Hulk: Gray

(Marvel, 2003-2004)
™ and © Marvel Entertainment Group

In the fine tradition of Daredevil: Yellow and Spider-Man: Blue, Hulk: Gray retells tales of a classic hero’s earlier days.

The story begins with Bruce Banner confiding in Doc Samson about his one true love, Betty Ross, and the heartache he feels when he thinks of her. The resultant flashback sequences tread familiar ground for longtime fans of The Gray Goliath (who mysteriously became green in the second issue of the original Hulk series), but the gamma-bomb explosion that turned Banner into Hulk is far more harrowing than ever before. In the original version by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (Hulk #1, 1962), this quintessential scene took up just three small panels, but here it spans across two full pages, giving Sale ample room to show the fear, the pain, and the helplessness Banner must have felt. Sale pays respectful homage to King Kirby, but his work is darker and more menacing.

Other strong points of this stylishly retold origin include an especially demanding General Ross (he insists that his daughter act like a “general’s daughter”), a suitably thick and chunky, though anatomically proportionate, Hulk, and a Bruce Banner who pities himself, not for who he becomes — but who he is.

Loeb and Sale’s track record remains untarnished. As with previous projects by the dynamic duo, Hulk: Gray selects a familiar character, takes him back to his roots, and makes the whole shebang seem fresh and exciting (and, in this case, smashing) all over again.

— Brett Weiss

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