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The Incredible Hulk (1962-1963)
The Incredible Hulk (1962-1963) #1
Is he a man, monster or both? It's the Incredible Hulk, born of a gamma blast that scientist Bruce Banner was caught in.
25 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 9, 1962
18 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Stan Lee
7,565 books2,336 followersStan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
July 20, 2025
What can I say about this book that has not already been said? Stan Lee: "I remembered Jekyll and Hyde, and the Frankenstein movie with Boris Karloff and it always seemed to me that the monster was really the good guy; he didn't want to hurt anybody, but those idiots kept chasing him up the hill until he had to strike back. So why not get a guy who looks like a monster and really doesn't want to cause any harm. But he has to in self-defense, because people are always attacking him." Side note: there are some panels in this book where the Hulk really looks like Marlon Brando - BBETTTTTTY - (sorry, very obscure humor).
August 1, 2017
The first appearance of Bruce Banner and the Hulk! So Hulk appears only at night and nobody knows that Bruce turns into him. Also, he's gray (although there were panels that showed his skin to be green). Also, Bruce has a side kick named Rick....I feel like the latest movies have lied to us...
March 24, 2024
A decent introduction to the iconic Incredible Hulk. He's first seen saving a young man named Rick from a gamma explosion and getting hit by it himself, becoming the Hulk by night and man by day. Respectfully, Jack Kirby's artwork is still good, but I've seen a lot better work from him. Stan Lee's story is pretty simple too.
Onto the next one! I plan on reading the original six issues. Hulk has always been my favorite Marvel hero, but I've never read his place of origins until now.
Onto the next one! I plan on reading the original six issues. Hulk has always been my favorite Marvel hero, but I've never read his place of origins until now.
July 3, 2024
Man's has the most generic Russian name and yall thinking he is with the Americans?
March 2, 2021
The first ever hulk story.
Honestly i am not sure i can go through it all like i did with x men, no energy, no time, and the stories are not really great, ofc they carry potential but it will be a long time before they are great to read.
Honestly i am not sure i can go through it all like i did with x men, no energy, no time, and the stories are not really great, ofc they carry potential but it will be a long time before they are great to read.
May 9, 2020
I was supposed by a lot of things while reading this issue. Like I had no idea that Bruce Banner changed into the Hulk because it got dark outside haha. It was a corny first issue but it was definitely great to see where the Hulk got his origins. The ending was definitely propaganda and it’s so intriguing, from a historical standpoint, to see how current events inserted its way into media consumption. Also, the treatment of the only female character in this comic was appalling. She was treated as if she was a stupid character who couldn’t get Bruce Banner off of her mind. This , too, spoke to the time that it was written. The artwork wasn’t that bad but the coloring was interesting. There were panels where the Hulk looked blue and others where he looked grey but rarely any where he looked green. I’ll be interested in seeing how he transitions as a character in future appearances.
November 17, 2025
Here begins the great adventure of the green giant who wants to smash everything when he gets angry.
Hulk’s origins, however, are very different from what the character is known for today. He’s actually grey, not green, and he seems to transform at night rather than when he’s enraged. All of this will be changed as early as the next issue, and honestly it makes sense. Grey may feel eerie, but green is the color most associated with gamma radiation, and having anger as Hulk’s trigger is what makes the character unpredictable and dangerous in the way he’s now famous for.
Rick Jones comes across as an interesting figure, the only real link between Dr. Banner and the outside world, and someone Banner seems able to be honest with about his condition. Still, it feels a bit odd how quickly Rick becomes friendly and understanding with a man he’s just met.
Beyond the origin story, we also get a first clash between Hulk and the USSR’s military forces, with several references to the Cold War and a near-return to wartime propaganda. The main antagonist, the Gargoyle, never feels like a true threat; he isn’t particularly dangerous or original. But within this early context, he works well enough to frame the era and inject some action into the story.
Betty Ross and her father, General Ross, are introduced with clear roles and trajectories already set for them. The main issue with the story is that everything seems to happen too quickly, with very little room for reflection on the events themselves.
Hulk’s origins, however, are very different from what the character is known for today. He’s actually grey, not green, and he seems to transform at night rather than when he’s enraged. All of this will be changed as early as the next issue, and honestly it makes sense. Grey may feel eerie, but green is the color most associated with gamma radiation, and having anger as Hulk’s trigger is what makes the character unpredictable and dangerous in the way he’s now famous for.
Rick Jones comes across as an interesting figure, the only real link between Dr. Banner and the outside world, and someone Banner seems able to be honest with about his condition. Still, it feels a bit odd how quickly Rick becomes friendly and understanding with a man he’s just met.
