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Mario Zuniga Ms. Bell English IV 3 September 2013

Comic Book Research: The Incredible Hulk As most people know, Comic Books are the main form of the interpretation of Super Heroes and Villains. They are popular among youth and adult enthusiasts alike, and can be purchased nearly anywhere, however, not a whole lot of people know anything else beyond the very basic and general knowledge of Comic Books. The History of Comic Books Comic Books are one of the oldest forms of storytelling, dating all the way back to the 1800s and even earlier. Depending on who you ask, what a comic is can vary from person to person. Basically, a comic is a series of words and pictures presented in order to form a narrative (McCloud 1993). Despite the fact that Comic Books can be traced all the way back to the ancient times where Comic like carvings can be found in caves and the like, the modern comic book was originated in the United States in the 1800s (RandomHistory.com). Since then, the idea of Comic Books has blossomed into something much greater and popular, something that has been dominated by two major Comic Book publishers: Detective Comics (DC) and Marvel.

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Originally, DC was known as the National Periodical Publication, and Marvel was known as Timely Comics. From the time that these major Comic publishers were created, ages were created as the Comics evolved throughout the years in order to distinguish between periods of Comic Book history, including storytelling techniques, marketing strategies, and styles of art and writing (Coogan 2006). In total, there are five different ages, the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, and the Modern Age, each with its own distinct characteristics. The Golden Age (1930s- 1950s) was generally characterized by the initialization of the modern Comic Book, establishing the very basics of todays types of Comics. The Silver Age (1950s- 1970s) saw the rise of Super Heroes that people know the most today. The Bronze Age (1970s-1980s) is the time where Comic Book stores began to open and Comic Books were available in general stores. The Iron Age (1980s) was invaded by independent Comic Book publishers, where pretty much anybody could print out their own Comics. Finally, the Modern Age (Present) started producing newer and more innovative Comic Books (RandomHistory.com; DaveyBeauchamp.com). Throughout these Ages, multiple Heroes and Villains were created, many of which became very popular, including the Incredible Hulk.

History of the Incredible Hulk The creation of the Incredible Hulk evolved from the brilliant minds of writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. The very first appearance of the Hulk was recorded in May of 1962, where he appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1. (ComicVine.com). The idea for The Incredible Hulk had emerged from the thoughts of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby after being inspired by prior famous

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characters such as Frankenstein and Jekyll and Hyde. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby didnt create The Hulk alone, however, they were joined by the likes of writers Bill Mantlo, Peter David and Greg Pak and artists Marie Severin, Herb Trimpe, Sal Buscema, John Byrne, Todd McFarlane, Dale Keown, Gary Frank, Adam Kubert, Mike Deodato, Jr. and John Romita Jr. (ComicVine.com). The original Hulk created by Lee was intended to be grey, not green, because he believed that, gray would be a heavy, dramatic, somber color, in keeping with the melodramatic mood we wanted to establish." The reason this changed was because printers in the 1960s and 70s couldnt keep the consistency of grey that was intended to be used on the Hulk (ComicVine.com). The Incredible Hulk had only lasted six issues when it was first created. It had eventually been incorporated into the Avengers comics due to the lack of popularity in the Comics solely featuring the Hulk. From then, the Hulk would be used as a reoccurring hero in the Avengers comics and never again became individually popular until the Modern Age came about.

Author/Artist Biography The two main creators of The Incredible Hulk, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, are the most famous Writer/Artist duos Comic Book duos of all time. Author Stan Lee is the chairperson of Marvel comics and artist Jack Kirby has his drawings featured in hundreds, if not thousands, of Comic Books.

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Stan Lee had joined Marvel Comics when he was just sixteen years old and was the youngest editor in the business at the time. However, when World War II came around he joined the army, only to come back a few years later. He would eventually become the chairperson of Marvel Comics and later was named the Publisher of Marvel in 1972 (IronManArmory.com). Joining Lees side in the creation of The Incredible Hulk, Jack Kirby, now celebrated as a legendary Comic Book artist, put in an incredible amount of time and effort into a multitude of other famous comics. He had received his first job as an artist in the year 1935 from the Max Fleischer animation studio. Later in his life, Kirby had eventually drawn for both Marvel Comics and DC Comics, illustrating famous superheroes such as Captain America (ComicVine.com).

Comic Summary The Comic Book read for this particular summary was the first issue of The Incredible Hulk, which was published in 1962. This Comic Book is split up into five different sections: Part 1, The Coming of the Hulk, Part 2, The Hulk Strikes, Part 3, The Search for Hulk, Part 4, Enter The Gargoyle! and Part 5, The Hulk Triumphant. Part 1 establishes the creation of The Incredible Hulk. In this section, it declares that Doctor Bruce Banner is caught in an accidental explosion, and the radiation causes him to change severely, altering his muscle formation and the color of his skin.

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In Part 2, The Hulk realizes what had happened and retreats to his cabin. He determines that he is virtually invincible and can do anything with no repercussion. Come night time, he returns to his normal form. Part 3 of the Comic is pretty irrelevant except for the fact that Bruce reveals that he is scared he will turn into The Hulk again at night. In Part 4, the Comic introduces The Gargoyle, who enters after background information and events occur. Finally, in Part 4, The Incredible Hulk and the Gargoyle fight, and eventually the Gargoyle kills himself, making The Hulk victorious.

Personal Review Overall, I think this Comic lacks a certain vibe that most of the other popular comic books possess. Even though this is the first comic of the series and is predominantly overrun by background information, I believe that it couldve used a better storyline . Most of the time, while I was reading this comic, I ended up being bored and ultimately ended up getting sidetracked with other things. All in all, I definitely wouldnt recommend this comic book to anybody, except maybe a Comic Book enthusiast or collector. The only real value I see in this comic is the fact that it is very collectible, considering the fact that it is the very first issue, despite it being extremely boring in my eyes.

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Works Cited
1. Beauchamp, Davey. "DaveyBeauchamp.com." The Ages of Comic Books. N.p.. Web. 2 Sep 2013. <http://www.daveybeauchamp.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Ages-of-Comics-DaveyBeauchamp.pdf>.

2. "ComicVine.com." Hulk. N.p., 3 Mar 2013. Web. 2 Sep 2013. <http://www.comicvine.com/hulk/40052267/wiki-history/>. 3. Coogan, Peter. 2006. Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre. Austin, TX: MonkeyBrain Books. 4. McCloud, Scott. 1993. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press. 5. "RandomHistory.com." A History of the Comic Book. N.p., 18 Mar 2008. Web. 2 Sep 2013. <http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/033comic.html>. 6. Rassbasch, Tim. "IronManArmory.com." Stan Lee. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Sep 2013. <http://ironmanarmory.com/STANLEE.html>