I was always ambivalent toward Marvel's "Essential" and DC's "Showcase" lines back when they were a going concern. On the one hand, they were an inexpensive way to get a large chunk of continuity, but on the other they were black & white. I didn't mind quite so much if they reprinted material I wasn't likely to be able to find anywhere else, but comics intended for color should be published in color. The volumes I didn't have any qualms about were the ones which reprinted comics originally published in b&w, such as the first nine issues of Rampaging Hulk. The series converted to color and changed it's title to simply HULK! with #10, and continued through #27 (but reverted to b&w for the last issue or two). When I was a kid I saw only issues #11, #12 and #14, but I loved them. I eventually collected the entire series as backissues, but it's the b&w issues I'm here to discuss today.
The whole nine-issue storyline ostensibly took place between Hulk #6 (the last issue of his short-lived series) and Tales to Astonish #60 (the first installment of his long-running serial which eventually became his own title with #102). Rampaging Hulk was not without its continuity problems, however; one might say it was plagued with them. During the course of its short run, the Hulk met the Sub-Mariner before he met the Sub-Mariner, the Avengers before he met the Avengers, the X-Men before he met the X-Men, and so on. You can see the problem. The "Essential" Rampaging Hulk collects #10-15 of the color issues as well, but don't read them there, I beg of you. Either find the originals or wait for Marvel to collect them in color. (Which reminds me: I need to add this idea to the "What Should Be Collected Next?" thread if it isn't there already.)
"MAN OR MONSTER?":
[NOTE: For the real stories which took place between Hulk #6 and Tales to Astonish #60, see The Incredible Hulk Epic Collection Vol. 1 - "Man or Monster?" You will find these stories collected in neither MMW Hulk nor the Hulk Omnibus series.]
"PARDONED" (Hulk #269-285):
Eventually, someone at Marvel decided to deal with the continuity problem of Rampaging Hulk #1-9 once and for all and relegated the whole schmear to a "techno-art" movie-creation of the Krylorian birdwoman Bereet, starting in Hulk #286. As luck would have it, the "Pardoned" tpb (#269-285) picks up more-or-less exactly from the end of Rampaging Hulk #9 and carries on to a major turning point.
"REGRESSION" (Hulk #286-300 & Annual #12):
Throughout the course of Pardoned, Bruce Banner gained control of his Hulk persona and strove to redeem himself in a series of events which eventually led to a Presidential pardon. This being comics, though, that happy status quo was not allowed to stand, and Banner's condition began to regress, leading to another major turning point.
"CROSSROADS" (Hulk #301-313 & Annual #13):
Due to the events of Regression, Dr. Strange was forced to banish the Hulk to a mystical "crossroads" where he was to live out the rest of his life. Pardoned, Regression and Crossroads are not part of the "Epic Collections" series, but they are quite similar except for trade dress. At this point, however, the saga circles back to The Incredible Hulk Epic Collection Vol. 14...
"GOING GRAY" (Hulk #314-330 & Annuals #14-15):
This brings us almost to the point at which we're able to switch over to omnibus format. John Byrne short (but classic) run begins in #314, and whereas it has been collected in the Marvel Universe by John Byrne omnibus, it doesn't quite get us to the point at which the Incredible Hulk by Peter David omnibus series begins. For those interim Al Milgrom issues, Epic Collection v14 is the only place to find #320-330 (apart from the original issues).
So where does that leave the Marvel Masterworks series (I'm sure you're wondering)? Already some overlap with the tpbs has begun to creep in. I have collected the MMW Hulk series from the very beginning, and v18 does come to a logical stopping point: his Presidential pardon.
I'll tell you: I almost decided to stop buing the MMW series at that point, but you know what a completist I am (some of you do). I did pre-order v19 (scheduled to ship next month), but then Bleeding Cool breaks the rumor that the MMW series is going on "indefinite hiatus" in 2026. It will end at an unusual point (in the middle of the "Regression" storyline), whereas one more volume would take the series to a more logical stopping point.
Replies
I enjoyed the SHOWCASE and ESSENTIAL books for what they are but I understand your point.
As far as the black & white magazines are concerned, I rarely read them, particularly the horror ones, at least until the early 80s.
That's why I was happy to get Essential Tales of the Zombie, Showcase Presents Doc Savage and, of course, Essential Rampaging Hulk!
I bought a lot of the Essentials and Showcase Presents books. At the time I was thrilled just to be able to read all those stories even if they were in B&W. There was no way to know at the time that we would have the material re-issued in color. Maybe I would have waited on at least some of them.