Beyond the origin story, we also get a first clash between Hulk and the USSR’s military forces, with several references to the Cold War and a near-return to wartime propaganda. The main antagonist, the Gargoyle, never feels like a true threat; he isn’t particularly dangerous or original. But within this early context, he works well enough to frame the era and inject some action into the story.
Betty Ross and her father, General Ross, are introduced with clear roles and trajectories already set for them. The main issue with the story is that everything seems to happen too quickly, with very little room for reflection on the events themselves.
July 25, 2025
Kirby and Lee's original masterpiece was just that... a masterpiece! The creative juices were really flowing back in the 1960s! Kirby\s original vision of the Hulk always remined child me of Frankenstein in looks, the Wolfman in his nightly transformation and the mad scientist in his alter-ego. Such a delight even to reread.
April 26, 2023
Despite these early Marvel issues not having aged well, it’s still fun to see where these iconic characters stories began.
March 11, 2020
Atomic Scientist Bruce Banner has created the next generation of high-tech weaponry in the G-Bomb! As the initial test nears, Banner sees a young man wander into the test zone. In an attempt to save the kid, Banner is exposed to a full dose of gamma rays resulting in him becoming the Hulk!
A true Milestone in Marvel history! Lee and Kirby introduce the world to the rampaging Hulk in his earliest incarnation! He is nowhere near what he would become in the future - he starts out gray, speaks in fairly full sentences, has a decent level of intelligence and doesn’t even have the infamous purple pants! This is very inspired by Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde - the fear and dread that Banner shows over his impending change makes that clear. Hulk is definitely more sinister here and tears through walls and rooms like a true monster. It definitely plays more into the horror comics as Fantastic Four plays into the Monster comics. You can see Stan Lee was looking to slowly transition Marvel’s audience into super-heroes.
We’re also introduced to the greater supporting cast for this book with Rick Jones, General “Thunderbolt” Ross, and his daughter, Betty Ross. You get a pretty good idea of each of these characters from just this first issue. Rick really seems like Johnny Storm in a way like the Hulk resembles the Thing. I hope there’s more to differentiate these characters going forward. Betty seems like she was picked up from one of the romance comics of the time period and General Ross is just a lot of bluster and misogyny! But it all works as a starting point for each character.
I can’t say much for the Gargoyle, who’s the villain of the issue. He’s just a full on Communist stereotype that feeds into the propaganda of the time. The most interesting thing about him is he seems to be Banner’s counterpart on the Soviet side and his testing has similarly made him into something monstrous. Banner rises above the rivalry when he offers to help Gargoyle with his disfigurements.
I generally really enjoyed Kirby’s artwork throughout. While his faces aren’t always the best here, he still has some great panel composition and layout that keeps the book moving and exciting. Several of the splash pages have become iconic and are a pleasure to behold!
While it may not be what modern fans are expecting, this was a great first chapter in the ongoing saga of the Hulk!
A true Milestone in Marvel history! Lee and Kirby introduce the world to the rampaging Hulk in his earliest incarnation! He is nowhere near what he would become in the future - he starts out gray, speaks in fairly full sentences, has a decent level of intelligence and doesn’t even have the infamous purple pants! This is very inspired by Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde - the fear and dread that Banner shows over his impending change makes that clear. Hulk is definitely more sinister here and tears through walls and rooms like a true monster. It definitely plays more into the horror comics as Fantastic Four plays into the Monster comics. You can see Stan Lee was looking to slowly transition Marvel’s audience into super-heroes.
We’re also introduced to the greater supporting cast for this book with Rick Jones, General “Thunderbolt” Ross, and his daughter, Betty Ross. You get a pretty good idea of each of these characters from just this first issue. Rick really seems like Johnny Storm in a way like the Hulk resembles the Thing. I hope there’s more to differentiate these characters going forward. Betty seems like she was picked up from one of the romance comics of the time period and General Ross is just a lot of bluster and misogyny! But it all works as a starting point for each character.
I can’t say much for the Gargoyle, who’s the villain of the issue. He’s just a full on Communist stereotype that feeds into the propaganda of the time. The most interesting thing about him is he seems to be Banner’s counterpart on the Soviet side and his testing has similarly made him into something monstrous. Banner rises above the rivalry when he offers to help Gargoyle with his disfigurements.
I generally really enjoyed Kirby’s artwork throughout. While his faces aren’t always the best here, he still has some great panel composition and layout that keeps the book moving and exciting. Several of the splash pages have become iconic and are a pleasure to behold!
