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Essential Incredible Hulk #2
Essential Incredible Hulk, Vol. 2
Shares the adventures of Robert Bruce Banner, following the Gamma Bomb experiment that caused his transformation into the incredible Hulk, as he battles the monsters of the world, and the monster inside himself.
Collecting: Tales to Astonish #92-101, Incredible Hulk #102-117 & Annual #1
Collecting: Tales to Astonish #92-101, Incredible Hulk #102-117 & Annual #1
520 pages, Paperback
First published July 10, 1969
3 people are currently reading
104 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 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 26, 2017
Exciting old-school superhero fun.
January 15, 2024
This volume opens up by finishing off the Hulk run from Tales to Astonish and the picks up the green-skinned goliath’s second solo title the Incredible Hulk.
Tales to Astonish #92-96 - Marie Severin provides the art for these last five installments in the Hulk’s soap opera. Oddly, this is the art style I most associate with the Hulk stories from Tales to Astonish, maybe that’s because they’re coming at the end of the run. Not sure, but it doesn’t really matter. Lee is still writing and at least this transition is less jarring, but we’ve also taken some time off since the last issue and allowed at least a month to pass. Long enough for Banner to custom build a device to attempt and remove the gamma radiation from his body. Next up we have the Silver Surfer arriving and then the Hulk is whisked off to another world by the High Evolutionary in an attempt to put down an insurrection. In any case, this is a new direction for the stories and they have a different and more coherent narrative thread. Whether this is from Severin or from Lee is not readily clear.
Tales to Astonish #97-99 - This is a nice 3-part story that’s actually very topical right now, as Donny tRump (man-baby extraordinaire) is as much a treasonous criminal as the Lord of the Living Lightning. Different means to the same end. But they’re both just as two-faced, lying conmen as the other. So a fun, typical story about the dangers of “strong men” who are nothing but weakling hypocrites.
Tales to Astonish #100-101 - The first of these stories pick up from both the Namor and Hulk stories from the previous issue and pits the pair against one another at the behest of the Puppet Master. And it a big slugfest between the shirtless and bare-chested titans. Then the second tale feature the Hulk, as a pawn of Loki’s, verses the Warriors Three. And this story continues into Incredible Hulk #102 - And the Hulk returns to his own solo title again. But with this new title, Lee departs and Gary Friedrich comes aboard as the comic’s script writer.
Incredible Hulk #102 - Picking up right where the Tales to Astonish run ended, with the Hulk in Asgard, we get the Executioner and the Enchantress doing not much else beside pissing the Hulk off.
Incredible Hulk #103-106 - Odin has transported the Hulk back to the heart of NYC and a series of odd one-off adventures ensures featuring battles with the ridiculous Space Parasite, a newly power elevated Rhino and then a two-part story window a slugfest about as absurd with another creation: the Missing Link.
Incredible Hulk #107-108 - And now the Mandarin and another ill-conceived story to pit the Hulk vs an Iron Man villain.
Incredible Hulk Annual #1 - Takes the Hulk to the Hidden Refuge of Attilan, inexplicably relocated to the European Alps in this story instead of the Himalayan mountains of Central Asia.
Incredible Hulk #109-112 - Takes our green skinned protagonist from the Savage Land in Antarctic, where he meets Ka-Zar and Zabu, to outer space with an alien race of conquerors. The Hulk definitely gets around.
Incredible Hulk #113-114 - Sandman and the Mandarin team-up and still can’t defeat the Hulk.
Incredible Hulk #115-117 - The Leader returns and almost succeeds in starting a nuclear world war 3.
Tales to Astonish #92-96 - Marie Severin provides the art for these last five installments in the Hulk’s soap opera. Oddly, this is the art style I most associate with the Hulk stories from Tales to Astonish, maybe that’s because they’re coming at the end of the run. Not sure, but it doesn’t really matter. Lee is still writing and at least this transition is less jarring, but we’ve also taken some time off since the last issue and allowed at least a month to pass. Long enough for Banner to custom build a device to attempt and remove the gamma radiation from his body. Next up we have the Silver Surfer arriving and then the Hulk is whisked off to another world by the High Evolutionary in an attempt to put down an insurrection. In any case, this is a new direction for the stories and they have a different and more coherent narrative thread. Whether this is from Severin or from Lee is not readily clear.
