Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 11:56, 12 October 2007

Independent comics based films

Cap research

http://www.geocities.com/mbrown123/greatest_comics/captainamerica1.html includes date.

this marvel release http://www.amazon.com/Marvel-Masterworks-Golden-Captain-America/dp/0785116192 challenges the 'marvel knows best' idea.

http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/scoop_article.asp?ai=9899&si=123 This auction house image has a fully graded sealed version, with blue stripes and date on cover.

Comments

The templates look good, but can I suggest using something thicker than the bullets used between titles? Instead of ·, use •. —Erik (talk • contrib) - 15:05, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

A couple of other items: There should be spacing between "Batman (year)" in the first template. Also, Batman got split, while Superman didn't (and I realize the latter has an odd continuity issue). Is there a way to address this? —Erik (talk • contrib) - 15:46, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

um are you going to make a Article called Indie Comics films, cause if you arnt, you might want to fix that.Phoenix741 15:47, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

yeah, I'll look into starting one of those before i bring this live. Help with that would be great. ThuranX 16:54, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Also, what about The Crow: Salvation and The Crow: Wicked Prayer for the second template? —Erik (talk • contrib) - 15:48, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

I'll try those out. missing a few is bound to happen. ThuranX 16:54, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Ah-hah! the reason I didn't is they were DTV. The promotional release didn't really count as I see it. Both are discussed in the Crow franchise article, which my heading links to. That's why. But thanks for making me defend it, good to have a rationale. I hope to cut n paste this entire review, as an archived section, to the talk pages for these two once they're ready to go, so new editors will have some ideas about my thinking. ThuranX 16:57, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Excellent initiative!! And thank you for asking.

The only thing I'd advise against is the "TBA" and "forthcoming" items. They're not really in keeping with WP:DATED or, in some instances, "Misplaced Pages is not a crystal ball". Things in the movie business especially change so much, and people float rumors about projects so often, that it'd be more encyclopedic, I think, to stick with confirmed, existing product. In an any event, they'd need citations. (Along these lines, The "in development" items List of Marvel Comics films is problematic to me, even with the copious footnotes, since "in development" can mean "we're thinking about it and maybe someday we'll have a meeting to find a writer". But that's a whole big other thing I don't have the energy for...!)

Obviously, I'm guessing you'll have a Marvel Comics films header.

I might use the header "Independent-comics films", to match that article titled Independent film. (Also, the compound modifier takes a hyphen, per AP Stylebook and other standard punctuation/grammar sources Misplaced Pages recognizes.) Also, "comics" in this case wouldn't be capitalized since it's not part of a proper-noun phrase, as "DC Comics" is.

I can think of at least one Archie Comics film (a TV-movie), and there was a Fawcett Comics Captain Marvel serial in the 1940s, so maybe "Independent-comics films and misc."

These suggestions are just polish. Nice work on the big picture!! --Tenebrae 13:34, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

I"m not particularly interested in the Made-for-TV stuff, nor the Older DC works. I figure that the 'list of' pages can be holistic, but that most readers will want to find out about the more recent works. Further, the Batman and Superman templates have far more about all appearances of those characters. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ThuranX (talk • contribs)

Not sure what the reasoning is that "most readers will want to find out about the more recent works". That's more in keeping with a magazine than an encyclopedia, which needs to be, well, encyclopedic. --Tenebrae 21:46, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

What I mean is, most casual readers who are on a DC film page are likely to be more interested in the recent franchises and such than in an obscure serial from the 40's, like hop harrigan. I suppose a link to the serials listing on the comics list might be efffective, but to add all the serials would be to make the template huge and clunky, which I long ago learned was a bad thing. Thoughts on the added 'serials' listing? ThuranX 22:05, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

that didn't work so well, so I jsut refined the original list, removing tons of stuff that had nothign to do with DC based films, and added the serials. WHoever had compiled the list felt anyt character now owned by DC qualified, I removed any that weren't actually DC at all, like Doc Savage, or who were acquired after production, like the Fawcett characters. The rest are now in the template. ThuranX 22:14, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