I have a soft spot for the Hulk in magazine format. I bought the color issues new and then years later I picked up several of the earlier B&W magazines at a local comic con. I always looked at the magazine version of Hulk as well as the TV version as being set in parallel universes and not the Hulk we knew from the monthly comic book.
[NOTE: For the real stories which took place between Hulk #6 and Tales to Astonish #60, see The Incredible Hulk Epic Collection Vol. 1 - "Man or Monster?" You will find these stories collected in neither MMW Hulk nor the Hulk Omnibus series.]
I'm sure you've told me this before, but it didn't seem important at the time, as MMW was eating my money and all those stories could be found in other MMWs. Now that Masterworks is coming to an end, the idea of "backfilling" with chronological appearances suddenly seems very appealing! They did it with X-Men in both MMWs and Omnibuses (I think), so it's easy to see what the mutants were officially* up to between The X-Men #66 (1970) and Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975) without jumping from book to book. Having a single book that does the same for Hulk seems like something I need.
*I know retcons like X-Men: The Hidden Years, zero issues, Minus One issues, etc., were official when they came out, but they seem to evaporate once published. That's OK by me. If Marvel ever tried to incorporate all the retcons into their SIlver Age reprints, it would be a very expensive undertaking -- for them and us! And the retcons are too modern to fit well tonally in the world of Stan and Jack. It would, however, be interesting if someone tried to make a list of such things. It would be eye-popping, no doubt.
Eventually, someone at Marvel decided to deal with the continuity problem of Rampaging Hulk #1-9 once and for all and relegated the whole schmear to a "techno-art" movie-creation of the Krylorian birdwoman Bereet, starting in Hulk #286.
I remember that, but I didn't consider Rampaging Hulk in continuity anyway, for exactly the reasons you say: The magazine continuity didn't match up with the Silver Age continuity. I felt it was obviously meant to be a different continuity. So I didn't think they needed to be explained. But thanks anyway, Bill Mantlo.
I always looked at the magazine version of Hulk as well as the TV version as being set in parallel universes and not the Hulk we knew from the monthly comic book.
This guy knows what I'm talkin' about.
Which brings me to a question that I may have known the answer to at one time, but not longer do. Which is: What is the official status of Hulk! #10-27? The first nine issues are accounted for, as you say, so I wonder if the last 28 issues were justified in any way. Were they considered retcons? Apocryphal tales? Separate continuity? Were any of those stories ever referred to in the monthlies? I regarded the magazine Hulk an alternate-universe Hulk all the way through, so I never really thought about it. I'm pretty sure Marvel has disavowed the Jim Shooter story where Banner was almost raped in a YMCA.
I enjoyed the SHOWCASE and ESSENTIAL books for what they are but I understand your point.
I bought a lot of the Essentials and Showcase Presents books. At the time I was thrilled just to be able to read all those stories even if they were in B&W.
Same here. I wasn't thrilled with B&W, but some of them gave me (as Jeff said) access to continuity I hadn't had access to before. Phantom Stranger leaps to mind; I had exactly one issue of the '50s run and didn't start collecting the modern run until, I dunno, issue #10 or so? I don't remember exactly, but I do recall the Showcase Presents: Phantom Stranger filled in all my gaps. (Then, of course, I bought them again when they became available in color. And I think I eventually bought the back issues I was missing in the 1969 series too.) I bought some other Showcases with material I'd never read before, like some war and Western books. By and large, though, I didn't buy any Showcases where I had the originals or color reprints already (which was most superheroes). But I did buy a few Showcases where I had all the original material, but the originals were located in different boxes and the Showcase put them all in a convenient chronological order for me, like Showcase Presents: The Spectre. (And, of course, I later duplicated that material by buying the Spectre Omnibus, so I have it in three formats. But I still don't have Golden Age Spectre except for one measly Archives!) I think I picked up a Supergirl Showcase for the same reason. And on and on.
As far as the black & white magazines are concerned, I rarely read them, particularly the horror ones, at least until the early 80s.
I actually bought them all. My favorites were Dracula Lives!, Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction and Savage Sword of Conan (at least at first -- Sword eventually became pretty formulaic. Still bought it to the end, though.) My least favorite was Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, especially the prose articles about chop-socky movies, a genre I had never seen at the time (it was apparently big in New York) and had no interest in. The comics stories -- Sons of the Tiger, Daughters of the Dragon, etc. -- seemed B-list compared to Shang-Chi and Danny Rand, and in fact were sometimes supporting cast in Iron Fist. That reinforced, in my mind their second banana status.
I was always ambivalent toward Marvel's "Essential" and DC's "Showcase" lines back when they were a going concern. On the one hand, they were an inexpensive way to get a large chunk of continuity, but on the other they were black & white. I didn't mind quite so much if they reprinted material I wasn't likely to be able to find anywhere else, but comics intended for color should be published in color. - While I do tentaviley agree with this, some of my favorite collections are from the "Essential" and "Showcase" phone books. Once John Severin provided the art for the Losers, I didn't miss the color at all.
