Get ready to Hulk out: on the heels of an early 2013 rumor that Marvel Studios plans to tackle Planet Hulk and World War Hulk, John Gholson joins Moisés to look at great ways to jump into the Jade Giant. From Peter David and Bill Mantlo to Harlan Ellison, John Byrne, and Greg Pak, there's a varied assortment of great Gamma-infused stories to read.
Note: the audio quality is atypically bad thanks to Skype. It gets better through the show's run.
Reading List
Planet Hulk (TPB) and World War Hulk (TPB) written by Greg Pak are both great and accessible. The Planet Hulk animated movie (Blu-ray) is probably the best modern animated Marvel feature, on par with the amazing DC direct-to-video features.
Post-World War Hulk stories Warbound (TPB) and Damage Control (TPB) are good reads, too.
Hulk: Crossroads by Bill Mantlo (TPB) is one of Greg Pak's core influences that inspired Planet Hulk. Pak ended up dedicating his five-year run on the character to Mantlo, the Hulk writer who means the most to him. It tells the story of Banner's tragic childhood, and some of the most deeply-felt Hulk backstory there is to have.
Hulk Visionaries Vol.6: Peter David (TPB) falls a third of the way into Peter David's legendary run on Hulk, but for John, this is the high watermark.
Incredible Hulk vol.1 #140 "The Brute That Shouted LOVE at the Heart of the Atom", aka The Incredible Hulk: Heart of the Atom is collected along with #148, #156, #202-203, #205-207, #246-248, and What If?! #23 (TPB) to further flesh out the effects of the story in #140.
The End and Future Imperfect (TPB) are both written by Peter David, and drawn (respectively) by George Perez and Dave Keown, telling Hulk stories in the far future.
Hulk Transformations (TPB) collects an assortment of issues written by Stan Lee, Bill Mantlo, Al Milgrom, and Peter David, focusing specifically on the various iterations of the character over the years.
Hulk vs The Marvel Universe (TPB) is the template for "hero on hero smack downs," and out-of-print but not hard to find or expensive.
Hulk Visionaries: John Byrne (TPB) takes place right after Crossroads, and finds Byrne as the first to split Hulk and Banner apart, the notion of "Hulkbusters," married Bruce and Betty, and introduces The Scourge.
Incredible Hulk by Jason Aaron (TPB Vol.1, TPB Vol.2) was the most recent run on the character before the Marvel NOW! run by Mark Waid, and found Hul;k repressing a "sinister" Banner persona. Jason Aaron's Thor: God of Thunder series is easily John and Moisés' mutual favorite Marvel NOW! series.
She-Hulk by Dan Slott (TPB Vol.1, TPB Vol.2) is one of John's favorite Hulk of "Hulk-adjacent" comics, which finds She-Hulk working for a law firm in a story favorably referred to as "David E. Kelley's She-Hulk." It's outstanding comics. finally came back into print since the recording of this episode!
As of this posting there are eight Hulk Masterworks collections that chronologically compile Hulk stories going back to the very beginning. They're hardcover, a little pricey, but gorgeous.
If you want to save some money, John and Moisés are big fans of the six black-and-white Essentials collections. They're cheap enough that if you want to let your kid (or you) color them in, you get a double value!
Batman vs Hulk (TPB) and Superman vs Hulk (TPB) have become easier to find for reasonable prices, and are fun "what would happen if X fought Y" stories.
Incredible Hulk: Return of the Monster by Bruce Jones (TPB) influenced the Ed Norton Incredible Hulk movie (Blu-ray), which is probably better than you remember.
Show Notes and Links
This is the first full episode of what has become ESN's Giant Size, where John Gholson joined Moisés in the discussion format. It is a perfect example of why the show simply does not work without John.
Subscribe to the Giant Size Channel Feed to get all of the main shows, extras, and uncut interviews from the Artist Edition feed all in one place.
Latino Review's original reporting on the rumor about Hulk, which may or may not still pertain to the direction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
A short recap of how the Ellison-Thomas combo produced Heart of the Atom.
José García-López was the DC licensed art guy for years.
This interview was originally posted on 9 February 2013 as a part of The Comic Shack on the 5by5 network. It was re-published on 1 November 2014 using its original posting date to maintain a cohesive, "canonical" back catalogue.
