OUT THIS WEEK: HULK #80

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

It’s been a while since I wrote a comic with an ending that had fans going as completely batsh*t as they are with this one. Whad’ja think?

PAD

99 comments on “OUT THIS WEEK: HULK #80”

  1. Well, that particular sentence at the end is one of the worst copouts in any story, but since it came from a character’s mouth, and not as a line of narration, we can’t take it as gospel. Plus, given everything Banner and the Hulk have endured so far on this island, neither can believe _anything_ their senses may tell them.

    So, we’ve got a great cliffhanger.

    Unless, of course, that line is actual fact. In that case, it’s going to take some effort on your part to really make it work. Especially since you’ve stated in the past that you wouldn’t just pick up right where you left off several years ago, as if nothing had happened.

    Either way, I’m looking forward to the next issue.

    Rick

  2. That final page was hillarious. Seriously. It doesn’t make a lick of sense in the overall context of the story, so of course PAD is having fun with us.

    I firmly believe this. Truly, madly, deeply.

    If its actually true, then I’ll post pictures of me eating Hulk # 80.

  3. final page aside, this arc is kicking mucho assero. Consistently and throughly. The flashback stuff is great, I really dug the bomb that was dropped. I still don’t know what the hëll is going on, but I like it like that.

    I noticed a bit of 4th wall bashing, when Banner mentioned how it seemed like a plot that was being made up as it went along. Liked the Kang cameo, and Banner’s response.

    Good stuff. For the love of God, PAD, never leave this book again.

  4. First, let me say I loved the issue, but it didn’t beat the Fin Fang Foom fight.

    Second, Bruce said my exact thougths about his encounter with Wolverine.

    Third, if the final page is true, I can live with it. I won’t like it, but it is not horrible. But somehow I don’t think all is yet known.

    Bottom line, I can’t wait for the next issue.

    Side note: With all of the past comparisons to Lost and Buffy, the ending does have shades of Buffy all over it. Which is why I am convinced there is yet another shoe to drop. PAD is too original for that not to be the case. However it turns out, we don’t yet know the whole story. (If for no other reason, there seems to be 2 other “independent” minds involved on the island, but we will see.)

    Iowa Jim

  5. Loved that final line. It would have made me laugh out loud while erading it, if I hadn’t had my lips sown together last week in an attempt to stop such embarrassing outbursts (particularly when I’m reading in public), as it was I made a strange gurgling sound in my throat.

    More to the point, I’m intrigued by the girl with green hair. I hope this is going somewhere for the long-term, because at the moment it’s got my interest peaked.

  6. Frankly, sir, I’m amazed you actually went through with it.

    When you told me a few months back what you were planning for the end of this issue, I said that there was a good chance the fans were going to slaughter you. You pointed out that other folks and crossovers and the like had screwed up your continuity enough, wouldn’t turnabout be fair play?

    But nobody would expect you to play the “everything you know for the last XX issues is wrong” card, I said. Exactly, you said, that’s why I’m playing it.

    You’re a cruel bášŧárd, you are.

  7. Oh, BTW, Tallest: it’s a lot easier to eat if you soak the book in apple or orange juice first– the acids liquify the book more completely than just dunking it in water. And of course, remove the staples first.

  8. loved it!
    loved the “ending”!
    loved the Bruce’s rant!
    loved the dream Rick… I mean Rip being so blind as to not see the danger he was in…
    I love this Nightmare tale….

  9. I don’t believe it for a second. Why bother developing the mystery of Ross and Ripley and Gwen to have it turn out to be in Banner’s head, ergo its another illusion. Nice that you described nost of the stories before now as being a very BAD BAD dream. P.S minor gripe but Samson didnt actually lose an eye, he just wore the eyepatch because the home base Guys had implanted a camera there.

  10. Another really good issue. This story has been very enjoyable. I wondered how long it would be before someone accused you of ripping off LOST. I was happy to see your editor nip that in the bud quickly.

