The Hulk: Sissified?

[Brad Barton]

Note: This Thread is very old, and I've since completely changed my Views on the Story. (Pak knew what he was doing, I semi-grudgingly admit). SO just a FYI....BTW, new posts start on page 4, anything before then is damn near a year old.


Everyones saying this whole "Planet Hulk" storyline is amazing, the best they've read in years, a sell-out hit etc. It just makes me want to puke.
Greg Pak (whoever he is and wherever the hell he came from) has the Hulk tied up in chains (chains that can actually hold him) and being sold on a slave market. Hell, give him a green afro and you can call him toby.

Greg Paks Hulk is a pussy.

When was the last time you saw a bullet, of ANY kind hurt the Hulk. When was the last time you saw a chain, from ANY planet, bind the Hulk?
Give me the Peter David Hulk; smart, cunning, unbelievably powerful and nigh invulnerable, tossing mountains, fighting the hordes of hell single-handedly and beating super-powers like Thor and Juggernaut to a standstill.

Hulk has Superman level strength and durability. When was the last time you saw superman tied up and shot by a Luke Skywalker reject with what looks like a miniature super-soaker.

Obviously, its all just a fictional story, not meant to be taken seriously blah blah blah. But it means something when an amateur like Greg Pak stomps in and destoys in 10 pages what took peter David and Bruce jones over 200 issues and 20 years to establish:

Hulk in the strongest one there is. End of story

[dingo]

Everyones saying this whole "Planet Hulk" storyline is amazing, the best they've read in years, a sell-out hit etc. It just makes me want to puke.
Greg Pak (whoever he is and wherever the hell he came from) has the Hulk tied up in chains (chains that can actually hold him) and being sold on a slave market. Hell, give him a green afro and you can call him toby.

Greg Paks Hulk is a pussy.

When was the last time you saw a bullet, of ANY kind hurt the Hulk. When was the last time you saw a chain, from ANY planet, bind the Hulk?
Give me the Peter David Hulk; smart, cunning, unbelievably powerful and nigh invulnerable, tossing mountains, fighting the hordes of hell single-handedly and beating super-powers like Thor and Juggernaut to a standstill.

Hulk has Superman level strength and durability. When was the last time you saw superman tied up and shot by a Luke Skywalker reject with what looks like a miniature super-soaker.

Obviously, its all just a fictional story, not meant to be taken seriously blah blah blah. But it means something when an amateur like Greg Pak stomps in and destoys in 10 pages what took peter David and Bruce jones over 200 issues and 20 years to establish:

Hulk in the strongest one there is. End of story

I think what you have done is explained why hulk has been boring for a long time and why people are excited about him again. He was having the same problem as superman.

If he can't be hurt how can you tell interesting stories?
If he can't be beat how can you tell interesting stories?

If it makes you feel better just think of it as the most Adamantium rich planet in the universe.

[Brad Barton]

Peter david told interesting and riveting Hulk stories for the better part of 10 years without having to weaken or cheapen the character.

And BTW, you think Supermans powers are a hindrance to writers? Check out Morrisons all star superman and tell me a GOOD writer can't take god-like beings like uperman and the Hulk and tell excellent stories.

[garin]

It's a combination of the inhabitants of the planet being powerful, and Hulk being weakened by his passage through the portal that brought him there (as explained in the issue).

He's regaining his strength over time, it won't be quite so one-sided for long.

[abyss]

Hulk in the strongest one there is. End of story

Thats the whole point of the storyline to take Hulk out of his element and show rthe reader he is the strongest on earth but not in the universe. Sure I think Hulk is the strongest on earth but there are plenty of cosmic beings that could beat him down. Just liek Superman isnt the strongest in the DCU. Just the strongest on the planet earth. I'd say Daneil Way did far more damage in his awful arc than pak has does here.

[Brad Barton]

well sure, obviously I know if it were a Hulk vs. Galactus battle, the hulk is like a piss-ant to Glactus, but you can't count ridiculously powerful "cosmic" beings in the context of this thread.

I just found it hard to believe that the Hulk- my hulk, the one i grew up reading - could be contained like that. The Hulk was always my absolute favorite marvel character, and now that Marvel wont leave a writer on the title for more than 3 damn issues, his story-arc is a giant jumble of half-assed concepts and lame Dune-like settings.

Dont get me wrong, the concept of The Hulk trveling to and exploring other planets and galaxies brings a new dimension to the character, one I like. But the concept should've been given to a writer who has the professional tools to pull it off.

[Hombre]

The concept of Planet Hulk is reminiscent of Fantastic Four 91-93 (the Thing enslaved by Lee/Kirby) and Incredible Hulk 210-211 (a very fine example of Len Wein and Sal Buscema's gifted storytelling). Whether there's anything substantial behind the hype remains to be seen.

