“Half-man, Half-monster, the mighty Hulk thunders out of the night to take his place among the most amazing characters of all time!”
Thus began the first panel of “The Incredible Hulk #1,” published on May 10, 1962. The genesis of this story begins with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. They created this character as a parallel to the Robert Louis Stevenson novel, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” They would also incorporate elements of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” as well. It was to be a fresh take on the idea that something more dwells inside all of us.
The origin story as told in the first issue goes as follows...
Dr. Bruce Banner, a physicist working for the U.S. Army, creates the world’s first Gamma Bomb. During the experimental first test of the bomb, a teenage boy (Rick Jones) eludes guards and drives onto the detonation site. Dr. Banner, seeing this, drives out to try to save the boy by getting him into a safety trench.
Banner’s assistant, called Igor, believes that Bruce shouldn’t be the only one with the formula for the bomb. As Bruce heads out to save the boy, he directs Igor to stall the test so that they can get to safety. Selfishly, Igor sees this as a perfect way to get Dr. Banner out of the picture. He never directs anyone else conducting the test to hold the countdown, and the test is conducted.
Meanwhile, Bruce reaches the boy. He throws him into the safety trench, but doesn’t make it there himself. As the blast goes off, Banner is shown absorbing copious amounts of Gamma radiation. Waking up, in the infirmary, everything seems okay. However, nightfall brings a transformation. Jones witnesses banner morphing into a giant gray man-like creature (yes, I said gray). The creature breaks through a concrete wall and dashes out into the night. Jones follows him, hoping to help the man who saved his life.
The ‘Hulk,’ as he will come to be called, is drawn by remnants of Banner’s mind to his home. He encounters Igor, who is ransacking the place and looking for the secrets to the Gamma Bomb. Igor fires a gunshot at him, to no effect. Hulk destroys the gun and throws Igor across the room. It is here that The Hulk first sees a picture of Dr. Banner. He wants no association with this weakling.
As daylight brings back Dr. Banner, the MP’s along with General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross and his daughter Betty (who happens to be the girlfriend of Dr. Banner) arrive at the house. Igor is revealed to be a Russian spy and is arrested. Betty leaves, when requested by Bruce, after an attempt to care for him. This leaves Rick and Bruce alone to discuss, for the first time, what the future may bring.
While imprisoned, Igor sends a message back to Russia by a hidden miniature radio. The Hulk’s first ‘villain,’ The Gargoyle, is introduced. Gargoyle is characterized by his enormous brain. He receives Igor’s message and sets out to destroy Hulk.
Night falls once again on Bruce and Rick, who are driving through the desert in a jeep. Hulk appears and wants to see Betty. When he finds her, she faints upon seeing this for the first time. As this happens, The Gargoyle finds The Hulk. He shoots Hulk and Rick with a mind controlling serum, and takes them back to Russia. General Ross finds his daughter, frightened by what she has witnessed. This sets up Ross’ vow to find the Hulk “even if it takes an eternity”.
Meanwhile, in Russia, The Gargoyle learns that Hulk is actually Dr. Banner. Knowing who Banner is, he naturally does what all evil genius supervillains do...he begins crying. Confiding that he wishes to become normal again, The Gargoyle begs Banner to help cure him. Dr. Banner explains that the cure will take radiation, and should work. However, it will take away his enhanced intelligence. The cure works, and The Gargoyle becomes normal once again. His final act is to destroy the test site in Russia. He does so, killing the commies. Dr. Banner and Rick escape in a rocket, flying back to the U.S.
This origin is drastically different from the future origins that readers and then viewers would see. I will explore the differences in future posts on this topic.
The original run featuring Hulk ran for six issues. Issue #6 was the first appearance of Hulk as drawn by Steve Ditko. This is important, because it is really where the character came to look like what audiences would identify him as in the future. Hulk reappeared in “Tales To Astonish #59," (September 9, 1964) where he battled Giant-Man. This is actually where the first Avengers tie-in occurs.
So, getting back to that tidbit about a gray colored Hulk. It was all the result of a happy mistake. Stan Lee created the character with a gray skin tone, so as not to make him associable with any particular ethnicity. There were problems with this throughout the first issue, and the printing resulted in varying shades of gray and green. After seeing the finished product, Lee settled on the green coloring for the character.
As another side note, Rick Jones would figure into several other comics as well. He became Bucky, Captain America's sidekick, for a short time. He also became A-Bomb, which was responsible for killing The Abomination (who figures into the 2008 film). However, in my opinion, his most notable contribution was forming the "Teen Brigade." They were ham radio operators who sent a message that was intended for The Fantastic Four to help battle Hulk. The transmission was tampered with by Loki and sent to Iron Man, Ant-Man, Wasp and Thor. This resulted in the formation of "The Avengers."
Coming up, we will flash forward to 1977 and see how two made-for-TV movies would shape the way many kids looked at comics. Stay tuned.
Read Part III HERE
Read Part III HERE
"Lesson Number Three. Always Trust Centauri."
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