Good job on it so far, bro. Just a few random questions and stuff though. With the DC template; what about adding the (dreadful, in my opinion) 1997 Justice League of America film *shudders*...? Also, have you considered adding in an animated films section, as there are two new ones in the pipeline (Justice League: The New Frontier and Superman: Doomsday)? There are many older ones from the 90's or more recently (i.e. The Batman Superman Movie, inspired by the animated TV shows) but I couldn't find the right links. About the superheroe and non-superhero DC films - is it worth splitting the likes of Catwoman from Road To Perdition, for example? Another thing is that I noticed you've got the Batman film in the 'single films' section highlighted along with the year which will need editing. Lastly, I just wanted to add that as you've mentioned, I agree that the serials are of no real interest. Just throwing that in. With the indie comics template; I noticed that The Mask is down twice (the franchise, which is understandable, AND with the single films). Also, The Crow unfortunately had a third film, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven. You may want to add it to the franchise. That's about all for now. Didn't mean to nit pick or anything, just thought I'd throw in my two cents. I'm glad someone's done this DC one though, been thinking who's gonna get it done. Thanks for the template so far. Keep it up. => Harish101 18:03, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

The Batman 1966 film is in the single film listing because it did not have a sequel, but rather was a single theatrical release adam west film. It's not part of either franchise. Justice league was made for tv, not theattrical. the Animated series have their own templates, and would be too huge. This is for live action theatrical releases of properties owned/managed/produced by DC at time of release/Licensing, not those acquired later. As was noted above, the Crow franchise shifted to DTV, which I've decided not to cover, it's already in the articles for the two listed here. thank yo ufor the critique, not sure how you found the page though. ThuranX 05:10, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Blame mindless wiki-browsing for finding this ;) ...With the 1966 Batman movie, I meant that the actual year was highlighted as part of the link, didn't know if that was meant to be so. Ahh, I understand about the rest now. Fair play. I looked into the Animated DC films, and noticed that Justice League: The New Frontier is not based on/part of the Bruce Timm Animated Universe, which the template only allows for (this film is based on a graphic novel). I dunno if it will still be a part of it though, as he's apparently still producing. Just letting ya know. Curious to know - how do you start on something like this? Harish101 15:58, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Oh, yeah. I see that, and it's fixed. Interesting regarding the Timm situation, might be time to bring that up as a change over there, I dunno. Anyways, I'm sure other editors will have thoughtsonce this goes live, which I think will be this weekend. finally, thanks for the comments. I do appreciate them. ThuranX 03:36, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

Hey man, just curious to know when this will actually get put to use? One more thought, since I'm back here - where the franchises section is, as this is more about the films I was wondering if it's necessary to link the parts that say "Batman(1989-97)" and "Batman(2005 - )" twice to the same Batman page, along with linking Swamp Thing? Just wondered. Didn't seem entirely necessary, from a user's point of view (mainly Batman, unless you can link it to the film series pages, or even considering having two pages, one of which for the reboot franchise). Just putting in ideas as I assume you can do something about that. => Harish101 13:53, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't know if you want any help with this, but The Rocketeer (film) fits as well. -Justin (koavf)·T·C·M 04:35, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Right, thanks, I'll get that this weekend. ThuranX 11:56, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Hulk rewrite

Bruce Banner

The core of the Hulk, Bruce Banner has been portrayed differently but different writers, but common themes persist. Banner is emotionally withdrawn in most fashions, showing a genius mind Banner designed the gamma bomb which causes his affliction, and the ironic twist of his self-inflicted fate has been one of the most persistent common themes. Arie Kaplan describes the character thus: “Bruce Banner lives in a constant state of panic, always wary that the monster inside him will erupt, and therefore he can’t form meaningful bonds with anyone.” .

Throughout the Hulk's published history, writers have continued to portray Bruce Banner in similar fashions, showing an emotionally-repressed genius and prodigy, possessing a mind so brilliant that it cannot be measured on any known intelligence test. Banner designed the gamma bomb which causes his affliction, transforming him, under different writers, into different versions of the Hulk. These transformations are usually involuntary, and most often, writers have tied the transformation to emotional triggers, especially rage and fear. As the series has progressed, different writers have adapted the Hulk, changing Hulk's personality to reflect changes in Banner's physiology or psyche. Writers have also refined and changed Banner's personality. Banner is often shown as emotionally repressed, but also shows deep love for Betty Ross, and for solving problems posed to him. Under the writing of Paul Jenkins, Banner was shown to be a capable fugitive, applying deductive reasoning and observation to figure out some of the events transpiring around him. When Banner has controlled the Hulk's body, he is shown to apply principles of physics to problems and challenges.