While it may not be what modern fans are expecting, this was a great first chapter in the ongoing saga of the Hulk!
September 26, 2015
The origin of Marvel's most powerful golden age character its quite different than the character we know nowadays, but it is imaginative and cheesy enough to enjoy.
January 8, 2020
My goodness, there’s so much anti-communist propaganda I had to laugh.
May 16, 2025
This is very different from the modern Hulk in so many ways, and I’m excited to keep reading this original Lee/Kirby run to see how he evolves into the rage trauma monster we know him as today. In this he’s still aggressive and violent, but significantly more nihilistic and intelligent. This Hulk knows what he’s doing and doesn’t care, and in a lot of ways that’s more terrifying than Hulk proper. The Incredible Hulk #1 is more like a cautionary, weird science, cold war take on Jekyll and Hyde than anything else: Banner being the cold, driven scientists we’ve given so much shit over the years for involving themselves in atomic weapons testing, Hulk being their uncaring, misanthropic, genocide-adjacent experiments at their full, cataclysmic (and here, even pragmatic) effect; a reflection of their creators’ innate evil.
Things I Liked:
- Bruce and Betty not starting out as star-crossed, tortured lovers
- Sundowners Hulk lol
- Caricature Thaddeus
- James Dean Rick
- Gargoyle being the og villain
- Old school patriotism you can (almost) appreciate for its optimistic hope in our country’s future (lmfao)
5/5, cuz why not?
Things I Liked:
- Bruce and Betty not starting out as star-crossed, tortured lovers
- Sundowners Hulk lol
- Caricature Thaddeus
- James Dean Rick
- Gargoyle being the og villain
- Old school patriotism you can (almost) appreciate for its optimistic hope in our country’s future (lmfao)
5/5, cuz why not?
December 17, 2023
Hulk'ın ilk ortaya çıkışını işleyen kıymetli bir sayı. Hulk, tanıdığımız- bildiğimiz halinden oldukça farklı. Asıl tasarlandığı renk olan gri tenli, uzun cümleler kurup zekice davranabilen bir Hulk var karşımızda. Yüzü Frankenstein'ın canavarını oldukça andırıyor. Ve bildiğimizin aksine sinirlenince değil hava kararınca Hulk oluyor ve güneş doğunca insan haline geri dönüyor. Bir tür vampir, kurt adam ve Dr.Jeckyll-Mr. Hyde karışımı olmuş bu haliyle. Hulk tabiri (Türkçesi irikıyım, izbandut) aslında onu tanımlamak için biraz hafif kalıyor doğrusu. Hikâye de dönemin soğuk savaş ortamı ve A.B.D.'deki Rusya-komünizm korkusu ile şekillenmiş tabii ki.
June 7, 2022
Ep1 1962
Read for the introduction of gray hulk! Green hulk? Teal hulk?! Although the hulk isn’t sure yet what color he is, this one is a must read for hulk fans.
Read for the introduction of gray hulk! Green hulk? Teal hulk?! Although the hulk isn’t sure yet what color he is, this one is a must read for hulk fans.
October 18, 2023
Hulk'ın Tales to Astonish serisinden çıkan bir karakter olduğuna epey emindim. Halbuki ondan önce bu altı sayılık kısa serisi varmış. Karakter de bugünkü Hulk değil tam olarak. Stan Lee Hulk'ı yaratırken Fantastic Four'daki The Thing'in popülaritesinden etkilenerek yola çıkmış. Son derece kusurlu olsa da insanların bu tip karakterleri daha çok benimsediğini düşünmüş. Bu sayıdaki Hulk Frankenstein canavarıyla Jekyll & Hyde karışımı bir karakter. Gri renkli, sadece geceleri kontrolsüzce ortaya çıkan bir canavar. Hikaye herkesin bildiği gama kazası, Rick Jones, Betty Ross hikayesi. Altmışlı yıllardaki Marvel çizgi romanlarına tipik bir örnek teşkil ediyor. Kötü Ruslar falan var.
Belirtmeden geçemeyeceğim. Çevirmen Nihan Alak tarafından Gargoyle için hilkat garibesi tercihi epey güldürdü.
Belirtmeden geçemeyeceğim. Çevirmen Nihan Alak tarafından Gargoyle için hilkat garibesi tercihi epey güldürdü.
December 15, 2024
La Gargola me recuerda al suegro de mi hermano xD
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962) is a moody, monstrous debut that trades the flashy optimism of other early Marvel titles for something darker and more psychological. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby channel the fears of the atomic age into Bruce Banner’s tragic transformation, giving us a hero who is more Jekyll-and-Hyde than capes-and-tights.
