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Incredible Hulk Epic Collection
Incredible Hulk Epic Collection, Vol. 13: Crossroads
Bruce Banner is in charge — but for how long? After returning from the Beyonder’s Battleworld, Banner’s precarious hold on the Hulk’s savage persona has begun to slip, threatening to destroy the happiness he’s finally attained! And when the fighting-mad Hulk comes roaring back, it leads to a no-holds-barred battle against the entire Marvel Universe — and a shocking twist! Now, banished to the mysterious and deadly Crossroads dimension by Doctor Strange, a nearly mindless Hulk must claw his way back from the edge of insanity! As he battles the U-Foes, the N’Garai and a parade of ever more bizarre foes, the Hulk will confront aspects of his own fractured psyche. But how did Bruce’s tragic childhood shape the monster within?
COLLECTING: Incredible Hulk (1968) 297-313, Incredible Hulk Annual (1968) 13, Alpha Flight (1983) 29
COLLECTING: Incredible Hulk (1968) 297-313, Incredible Hulk Annual (1968) 13, Alpha Flight (1983) 29
488 pages, Paperback
First published March 19, 2022
4 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Bill Mantlo
1,391 books44 followersWilliam Timothy Mantlo is an American comic book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics.
(source: Wikipedia)
(source: Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 25, 2024
While the writing and artwork in this collection are perfectly competent, the stories are a little repetetive and tend to drag when read one after the other. They were definitely written to be read as single monthly issues rather than "for the trade" in 6-issue blocks like most comics are now.
May 25, 2025
He leído un número suelto sobre la infancia de Bruce Banner. Todos ven al monstruo pero no lo ven a él y su historia, y me ha parecido muy cruel y dura. He alucinado conociendo este lado de Hulk. 5⭐ sin duda
December 22, 2025
3.5 stars actually. This volume collects a complete storyline that is satisfying and has a lot of cool ideas.
I wanted to give this 4 stars, but Bill Mantlo's writing bothered me too much. It's bloated, boring, obstructs the artwork and is just unnecessary. If I were an editor of this book, I'd cut half of the words in this volume, without exaggerating.
That is a shame, because I really like the story. The Hulk is savage once again, due to the making of one of Doctor Strange's antagonists. Hence, the Doctor banishes Hulk into the Crossroads, a dimension, where he can do no harm. He is completely alone and doesn't have Banner's mind to call upon.
The isolation of the Hulk makes for a great story. The Hulk explores a plethora of different worlds, without understanding the mechanics nor the context. Eventually his isolated mind manifests itself to protect him. Unfortunately, that means there is no dialogue, but text boxes; way too many text boxes to narrate, what doesn't need to be narrated.
There is one issue in between, that retells and expands the origin of the Hulk, which also illuminates the relationship of Bruce Banner and his parents, that ties into the present, which I really enjoyed.
The volume ends with the return to the status quo, which gives this volume a complete story, where no prior reading is needed.
There is also a tie-in to Secret Wars II in here, which is completely negligible.
The artwork is typical for the mid 80s, but I do like it, because the artist is able to show different feelings and emotions on the Hulk's face. Some panels do like quite goofy though.
All in all, I did like this volume, but I will not be rereading it ever again, nor do I feel compelled to seek out the rest of Bill Mantlo's Hulk run. As such, I would only recommend this to Bronze Age and Hulk fans.
I wanted to give this 4 stars, but Bill Mantlo's writing bothered me too much. It's bloated, boring, obstructs the artwork and is just unnecessary. If I were an editor of this book, I'd cut half of the words in this volume, without exaggerating.
That is a shame, because I really like the story. The Hulk is savage once again, due to the making of one of Doctor Strange's antagonists. Hence, the Doctor banishes Hulk into the Crossroads, a dimension, where he can do no harm. He is completely alone and doesn't have Banner's mind to call upon.
The isolation of the Hulk makes for a great story. The Hulk explores a plethora of different worlds, without understanding the mechanics nor the context. Eventually his isolated mind manifests itself to protect him. Unfortunately, that means there is no dialogue, but text boxes; way too many text boxes to narrate, what doesn't need to be narrated.
There is one issue in between, that retells and expands the origin of the Hulk, which also illuminates the relationship of Bruce Banner and his parents, that ties into the present, which I really enjoyed.
The volume ends with the return to the status quo, which gives this volume a complete story, where no prior reading is needed.
There is also a tie-in to Secret Wars II in here, which is completely negligible.
The artwork is typical for the mid 80s, but I do like it, because the artist is able to show different feelings and emotions on the Hulk's face. Some panels do like quite goofy though.
All in all, I did like this volume, but I will not be rereading it ever again, nor do I feel compelled to seek out the rest of Bill Mantlo's Hulk run. As such, I would only recommend this to Bronze Age and Hulk fans.
November 28, 2022
While I love what PAD did later on, this Hulk run actually had some great unrealized potential. While not as vibrant and powerful, I definitely see shades of Kirby in the constant creativity of the new worlds Hulk explores at the crossroads.. this could have easily been the beginnning of a new, different era for the character that would have been quite interesting.
Instead, its more a quirky footnote, but definitely worth checking out.
Instead, its more a quirky footnote, but definitely worth checking out.
March 27, 2025
This is alright. I find the brutish Hulk completely uninteresting and a Hulk that's basically the universe's most powerful pet dog is even less interesting. Dr. Strange is forced to banish the Hulk to the Crossroads where he randomly goes to a different world each issue before something goes wrong and he returns to the Crossroads. These issues take place between Secret Wars I and II.
What is most interesting is the art. I'm used to Sal Buscema's later art from Spectacular Spider-Man which I detested. This was pretty good though, less angry looking. Then Mike Mignola takes over the last few issues and it's quite different to see him rock Marvel's house style of the time and not his later Hellboy look. The end was quite interesting as the book crossed over with Alpha Flight and Mantlo and Mignola took over Alpha Flight while John Byrne takes over the Hulk with the first issue in the next epic collection. I'm going to need to check that one out.
What is most interesting is the art. I'm used to Sal Buscema's later art from Spectacular Spider-Man which I detested. This was pretty good though, less angry looking. Then Mike Mignola takes over the last few issues and it's quite different to see him rock Marvel's house style of the time and not his later Hellboy look. The end was quite interesting as the book crossed over with Alpha Flight and Mantlo and Mignola took over Alpha Flight while John Byrne takes over the Hulk with the first issue in the next epic collection. I'm going to need to check that one out.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews