The Rampaging Hulk is acomic book series published byMarvel Comics. The first volume was ablack and white magazine published byCurtis Magazines (an imprint of Marvel) from 1977–1978. With issue #10, it changed its format to color and its title toThe Hulk!, and ran another 17 issues before it was canceled in 1981. It was a rare attempt by Marvel to mix theirsuperhero characters with the "mature readers" black-and-white magazine format.
| The Rampaging Hulk | |
|---|---|
 Cover ofThe Rampaging Hulk #1 (Jan. 1977). Art byKen Barr | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Schedule | List
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| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | List
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| No. of issues | List
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| Main character(s) | The Hulk |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | List
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| Penciller(s) | |
| Inker(s) | |
| Colorist(s) | List
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| Editor(s) | List
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| Collected editions | |
| Essential Rampaging Hulk Vol. 1 | ISBN 0-7851-2699-6 |
| Essential Rampaging Hulk Vol. 2 | ISBN 0-7851-4255-X |
With the change to color and the title toThe Hulk!, the magazine became Marvel's attempt to cash in on the popularity ofThe Incredible Hulk TV series, starringBill Bixby andLou Ferrigno, both of whom were prominently featured and interviewed[1][2] over the course of the magazine's run, as was executive producerKenneth Johnson.[3]
The series had a second run of six issues from August 1998 to January 1999.
Publication history
editThe Rampaging Hulk ran for nine issues from January 1977 to June 1978.[4] With issue #10 (Aug. 1978), the bi-monthly magazine changed its title toThe Hulk! and became a full-color book utilizing "Marvelcolor".[5]
The magazine featured fully painted covers by such artists asKen Barr,Earl Norem, andJoe Jusko. Norem's work on the series included a darkly-lit close-up of the Hulk's face, looking angry and gritting his teeth with one of his fists raised, done forThe Hulk! #17 (Oct. 1979).
Artists such asWalt Simonson,[6]John Buscema,Howard Chaykin,John Romita Sr.,John Romita Jr. (doing some of his first professional work),Keith Pollard,Jim Starlin,Joe Jusko,Bill Sienkiewicz,Val Mayerik,Herb Trimpe,Brent Anderson, andGene Colan provided interior artwork; while writers such as Starlin,Doug Moench,[6]Roger Stern,Dennis O'Neil, andArchie Goodwin took on the scripting chores. The coloring of the color issues was done bySteve Oliff,[7] using a system developed byRick Marschall for the magazine.[8]
Through its run, the magazine published backup features starringUlysses Bloodstone (issues #1–6 and 8) theMan-Thing (issue #7)[9] andShanna the She-Devil (issue #9).[10] TheMoon Knight was featured in issues #11–15, #17–18, and #20, featuring some of Bill Sienkiewicz's early work starting in #13,[11] when his style was similar to that ofNeal Adams.
The story "A Very Personal Hell" in issue #23 (Oct. 1980) has been criticized for its depiction of an attempted rape of Bruce Banner and the use ofanti-gay stereotypes.[12][13][14]
With issue #24, the magazine returned to black-and-white, though it published the lastDominic Fortune backup story in full color.[15] It was canceled with issue #27 (June 1981).[5]
A six-issue comic book series in color, also titledThe Rampaging Hulk, was published from August 1998 to January 1999 by Marvel. Most of the stories were written byGlenn Greenberg with art byRick Leonardi andDan Green.[16]
Editorial direction
editThe stories inThe Rampaging Hulk were set between the end of his original, short-lived solo title and the beginning of his feature inTales to Astonish.[17] A problem with this was pointed out by fans in theletter columns. Despite the stories being placed in the past, they depicted the Hulk's character as he was contemporaneously, e.g. speaking in his "Hulk smash!"pidgin English, changing to and from Bruce Banner based on his emotions, and wearing tattered purple trousers; whereas in the claimed time frame, he should have spoken fluent, if gangsterish, English, transformed via a gamma ray machine, and wore neat purple trunks.