[abyss]

well sure, obviously I know if it were a Hulk vs. Galactus battle, the hulk is like a piss-ant to Glactus, but you can't count ridiculously powerful "cosmic" beings in the context of this thread.

I just found it hard to believe that the Hulk- my hulk, the one i grew up reading - could be contained like that. The Hulk was always my absolute favorite marvel character, and now that Marvel wont leave a writer on the title for more than 3 damn issues, his story-arc is a giant jumble of half-assed concepts and lame Dune-like settings.

Dont get me wrong, the concept of The Hulk trveling to and exploring other planets and galaxies brings a new dimension to the character, one I like. But the concept should've been given to a writer who has the professional tools to pull it off.

I see what you mean here but again like stated in naother post the Hulk was weakend due to goign through the portal/black hole whatever you wanan call it. But so I don't find a bad storyline. As for marvel not keeping a writer on Daniel Way was the only writer who has had a small tenture on the Hulk. Brue Jones wrote it for years. And Pak wil lbe on for a while i think Planet Hulk is a year long storyline.

[Brad Barton]

bruce jones, peter david, daniel way and greg pak all within 2 years. thats not what Id call steady.

actually I think therre were a few more that did small storylines and one-shots, i just cant remember them

[abyss]

Yes but Jones was on the titles for years before he stop I call that long he went form issue 1-76...thats quite a long run. As for Daneil Way having to write an arc is really beyond me.

[Brad Barton]

no, jones went from the return on the monster storyline, like #32, or something, till 76.

Now if you want to count the number of writers Hulks had since #1...........well, that would just prove my point even more.

Im a Peter David fan, obviously, and he wrote it from #328 to #466. THAT is what I call a good run. All these little B.S. 4 and 6 issure runs by writers are pathetic.

[MythicBrawn]

I'm looking forward to it. A Hulk that can cut loose with wanton abandon. You gotta love it. Granted, initially he has been powered down but it won't be long before he is back to full strength. This is similar to the sigil bearers in Negation (defunct Crossgen). In their regular universes, the sigil bearers were extremely powerful. Once they crossed over to the Negation, they didn't have full access to their powers. This put them at a distinct disadvantage. As time wore on, they did get back to full strength. The fun was in seeing how they handled situations with a limited amount of power. Yes, I loved Crossgen and Negation was the amazing!!! Tony Bedard and Paul Pelletier were an amazing team and could do no wrong in my eyes.

[abyss]

Oh yes 34-76...my bad. Well I enjoyed Jones run I never liked the Hulk till I picked his run up. And you really shoudont compare writers to each other. There is no point. No writer is going to write the Hulk exactly the same as someone else each one will have there own intereptation. PAD had a mind blowing good run on the Hulk. It was the greatest run ever but there no poitning to expecting that again. Yes PAD's run is the my fav what i've read so far his orignal run that is. But I stil lthink Jones run is a very good read. Im not going to look for someone to acheived the same success as PAD did. And thats the same with any other title. There always one writer who is going to have a great run. That no one else can top it doens't mean that other writers should be deemded bad or not good enough because they don't meet the same cirtical sucess.

[agrich]

Since you're a big Peter David fan, you should remember the crossover with the Fantastic Four, concluded in Hulk 350, in which the Hulk was NOT the strongest one there was - his gray incarnation at the time was weaker than and was beaten by the Thing's pineapple version. In #350, the Hulk outsmarted the Thing - tiring him out, wearing him down, making him chase him, etc., etc., until at the end the Thing was gassed and the Hulk was able to pummel him.

And I think that's where you'll see this storyline going. The Hulk isn't the strongest one there is on this planet, so he'll have to fight smarter, and ultimately, he'll be on top again. It's just going to be a bit of a challenge for him, just like it was to beat the Thing back in David's Hulk 350. And that's good comics.

[Brad Barton]

Since you're a big Peter David fan, you should remember the crossover with the Fantastic Four, concluded in Hulk 350, in which the Hulk was NOT the strongest one there was

I don't even necessarily care if Hulk is the absolute "strongest there is", I mean, you're right, some of my favorite issues were Mr. Fixit having to use his brains and cunning where brute force used to work.

Its just the image of seeing the Hulk shot, fainting, passing out, bleeding, being chained that concerned me. I mean theres a big difference between the Gray hulk taking a bit of a whoopin from thing, and seeing "planet" hulk brought down to his hands and knees by a 5 and a half foot dweeb with a handgun.

I mean seriously guys! back in PADS day, The smart Hulk could've traveled through the portal, came out on the other side and had enough energy left to lay the entire planet to waste.