    Bobby

  12. Nope, no way the ending is true. This was a mini-series and the toys would have to be put back where they were found when PAD was done playing with them….but maybe the next arc this would mean something because he would be the regular writer.

  13. Hard to believe ANYONE is taking that ending seriously, after the parade of “No, THIS is the truth!” we’ve had the past two issues. 🙂

    (Nitpicky asides: one kicks mucho culo, not mucho assero, and one’s interest is piqued. Be warned, though, culo is considerably more vulgar than “ášš”.)

  15. Of course the ending isn’t real. PAD is giving us too many scenes with the other characters to wipe it all out as a BAD DREAM. And has no one noticed the biggest clue he gave. Look at the reflection of Professor Yarish in the last panel of page 3.

  16. killin’ me…killin’ me…killin’ me…killin’ me…killin’ me…killin’ me…killin’ me…killin’ me…

    having just recently moved, i only just started placing orders thru an online retailer…obviously, my Hulk #80 isn’t here yet…won’t be here before the weekend…i really don’t even know WHEN it will be here…and I’ve got to contend with Peter talking about an ending that’s driving fans batsh!t.

    killin’ me…killin’ me…killin’ me…killin’ me…killin’ me…killin’ me…killin’ me…killin’ me…

  18. I’m just happy to be seeing anything interesting when I pick up an issue of the Hulk. The whole spy war/x-files thing they had going on was pretty boring. They brought Betty back and it seemed like none of the main characters even cared, which was really odd to be considering that Banner almost went insaine over her death.

    The ending is most likely just another island illusion. Peter David wouldn’t have bothered with this back story of the two kids running around the island with General Ross, or of Banners flashbacks to his highschool days, if it wasn’t all leading up to somthing that was going to link all of these events together in part 5.

    Whats up with the black haired chicks hair turning green? Betty clone? Banners long lost kids? She kinda looks like the girl he had a crush on in High School, and the blind guy kinda looks like the boy who put him in the hospital. Can’t wait to see what all of these random events are leading up to in part 5.

    Mike Porter

  19. Snort!
    Heh.
    Oh, whatever.
    It’s just a good read.
    And that’s what I ask for.

    Travis

  20. Fantastic issue. Some of the dialogue on the final few pages felt rushed, but maybe that was because I was reading it so quickly…rushing to the end.

    I actually laughed out loud when Bruce said, “You…you didn’t lose an eye?” and Samson answered, “Uh…no.”

    I don’t think the last seven years have been a dream, but I am interested to see you resolve all this in an issue. Twenty-eight days and counting…

  21. Oh, please, let it be true. Let everything in the past four years be a dream. Reset the clock, continue with the storyline that preceded “Heroes Reborn,” bring the Hulk back to glory!

    Amen.

  22. Best ending ever…..

    Actually I know you are playing with us but I gotta admit having everything that has happened since you left disappear would be my fan wish come true.

  23. >>Posted by Mike at April 8, 2005 09:48 AM

    So… what? The shark is still alive?
    Curse you PAD!!!! Curse you!!

    😀

    Although I don’t believe it to be true and instead believe it to be a commentary on those writers who use such plot devices, IF it were true, then even part of PAD’s run goes by the wayside. But, more importantly, I CAN’T WAIT FOR ISSUE #81!

  24. Didn’t a season of Dallas end this way?!?

    I loved ever minute of the book, I can’t wait to see where you are taking the characters.

    Regards:
    Warren S. Jones III

  25. From these comments it seems to me that a lot of other people had the same response I did.

    Stage 1: Shock “No way!”
    Stage 2: Triumphant “That would be so cool!”
    Stage 3: Realization “Between the fact that there have been so many false twists, and that there are two other active sub-plots, there’s no way this is true.”
    Stage 4: Acceptance “Oh well I guess :(“

    So yeah, wish it were true, but there’s no way in hëll.