The Hulk

The Hulk comes to be when, during the experimental detonation of a Gamma Bomb, scientist Bruce Banner sees a teenager out on the testing field, and runs out to save him. Though he is able to push Rick Jones into a safety trench, banner himself is caught in the blast, absorbing massive amounts of Gamma Radiation. Though he shows no damage initially, the effects are seen when he transforms that night into a lumbering grey form, soon identified by a G.I. as a ‘Hulk’. Rick Jones spends a great deal of time in his next few years, and for decades of the comic, as the Hulk’s friend and sidekick.

The original version of the Hulk was most often shown as simple and quick to anger. His transformations were triggered at first by sundown, returning to human form at dawn, then later, by emotional trigger. Although grey in his debut, difficulties for the printer led to a change in his color to green. In the origin tale, the Hulk is shown divorcing his identity from that of Bruce Banner, decrying Banner as "that puny weakling in the picture". From his earliest stories, the Hulk has been a character concerned with finding sanctuary and quiet, and often is shown as easily reacting emotionally to situations Grest and Weinberg suggest Hulk represents the "...dark, primordial side of psyche.". Even in the earliest appearances, Hulk used the third person to refer to himself. The Hulk retains a modest intelligence, thinking and talking in full sentences, and Lee even gives the Hulk expository dialogue in issue six, allowing readers to learn just what capabilities the Hulk has, when the Hulk says, “But these muscles ain't just for show! All I gotta do is spring up and just keep goin'!" In Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics, Les Daniels addresses the Hulk as an embodiment of cultural fears of radiation and nuclear science. He quotes Jack Kirby thus:

As long as we're experimenting with radioactivity there's no telling what may happen, or how much our advancements may cost us.

Daniels continues " The Hulk became Marvel's most distubing embodiment of the perils inherent in the atomic age."

Fantastic Four #12 (March 1963), featuring the Hulk's first battle with The Thing, as well as an alternate method of transforming into Hulk. Banner intentionally uses a gamma ray machine of his own design to trigger the change into the Hulk. Although many early Hulk stories involve General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross trying to capture or destroy the Hulk, the main villian is often, like Hulk, a radiation based character, like the Toad men, of General Fang. Ross' daughter, Betty, loves Banner and criticizes her father for pursuing the Hulk. General Ross' right-hand man, Major Glenn Talbot, also loves Betty and is torn between pursuing the Hulk and trying to gain Betty's love more honorably. Rick Jones serves as the Hulk's friend and sidekick in these early tales.

The Hulk in these early tales has been compared to Frankenstein's Monster, both by Stan Lee, and others. Lee wanted to use the idea of the misunderstood monster he saw in Frankenstein's Monster, and used the Hulk to convey that concept. Lee also compared Hulk to the Golem of Jewish myth. In The Science of Superheroes, Gresh and Weinberg discuss the Hulk as a reaction to the Cold War and the threat of nuclear attack, an interpretation shared by Weinstein in Up, Up, and Oy Vey. Kaplan calls Hulk ‘schizophrenic’.

In the 1970’s, Hulk was shown as more prone to anger and rage, and less talkative. Writers played with the nature of his transformations, briefly giving Banner control over the change, and the ability to maintain control of his Hulk form.

Hulk stories began to involve other dimensions, and there met Jarella, empress of a kingdom in one of those other dimensions. Jarella used magic to bring Banner’s intelligence to Hulk, and began to love him, even asking him to become her mate. Though Hulk was returned to Earth before he could become her king, he would return to Jarella’s kingdom of K’ai again.

Mantlo took the character into the arena of political commentary when Hulk traveled to Tel Aviv, Israel, and encountered both the violence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the Jewish Israeli heroine Sabra. Shortly after, Hulk also encountered the Arabian Knight (comics), a Bedouin superhero.