Tales to Astonish #97-99 - This is a nice 3-part story that’s actually very topical right now, as Donny tRump (man-baby extraordinaire) is as much a treasonous criminal as the Lord of the Living Lightning. Different means to the same end. But they’re both just as two-faced, lying conmen as the other. So a fun, typical story about the dangers of “strong men” who are nothing but weakling hypocrites.
Tales to Astonish #100-101 - The first of these stories pick up from both the Namor and Hulk stories from the previous issue and pits the pair against one another at the behest of the Puppet Master. And it a big slugfest between the shirtless and bare-chested titans. Then the second tale feature the Hulk, as a pawn of Loki’s, verses the Warriors Three. And this story continues into Incredible Hulk #102 - And the Hulk returns to his own solo title again. But with this new title, Lee departs and Gary Friedrich comes aboard as the comic’s script writer.
Incredible Hulk #102 - Picking up right where the Tales to Astonish run ended, with the Hulk in Asgard, we get the Executioner and the Enchantress doing not much else beside pissing the Hulk off.
Incredible Hulk #103-106 - Odin has transported the Hulk back to the heart of NYC and a series of odd one-off adventures ensures featuring battles with the ridiculous Space Parasite, a newly power elevated Rhino and then a two-part story window a slugfest about as absurd with another creation: the Missing Link.
Incredible Hulk #107-108 - And now the Mandarin and another ill-conceived story to pit the Hulk vs an Iron Man villain.
Incredible Hulk Annual #1 - Takes the Hulk to the Hidden Refuge of Attilan, inexplicably relocated to the European Alps in this story instead of the Himalayan mountains of Central Asia.
Incredible Hulk #109-112 - Takes our green skinned protagonist from the Savage Land in Antarctic, where he meets Ka-Zar and Zabu, to outer space with an alien race of conquerors. The Hulk definitely gets around.
Incredible Hulk #113-114 - Sandman and the Mandarin team-up and still can’t defeat the Hulk.
Incredible Hulk #115-117 - The Leader returns and almost succeeds in starting a nuclear world war 3.
February 7, 2017
Hulk wants to be left alone, the Air Force, mandarin, rhino, and a shit ton of aliens with atomic monsters feel otherwise, meanwhile Betty Ross is in a constant tearful struggle with love and fear.
December 22, 2017
I marvel that there are Marvel fans. Classic Marvel comics are page after page of fights occasionally interrupted by soap opera, and most of the characters have the emotional development of a 17 year old. Before and during the fights, the villains and heroes boast about how they will kick each other's ass. This happens in comic after comic after comic, title after title after title. Oh, lordy, it is boring. THE INCREDIBLE HULK is as bad about this as any and in some ways worse than most because of the repetitive speeches put in Hulk's mouth, especially, "Hulk is the strongest one there is," and "Hulk will fight back." The repetitive words are just as bad, especially "puny" and "hounded." This is such crap, and these elements dominate nearly every story in this collection. I had avoided this series when the issues in this reprint were first published and am glad to read it and confirm that my impressions are correct. This is truly awful.
October 2, 2022
These stories are really repetitive and there's a long period in the middle of the book when they really drag, but it picks up with a really decent story at the end. The art is very variable, and the reproduction of some of the issues is very poor, but some is really pleasing.
The repetitive nature of the stories - Hulk smashes, attempts to make friends, is manipulated into smashing something, is hunted, and smashes again out of hurt and anger - made it difficult to sympathise much with the main character, and for lengthy periods it was hard not to think that perhaps General Ross is right when he says that the Hulk is a danger who must be destroyed. In fact, at times, it really felt like I was reading a supervillain headed book, rather than a superhero title.
This was a much better and faster read than the first volume, but I much preferred the third, which I read out of order.
The repetitive nature of the stories - Hulk smashes, attempts to make friends, is manipulated into smashing something, is hunted, and smashes again out of hurt and anger - made it difficult to sympathise much with the main character, and for lengthy periods it was hard not to think that perhaps General Ross is right when he says that the Hulk is a danger who must be destroyed. In fact, at times, it really felt like I was reading a supervillain headed book, rather than a superhero title.
This was a much better and faster read than the first volume, but I much preferred the third, which I read out of order.
May 21, 2019
I feel INCREDIBLE pity for the Hulk (not a pun!) as he is a trapped being, Bruce Banner in him, and Hulk is an outcast... everywhere. Also, General Ross and Major Talbot just don't know when to stop hounding down the Hulk! Their comic book existence is just solely based on their defeating the Hulk! 😑 Also, I love how The Hulk is indestructible and all, but poor Bruce! He barely gets a day of rest!!! All that STRAIN.
