Incredible Hulk(s)-back to basics?

[Whofan]

It seems Greg Pak is once again leaving the title:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=31420


I liked Pak's inital storyline Planet Hulk, but with this Hulk family stuff the book has been extremely uneven lately. Also sales have been dismal from what I understand

The preview art is interesting, with Hulk battling some of his lesser-known foes and some lady I haven't seen before.


I wonder if they'll return the title back to the singular "Incredible Hulk" and focus more on the Hulk than on his 'family'. The 'family' does seem to be breaking up after all-Skaar is getting his own series again, and apparentally events in the next arc will involve Betty/Red She-Hulk being further estranged from Bruce.

Since the anniversary is coming up, I wouldn't be suprised if the Hulk went to his popular 'savage' persona again, especially since that Hulk might be in Avengers. There actually seem to be a few hints in the last issue where Hulk seems to be reverting back to that persona.


I wonder what effect Pak leaving will also have on the other Hulk title, the one featuring Ross/The Red Hulk and written by Jeff Parker (and at the moment much better than TIH). I think there's also plans for that Hulk in the Avengers comic....

 

[Mr Light]

Red Hulk has been in the last several issues of The Avengers.

I haven't been crazy about the Incredible Hulk family. It's just a little silly and ridiculous how over-powered a group of them are. But I've never been a huge Hulk fan outside of Planet Hulk/World War Hulk and the Red Hulk saga (which, again, had a very silly ending with the Hulked Out Heroes).

 

[Whofan]

One weird thing I've noticed lately is that the Hulk's healing factor seems to have slowed, whereas in other stories he can regenerate much faster. Then again, healing factors haven't been that consistent in Marvel-just look at Wolverine....

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

Big Hulk fan, I've only dropped the book twice since I started collecting (around issue 200 or so - missed Wolverine's first appearance by THIS much... lol, no way I can afford that now!).

Bruce Jones, and Pak. At least, once it became Incredible Hulks. Not a fan of the family and of smarter-than-Reed-jerk-Banner.

But Red Hulk has been filling that void nicely!

So I'm kind of excited to see what's happening next and I can get back into the title (I know all these things are cyclical, so I wasn't worried, it was just a matter of time)

 

[Admiral_Young]

Not a fan of the Hulk family storyline. I suspect that Marvel will eventually have Bruce star in his own book again after this is resolved. Red Hulk in Avengers as mentioned has been interesting.

 

[Icemizer]

Best bet would be to depower all of the other hulks and just leave Bruce as the Hulk again. They said in the last issue that RUlk will be stuck as either Ross or Red Hulk. To many Hulk level characters is not a good thing, especially Rick Jones as A-Bomb he is just terrible. Perhaps the newly reborn MODOK will have a plan up his sleeve.

 

[Servo]

I haven't read a Hulk book consistently since WWH ended. It started to get too ridiculous with the whole Hulk family thing.

I miss the days when it was just Hulk and She-Hulk.

 

[Hound of UIster]

Is Betty back?

 

[ClayinCA]

I wonder if they'll return the title back to the singular "Incredible Hulk" and focus more on the Hulk than on his 'family'.

According to this interview with Greg Pak, that is indeed the case.

Is Betty back?

As mentioned in the original post, yes she is.

 

[Whofan]

Betty also was ressurected back in the Bruce Jones run, but apparentally that whole run was some bad dream or something.


Basically, the Leader, MODOK and a bunch of other guys brought her back to life but also turned her into a Red She-Hulk. This was revealed around the time of Fall of the Hulks.

Basically, the whole supporting cast (Rick Jones, betty, and General Ross) are now Hulks or similar creatures, plus Bruce has a two sons-one a Hulk, one not-and a daughter from a possible future. Doc Samson however is dead, although he was briefly ressurected during the Chaos War.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I think it'll eventually wind up being just Hulk, She-Hulk, and Red Hulk after another big crossover event...

 

[Admiral_Young]

They used elements of the Bruce Jones run in "The Incredible Hulk" which I loved and damn Marvel for not being able to sign Ed Norton.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Best bet would be to depower all of the other hulks and just leave Bruce as the Hulk again. They said in the last issue that RUlk will be stuck as either Ross or Red Hulk. To many Hulk level characters is not a good thing, especially Rick Jones as A-Bomb he is just terrible. Perhaps the newly reborn MODOK will have a plan up his sleeve.

Actually, I kind of like Rick as A-Bomb simply because, unlike the rest of the Hulks, there has been no change in personality associated with his transformation. He is still Rick.

Although, I knew that, like most "changes" in comic stories, the "Hulk family" concept would be of llimited duration, I must be one of the few that kinda liked it.

 

[flemm]

They used elements of the Bruce Jones run in "The Incredible Hulk" which I loved and damn Marvel for not being able to sign Ed Norton.

I liked Bruce Jones' run on the Hulk and got a kick out of seeing those elements in the movie. I thought they worked well, and I liked the movie (though I thought it had some pretty glaring issues).

Basically the Bruce Jones stuff was a back-to-basics approach with a few twists and a new feel, with Deodato Jr.'s art being a big contributing factor to that. A lot of Hulk fans I have talked with tend to think of it as a rehash, though, and they don't like how infrequently the Hulk himself actually appeared. I guess that's the risk you run when you go "back to basics."

As for the Hulk family, I really like the Warbound, but not so much all the other Hulks. This type of thing seems to happen with a lot of comic book characters from time to time, where they spawn multiple versions with a short shelf life.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ I haven't really liked anything Hulk post- WWH.