Under Bill Mantlo’s writing, the Hulk found himself divorced from a human mind inside, to constrain his actions. Unable to help him, Doctor Strange exiled Hulk to an extra-dimensional place called the Crossroads of Eternity, from which place he could journey to other worlds, in hopes of finding a place to reside. During the stories at the Crossroads, Banner’s childhood traumas were explored and Hulk/Banner forced to come to terms with them, and in so doing, reconnect to the human mind within. To tell this story, Mantlo employed three new characters, reflecting aspects of Banner’s fractured psyche: Glow, a gleaming floating gem, represented Banner’s intellect, Guardian, a children’s toy made live, was Bruce’s protector, and Goblin was Bruce’s repressed rage.

Having come to terms with his issues, at least for a time, Hulk and Banner physically separated under John Bryne’s writing. Separated from the Hulk, Banner was recruited by the U.S. government to create the Hulkbusters, a government team dedicated to catching Hulk. Banner and Ross married, but this change in the character was shortly reversed by Al Milgrom, who reunited the two, and with issue #324, returned the Hulk to his grey coloration after a second visit to K’ai and his one time love, Jarella.

Shortly after returning to Earth, Hulk took on the identity of ‘Joe Fixit’, a shadowy behind the scenes figure, working in Las Vegas on behalf of a crooked casino owner, Michael Berengetti. For months, Banner was repressed in Hulk’s mind, but slowly began to reappear. Hulk and Banner began to change back and forth again at dusk and dawn, as the character initially had, but this time, they worked together to advance both their goals, using written notes as communication. In The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #333, the Leader describes the Gray Hulk persona as strongest during the night of the new moon and weakest during the full moon.

In issue #377, David revamped the Hulk again, Doctor Leonard Samson engages the Ringmaster's services to hypnotize Bruce Banner and force him, the Savage Hulk (Green Hulk) and Mr. Fixit (Gray Hulk) to confront Banner's past abuse at the hands of his father, Brian Banner. Upon finally facing this abuse, a new, larger and smarter Hulk emerges and completely replaces the "human" Bruce Banner and Hulk personae. This Hulk is a culmination of the three aspects of Banner. He has the vast power of the Savage Hulk, the cunning of the gray Hulk and the intelligence of Bruce Banner.

Peter David then introduces the Hulk to The Pantheon, a secretive organization built around an extended family of super-powered people. The family members, mostly distant cousins to each other, had codenames based in the mythos of the Trojan War, and were descendants of the founder of the group, Agamemnon. When Agamemnon leaves, he puts the Hulk in charge of the organization. The storyline ends when it is revealed Agamemnon has traded his offspring to an alien race to gain power. The Hulk leads the Pantheon against the aliens, and then moves on.

Shortly after, Hulk encounters a depraved version of himself from the future, called The Maestro. Thrown into the future, Hulk finds himself allied with Rick Jones, now an old man, in an effort to destroy the tyrant Maestro. Unable to stop him in any other manner, Hulk uses the time machine that brought him to the future to send the Maestro back into the heart of the very Gamma Bomb test that spawned the Hulk.

In 1998, David followed editor Bobbie Chase's suggestion, and wrote a storyline centering on the death of Betty Ross. Betty has radiation poisoning, and desperate to save her, General Thunderbolt Ross worked with Banner, hoping to save her, but they fail, and Betty dies. Following this, David left Marvel, because of conflicts about the direction of the series. Shortly after his departure, and the tenure of Joe Casey, the series was cancelled.

Relaunch

When David left the Hulk, Marvel hired Joe Casey as a writer. Shortly after, Marvel cancelled The Incredible Hulk.

John Byrne, Erik Larsen and Jerry Ordway all wrote during the first year of a relaunched Hulk series before Paul Jenkins came on board. Jenkins wrote a story arc in which Banner and three personae of the Hulk (the early "savage" green Hulk, the grey "Joe Fixit", and the merged Hulk, now referred to as the Professor) are able to mentally interact with one another, each personality taking over their shared body. He also created John Ryker in issue #14, a ruthless military general in charge of the original gamma bomb test responsible for the Hulk's creation and planning to create similar creatures.