August 30, 2017
I've never been a huge Hulk fan, but despite some common Silver Age problems I really enjoyed these issues, and I loved Marie Severin's art!
November 17, 2014
Reprints Tales to Astonish (1) #92-101 and Incredible Hulk (2) #102-117, 147, and Special #1 (June 1967-January 1972). The Hulk is back! With enemies like the Mandarin, the Sandman, and the Leader and battles with the Silver Surfer, Nick Fury, Black Bolt, and Namor the Sub-Mariner, the Hulk seems unable to find peace on the Earth. Constantly seeking solace for his rage, Bruce Banner finds himself on the run as he’s hunted by Thunderbolt Ross and Glenn Talbot…while his love Betty continues to hope for his safe return!
Written by Stan Lee, Gary Friedrich, Bill Everett, Archie Goodwin, and Roy Thomas, Essential Hulk Volume 2 collects the remaining issues of the Hulk’s run in Tales to Astonish (Volume 1) and the launch of his second series starting with Incredible Hulk #102 (April 1968). Reprinted in black-and-white like all of the Marvel Essentials, the series also collects Incredible Hulk’s first annual (then called Special #1 (October 1968)) and a short story from Incredible Hulk (1) #147 (January 1972).
I’ve always been a Hulk fan since I was little and grew up watching the TV show followed by the Saturday morning cartoon. The Hulk comic however has always seemed to struggle falling short of other big Marvel character driven books. Despite this perception, Essential Hulk Volume 2 is a rather solid read.
The story has a lot of fun guest-star drop in and this volume doesn’t have many first appearances of major characters. Marvel Comics was a little less structured back in the original days and there was much more crossover characters and coherent plots. Things happening in Captain America, The Avengers, and Thor actually affected events here and enemies like the Rhino and the Sandman could jump from their “primary” antagonists to people like the Hulk…and it is a bit refreshing.
Like many older comics, the book does suffer from repetitive storytelling. The book is generally breaks down into two issue storylines involving a villain and/or ally (even in the shorter Tales to Astonish issues which he shared with Namor). Banner inevitably reverts between the Hulk and himself in the worst and times and that is how the whole story is built. In addition to these little tropes, the comic also has a rather sappy, overdone, soap opera love triangle between Bruce Banner, Betty Ross, and Glenn Talbot that always resurfaces.
The book also has some solid art. Pioneer female artist Marie Severin penciled most of the early issues with Herb Trimpe inking them but Herb Trimpe began his great run on the comic later in this collection…the only disadvantage of the Essential line is not being able to see all the great colors.
Essential Hulk Volume 2 is a strong read of a classic series. I also have a soft spot for this volume in that it has one of my earliest comic books in Incredible Hulk (2) #109 (November 1968) which I got at a garage sale. The issue featured Ka-Zar and ended in a cliffhanger…which took about thirty years for me to see concluded. Now that’s a cliffhanger!
Written by Stan Lee, Gary Friedrich, Bill Everett, Archie Goodwin, and Roy Thomas, Essential Hulk Volume 2 collects the remaining issues of the Hulk’s run in Tales to Astonish (Volume 1) and the launch of his second series starting with Incredible Hulk #102 (April 1968). Reprinted in black-and-white like all of the Marvel Essentials, the series also collects Incredible Hulk’s first annual (then called Special #1 (October 1968)) and a short story from Incredible Hulk (1) #147 (January 1972).
I’ve always been a Hulk fan since I was little and grew up watching the TV show followed by the Saturday morning cartoon. The Hulk comic however has always seemed to struggle falling short of other big Marvel character driven books. Despite this perception, Essential Hulk Volume 2 is a rather solid read.
The story has a lot of fun guest-star drop in and this volume doesn’t have many first appearances of major characters. Marvel Comics was a little less structured back in the original days and there was much more crossover characters and coherent plots. Things happening in Captain America, The Avengers, and Thor actually affected events here and enemies like the Rhino and the Sandman could jump from their “primary” antagonists to people like the Hulk…and it is a bit refreshing.
