Originally published September 19, 1997, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1244
Monsters. I’m told the theme for this issue is monsters. I have some small familiarity with the subject, having lived with one in my head for over a decade.
Ten years ago, when I had been writer on The Incredible Hulk for less than a year, then-promotions head Steve Saffel told me that title was going to be my “breakout” book, the one that fans would notice me for. I told him he was crazy. Hulk was simply not a title that anyone was noticing. Fan mail was so utterly non-existent that I had had to put out an appeal, stating that I would respond personally to any and all people who wrote in to the book. Plus I figured that I had maybe a year’s worth of stories in me. I didn’t see it as a long-term gig at all.
So now it’s 140 issues later (plus annuals, one-shots, a limited series and a novel). I have easily written more words about the Hulk than I have any other single other character. Although if asked which comic series I’m proudest of, I’ll always answer The Atlantis Chronicles (proudly remaining uncollected by DC), The Incredible Hulk nonetheless remains my magnum opus.
How’d it happen to develop that way? Beats the hëll out of me.
Over a decade ago, I was sales manager at Marvel Comics when editor Bob Harras trotted into my office one day, plopped down in the chair opposite my desk, and said, “Would you be interested in writing The Incredible Hulk?
To this day, I’m not entirely certain why he asked me. My tenure on Spectacular Spider-Man had put a number of editorial noses out of joint, for it was felt that someone in sales had absolutely no business being involved on the editorial side. In fact, editorial pressure (by editors no longer there) resulted in my being fired off of Spec Spidey, so I figured that my short writing career at Marvel Comics was pretty much over. Yet there was Bob Harras, asking me if I’d be interested in taking on one of Marvel’s oldest and—frankly—most limited characters. At least, limited as far as I was concerned. Dialogue is one of my strengths, and telling the adventures of a character who had no grasp of personal pronouns and spoke mostly in catch phrases (say ’em with me: “Hulk is strongest one there is”; “The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets”; “Hulk smash!”; “Hulk hate puny Banner!”) didn’t exactly float my creative boat.
“You don’t have to do the dumb green Hulk,” he told me quickly when I voiced hesitation. He explained that Al Milgrom had transformed Bruce Banner back into his earliest incarnation of nasty, crafty and gray. Since the sales on the book were nothing to write home about, I had the okay to do whatever I wanted with the character.
The question was, how to approach him in some way that would seem both different and yet a natural outgrowth of what had gone before? Furthermore, how do we take a monstrous character and make him sympathetic? The way it had been generally done before, the Hulk was misunderstood and tormented by the world. A curious dichotomy, really: The underdog is not generally “the strongest one there is.” But that was how the Hulk had generally been made appealing all the previous years. I wanted to try something different, find some new hook for the character, but I hadn’t a clue what it was.
The key turned out to be in issue #314, written by Bill Mantlo. In that issue, Bill described Bruce Banner’s tortured childhood and abusive father. It is said that most heroic fiction is, at its core, the story of struggle between father and son. This was no exception as we learned that Bruce’s father, Brian, tormented and reviled both his son and Bruce’s mother for giving birth to him. We were never given any reason as to why precisely Brian was like this. But we saw the abuse that Brian heaped on Bruce.
To me, that was a pivotal piece of information. Because when one studies genuine cases of Multiple Personality Disorder, abuse suffered in childhood is generally one of the lead causes. Basically, the mind fractures. The core personality is unable to deal with the realities of the horror visited upon it, and so alternate personalities are constructed in order to cope. The individual himself splinters.
Furthermore, it presented an interesting take on the characters since it provided a point of view for both the Hulk and Banner. To Banner, the Hulk was more than just an engine of destruction. He was the symbol of unleashed and unthinking rage, which was everything that his father—his abuser—had been. The transformation into the Hulk was more than simply repulsive because of the penchant for destruction that the Hulk represented, or the pain that the change incurred. Bruce was appalled by the change because he became, in essence, his own father… that which he hated most in the world. And to the Hulk, Bruce was a weakling, a coward. Belittled by his father and unable to stand up to him, deep down the Hulk resented Banner because he felt that Bruce was unable to protect “them” from the threat that his father represented.
It was an intriguing Pandora’s Box of psychological implications. But I quickly discovered that, once Bill opened it, he had promptly slammed it shut again. After that one issue (a Secret Wars tie-in, no less) the topic was dropped. It was as if, having introduced the backstory, Bill felt that everything which needed to be told about the subject had been done.
