Stan Lee often said that the Marvel universe is a reflection of the world outside our windows, a place where the anxieties of its characters very much match our own. These characters are rooted in identity and insecurity, and they’re not shallow enough to be dismissed simply by their image of spandex. It also helped that most of the characters were New York natives, and their civilian lives were familiar to their New York-born creators. Peter Parker’s rent was like anyone else’s.
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Some of The Incredible Hulk’s early failure may have to do with the book’s incredibly unfamiliar nature. Set in the uniquely shapeless and barren New Mexico desert and featuring a scientist whose specialty is so vague that it keeps shifting according to the needs of the particular story, The Incredible Hulk’s first printing lasted just six issues. Despite having all the elements of an early Marvel bestseller — Lee, Jack Kirby, misguided super-science — the book never quite feels like it exists in any particular place, whether outside our window or not.
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Over its six issues, The Incredible Hulk struggled to decide what to do with the character. Is he a monster terrorizing armies or battling aliens from space? Does he go into space himself or get involved in international conflicts? Even his powers were hard to pin down. At first, he transforms from man to beast at night, then develops a light ray that allows him to transform himself (using a foot-operated button on the floor). One moment, a bumbling teenage Rick Jones controls the Hulk like a marionette, and when Rick sleeps, the Hulk goes on a rampage.
It’s when the Hulk collides with other characters in the blossoming Marvel Universe that he starts to make sense, and if Marvel is the world outside our window, then maybe the Hulk is their outside state.
In Fantastic Four #12, the Hulk is relegated to a supporting role, which makes him all the more compelling. Without caring about Bruce Banner’s daily vicissitudes or the Hulk’s larger ambitions, the Hulk is reduced to reaction over action. The story is given more room to sell the Hulk as a monster, not a man.
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This is his defining role. A beast assailed by outside forces and forced to respond. He’s drawn into the Avengers, then discovers he doesn’t like it and leaves. He’s tricked by Namor and gets revenge, then… leaves. When The Incredible Hulk is cancelled, he appears in Tales to Astonish, where Giant-Man tracks him down… leaves. He’s a wandering bear that Marvel superheroes can’t stop poking at with a stick.
The Incredible Hulk Epic Collection: Man or Monster? is a collection of comics in which the Hulk increasingly loses agency and character development. Somehow, that’s the best possible outcome for a character who’s so unlike anything in our world.
In “The Incredible Hulk Epic Collection: Man or Monster?”, it can be seen that the character was most often used as a reaction.
The Incredible Hulk Epic Collection: Man or Monster?
The early Hulk didn’t fit Stan Lee’s “the world outside your window” mandate… until he started fighting characters who did.
A classic story.
Big collision.
