The Incredible Hulk is a Marvel Comics series produced in 1962, written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby, and was the first series to feature the titular Hulk.
On a top-secret US military base in New Mexico, government scientist Bruce Banner is preparing for the testing of his latest invention, the mighty Gamma Bomb, when he sees a teenager has somehow strayed onto the testing ground. Rushing to save the boy's life, Banner is struck by the full force of the bomb, but does not die. Instead, Banner soon finds he has been cursed to turn into a creature of unlimited power and rage that the world comes to know as... The Hulk.
The series only lasted six issues before its cancellation, but Marvel soon learned they had a sleeper hit on their hands.
The first issue was released on March 1, 1962. The final issue (#6; with art done by Steve Ditko) was released on January 3, 1963. After The Incredible Hulk was cancelled, Hulk became a regular character in The Avengers (first as a protagonist, then an antagonist) before going on to feature in Tales to Astonish, a split-book Anthology Comic series in 1965. In 1968, Tales to Astonish was retitled, dropped the anthology elements, and became a second series of The Incredible Hulk (1968).
The Incredible Hulk (1962) provides examples of:
- Alien Invasion: Issue #2 has the Hulk fight off the menace of the terrifying Toad-Men From Outer Space!
- Anti-Hero: The Hulk's motivation is usually because the villain of the week has messed with him first. The rest of the time, he's a misanthrophic jerk.
- Badass Boast: The Hulk is very prone to these.
- Breakout Character: The Hulk himself. The first volume of Hulk was only six issues long. It wasn't until afterward Marvel learnt ol' Jade Jaws was actually popular with college students. To think this short-lived comic would end up inspiring an entire media franchise and its titular character achieving lasting popularity.
- Brooklyn Rage: Starting from issue #4, Hulk starts speaking with a Brooklyn wise-guy accent that Banner doesn't, with no real explanation.
- Colony Drop: The Toad-Men threaten to use the power of magnetism to drop the Moon on Earth.
- Commie Land: The original series had the Gargoyle abducting Bruce Banner/The Hulk and bringing him to Russia in issue #1.
- Death by Secret Identity: The Gargoyle learns Bruce and the Hulk are more-or-less the same, so naturally he dies soon after.
- Delegation Relay: In issue #1, various Soviet figures pass the buck on delivering a report to the Gargoyle, going up and down the chain of command until a flunky just shoves the report under his door.
- Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: Since this was the 60s, Bruce Banner's shown holding a pipe, also serving as a contrast to the loud and blustering General Ross, who's almost never seen without a cigar.
- The Dreaded: By issue #2, people are already running and hiding from the Incredible freaking Hulk.
- The Dulcinea Effect: Banner barely notices Betty exists, but in issue #5 the Hulk allows himself to be enslaved by Tyrannus holding Betty hostage.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Pretty much all of it. Much of it's eventually revisited in other series (mostly many years later in the Peter David run), explained and integrated into the Hulk's complex nature.
- For a start, in issue #1, the Hulk is grey. He'll become green in issue #2, because of coloring issues and never really looks back.
- Hulk's diction. No "Hulk SMASH!" here. Instead, starting off, his ability to speak is no different from Banner's, barring one or two moments which might just be talking in the brief. He also makes no remarks about "puny humans" or wanting to be left alone, or even smashing.
- Hulk's very personality. No Gentle Giant here either, this Hulk is rude, brutish and on several occasions even outright malevolent (though he never gets a chance to act on his impulses, his first thought on getting the Toad Men arsenal is how to turn it on mankind).
- The nature of Hulk's transformation. In the first few issues, the change is brought on by the sun going down, and reversed by it going up. No ifs, ands or buts. By issue #4, Bruce sort-of controls the transformation by shooting himself with a big gamma ray gun. The notion of Hulking Out occurring when Bruce gets upset won't come until Tales to Astonish #59, in 1965.
- No "the angrier, the stronger" here. Hulk's just as strong as the plot requires.
- Easily Forgiven: Goes both ways in issue #6. The Hulk (wrongly) assumes Rick betrayed him to the military and swears vengeance, causing Rick to sulk for some time, but the minute he sees a helpless Banner asking for help, he forgives him, since Bruce isn't in control of what he says as the Hulk.
- Empty Shell: In issue #3, a burst of gamma radiation causes the Hulk to go on auto-pilot, controlled by Rick Jones's thoughts, but only so long as Rick's nearby and conscious. After a while of this, the Hulk and Banner's personality starts to reassert itself.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Since the secret identity is still a thing, and will be for some years, General Ross and Betty come to some assumptions about Bruce which are not quite right. They do at least peg there is some connection between the two, but never put two and two fully together.
- Establishing Character Moment:
- General Ross blusters into the control room and sneers at Banner's suggestion of caution over the Gamma Bomb, declaring "A bomb is a bomb!", before decrying Banner himself as a weakling and coward.
- Betty then makes it clear she's a Nice Gal by telling him to calm down, and defending Bruce's reputation.
- Extra-ore-dinary: In issue #6, the Hulk faces off against an alien called Metal Master who promptly waltzes over Hulk. Hulk comes back for round two with a gun that Banner and Rick Jones have made, which the Metal Master can't control. Hulk promptly knocks him out because the gun was made of cardboard.
- Fainting: Betty Ross's first glimpse of the Hulk makes her pass out like a light.
- Freakiness Shame: The Gargoyle would much rather die than continue to live as a hideously deformed mutate.
- Gosh Darn It to Heck!: It was the 60s, and the Comics Code Authority meant no swearing, so even the hardened military general can only let out heartfelt "darns" and "blasts", and when really worked up musters a thunderous "blankety-blank".
- He Knows Too Much: The Hulk and Rick's first interaction has the creature turn on Rick because he's the only one who knows he used to be Banner. Fortunately at that moment the sun comes up, and he immediately reverts to Banner.
- Hypno Ray: The Ringmaster, leader of the Circus of Crime, uses a hypnotic device in his top hat to hypnotize his audiences, then has his performers rob them blind. Then they go around the local area getting everyone else while they're at it.
- Immune to Bullets: In issue #1, the Hulk is not quite immune. He does get shot in the shoulder, but he barely notices. Starting from issue #2, he's properly immune to them. And grenades. And everything short of a nuke.
- In a Single Bound: Issue #3 introduces the Hulk's ability to leap miles in one go from a standing start, which he uses to hop across continental distances (though the way he's drawn it looks a heck of lot like just flying half the time).
- Insufferable Genius: Bruce shows a little bit of this at first, telling Igor "I don't make mistakes."
- Inspector Javert: The minute the Hulk appears, General Ross dedicates himself to hunting him down and destroying him. Slightly less General Ripper than their later interactions since here the Hulk is much less sympathetic, and Ross less of an obsessive nut about it.
- I Owe You My Life: Rick Jones sticks with Bruce and the Hulk on these grounds, since Bruce was the first person who ever did anything for him.
- Jekyll & Hyde: Mild-mannered scientist Bruce Banner, who sought to use his genius for the benefit of mankind, becomes the raging Hulk, who hates all humanity. However, the formula changes up a bit come issue #4, when Bruce rigs things up so he apparently retains his intelligence on hulking out. The Hulk suddenly starts becoming far more personally belligerent towards Rick, which is apparently because while Banner can control the Hulk, it's a lot harder to think as the Hulk. Exactly where the line between Banner and Hulk stands starts to get a little blurry after that.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: In issue #5, Betty Ross is kidnapped by baddies and taken to their underground lair. Hulk goes down and rescues her (at the time, the Hulk was intelligent), beats the baddies and proves that he's not evil after all. During the tram back up the mine shaft it's revealed that Betty has forgotten the whole event due to stress. This is while she's still in the same room as the guy who just rescued her.
- Lured into a Trap: issue #3 and issue #4, first by the US government trying to launch Hulk into space and get rid of him forever, using Rick as bait, and in issue #4 by them dirty commies trying to take Hulk back home so they can experiment on him.
- Misanthrope Supreme: The Hulk forms with a full-on hatred for all mankind from the get go, blaming them for his very existance.Hulk: Why shouldn't I hate you? Why shouldn't I hate all mankind? Look what men have done to me!
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Bruce Banner tries to rescue Rick Jones from getting nuked, and is turned into the Hulk.
- The Not-Love Interest: Betty is clearly intended to be the traditional love interest role. She's the only woman in the cast and spends all her time mooning over Bruce, but he scarcely looks at her twice. Even in issue #6, while he says he cares about her, he never goes all the way up to "love". Just cares.
- Operation: Jealousy: In issue #5, Betty tries dating the mysterious Mr. Tyrannus who's just shown up, in the hopes it'll get some attention from Bruce. He turns out to be the supervillain Tyrannus, and abducts her.
- Painful Transformation: It's pretty clear from the off that Bruce turning into the Hulk hurts, and turning back isn't any more fun either, leaving Bruce severely drained for hours afterward. Rick figures it's one of the reasons Hulk is so surly.
- Papa Wolf: What inspires General Ross to fully commit to hunting down and destroying the Hulk? Watching his terrified daughter tell him of her encounter with the monster after she regains consciousness.
- Pet the Dog: In issue #6, General Ross suggests to Rick that if he really wants to do something, the best he should do is go to school and excell.
- Redemption Equals Death: Banner manages to restore Soviet genius the Gargoyle to a normal human form, which also brings his genius intellect down to a normal human level. The former Gargoyle, grateful to be a normal human again, frees Banner and Rick Jones - and then launches a Suicide Attack on his communist comrades, blowing up the whole base.
- Super-Senses: issue #4 first introduces the notion that Hulk's senses are more powerful than the average human's, as a sound cannon that wouldn't afflict people is agonizing to him.
- Swiss-Cheese Security: A top secret US military base with security so tight a teenager can drive onto their bomb testing range on a bet, which has also been infiltrated by a Soviet spy.
- That Was Not a Dream: Betty initially wonders whether the Hulk is real. Since she says this out loud, the Hulk, who's snuck up behind her, feels the need to correct her. He's very real.
- The End... Or Is It?: Issue #6, and therefore this run, ends with Bruce hoping the Hulk will stay gone this time forever. The narration makes it clear that this isn't the case.
- Totally Radical: Since Rick Jones is a teenager, there are occasional attempts to give him dialogue meant to sound like what the happening kids of the 60s would say, daddio. Gets more pronounced when he founds the Teen Brigade in issue #6, but it's not as painful as it could be.
- Ultimate Job Security: Bruce Banner disappears, often for days at a time, without a moment's notice to go do Hulk stuff, and when he does show up is barely seen to do anything. Ross angrily notes several times that if he had his way, he'd cashier Bruce's ass faster than he could say "harumph", but since Bruce isn't actually a military scientist, he's not under Ross's jurisdiction, so there's not a damned thing he can do.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Turned around in issue #6, when the US government pardons the Hulk for dealing with the Metal Master. The Hulk promptly wigs out because he feels this isn't reward enough.
- We Can Rule Together: The Metal Master gives the Hulk this offer in issue #6, and the Hulk strongly considers it... before deciding "nah".
- Yellow Peril: issue #3 has the Hulk travel to Asia to face the dread General Fang, a yellow-skinned warlord of definitely-not-Red-China affiliation who's going around enslaving people.