Bruce Jones followed as the series' writer, and his run features Banner using yoga to take control of the Hulk while he is pursued by a secret conspiracy and aided by the mysterious Mr. Blue. Banner is portrayed as a fugitive, acting secretively, keeping a low profile, and treating the Hulk with more trepidation.

Peter David returned as writer for one year. His Tempest Fugit storyline revealed that Nightmare has manipulated the Hulk for years, tormenting him in various ways for "inconveniences" that the Hulk had caused him. After a four-part tie-in to the House of M crossover, in which an intelligent and Aboriginally affiliated Hulk was featured resisting Magneto's reign, David left the series.

Greg Pak next changed the Hulk, with the storyline "Planet Hulk". A secret group of superhero leaders, the Illuminati, consider the Hulk an unacceptable potential risk to Earth, and execute a plan to rocket him into space to live a peaceful existence on a planet uninhabited by intelligent life. After a trajectory malfunction, the Hulk crashes on the violent planet Sakaar. Weakened by his journey, he is captured and eventually becomes a gladiator who scars the face of Saakar's tyrannical emperor. The Hulk becomes a rebel leader and later Sakaar's king, and is called The Green Scar, among other honorific names.

After uniting the previously divided factions, the vessel Hulk rode on to Sakaar explodes, killing millions in Sakaar's capital, including his queen, Caiera, and their unborn child. The damage to the tectonic plates almost immediately destroys the planet and kills most of its population.

The Hulk, enraged, returns to Earth with the remnants of Sakaar's citizens, and his allies, the Warbound, as a king seeking retribution against the Illuminati. On Earth, he issues a challenge to the members of the Illuminati, giving them 24 hours to surrender or die. The Hulk is now cunning and more powerful than previously represented in his series. His rage is at its most focused, due to meditation training by his ally Hiroim. This incarnation has extremely high durability, as evidenced by his ability to withstand Black Bolt's voice, whereas the Savage Hulk could not. He has had training in melee combat, and is a capable leader and strategist. Hulk is now also acting complicitly with Banner, leading to more tactical advantages in his fight against Dr. Strange. The driving factor in this alliance of psyches is Caiera, the Green Scar's wife, who understood Banner as well, and shared love equally with both personalities.

Publication history

Debut and first series

The Hulk debuted in The Incredible Hulk #1, by writer Stan Lee, penciller Jack Kirby and inker Paul Reinman. In the first issue, the Hulk was gray rather than green. Writer and Marvel editor-in-chief Lee had wanted a color that did not suggest any particular ethnic group. Colorist Stan Goldberg, however, insisted to Lee that the coloring technology at the time could not present the color gray clearly or consistently, resulting in different shades of gray, and even green, in the issue. So in issue #2 and after, Goldberg colored the Hulk's skin green. Although retellings of the Hulk's origin during the next two decades feature him with green skin from the beginning, and reprints were recolored to green, starting with vol. 2, #302 (Dec. 1984), the Hulk was again shown as having been gray in flashbacks to early appearances. This was reaffirmed in vol. 2, #318 (April 1986), which states that the Hulk was gray at the time of his creation. Since then, reprints of the first issue have displayed the original gray coloring.

The original series was canceled after six issues, with the finale cover-dated (March 1963). Lee had written each story, with Kirby penciling the first five issues and Steve Ditko penciling and inking the sixth. The character immediately guest-starred in Fantastic Four #12 (March 1963), and became a founding member of the Avengers for a brief two issues of that superhero team's eponymous series (Sept. & Nov. 1963), and returning as an antagonist in issues #3 & #5 (Jan. & May 1964). He then guest-starred in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (July 1964).

Around this time, co-creator Jack Kirby received a letter from a college dormitory stating the Hulk had been chosen as its official mascot. Kirby and Lee realized their character had found an audience in college-age readers.

