"The Incredible Hulk"- The Not-So-Jolly Green Giant (The 60's-70's Era)

The Hulk first smashed his way onto the scene in "The Incredible Hulk"#1 (May 1962). Created by that great superhero maestro, Stan Lee (writer) and the fantastically bombastic artist, Jack Kirby. The original series lasted only six issues, but The Hulk made some splashy appearances with The Fantastic Four (The early,truly epic "Thing vs Hulk" battles), Spider-Man, and The Avengers (of which he was one of the founding members).The Hulk soon gained his own feature again, in "Tales To Astonish"#60-101. During that time  he was drawn by many artistic greats including---Jack Kirby; Steve Ditko; Gil Kane; Bill Everett; John Buscema; and Marie Severin. (Herb Trimpe and Sal Buscema would take on that job, after The Hulk re-gained his own title back).

(Robert) Bruce Banner was test detonating a gamma bomb that he'd created for the U.S. Army, when a teenager, Rick Jones (who would become The Hulk's longtime sidekick afterwards), accidentally drove onto the test site, as the bomb was about to go off! Bruce hurried out to save Rick, but was caught in the gamma radiation from the blast. Thus was born the rampaging, giant, green beast-man; The Incredible Hulk! Banner would transform during times of anger, stress or danger; giving him massive size, extreme strength, invulnerability, and the ability to leap vast distances. The Hulk was relentlessly pursued by the Army, under the command of General 'Thunderbolt' Ross, during his early years. To complicate matters, Bruce was in love with the General's daughter, Betty (but she would later marry Bruce's rival, Glen Talbot; she and Bruce would finally marry after Glen's death in 1981).

The Hulk gained his own title back; "Tales To Astonish" became "The Incredible Hulk" (Vol. 2), with issue #102. He battled many super-powered villains over the years like---The Leader; The Abomination; The Rhino (famous Spider-Man Villain); and countless others. The Wolverine (a superhero who gained immense popularity in the years to come; solo or as part of The X-Men) was introduced in issues #180-181! The Hulk also gained a love interest of his own; a green-skinned beauty from another dimension, named Jarella. In 1972, The Hulk co-founded and became part of the superhero team, The Defenders (which originally included Dr. Strange and The Sub-Mariner). Later members would include---Valkyrie; Nighthawk; Hellcat; The Gargoyle; The Beast; The Son of Satan; and Luke Cage.

In 1977, a black & white magazine called "The Rampaging Hulk" was created. The story-lines dealt with The Hulk's early years. This series lasted for 9 issues. Starting with issue #10, the magazine was changed to "The Hulk", which featured full color stories (set in current days). The Moon-Knight was a back-up feature in the magazine.

The 70's and 80's brought the live-action TV series "The Incredible Hulk", starring Bill Bixby as Dr. David Banner and Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk (they also co-starred in 3 follow-up TV movies).In the 2000's, The Hulk has been in 3 live-action major motion pictures---"The Hulk" (starring Eric Bana); "The Incredible Hulk" (starring Edward Norton); and last year's blockbuster hit, "The Avengers" (starring Mark Ruffalo as you-know-who). In these movies, The Hulk was created by C.G.I. and motion-capture actor performance. The Hulk has also been in many animated series' and animated movies, over the years.

The Hulk continues to 'smash' his way into fans' hearts, and will for many years to come!!!