I strongly disagreed, and proceeded to hinge my entire take on the character around the notion that child abuse had created a classic MPD. There were several subtexts which were part and parcel of my ambitions for the book:
(1) The abuse perpetrated by Brian Banner probably tripped over into the realm of sexual abuse. Although it was never shown or discussed, there is generally some sort of sexual abuse in MPD cases.
(2) Brian Banner was himself abused as a child. This and the previous notion were finally addressed in the Hulk “Negative One” issue.
(3) Bruce Banner would have gone bonkers, gamma rays or no. The nature of Bruce’s childhood abuse made him a prime candidate for MPD, whether he was hit with gamma rays or not. He simply became a super-powered MPD as a result.
It also gave me a hook upon which I could hang my first several years of the series. There had been any number of attempts to cure the Hulk throughout the Marvel Universe. But I couldn’t find any instance where the cure hinged upon a psychiatric treatment or clinic diagnosis. Basically the surface manifestation had been treated, but it had always invariably failed in the long term. Why? Because the core problem was not the gamma bomb, but Bruce and his damaged childhood, and any cure which did not address these issues was doomed to failure. But MPD are, and have been cured. How?
As near as I can tell, generally hypnosis. Hypnotherapy which “folds” the manufactured identities back into the core personality.
Thus would it be for the Hulk.
To my astonishment, I came up with enough story material for four years while, all during that time, slowly moving the Hulk towards an inevitable cure. This occurred in Hulk #377, which introduced the “New Hulk.” He has been that way through much of my time on the series, but lately I’ve decided that he’s gotten a bit too chatty for my tastes, and I’ve opted to make him darker, more foreboding, less loquacious.
However, one might ask: When you’ve lived with a dark, frightening character for so long, doesn’t that begin to affect you?
Well… yeah. Yeah, it does. In many ways, the Hulk has been almost autobiographical for me.
Problems, things on my mind, assorted concerns have all wound up being played out in the pages of Hulk. Naturally it’s always been to a heightened degree, but the principle remains the same.
When a character gets that much into your head, he becomes second nature to you. You get to know his moods, he gets to understand yours. You feel loyalty to him. Indeed, one of the reasons I’ve stayed on the book is dedication and concern. For all I know, if I left the book, a new writer might come in who would undo everything I’ve done over the past decades.
I judge situations as he would judge them. He will say the things that I dare not say… or even think.
And I try not to let my temper get the better of me. Because believe me… you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.
(Peter David, writer of stuff, can be written to at Second Age, Inc., P.O. Box 239, Bayport, NY 11705.)
• 
PAD,
I remember picking up Hulk because I always liked the character, but maybe not the way he was handled. Plus for some reason the Hulk was gray, and there were these awesome covers done by Walt Simonson at the time (can’t remember which issues).
And I stayed until you left… dialogue always gets me.
Thus I became a fan of yours.
So much so that I actually went to a comic book convention (Wizard World Dallas) just so I could meet you, grab an autograph and chat with you… I believe we discussed the West Wing and I bought one or two of your scripts.
It was also the one where you wore the wizard outfit during your panel about comic book writing.
I’ve probably spent quite a bit on you over the years… all worth it. Just because of the Hulk.
Thanks man.
TAC
That’s the same story arc that got me hooked. Countdown (364-367).
That was when I started picking up the series as well. I was familiar with PAD’s work from DC’s Star Trek series, and had heard good things about his Hulk work. Not to mention, he’d made quite an impression on me at my first con ever just a few years before.
–Daryl
PAD –
Your work on the Hulk made me a life-long fan. I liked the character in the old Bill Mantlo days, but felt disatisfied with the Byrne take, and later the Milgron take.
I think I speak for many others: I had become disillusioned with Marvel Comics by the late 1980s and early 1990s. Your run on the Hulk was one of the few bright spots in that period. Most other Marvel Comics of the time caused apathy, but a new issue of the Hulk always brought me joy.
Thanks.
My first encounters with The Hulk were in Avengers No. 2 and Fantastic Four Nos. 25 (still by far the best Thing-Hulk fight)and 26. In Marvel Tales Annual No. 1, he was described as a hero-villain, which appealed to me. Then, within a few years, he was the dumb Hulk. I stayed with him, but it wasn’t the same. I was and am so grateful that you returned MY Hulk to Marvel.
I also have a friend who’s MPD. I’ve sent her a link to this entry and think she’ll be interested.
Your run remains “the” run for me on the Hulk. Since then, the closest anyone’s gotten has been Greg Pak, and he took the book in a very different direction from what you did.
Given your bent for puns, I’m surprised you never put him in a Captain America t-shirt and called him the “Star-Spangled Banner.”