  27. I’ve got it all figured out. Bruce actually has an autistic son named Tommy, and everything we’ve seen for the last 40+ has actually been a fantasy played out in HIS mind. On the last page Bruce will wake up in bed next to the green-haired girl who he always thought was his wife Jarella–only to discover it’s actually Susanne Pleshette. And then, to escape this insanity, he’ll jump into his personalized Holodeck and go pal around with Barclay. Oh, and somewhere along the way, Brad Pitt will beat the @!*$!#*! out of him.

  28. It’s been a while since I wrote a comic with an ending that had fans going as completely batsh*t as they are with this one.

    What, is this a trick of reverse psychology? You tell us we will go wacko over the ending, so all we can then do is gush? Well it’s not going to work. . . wait, I liked the issue *before* I read your post. My head hurts. . . maybe this is all just a dream . . . . . . .

    Iowa Jim

  29. Heh heh heh.

    You ARE an evil bášŧárd.

    I mean, is this fakeout (the “it’s all a dream” ending is, in fact, all a dream.”), or a double-fakeout (“They’re all going to THINK it’s a fakeout, so I’ll make it real!”), or a double-backward fakeout (“Psych! It really WAS a fakeout!”). Me, I think it was a double-secret-triple-fake-fakeout (“It’s all Leonard Samson’s dream and he wakes up next to Suzanne Pleshette and says “we need to wear more sweaters.”)

    Whatever. My heads hurts. Keep it up.

    The poop joke made me laugh.

  30. (Skips over the 29 previous comments)
    Okay, I know what I’m reading as soon as I get home tonight…

    Paul

  31. The last page is really interesting, because on the surface, someone net basher could read it as “Oh, PAD was ticked off about the years he got off the book and wants to revert it back to when he started. Whatta hack! Blah blah blah” And then bìŧçh accordingly.

    Now, while it would be fun to hit the ole Reset Button Hulk’s continuity, I still don’t buy it. Seems too easy for something PAD would do. Makes for a great cliffhanger, anyway. Definitely best issue ender of this series.

    But it doesn’t work because: A) everything else that’s going on in the book B) Letter col. for issue 78 had the editor saying something to the effect of “its good that Peter is acknowledging the Hulk went on after he left”. I’d don’t think he’d want to make a liar out of his own statement. C) if “it was all a dream” does happen, how in the bloody sam-freakin-hill does the cover of issue 81 come into play?! If he’s really back in the post-pantheon days, where does a Hulk’ed out Horse & Mace fit into the whole thing?!

    All that makes me believe this isn’t the “real” ending. Great way to mess with the audience. Or the more gullible ones, at least.

    Unless this *is* a reverse-fake out, then I’m totally screwed.

    Dammit, I don’t wanna eat a comic book here!

    Ugh.

    *goes and gets some orange juice*

  32. If he’s really back in the post-pantheon days, where does a Hulk’ed out Horse & Mace fit into the whole thing?!

    Pantheon was all Greek mythology stuff..it’s a gift, all Trojan like.

  33. Hmm…I’m guessing it’s a fakeout.

    If it’s true, though, who were the Thunderbolts fighting in their first appearance?

    You know…there’s one thing that makes me thing there could be a bit more truth to this…

    “House of M”

  34. DneColt’s post reminds me of the episode of TNG where Riker keeps flashing back and forth between the Enterprise and a mental ward (which was also used in “Normal Again,” my least favorite Buffy ep ever), and at the end he “breaks” through several delusions before waking up in [it would spoil the ending].