With its re-titling toThe Hulk!, the series turned to using stories set contemporaneously with the majority of Marvel publications (including its sister titleThe Incredible Hulk). It also adopted the same formula of the popularIncredible Hulk TV series: human interest-driven, with no supporting cast, no supervillains, and no guest stars.[18]
AlthoughThe Rampaging Hulk /The Hulk! was intended to feature stand-alone stories, some characters (such as the extraterrestrialBereet) crossed over into theIncredible Hulk title. Bereet appeared in issue #269 (March 1982) of the regular series to explain away theRampaging Hulk series as fictions she created for the entertainment of her homeworld's residents.[19] This changed theRampaging Hulk stories intometafiction.
Other Marvel mainstays also appeared, with theX-Men making an appearance in issue #2[20] and theAvengers in issue #9.[21]
Collected editions
edit- Essential Rampaging Hulk
- Volume 1 collects the Hulk stories fromThe Rampaging Hulk #1–9,The Hulk! #10–15, andThe Incredible Hulk #269, 584 pages, June 2008,ISBN 978-0785126997
- Volume 2 collects the Hulk stories fromThe Hulk! #16–27, 544 pages, April 2010,ISBN 978-0785142553
References
edit- ^Anonymous. "Bill Bixby Tells What It's Like to Play TV's Bruce Banner,"The Hulk #10, August 1978, Marvel Comics, pp. 45–49.
- ^Anonymous. "Green Muscles,"The Hulk #12, December 1978, Marvel Comics, pp. 29–32.
- ^Swires, Steven. "This Man Tell Hulk What to Do!",The Hulk #20, 1980, Marvel Comics, pp. 38–42.
- ^The Rampaging Hulk at theGrand Comics Database
- ^abThe Hulk! at theGrand Comics Database
- ^abSanderson, Peter (2008). "1970s". In Gilbert, Laura (ed.).Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 178.ISBN 978-0756641238.
In these stories, written by Doug Moench and drawn by Walter Simonson, the Hulk contended against an invading race of aliens called the Krylorians.
- ^Image Comics: The Road to Independence
- ^X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills Extended Cut
- ^Gerber, Steve (w),Starlin, Jim (p),Wiacek, Bob (i). "Among the Great Divide!"The Rampaging Hulk, no. 7 (February 1978).
- ^Gerber, Steve (w),DeZuniga, Tony (p), DeZuniga, Tony (i). "The Wrath of Raga-Shah!"The Rampaging Hulk, no. 9 (June 1978).
- ^"The Hulk! #13 (February 1979)".Grand Comics Database.
- ^Cronin, Brian (February 23, 2010)."Things That Turned Out Bad – Bruce Banner Has a Rough Visit to the Y".Comic Book Resources.Archived from the original on May 9, 2015.
- ^Gross, Larry (2002).Up from Invisibility: Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Media in America. New York, New York:Columbia University Press. p. 213.ISBN 978-0231119528.
Bruce Banner shower rape.
- ^Leogrande, Cathy (2015)."Live and Let Die: Jim Wilson, the Hulk and AIDS in the 1980s and 1990s". In Darowski, Joseph J. (ed.).The Ages of the Incredible Hulk: Essays on the Green Goliath in Changing Times. Jefferson, North Carolina:McFarland & Company. pp. 170–171.ISBN 978-0786497331.
- ^O'Neil, Dennis (w),Chaykin, Howard (p), Chaykin, Howard (i). "Slay Bells"The Hulk!, no. 25 (February 1981).
- ^The Rampaging Hulk vol. 2 at theGrand Comics Database
- ^Warner, John. "The Rampaging Editorial",The Rampaging Hulk #1, January 1977, pp. 40–41.
- ^Greenberg, Glenn (February 2014). "The Televised Hulk".Back Issue! (70). Raleigh, North Carolina:TwoMorrows Publishing: 23.
- ^Mantlo, Bill (w),Buscema, Sal (p), Buscema, Sal (i). "Enter: The Hulk-Hunters!"The Incredible Hulk, vol. 2, no. 269 (March 1982).
- ^Moench, Doug (w),Simonson, Walt (p),Alcala, Alfredo (i). "And Then...the X-Men"The Rampaging Hulk, no. 2 (April 1977).
- ^Moench, Doug (w), Buscema, Sal (p), Mesina, Rudy (i). "To Avenge the Earth"The Rampaging Hulk, no. 9 (June 1978).
External links
edit- The Rampaging Hulk at the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)
- The Hulk! at the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)
- The Rampaging Hulk vol. 2 at the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)