Hsssss.
PAD,
Will there be any more of the Hulk Visionaries: Peter David collections? The last one I’m aware of was #7, which collected Incredible Hulk 383-389 and annual #17.
Rick
P.S. During your run, Hulk was one of my favorite titles (before that, I’d only purchased a handful of issues over the years). The other day I was actually thinking about a scene from your Hulk run (though I don’t recall what prompted that image): The Hulk confronting an adversary while wearing pink bunny slippers.
I also recently recalled this great exchange between the Hulk and Doc Samson:
“Drink for the house, on me.”
“Bruce, you don’t have any money.”
“Drinks for the house, on him.”
Vol. 8 (Incredible Hulk #390-396 and annual #18, and X-factor (1986) #76) came out last year
My love of your writing stems from reading and re reading all the issues of the Hulk that you wrote. My wife tossed my collection when we first got married. My goal one of these days is to scrape up enough cash to buy all of those back.
“My wife tossed my collection when we first got married.”
.
That’s true love, man. Letting your wife toss your collection.
Wow.
‘Twere it i, that marriage would have set be in the Guinness book as “World’s Shortest Marriage”
Kind of doubt it. I think Britney holds that record. (If a spouse is throwing your stuff away within the first 2 days of your marriage, you probably should’ve seen the warning signs long before the words were spoken.)
PAD,
It was your run Hulk (along with your Star Trek stories) that turned me into HUGE Hulk fan and issue 377 remains a personal favorite of mine to this day. Even now (fairly or unfairly) I judge ANY run on Hulk to your run. How about a future run?;)
The merged Hulk and Joe Fixit are and will always be, my favorite incarnations of the Hulk.
I still like the line after he was first merged. (veerrry losely transcribed”
“So are you the Green Hulk or the Grey Hulk or what?”
“I’m Bruce Banner — The INCREDIBLE Hulk”
PAD, your HULK run was the first one to ever make me think, “I need to read more by this guy!” and it totally holds up today. It’s absolutely *the* definitive Hulk run.
“and spoke mostly in catch phrases (say ’em with me: “Hulk is strongest one there is”; “The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets”; “Hulk smash!”; “Hulk hate puny Banner!”) ”
Don’t forget, “Hulk just want be left alone.”
As little as the Hulk talked in those days, I feel like the movies’ biggest mistake is in having him speak even less. If the Hulk doesn’t talk, he doesn’t have any personality of his own, he’s just Banner with a case of roid rage. At least the catch phrases let us know that he had reasons and motivations for things. He didn’t just want to smash things.
Thanks PAD, this was a cool article. I hope there’s something like this coming up for Spider-Man 2099.
No matter how many times PAD tells this story, I never get tired of it..I actually took the advice he gave in a column once about how, if you want to get your foot in the door somewhere writing, get a job in sales or something first…Imagine if Jim Owsley had not had the spine to hire PAD…or if PAD was never given another job at Marvel after “Spectacular Spider-Man”..SHUDDER.
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To be honest, I think other Hulk writers don’t get their due..Len Wein, Roger Stern and Bill Mantlo also told some entertaining tales…of these, Mantlo – a terribly underrated and underappreciated writer – first got me addicted to the Hulk..Byrne’s run was sweet but way too short..then we had about a year’s worth of Hulk stories that were almost unreadable and I love to read almost everything…
.
Then PAD came..and except for a couple issues, never left in ELEVEN freaking years…In terms of depth and quality and longevity, it is one of the iconic runs in comic history..In the same conversation as Claremont’s 16+ year stranglehold on not only “Uncanny X-Men” but almost every X-title during that period…Doug Moench’s long run on “Batman” and “Detective Comics”..Chuck Dixon laying the foundation for the Bat-verse by not only his long runs on the core Bat-books, but also giving “Nigtwing”, “Birds of Prey” and “Robin” such solid footing that they lasted a long time…I would include Bendis’s “Ultimate Spider-Man” run as well, although some of those stories were sooo decompressed it almost feels like a cheat at times.
I remember what drew me to The Incredible Hulk was Todd McFarlane. I was loving his work on The Amazing Spider-Man, and wanted to track down other work from him. It wasn’t easy, because those Hulk issues were upwards of twenty, thirty or forty dollars each, as I recall. But my patience paid off, because not only did I stitch togther the full run of his work on the title, but also noticed that the book was filled with this really edgy, really cool dialogue. “Who the hëll is writing this”, I thought?
“Peter David? ”
“Who the hëll is that? And why have I never heard of this guy before? Well, whoever he is, I have to get more of his stuff too.”
