HuLK BustERs

Five essential Hulk comic-book stories…

John Byrne’s Hulk

Byrne fell out with Marvel over his too-short six-issue run, but it’s a belter. Banner is happy (and married) now that he and the Hulk are separate entities, but his alter-ego’s loss of his human anchoring element has unfortunate side-effects.

Tempest Fugit

In Peter David’s story, the Hulk battles freaky manifestations of his inner demons on a trippy island. Would be great on the big screen if some of the continuity was fixed. Just be sure to keep all the bits where he scraps with giant squid and sharks.

Future Imperfect

Also by Peter David, this post-apocalyptic fable sees the Hulk confronting a deadly opponent: an alternaversion of himself. Presiding over a dystopian future, the Maestro is despotic and despicable: a Hulk parable for the Trump era, perhaps?

Return Of The Monster

Some fans called for more action but Bruce Jones’ creepy, deep-noir run offered a fresh take on the Hulk. In this tale, Banner goes on the run after the Hulk is supposedly semi-responsible for a child’s unfortunate death, and he’s tailed by supernatural agents.

World War Hulk

How do you follow a monster like Greg Pak’s

Planet Hulk arc? Go bigger. In Pak’s sequel to his epic intergalactic brawler, Hulk blames the Avengers for the tragic climactic events of Planet… and gets his battle-face on.