Tales to Astonish

A year and a half after his title was cancelled, the Hulk became the backup feature in Tales to Astonish, beginning with issue #60 (Oct. 1964). In the previous issue, he appeared as the antagonist for Giant-Man, star of the book. These new stories were initially scripted by Lee and illustrated by the seldom-seen team of penciler Steve Ditko and inker George Roussos. Other artists later in this run included Jack Kirby from #68-84 (June 1965 - Oct. 1966), either doing full pencils or, more often, layouts for other artists; Gil Kane (making his Marvel Comics debut, under the pseudonym "Scott Edwards", in #76; Bill Everett (inking Kirby, #78-84); and John Buscema (one of his earliest Marvel assignments). Marie Severin finished out the Hulk’s run in Tales to Astonish; beginning with issue #102 (Apr. 1968) the book was retitled ‘’The Incredible Hulk’’, and ran until March 1999, when Marvel cancelled the series, and then restarted the title with a new issue #1.

It was during this run of stories that readers were introduced to recurring villains such as the Leader, who would become the Hulk's arch nemesis, and the Abomination, a gamma being stronger than the Hulk. Additionally, in issue #77 (Mar. 1966), the Hulk's identity was made public.

1970’s

Hulk continued to be published through the 1970’s and also made guest appearances in other titles. In 1977, following the debut of the eponymous television series, Marvel launched a second title, ‘’The Rampaging Hulk’’, a magazine format publication targeted to the show’s audience. Writers also introduced She-Hulk, Banner’s cousin, to whom he gave some of his blood in a transfusion, and who soon was featured in a title of her own.

Writers changed numerous times during the decade, but the creative staff included Archie Goodwin, Chris Claremont, and Tony Isabella, Len Wein handled many of the stories through the 1970’s, working first with Herb Trimpe, then in 1975, with Sal Buscema, who was the regular artist for almost ten years. Harlan Ellison wrote a tale for the hulk “The Brute That Shouted Love From the Heart of the Atom”.

Early 1980s

Under the creative team of Roger Stern and Bill Mantlo, it was established that Banner had suffered child abuse. Stern's writing informed the readers that the abuse fostered a great deal of repressed anger within Banner, which in turn caused his fragmented personality, which was explored in the Crossroads of Eternity stories. John Bryne then took the writing duties from Mantlo, and quickly passed them to Al Milgrom, who, in turn, passed them to Peter David.

Late 1980s through late 1990s

In 1987, Peter David became the writer of the series with issue #331marking the start of a 12 year tenure on the series.. David's run altered Banner's pre-Hulk characterization and the nature of Banner and the Hulk's relationship. David returned to the Stern and Mantlo abuse storylines, expanding the damage caused, and depicting Banner as suffering dissociative identity disorder (DID). David's stories showed that Banner had serious mental problems long before he became the Hulk. David revamped his personality significantly, giving the grey Hulk the alias 'Joe Fixit', and setting him up as a morally ambiguous Vegas heavy. David worked with numerous artists over his run on the series, including Dale Keown, Gary Frank, Terry Dodson, {Mike Deodato, Jr.]], George Perez, and Adam Kubert. . In issue #377, David revamped the Hulk again, using a storyline involving hypnosis to have the splintered personalities of Banner and Hulk synthesize into a new Hulk, who has the vast power of the Savage Hulk, the cunning of the gray Hulk and the intelligence of Bruce Banner.

Introduced in the Future Imperfect limited series

In 1998, David followed editor Bobbie Chase's suggestion to kill Betty Ross. In the introduction to the Hulk trade paperback Beauty and the Behemoth, David said that his wife had recently left him, providing inspiration for the storyline. Marvel executives used Ross' death as an opportunity to push the idea of bringing back the Savage Hulk. David disagreed, leading to his and Marvel's parting ways. His last issue of Hulk was #467, his one-hundred and thirty-seventh.

Also in 1998, Marvel relauched the ‘’The Rampaging Hulk’’ title, this time in a standards comic book format, instead of as a comics magazine.

Relaunch

When David left the Hulk, Marvel hired Joe Casey as a writer. Shortly after, Marvel cancelled The Incredible Hulk.

Marvel hired John Byrne for a second volume of the series, re-titled Hulk, with Ron Garney penciling. Byrne departed before the first year was over, citing creative differences. Erik Larsen and Jerry Ordway briefly filled scripting duties in his place, and the title of the book soon returned to The Incredible Hulk with the arrival of Paul Jenkins in issue #12.