To the series at hand, I own some of the issues, but it has been nearly 40 years since I have read any of them. It does make me nostalgic though, of when there was a lot of trading at comic book shows. The issues I do own from Rampaging Hulk was me trading my time and running someone's table at a convention while he did other stuff.
I had read so little Hulk by this point to, I had no reference point. I honestly bought them for the covers.
I was happy to get Essential Tales of the Zombie, Showcase Presents Doc Savage and, of course, Essential Rampaging Hulk!
The very three I was thinking of.
I bought a lot of the Essentials and Showcase Presents books.
Me, too.
...the idea of "backfilling" with chronological appearances suddenly seems very appealing!
You're going to get some duplication, obviously, but "Man or Monster?" collects: Hulk #1-6, Fantastic Four #12 & 25-26, Avengers #1-3 & 5, Spider-Man #14, Tales to Astonish #59 and Journey Into Mystery #112... all in chronological order!
...it's easy to see what the mutants were officially up to between The X-Men #66 and Giant-Size X-Men #1 without jumping from book to book.
I don't know about the omnibusses, but that two volumes worth of Marvel Masterworks (v7-8).
But thanks anyway, Bill Mantlo.
Al Milgrom was Hulk editor at the time, but you're right: it was probably Mantlo. If the editor had been, say, Mark Gruenwald, I might have suspected more editorial direction. after decades of reading comics I know that you, too, have gotten a sense of which editors are more heavy-handed. [HINT: It's often the ones whose books credit the writers as "scripters."]
What is the official status of Hulk! #10-27?
Honestly? Whatever you want it to be. doc photo relegates it to an parallel universe and that's that. Seems to me I tried to fit them into continuity at one point, but it wasn't easy. IIRC, there's a gap circa #200 or so where they might fit, albeit awkwardly.
Were any of those stories ever referred to in the monthlies?
Not that I recall.
I'm pretty sure Marvel has disavowed the Jim Shooter story where Banner was almost raped in a YMCA.
It's kind of funny that Shooter was adamant that no homosexuality was ever hinted at in a Code-approved Marvel comic, yet he wrote that. It was also Bill Mantlo who wrote an Alpha Flight storyline in which Northstar was dying of an AIDS-related virus... and it was Shooter who nixed it.
I wasn't thrilled with B&W, but some of them gave me access to continuity I hadn't had access to before.
For me it was Rip Hunter, Time Master and The Great Disaster (to name two).
Then, of course, I bought them again when they became available in color.
For me it was Jonah Hex and Howard the Duck (to name two).
My favorites were Dracula Lives!, Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction and Savage Sword of Conan.
My favorite b&w Marvel magazine was Planet of the Apes (now available in four handsome HC archival volumes from Boom! Studios).
Once John Severin provided the art for the Losers, I didn't miss the color at all.
Same with me for Gene Colan and Tomb of Dracula. I have those in both color and b&w, and which one I read depends on the mood I'm in.
...the idea of "backfilling" with chronological appearances suddenly seems very appealing!
You're going to get some duplication, obviously, but "Man or Monster?" collects: Hulk #1-6, Fantastic Four #12 & 25-26, Avengers #1-3 & 5, Spider-Man #14, Tales to Astonish #59 and Journey Into Mystery #112... all in chronological order!
I made a point of buying “Man or Monster” for the chronological aspect. A very good package.
Then, of course, I bought them again when they became available in color.
For me it was Jonah Hex and Howard the Duck (to name two).
I bought the B&W Essential of Howard the Duck. They reprinted all of the black lines. There was one image I’m aware of that was originally in a single color with no black lines.* This was just a white void. Whoever was the “editor” wasn’t paying attention. No, I didn’t spend the money for the color hard cover.
*Such color-only images have been used in other Marvel titles (I think, Dr Strange). Did they have the same problem?
No, I didn’t spend the money for the color hard cover.
The Gerber Howard the Duck is available in two MMW editions, but the entire HtD, including the b&w magazines and beyond, is available in four tpbs.
It occurs to me the the very first b&w DC "Showcase" edition was Metamorpho (2005) and the "DC Finest" edition was released just this week, so there was no telling how long the wait would be for the material reprinted in a "Showcase" or "Essential" to be released in color, or even if it ever would.
And, except for the addition of Brave & Bold #101 in the DC Finest version, they're the exact same book with color added!
Hmm... seems I have posted about MMW Hulk v18 and the Hulk tpbs before.