I was talking with a good friend recently, and he raised a question. “How come you aren’t drawing more of those classic Marvel or DC characters for your site? You really should be doing more of that stuff.” I had to think about that. There’s really no good reason why I haven’t, because I do love that material. Maybe it’s just one of those things where you’re so close to it, you can’t see it. Or maybe it’s because there are just so many other things I also want to do. Anyway, this post is an attempt to start rectifying the situation.
It seemed like it might be fun to take a shot at the Hulk. Surprisingly, I haven’t really drawn him all that often. Hulk’s been around awhile. He’s achieved that rarefied strata of comics characters where even many non-comics-readers know who he is (thanks to the recent movies, the TV show, and even the Hulk episodes of the “Marvel Super Heroes” cartoons back in the ‘60s).
There’ve been a number of takes on the Hulk over the years, but if you’ve visited my site much, it probably won’t surprise you to find out that I gravitate towards the early version of the character, as visualized by Jack Kirby. There’s just something very fun and primal about that Hulk. He felt more like a wild card, unpredictable and monstrous (appropriate, given all the monster comics Marvel was publishing not too long before). I thought I’d try to capture some of that early wildness, without necessarily completely aping Kirby. While it can be a lot of fun to do that, it seemed like a good idea to try to keep a little more of myself in there this time.
A big thanks to my friend Mark for suggesting I expand my horizons!
Looks great! So glad you decided to do this. When you gonna get around to drawing the Black Widow? Just kidding.
Glad you like it. Somehow, I just had a feeling it might appeal to you.
Perhaps eventually I will get around to the Black Widow. But there are probably a lot of other characters I should also take a shot at first (from both companies).
A very nice drawing, albeit of a character who was never one of my particular favorites. Nonetheless, I find it difficult to imagine the comics world without the Hulk.
That’s a good point! The Incredible Hulk was actually the second regular Marvel silver age superhero title. But his book got cancelled with issue #6, apparently having a hard time managing to engage with enough readers at that point. Obviously Jack and Stan must’ve felt there was something in the character worth pursuing though, because they brought him back again first in Avengers #1, then as a regular co-feature in Tales to Astonish.