And that was pretty much what made me a Peter David fan.
Issue #377 remains possibly my favorite issue of Peter’s run on the title. It’s the most powerful and poignant issue of his run, and the fact that it contains some pychologically dark and surreal “mindscape action” that was beautifully drawn by Dale Keown made it all the more memorable. I eventually discovered that Peter wrote prose Star Trek novels, which I had never read before, and to this day, those are the only ones I like reading.
So thanks to Todd McFarlane for introducing me to this seminal run, and to Peter David’s writing. 🙂
While i had been introduced to PAD’s writing by his “Spectacular Spider-Man” work, I was still pìššëd about the death of Jean DeWolff and though I liked other issues, I had ALWAYD read “Incredible Hulk” and was so glad to see someone telling interesting stories again..but McFarlane unquestionably drew more people to the title, which coincided with some of PAD’s freshest, strongest work..so In don’t think there”s any question that Todd helped people sample PAD’s work that never would have otherwise..a LOT of people..which I think is great.
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To think he stayed on the title for a decade after Todd left and told some of the best stories ever – “Incredible Hulk” #377 is a truly legendary issue – is mind-boggling.
What I love about the initial part of that run, at least until the fall of the Pantheon, is that so many of the artists beginning with and after Todd had styles that I came to love: McFarlane. Jeff Purves. Dale Keown. Gary Frank. Although I’m not familiar with what Jeff Purves has been doing since he left the title, the fact that the book featured four-count’em-four back-to-back-to-back-to-back artists whose work I really enjoy looking it is another reason why that run on the book was a unique one for me.
The thing is, aside from a couple “Marvel Comics Presents” stories, his 19 (?) issue run on “Incredible Hulk makes up the ENTIRETY of Jeff Purves’ comic book work. Immediatelt therafter, he had done more “mainstram” stuff like movie and TV storyboards, advertising, etc.
.
So this was a case of extreme good fortune as Purves was ideal for the Joe Fixit period and the stories PAD wanted to tell during that time.
Hulk is my favourite Marvel Character and your run is certainly one of the best of the Big Green Guy. Thank you for all those wonderful stories.
Just two corrections, one comment and a recommendation:
– It was TIH#312 issue, not #314
– #313 was Bill Mantlo’s last issue in Hulk, and it was a crossover with Alpha, so he had no time to develop the idea. It was Byrne who “promptly slammed it shut again”. And he also shut The Triad theme (Bruce imaginary friends)
wich was a important part of that story that I think deserved (and still deserve) more space in Hulk/Banner history.
– I can’t understand why you (still) thing of the Hulk as a “limited character”. Ok, The Hulk does not usually talk too much, but Banner does, and Hulk story is also Banner story. I love Pak’s run and there’s a lot of talk in it.
– For anyone interested in Bill’s run, Marvel has just release a Trade Paperback of my favourite Hulk issues ever. It’s called “Regression”. PAD followers will specially like it, because those are the issues previous to Web of Spiderman #8.
http://marvel.com/comic_books/collection/41053/incredible_hulk_regression_trade_paperback
Thanks again for your great stories of a version of Hulk different to everything we had ever seen.
PAD: For all I know, if I left the book, a new writer might come in who would undo everything I’ve done over the past decades.
Yeah.
sigh
“But I quickly discovered that, once Bill opened it, he had promptly slammed it shut again”
Actually, Mantlo was off the book 2 issues after that revelation (which was actually in #312), so it would have been Byrne who dropped the topic.
I started reading Hulk just as Peter David’s run was winding down (same thing happened with Aquaman), so I’m grateful that Marvel has been releasing the trades. And I’d be even more grateful for a Hulk Forever book.
Meantime, hasn’t he done nearly 100 issues of the current run on X-Factor?
I always found the Hulk to be the most boring character ever. As someone who likes the story almost to an exclusive degree (truly bad art may make me leave a title, but the only artist I have ever picked up a series for is George Perez. And that was a dissapointment that makes it unlikely to be repeated), I found the whole concept to be limiting and utterly non-appealing.
Then, while living in Germany in the late eighties, where comics came out in little TPBs two, three or, if you were lucky (Spider-Man), four times a year, I was so starved that I bought a Conan and a Hulk book. While Conan did nothing to redeem itself in my eyes, Hulk featured the Mr. Fixit days. And I then proceeded to red the rest of the run. The fact that he could turn the Hulk into one of my favorite titles, made me a PAD fan for life (and of course, things like X-Factor and Aquaman helped to solidify that).