Jenkins wrote a story arc in which Banner and the three Hulks (Savage Hulk, Gray Hulk, and the Merged Hulk, now considered a separate personality and referred to as the Professor) are able to mentally interact with one another, each personality taking over their shared body. He also created John Ryker in issue #14, a ruthless military general in charge of the original gamma bomb test responsible for the Hulk's creation and planning to create similar creatures.

Bruce Jones followed as the series' writer, and his run features Banner using yoga to take control of the Hulk while he is pursued by a secret conspiracy and aided by the mysterious Mr. Blue. Jones focused on a horror theme with the Hulk as a fugitive. He appended his 43-issue Incredible Hulk run with the Hulk/Thing: Hard Knocks limited series, which Marvel published after putting the ongoing series on hiatus.

Peter David, who had initially signed a contract for a six-issue Tempest Fugit limited series, returned as writer when it was decided to make the story, now only five parts, part of the ongoing series instead. David contracted to complete a year on the title. Tempest Fugit revealed that Nightmare has manipulated the Hulk for years, tormenting him in various ways for "inconveniences" that the Hulk had caused him, among these were the Devil Hulk, a rapacious embodiment of all the resentment at the world's treatment of both Hulk and Banner. After a four-part tie-in to the House of M crossover and a one-issue epilogue, David left the series once more, citing the need to do non-Hulk work for his career's sake.

Planet Hulk and World War Hulk

In the 2006 storyline "Planet Hulk" by Greg Pak, Hulk is sent into space by a confederation of powerful Earth heroes. This story arc in turn led into the crossover revenge storyline, World War Hulk, which included an eponmous five issue miniseries, a second Front Line miniseries, and numerous tie-ins to other titles.

ref

1. ^ DeFalco, Tom (2003). The Hulk: the incredible guide. London: DK Publishing. p. 200. ISBN 0=7894-9260-1. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help) Cite error: The named reference "HulkTIG" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
2. ^ Weinstein, Simcha (2006). Up, Up, and Oy Vey!. Baltimore, Maryland: Leviathan Press. p. 200. ISBN 1-881927-32-6.
3. ^ Kaplan, Arie (2006). Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed!. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press. p. 263. ISBN 1-55652-633-4.page 58
4. The Incredible Hulk #1
5. ^ Gresh, Lois (2002). The Science of Superheroes. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Son, Inc. p. 200. ISBN 0-471-46882-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
6. Daniels, Les (1991). Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. p. 287. ISBN 0-8109-2566-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
7. Incredible Hulk vol. 3, #105 (June 2007); World War Hulk series
8. World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker (July 2007)
9. Writer Greg Pak commenting on the fight
10. Gamma Files(July 2007)
11. Comics Buyer's Guide #1617 (June 2006)
12. Starlog #213 (July 2003)
13. The Incredible Hulk vol. 3, #13
14. The Incredible Hulk vol. 3, #81 (July 2005)
15. Peter David (July 18 2005). "My leaving "Hulk"". The Incredible Hulk Message Board. Retrieved 2005-08-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)

http://www.leaderslair.com/gammapeople/incarnations/incarnations.html

Personality and behavior

Throughout the character's history, writers have varied their portrayal of the Hulk widely. He has been described as differently as a clumsy, stupid brute who stumbles into adverse situations and lashes out, to a dedicated schemer seeking confrontation for personal gain, and from a cool, collected consciousness capable of advanced science and leadership to an easily manipulated engine of destruction. The Hulk initially was characterized as a separate entity from Bruce Banner, a symbol of inner rage and Freudian repression; a distillation of his anger that gradually developed its own personality and memories separate from Banner's. Later stories attributed the Hulk to repressed emotions caused by childhood abuses by Banner's father. At various times, writers have explored stories of mergers of the personality traits of Banner and Hulk. Some incarnations have evinced the mental cuity to engage in criminal enterprise, others had Banner's vast factual knowledge, and yet another had Hulk as banner's mind in the Hulk's body, while Hulk's mind was in Banner's body.

