plan succeeds, but as is always the case with mages, Chen K\u2019an has been less than honest about his ultimate intentions\u2026<\/p>\n

Back on Earth and his own era, the Hulk next meets his undersea antithesis in an epic 2-part continued tale from Moench, Keith Pollard, Alcala & Tony DeZu\u00f1iga. Beginning with \u2018Lo, the Sub-Mariner Strikes!\u2019<\/em> wherein Krylorians use manufactured sea monsters to assault Atlantis and provoke Prince Namor\u2019s retaliation on Rome. The scheme explosively escalates as Sub-Mariner rescues and is captivated by Bereet, provoking a far from chivalrous response from the Hulk\u2026<\/p>\n

During the monumental battle that follows, Bereet is wounded and taken by Namor to Atlantis. The ever-enraged Hulk and Rick follow for cataclysmic climax \u2018\u2026And All the Sea With Monsters!\u2019<\/em> arriving just in time to duel Namor in his own element until another Krylorian undersea attack puts them on the same side\u2026 for a moment\u2026<\/p>\n

Throughout the series, Bereet\u2019s semi-sentient techno-creations had played a major role in aiding their efforts but in #7 a typical Hulk tantrum unleashes an inimical spirit inhabiting her bag of tricks and spawning a terrifying \u2018Night of the Wraith!\u2019<\/em> (Moench, Pollard & Jim Mooney) before the end of the reprised era begins with #8\u2019s \u2018A Gathering of Doom!\u2019<\/em> – illustrated by Hulk veteran Herb Trimpe & Alcala.<\/p>\n

The Hulk\u2019s biggest boost after his debut title was cancelled came as he fought, joined, co-founded and left The Avengers<\/strong>: a saga that took up the first five issues of the new team title. Here that debt is acknowledged in another 2-parter as the Krylorians at last attack America and the valiant trio go after them.<\/p>\n

With the shapeshifters impersonating recently emergent hero Iron Man<\/strong>, and the Hulk battling the doppelganger, other new champions are drawn to the conflict. However, when Thor, Ant-Man<\/strong>, The Wasp<\/strong> and the real Iron Man converge, another wrong conclusion is leapt to and the \u201cPre-Vengers\u201d turn on the big green angry monster\u2026<\/p>\n

The shattering finale is by Moench, Sal Buscema & Rudy Mesina as all-out chaos explodes when the assembled titans clash. It\u2019s exactly to wrong moment for the Krylorian fleet to distract everybody with a screaming attack, but that\u2019s what they do, accidentally uniting the suspicious heroic strangers who join forces to \u2018To Avenge the Earth\u2019<\/em> and repel the invasion\u2026<\/p>\n

Originally released as newsprint magazine, The Rampaging Hulk<\/strong> abruptly transformed (and became the testing ground of the company\u2019s \u201cMarvelcolor\u201d process) when a hugely successful TV show starring the Green Goliath took off. It saw the periodical upgraded to slicker paper stock. Sadly, that\u2019s not apparent in this monochrome collection, but I\u2019m sure that one day we\u2019ll see the tales as they were meant to be\u2026<\/p>\n

The obliquely continuity-adjacent storylines were instantly shelved and the narrative tone adjusted to address the needs of casual curious readers and television converts. Although guest stars were dropped the scenario shifted back to present day as a solitary emerald outcast wandered the world looking for a cure or at least a little peace\u2026<\/p>\n

Supposedly a more sophisticated product, the book also offered a home to Moon Knight<\/strong>, who moved in for a series of darkly modern tales also outside standard superhero parameters.<\/p>\n

Only a taste of those is included here, but before those begin, #10 of retitled The Hulk! <\/strong>magazine offers \u2018Thunder of Dawn\u2019<\/em> with Moench, Ron Wilson & Ricardo Villamonte depositing Hulk\/Banner in the Pacific west and working in a local mine.<\/p>\n

A born trouble-magnet, Banner takes up with Dawn<\/em> – a whistle-blower investigating kickbacks and environmental abuses but his assistance only triggers tragedy, murder and a blockbusting battle against colossal digging machines\u2026<\/p>\n

The tale is divided by a brief prose vignette by David Anthony Kraft & Dwight Jon Zimmerman with spot illustrations by Ernie Chan. \u2018The Runaway and the Rescuer!\u2019<\/em> channels a key moment of a classic Universal Pictures Frankenstein<\/strong> film as the lonely misunderstood monster befriends a little girl with tragic and unexpected consequences\u2026<\/p>\n

Issue #11 (October 1978) continues the scary star\u2019s picaresque perambulations with restless vagrant Banner joining a travelling circus, only to find his cherished anonymity threatened by \u2018The Boy Who Cried Hulk!\u2019<\/em> (inked by Fran Matera). When the abused kid\u2019s plight coincides with a string of suspicious fires, Banner\u2019s new friends (such as strongman Bruno<\/em>) turn against him, and the Hulk is again unleashed\u2026<\/p>\n

Moench, Wilson & Chan return to Bruno in #12 as \u2018The Color of Hate!\u2019<\/em> sees the humiliated performer – now obsessed by the mysterious green brute – sign up for a science experiment and steal an exoskeleton to destroy his personal b\u00eate noire <\/em>(or is that vert<\/em>?)<\/p>\n