Like many older comics, the book does suffer from repetitive storytelling. The book is generally breaks down into two issue storylines involving a villain and/or ally (even in the shorter Tales to Astonish issues which he shared with Namor). Banner inevitably reverts between the Hulk and himself in the worst and times and that is how the whole story is built. In addition to these little tropes, the comic also has a rather sappy, overdone, soap opera love triangle between Bruce Banner, Betty Ross, and Glenn Talbot that always resurfaces.
The book also has some solid art. Pioneer female artist Marie Severin penciled most of the early issues with Herb Trimpe inking them but Herb Trimpe began his great run on the comic later in this collection…the only disadvantage of the Essential line is not being able to see all the great colors.
Essential Hulk Volume 2 is a strong read of a classic series. I also have a soft spot for this volume in that it has one of my earliest comic books in Incredible Hulk (2) #109 (November 1968) which I got at a garage sale. The issue featured Ka-Zar and ended in a cliffhanger…which took about thirty years for me to see concluded. Now that’s a cliffhanger!
March 19, 2013
Found it on the floor of a B&N a hundred years ago, and bought it out of pity. Basically, it's cheesy silver age monster-on-monster-on-commie-on-superhero-on-stereotype action. If you don't know what you're getting out of Hulk comics, your parents cared too much.
The stories are generally juvenile POW POW KABLAMMO HULK SMASH. There are elements of psychedelia and weirdness here, and the goofy pro wrestlingish action kept me on the hook for at least one cover to cover reading; this is pretty addicting stuff. Of course, I wouldn't want anybody to actually see me reading it.
The real star of the book is the art, of course. It's all presented in glorious black and white, so one can really get an appreciation for the inker's work without it being muddied by a cheap coloring process. The pencil work is spiffy as expected; the humans look really human, and the weirdness is really weird. Like all 60's-70's Marvel comics, there is no feeling of constraint by the medium, and the illusion of motion is maintained throughout.
It should be noted again: this isn't a graphic novel. This is really kiddy stuff. Despite all of Stan Lee's bluster about how great Marvel comics were, the storytelling is really basic and the book has very little subtext--even the commie bashing parts have very little political content or jingoism.
I recommend this book if you have a kid, or are developmentally disabled.
The stories are generally juvenile POW POW KABLAMMO HULK SMASH. There are elements of psychedelia and weirdness here, and the goofy pro wrestlingish action kept me on the hook for at least one cover to cover reading; this is pretty addicting stuff. Of course, I wouldn't want anybody to actually see me reading it.
The real star of the book is the art, of course. It's all presented in glorious black and white, so one can really get an appreciation for the inker's work without it being muddied by a cheap coloring process. The pencil work is spiffy as expected; the humans look really human, and the weirdness is really weird. Like all 60's-70's Marvel comics, there is no feeling of constraint by the medium, and the illusion of motion is maintained throughout.
It should be noted again: this isn't a graphic novel. This is really kiddy stuff. Despite all of Stan Lee's bluster about how great Marvel comics were, the storytelling is really basic and the book has very little subtext--even the commie bashing parts have very little political content or jingoism.
I recommend this book if you have a kid, or are developmentally disabled.
December 2, 2023
Early days of the Hulk, when he transitioned from sharing an anthology to having his own title again.
The soap opera wears really thin.
Apparently Betty Ross didn't get a personality untill the 80's, but every guy in the cast still falls in love with her.
There's a weird, fun rhythm to the stories, as we do typical 'army chases Hulk, Hulk then fights a supervillain", but then you can see Stan getting bored with that and so he flings the Hulk into outer space or sends him to the Savage Land.
The multi-parter where he lands in Asgard, but Thor never shows up, so it's just the god of thunder's supporting cast, trying to deal with the Hulk was a lot of fun.
A bit formulaic, but still a lot of fun.
Really nice art too!
The soap opera wears really thin.
Apparently Betty Ross didn't get a personality untill the 80's, but every guy in the cast still falls in love with her.
There's a weird, fun rhythm to the stories, as we do typical 'army chases Hulk, Hulk then fights a supervillain", but then you can see Stan getting bored with that and so he flings the Hulk into outer space or sends him to the Savage Land.
The multi-parter where he lands in Asgard, but Thor never shows up, so it's just the god of thunder's supporting cast, trying to deal with the Hulk was a lot of fun.
A bit formulaic, but still a lot of fun.
Really nice art too!
January 26, 2012
Intriguing read of the early days of the Hulk. Some interesting artwork as Marie Servin work and then gradually Herb Trimpe taking over the reins. Worth a look.
January 29, 2016
Good comics.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews