Why is the Hulk intelligent?

[Canadian]

I hadn't read Hulk in a while. I have been reading Planet Hulk (and I love it!), and Hulk is intelligent.:confused: Not Bruce-Banner-intelligent, but he is not "Hulk Smash" stupid either.

What happened?

[Zero Hunter]

He has gone back and forth over the years depending what the current writers want. He is closer now to his original take of being sort of the Hyde to Banners Jekyl. Very cunning and prone to losing his temper. The dumb "Hulk Smash" was more the middle of his history. Peter David set it up in his run way back that Banner has multiple personalitys due to all the trama and stress he has had in his life. He used both the grey skinned smaller smarter Hulk and the big green Hulk "Smash Hulk" and merged them together into the "Professor" Hulk who was sort of a combo of all three for a while.

So I supose that because of the multiple personalitys the writer can pick and choose which type they want to use and get away with it without alot of fuss really.

[Kevinroc]

The current personality of The Hulk appears to be the "Grayvage" Hulk. The Gray Hulk (or Joe Fixit)'s personality in the body of the green Hulk.

He's a little smarter than the Savage Hulk. He's actually quite cunning.

He's not as smart as Banner or The Professor.

But he's as strong as the baseline strength of The Savage Hulk (well, the planet the current story takes place on does make The Hulk a little weaker).

[algertman]

Hulk is one thing. A badass

Is he smart? Well I'm not gonne say he isn't. Cause he would jump through the page and beat me to death with my arms after he ripped them off.

[MythicBrawn]

Personally, I like him this way. His attitude is better than the gray Hulk and not nearly as stupid as the Savage Hulk. I'd say he's at least high school graduate level intelligence. He's not at his peak strength-wise but he is gaining it back.

[10xPete]

I think the smart, nice, hanging out with women (probably his wife I saw in a comic book a while ago) is the best Hulk. I don't like the "Hulk smash!" kind of Hulk. It was just dumb. The stories were lame.

[Mike Smash!]

Hulk has always been in a state of flux. He's been smart, stupid, kind, cruel, he's been a hero, a monster, an Avenger, a Las Vegas enforcer, a fugitive, green, grey...etc..

He actually didn't take on his classic "Hulk Smash!" personna until he'd been around for several years. The form that you see him in now is the one he had when he first joined the Avengers and had for many years, slowly evolving into the the Hulk we know and love.

This persona for him is known by many fans as the "Grayvage" Hulk, since he's sort of a mix between the classic Savage Hulk ("Hulk Smash") and the Grey Hulk, who was cunning, a dark sense of humor and had normal intelligence.

Actually, Hulk's versatility has always been one of my favorite things about the character. In his first six appearances, he changed dramatically and hasn't stopped changing since.

[The Sentry]

The Joe Fixit stories were some of my favourite Hulk stories.

[Starkicker]

I've been reading the first volumes of Essential F.F. and Essential Avengers lately, they have a bunch of Hulk appearances. The Hulk that Greg Pak writes reminds me of Stan Lee's Hulk. Just a bad ass, loner type who is sort of an anti-hero.

How long has this Planet Hulk persona been around?
I read the beginning of Bruce Jones' run, and the first part of Peter David recent storyline. Does this present persona pop up in the Hulk going to space story before Planet Hulk or earlier?

[StoneGold]

He took a University of Phoenix extension course while in Alaska.

[Mike Smash!]

I've been reading the first volumes of Essential F.F. and Essential Avengers lately, they have a bunch of Hulk appearances. The Hulk that Greg Pak writes reminds me of Stan Lee's Hulk. Just a bad ass, loner type who is sort of an anti-hero.He's basically the same Hulk.

How long has this Planet Hulk persona been around?
I read the beginning of Bruce Jones' run, and the first part of Peter David recent storyline. Does this present persona pop up in the Hulk going to space story before Planet Hulk or earlier?This new Hulk popped up again in the "Tempus Fugit" story arc at the beginning of Peter David's last run.

[Agentum]

The Joe Fixit stories were some of my favourite Hulk stories.
mine too but i think we are a minority most want that green, stupid and missunderstood Hulk.
But really The more intelligent one is more like the original version.

[ChrisIII]

The Grayvage Hulk was also featured prominently in many of the late 90's issues written by PAD (Around the time of Onslaught/Heroes Reborn).


The Hulk hasn't really had a consistent personality since Bill Mantlo decided to give him Banner's intelligence in the early 80s (and make him mute and mindless shortly thereafter). Since then, he rarely keeps the same personality for more than five years. You might want to check out Pad's run, where he starts out as Grey, then becomes 'merged'/The Professor' (Probably the most heroic and stable Hulk, although still prone to issues) and finally the Grayvage Hulk described earlier.

It should be noted that Mantlo was also the first to add more depth to the Hulk by elaborating on Banner's pre-Hulk history, something that was followed up and expanded by PAD and used a lot in the movie version.

[ChrisIII]

The Grayvage Hulk was also featured prominently in many of the late 90's issues written by PAD (Around the time of Onslaught/Heroes Reborn).


The Hulk hasn't really had a consistent personality since Bill Mantlo decided to give him Banner's intelligence in the early 80s (and make him mute and mindless shortly thereafter). Since then, he rarely keeps the same personality for more than five years. You might want to check out Pad's run, where he starts out as Grey, then becomes 'merged'/The Professor' (Probably the most heroic and stable Hulk, although still prone to issues) and finally the Grayvage Hulk described earlier.

It should be noted that Mantlo was also the first to add more depth to the Hulk by elaborating on Banner's pre-Hulk history, something that was followed up and expanded by PAD and used a lot in the movie version. The movie version BTW most closely matches Mantlo's mute Hulk during the Crossroads storyline (Which has a few similarities to the current Hulk arc) IMO,

[Agentum]

And the a more intelligent Hulk as the grey one doesn't mean he was unintresting, there was a lot of room for intelligent dialogue and adventures, he still got to rage.

[Mike Smash!]

And the a more intelligent Hulk as the grey one doesn't mean he was unintresting, there was a lot of room for intelligent dialogue and adventures, he still got to rage.I love all of the Hulks to some extent and just about all of them have had at least one truly excellent story.

The change is what fascinates me the most. That a new writer has a freedom to come in and change the Hulk completely and not cause a stir because change is what the Hulk is all about.

[daletron]

i've never read a hulk book in my life but i'm loving this current arc, are the Peter David Visionaries #1-3 must reads??? are all the volumes good?

[Gargus]

They kept him from being boring is what happened.

If the hulk is stupid and just says "me hungry" and "hulk smash" all the time thats not interesting in the least. Cause at that point you arent reading the hulk for the hulk, your just reading the hulk to see other charcters as you watch him stumble from one random thing to the next.

I like it the way it is now. He can talk and reason but isnt to terribly bright.

[Mike Smash!]

i've never read a hulk book in my life but i'm loving this current arc, are the Peter David Visionaries #1-3 must reads??? are all the volumes good?They're excellent... I'd highly recommend them along with THE INCREDIBLE HULK: FUTURE IMPERFECT to get some of the best Peter David Hulk stuff.

[Crash-Man]

Hulk stayed at a Holiday Inn Express a few years ago.

[ChrisIII]

Those interested in Hulk, in addition to the Mantlo and PAD runs might want to check out Paul Jenkin's run. It's pretty good although it retcons one of PAD's developments.
The Bruce Jones run is perhaps the most controversial. At least for the first year of the run, the Hulk rarely appears and the whole thing is kind of a conspiracy story. Some have jokingly called the run "The Incredible Banner".

[Mick Martin]

i've never read a hulk book in my life but i'm loving this current arc, are the Peter David Visionaries #1-3 must reads??? are all the volumes good?

Really great stuff, and there's a fourth volume on the way (Amazon solicits it for November).

It's unfortunate that so few of Hulk's old stories have been collected in color, not counting the Masterworks. There's a lot of stuff, from Roy Thomas to Mantlo, that I'd love to see collected (not counting the Essentials, which are cool, but I miss the color).

[Jomero]

"Future Imperfect" is to Hulk what "Kraven's Last Hunt" is to Spider-Man.

It's not a "oh, you should maybe read that some day at some point, maybe." It's a "It is required reading because of it's pure awesomeness, so grab a copy NOW!" sort of thing.

[Leebenhouse]

I've got a couple ancient trades that collect the first six issues of Hulk, plus a lot of his early "Tales to Astonish" stories. These were some of the first trades from the late 70s and had no other title than the name of the characters. This is where the original Bring on the Bad Guys was published, along with the Hulk and Amazing Spiderman trades.

In Illinois the Graham Cracker Comics chain had a 50% off back issues sale and I picked up a lot of the early smart hulk issues. Great Stuff.

[Aufbach]

The Planet Hulk series is everything that Bruce Jones' run wasn't: fast-moving and action-packed without losing the plot, well-written dialogue, and a series actually written about The Hulk. Great stuff.