    That dream/delusion thing has been used a lot: St. Elsewhere, Dallas, the Newhart show where he had the hotel, those two eps I’ve just referenced, and probably more. *wonders if anyone’s ever catalogued them all*

  35. unfortunitly, I won’t get to a comic book shop until saturday. I’ve enjoyed the story so far, and after hearing such great things about this ending, this has to be interesting. Also, this is on my “Top 5 Issues of the Month.” (the other 3 are Star Wars (all leading up to RotS) and GLA (for some strange reason I don’t think Great Lakes Avengers is going to do very well)

  37. Well, I’m certain that last page was part of the plot… to take things way back to Hulk 426, PAD would be ignoring a big chunk of his own stories, as well. But this arc has been awesome. PAD, please never leave this title again. I have one question, though, that the final page reminded me of: Any chances of the Pantheon coming back, at least a few members? They were some great characters. Ah, to hear (or read) Paris call the Hulk “Bobby” again…

  38. I LOVED IT. I think we are most likely being faked out, but I hold out hope that maybe the book really will “time-warp”‘ – I never liked the way the merged Hulk just kinda vanished after Heroes Reborn, seemingly never to be acknowledged by Banner or anyone else again. Either way, this arc has been awesome. Thank you, PAD.

  39. I’m even more confused now than I was after reading Book Two. Is it because I’m dumb, missed the first book in the five-part arc, or is it because comics today are designed for the hard-core fans who have followed a particular title since Day One?

    By the way, there isn’t a U.S. general on the planet who wears such a huge belt, especially on the outside of a dress uniform. Gen. Ross looks like Santa Claus.

  40. Stupid question but is Banner flashback to his time in HIGH SCHOOL or COLLEGE?

    The students act like high schoolers but look like college students and the classrooms are too vague to tell. It’s been driving me nuts (er, pun not intended).

    — Ken from Chicago

  41. This is really Peter David at top form. The pacing and the humour really gives it a zing that I find in very few comics these days.

  44. I see people saying it can’t be for real because it was originally a mini. But originally it was also six issues, not 5. And originally PAD wasn’t going to be writing House of M tie-in stuff.

    I wouldn’t mind at all if the past ten years of the Hulk didn’t happen. After all, I still got to read the PAD stuff (erasing 5 years worth of that?! It’s unusual to mess with your own stories, so it feels even more realistic somehow), I can always reread it, and maybe now we can boldly go forward while possibly working on all these cool ideas we never really got to see because of Peter’s untimely departure from the book.

    I hope the intention is to show that this particular cliffhanger isn’t right, and then somehow that gives Bruce the idea to *make* it so anyway, to get rid of all the insanity (and boredom too), and to get Betty back 🙂 Playing with our preconceptions is always a good way to mess with our heads (we know it can’t be true because the Hulk was a vital part of several “real” stories, but then they’re all real, once they’ve been written, aren’t they?)

    Interestingly, it would actually work if simply the boring, pretentious years would get ignored. Because what impact has the Hulk had on the MU since Bruce Jones was writing him anyway? So I’m all for it! Didn’t hurt Dallas all that much, did it? 😉

  46. You can just tell PAD has been itching for big green, can’t you? This is comicbooking done right. Masterfully. Everything builds up to the last installment, and has got everyone guessing and confused (in the good way), waiting for the writer to tie it all up – because he’s the only person in the whole wide world who actually KNOWS what the hëll is going on.

    Heh… PAD better have a very satisfactory ribbon for this story… or people are going to go apeshit on his ášš for months.

    Infact, the story is so dámņ good you practically forget there’s an artist (and a hëll of one) involved in there, you flip the pages so fast. Can’t wait for next issue to sit and read the whole thing in one go.

    Favorite line? “Bing Bang Boom”…

    I love this arc.

  47. I have only one question as we head for the grand finale.

    Are those Mindless Ones I keep seeing? At first I thought they were the Leader’s robots but…

    Sliding towards sunrise,
    Brian Jordan, who suspects this is too much fun to be legal.

  48. Hi,

    please a kind fellow PAD.net reader/poster post here the titles and issue numbers of all the Hulk-related comics Peter David wrote which were released after ‘ Hulk : the End ‘ came out.

    Thanks

  49. PAD, please let this be true!!!!! As much as I loved all of your issues up to 477, I want to forget all of the crap that followed after you left(with the exception of Priest’s TIH # 31). I just want to start over again at #426! PLEASE!

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