The gray Hulk (before he turned green) is more menacing and mysterious, a creature of rage and confusion rather than heroism. Betty Ross and General “Thunderbolt” Ross are introduced as key emotional and ideological foils, and while the dialogue is classic early-’60s cornball, the concept is compelling: what if the monster is the man?
It’s not quite as polished or iconic as Fantastic Four or Spider-Man, but it plants the seeds for something uniquely haunting in the Marvel Universe. A strange, strong, and slightly scary start.
The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962) is a moody, monstrous debut that trades the flashy optimism of other early Marvel titles for something darker and more psychological. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby channel the fears of the atomic age into Bruce Banner’s tragic transformation, giving us a hero who is more Jekyll-and-Hyde than capes-and-tights.
The gray Hulk (before he turned green) is more menacing and mysterious, a creature of rage and confusion rather than heroism. Betty Ross and General “Thunderbolt” Ross are introduced as key emotional and ideological foils, and while the dialogue is classic early-’60s cornball, the concept is compelling: what if the monster is the man?
It’s not quite as polished or iconic as Fantastic Four or Spider-Man, but it plants the seeds for something uniquely haunting in the Marvel Universe. A strange, strong, and slightly scary start.
August 3, 2024
There is something about this comic that really sets in how much time changes things. A grey Hulk that only turns at night that ends up going to Soviet Russia after being kidnapped by a large-headed man. It's so goofy and dated that it has circled back around from being outdated to being hilariously entertaining. Also, I'm unsure why The Gargoyle is called the Gargoyle. That is not what Gargoyles look like. Oh, let us not forget that a man named Igor was a Russian spy and somehow no one noticed. I wonder what happened to him? He calls the Gargoyle and is never heard from again.
May 26, 2024
An amazing origin story for Dr. Bruce Banner aka The Hulk.
The story is much better narrated and much more engaging than the Fantastic Four origin. This is far away from the Hulk we are used to seeing but the essence of his character starts here and he is still the head strong, charge ahead guy that is adored.
The story also lays a good amount of groundwork for the future avenues to be explored.
Recommended read for the origin of the Hulk.
The story is much better narrated and much more engaging than the Fantastic Four origin. This is far away from the Hulk we are used to seeing but the essence of his character starts here and he is still the head strong, charge ahead guy that is adored.
The story also lays a good amount of groundwork for the future avenues to be explored.
Recommended read for the origin of the Hulk.
March 16, 2024
Corny, laughable and classically brilliant
The storyline is sometimes laughable for example, 'They've fired a rocket....research for clues in the office'...I mean, really?? But it's also a classical beginning of a story that's still being played out today and obviously improved upon.
It was expensive for an old comic but worth it all the same.
The storyline is sometimes laughable for example, 'They've fired a rocket....research for clues in the office'...I mean, really?? But it's also a classical beginning of a story that's still being played out today and obviously improved upon.
It was expensive for an old comic but worth it all the same.
January 27, 2021
I loved seeing the "original" origin story of the Hulk, but oh my gosh this is the epitome of the 1960's in one comic: communists are the bad guys and woman are stupid and can't be trusted to do anything. Still a fun read though for Marvel fans.
May 3, 2021
Bueno aunque muy anticuado, por supuesto. Lo mejor es el dibujo de Kirby, aún cuando no había madurado todavía (su punto más alo lo alcanzaría pocos años después, en mi opinión), mucho mejor que la trama propagandistica.
August 21, 2020
A very Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde feel to the beginning of The Hulk, also he wasn't Green yet which is a little odd. Very typical war propaganda, feels like I'm reading the golden age WWii stuff again.
January 27, 2021
It was OK. I like the twist with the Gargoyle, though.
January 3, 2022
The origin story and first villain.
January 10, 2022
Writer - Stan Lee : 7/10
- Hulk se transforme chaque nuit
- Hulk est gris et parle intelligemment
- Villains : Igor, The Gargoyle
- Hulk se transforme chaque nuit
- Hulk est gris et parle intelligemment
- Villains : Igor, The Gargoyle
August 18, 2022
Interesting to see the origin, though I'm not sure the Gargoyle has aged well.
January 15, 2023
3.5 pretty decent origin story. Weird how the sun affected him at first. Pretty decent first villain. Needed more action though.
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April 2, 2023Interessante il ciclo giorn-notte. Cast pieno di bei comprimari che vengono subito presentati.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews