essential hulk vol. 5

by Lein Wein, Herb Trimpe and more

collects Incredible Hulk # 171-200 & Annual # 5

the premise:  The Hulk smashes his way through over 600 pages of new adventures, squaring off against the Abomination, the Rhino, the Gremlin, the Mole Man and more.

the lowdown:  No one will ever confuse classic Hulk with great literature - but man these old tales are a bunch of fun.  Aside from the nostalgic thrill of re-reading these issues (I had #171 as a record-with-picture book as a kid.), there's a subtle wit to these stories that's easy to dismiss as a lack of sophistication.  Dismissing it would be a mistake, though - these may not be great stories but they're pretty aware of their status as disposable (and at times ridiculous) entertainment, and they have a lot of fun with the concept.  The Hulk wanders through plot after plot, never really going anywhere, constantly claiming he wants to be left alone but flying into a rage and attacking everyone at a whim.  Does he truly want friends?  And if so, why does he always screw it up when he makes them?  Despite having the brain of a turnip, the Hulk ponders these questions even as he searches for more beans to eat.  Hulk like beans.

The supporting cast is put through an overlong plot wherein Colonel Talbot gets killed, left for dead, resurrected, brainwashed, killed again, lobotomized, and pretty much anything else you can think of - while his neurotic wife Betty sneaks around into army operations and cries over lost loves.  It's all absurd but it's engaging, and not just in a car wreck type of way.  The Marvels of this era were unashamedly trashy but there's a love of the material by the creators that comes through on every page.

Trimpe draws most of these issues, and changes styles about half a dozen times.  Not sure if that was intentional or a concession to deadlines, but he is a very versatile artist.  The book looks quite good, especially when he softens his linework a bit.  The final issues of this collection were Sal Buscema's first, and in my mind he is the definitive Hulk artist.

the verdict:  As he tells us during his philosophizing, "Hulk is Hulk."  Sometimes it's just fun to read a book about a big monster who tears things up and likes beans.