Marvel Fans Left “Seeing Red” With Release of “HULK” #1

(Story by: Steven Boyd) 

“I think it’s weird personally. I don’t know how other fans are going to like him, but I like him mean and green! I’m not really a ‘Hulk’ fan, but I loved World War Hulk, so I’ll give it a shot, and as a collector, I’ll need to buy all the first issues and their variants”, says Joe Butler, CEO and creator of the website Comic Collector Live. Butler is one of many fans bracing for fan reaction to the Hulk’s color change from “jolly green” to “ruby red.”

When Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Marvel Comics published “Incredible Hulk” #1 back in 1962, fans were introduced to a sympathetic grey-skinned monster born out of tragedy. After only one issue, the series changed the color of the character to green to avoid problems arising in the printing process of the comic book and the status quo has remained through hundreds of comics, a TV series, cartoons and one feature film.

Starting with “Hulk” #1, fans will get to see a “redder” side to the Hulk. Exploding from Marvel’s epic “World War Hulk” storyline, the Hulk will be changing colors from green to red. Marvel has kept the lid on the change, but fan anticipation has been high. When fans last see the Hulk in the final pages of World War Hulk #5, Bruce Banner (Hulk) is blasted from space with a weapon using multiple forms of radiation and taken away in the custody of a military/government convey. Since the Hulk was created using gamma radiation, one can only assume the blast could have had something to do with the Hulk’s new color scheme. Marvel is publishing titles that deal with the fallout from World War Hulk, titled “Aftershock.”

Hulk #1 is scheduled to ship the second week of January, and is written by writer-extraordinaire Jeph Loeb (Superman/Batman, Superman: For All Seasons) and artist Ed McGuinness (Superman/Batman, Superman). To commemorate the new issue for the new crimson crusher, Hulk #1 will ship with multiple covers from artists such as Daniel Acuna and Ed McGuinness. Wizard Entertainment will offer signed and CGC-graded copies of Hulk #1, as well two exclusives: a Michael Turner cover available at Wizard World Los Angeles, and an online exclusive cover drawn by Hulk artist Dale Keown.