The Hulk! <\/strong>#13 finds Banner flying to Zurich after a newspaper headline hints at a possible cure for The Hulk. Inked by Bob McLeod, \u2018Season of Terror\u2019<\/em> starts with the Green Goliath bringing down the airliner an increasingly stressed Banner was a passenger on – and that was before hijackers took control of the cockpit\u2026<\/p>\n

The enraged colossus redeems himself by (mostly) saving it from crashing into an alp with a minimum of fatalities, but that only means the terrorists are able to make hostages of the survivors. As a wary, weary Banner tries to keep everyone safe until rescue parties arrive, he is reminded again what true monsters look and act like\u2026<\/p>\n

With Rudy Nebres inking Wilson, the Swiss tragedy resolves into a spark of hope as the fugitive scientist finds \u2018A Cure for Chaos!\u2019<\/em> in the chateau\/schloss of Dr. Hans Feldstadt<\/em>. Sadly, not all researchers are as altruistic as Banner and the hope is extinguished amidst a wash of unleashed gamma rays and a flurry of huge flying fists\u2026<\/p>\n

This initial compilation concludes with Alcala back for #15 (June 1980) to ink Wilson on \u2018The Top Secret\u2019<\/em>. Banner is again in his southwestern desert stomping grounds, and headed for his old subterranean secret lab, resolved to cure himself but the region is now home to bunch of crazed militarists seeking to gain a technological head start on the Soviet Union, telemetrically planting good American patriots in fearsome Cybortron<\/em> warbots\u2026<\/p>\n

When they stumble across and even capture The Hulk, the researchers think they\u2019ve found a way to upgrade the tech even further, but it\u2019s never a good idea to let Banner or The Hulk near your machines or plans\u2026<\/p>\n

Just for once, the full contents of this issue are included in the form of a notional crossover between headliner and back-up star. As stated above, Moon Knight was building his reputation in the rear of this title and here is part of a single encounter told from two perspectives. Moench, Sienkiewicz & McLeod explored \u2018An Eclipse, Waning\u2019<\/em> with millionaire playboy Steven Grant<\/em> indulging a neglected passion for astronomy by visiting an old pal in the countryside on the night of a total lunar occultation. The event brings brutal burglars out of the woodwork and Moon Knight is required to stop them, but, bizarrely, at the height of the eclipse, during the moment of utter darkness, the Lunar Avenger encounters something huge, monstrous and unbeatable, barely escaping with his life.<\/p>\n

Answers come in \u2018An Eclipse Waxing\u2019<\/em> as on that same night, fugitive Bruce Banner stumbles into burglars breaking into an isolated house. Helplessly transforms into the Hulk just as total night falls, the monster briefly encounters an unseen foe of uncanny capabilities\u2026<\/p>\n

With painted covers by Ken Barr, Earl Norem, Starlin, Val Mayerik and Bob Larkin, plus pin-ups and frontispiece from occasional series \u2018Great moments in Hulk History\u2019<\/em> revisited and reprised by Moench and artists Ed Hannigan, John Romita, Jr. & Nebres, Al Milgrom, Chan, Terry Austin, Rich Buckler, Simonson, Mike Zeck and Gene Colan, this tome concludes with a house ad and a bargain bonus.<\/p>\n

In regular monthly comic book The Incredible Hulk <\/strong>#269 (cover-dated March 1982 and by Bill Mantlo &Sal Buscema) it was revealed that the entire tranche of lost 1960s stories and Krylorian Saga was actual an art installation by alien artis Bereet. That 5-page sequence is included here to denote the character finally joining the official Marvel continuity\u2026<\/p>\n

The Hulk<\/strong> is one of the most well-known comics characters in the business, thanks in great part to his numerous assaults on the wider world of both large and small screens. The satisfyingly effective formula of radioactively-afflicted Bruce Banner wandering the Earth seeking a cure for his gamma-transformative curse whilst constantly pursued by authoritarian forces struck a particular chord in the late 1970s as the first live action TV show captured the hearts and minds of the viewing public. You can relive or at last sample that simplistic but satisfying situation just by stopping here for little while before inevitably moving on\u2026
\n\u00a9 1976, 1977, 1978, 2010 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Doug Moench, John Warner, Walter Simonson, Alfred Alcala, Alex Ni\u00f1o, Jim Starlin, Keith Pollard, Tony DeZu\u00f1iga, Herb Trimpe, Sal Buscema, Ron Wilson, Bill Sienkiewicz, Rudy Nebres, Bob McLeod & various (Marvel) ISBN: 978-0-7851-2699-7 (TPB) The Incredible Hulk was Marvel\u2019s second \u201csuperhero\u201d title, although technically Henry Pym debuted earlier in a one-off yarn in Tales … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Essential Rampaging Hulk volume 1”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[222,94,255,98,120,79,100,70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ant-man","category-avengers","category-environmentalism","category-hulk","category-iron-man","category-marvel-superheroes","category-thor","category-x-men"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-71O","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27020"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27022,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27020\/revisions\/27022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}