Due to retroactive continuity established by writers Bill Mantlo and later Peter David in the 1980s, Banner is said to suffer from dissociative identity disorder, which stems from the child abuse he had suffered early in life. The Hulk has many incarnations, each representing a different aspect of Banner's psyche.

Merged Hulk/The Professor

The merging of Bruce Banner and the Savage and Gray Hulks in Incredible Hulk #377 (written by Peter David). The Merged Hulk is later ret-conned into The Professor. The Professor, rather than being a merging of the three core personalities, was interpreted as a fourth, separate personality that represented Banner's ideal self. The primary difference between the two is that the Merged Hulk demonstrated aspects of the Banner, Grey Hulk, and Savage Hulk personalities (also possessing Banner's intelligence, Joe Fixit's cunning, and the Savage Hulk's size and strength), while the Professor did not. The Merged Hulk is even prone to uttering "Hulk smash!", which is the Savage Hulk's most common catchphrase. The Merged Hulk is an associate and leader of the team of superheroes called the Pantheon. Despite his exaggerated musculature, the Merged Hulk had a relatively normal-looking face, resembling Bruce Banner's, and straight-backed posture that gives him the appearance of being the tallest and least bestial Hulk incarnation. The Professor's personality is defined during Paul Jenkins' run as a "revelation" that the Merged Hulk is not actually a merging of the three personalities but rather a separate personality altogether. Unlike the Merged Hulk, the Professor is physically distinguished by having a pony tail, which the Merged Hulk did not. Jenkins justified this by ret-conning into the Hulk's continuity a new character named Angela Lipscomb (modeled after Jenkins' own girlfriend) who knew more about Bruce Banner than even Doc Samson. Lipscomb confronted Doc Samson with her observations of the Professor and Doc Samson validated them, despite events presented in previous issues to the contrary.

Mindless Hulk

Nightmare, in an attempt to find new ways to hurt his enemy Doctor Strange by going through his friends, penetrated Bruce Banner's mind and discovered his influence had an unexpected side effect; a new personality began to develop out of Banner's worst visions of the Hulk (Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #298; Sleepwalker). At this period in Banner's life, he had just gained control over the Hulk's body, but was constantly on alert and terrified that the Hulk, which he saw as nothing but a savage and destructive beast, would break free once more when the world least expected it. Far from being identical with the original Hulk, this version was based on a nightmarish imagination made of all of Banner's worst fears and ideas of his former alter ego. Nightmare continued to manipulate and increase his influence, allowing this dark incarnation to gradually rise to the surface. It finally became its own personality after Banner made his "psychic suicide", allowing it to break free of Banner's domination. Eventually, with the assistance of three creatures created by his subconscious, (Glow, Goblin, and Guardian), this Hulk gained the ability to speak and behave much less savagely. Since then, this personality has not been seen again, and it has been suggested that it is no longer a part of Banner's personality. In Web of Spider-Man #7, a part of the Hulk, with the assistance of Doctor Strange, entered the Dimension of Nightmare as a similar manifestation as Mindless Hulk, threatening to kill him. Nightmare was forced to seek out Spider-Man's help, as this Hulk was destroying the whole domain. Spider-Man eventually pushed the Hulk into another realm, but he pulled Nightmare in with him. Nightmare has since been seen still alive, but this Hulk seems to have disappeared.

Guilt Hulk

The Guilt Hulk, also known as "The Beast", is another of Bruce Banner's personas, though this one created by his regret. The Guilt Hulk originally manifested itself in Banner's mind as his father and tormented him by forcing him to relive memories of his traumatic childhood. Eventually, the Guilt Hulk was defeated by Banner himself.

The Guilt Hulk later returned after Betty's death, now much more powerful because of Banner's emotionally fractured state. After brutally beating the Professor and Joe Fixit, the Guilt Hulk was eventually subdued again by the Savage Hulk.

Due to its monstrous size, the Guilt Hulk was physically very powerful. It also possessed claws and spikes all over its body. The Guilt Hulk also showed the ability to breathe fire on one occasion.

1. ^ Incredible Hulk Vol. 2 #377
2. Incredible Hulk Vol. 3 #13