Stan Lee was fond of telling us that the Marvel Universe was a reflection of the world outside our window, a place where the anxieties of its characters were very much in line with our own. These were characters grounded in their identities and concerns, never so shallow to be reduced to their spandex image alone. It helped that most of the characters were New York natives whose civilian lives were familiar to the New York native creators. Peter Parker’s rent payments were like anybody’s rent payments.
Marvel Comics
Some of The Incredible Hulk’s early failures might be tied to the deeply unfamiliar nature of the book. Set in a uniquely formless and barren New Mexico desert and featuring a scientist whose specialty is so vague that it continues to shift per the needs of any given story, the original run of The Incredible Hulk lasted only six issues. Despite all the makings of an early Marvel best seller – Lee, Jack Kirby, super science gone awry – the book never quite feels like it resides in any given place, outside our window or not.
Marvel Comics
Through its six issues, The Incredible Hulk had a hard time determining what to do with the character: was Hulk a monster terrorizing the military, did he fight aliens from outer space? Did he go to space himself, or did he play a hand in international conflicts? Even his powers were hard to nail down: initially transformed from man to beast by nightfall, he later developed a ray to transform himself (using floor-mounted, foot-manipulated buttons). For a brief moment, teenage bumbler Rick Jones commands a puppet-like version of the Hulk, who goes on rampages whenever Rick sleeps.
It isn’t until Hulk comes into conflict with the other characters of the blossoming Marvel Universe that he begins to make sense. If Marvel is the world outside our window, perhaps the Hulk is a condition outside of theirs.
In Fantastic Four #12, the Hulk is relegated to support status, and he is made all the better because of it. Without worrying about Bruce Banner’s day-to-day transformations or even the Hulk’s larger ambitions, he falls into reaction rather than action. The story allows space to sell him as a monster rather than a man.
Marvel Comics
This becomes his defining role: a beast beset upon by outside forces and forced to respond. He is dragged into the Avengers, finds that it isn’t into his liking, and bounces. He gets tricked into revenge by Namor. . . and bounces. When The Incredible Hulk is canceled, he is rolled into Tales to Astonish, where Giant-Man tracks him down. . . and he bounces. He is a bear wandering about, and the Marvel superheroes can’t stop poking him with a stick.
Incredible Hulk Epic Collection: Man or Monster? collects comics where the Hulk loses increasing amounts of agency and character development. Somehow, that was the best possible outcome for a character whose world did not bear any likeness to our own.
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