Every Wednesday we take turns to delve into our trusty longboxes, pluck out a dusty back issue, and give you our thoughts. We’ll also try and place it in the context of the time it was originally published.

During the “Heroes Reborn” event, the Hulk title was reportedly scheduled for cancellation so that the character could be used by the Image guys in those comics. At the last minute, the book was saved and Peter David’s legendary run on the character was given a stay of execution, although he was now writing a version of the Hulk who had been split from Bruce Banner by Onslaught’s reality-warping power, so as to leave Bruce free to become the Hulk in the Heroes Reborn universe.

By all reports, David hastily came up with a bunch of stories to fill the gap, re-inventing the Hulk’s personality once again as a thuggish loner unable to contain his own power. In what one expects might’ve been an attempt to bolster sales of the almost-cancelled title, David was eventually teamed with former X-Men/Wolverine artist Adam Kubert and immediately used the opportunity to bring the industry’s most popular characters in for a short guest-run.

Following a fight with Wolverine in the Savage Land, the Hulk’s unconscious body has been brought back to the X-Mansion. David’s mastery of comedy takes prime position during the issue, as the X-Men present are individually shown realising what’s going on and Wolverine has to explain his decision.  Eventually, the Hulk wakes up and tries to escape, and the X-Men’s plan to contain him in the Danger Room fails. In the ensuing fight, the Hulk is faced down by Forge, who has a weapon he believes can harm the Hulk. Forge shoots him, and as he does the Hulk disappears. As Forge explains to a horrified Storm that the weapon isn’t possible of disintegrating him, it’s revealed that Hulk has, in fact, been teleported to safety by… Apocalypse!

Peter David’s Hulk run is full of enjoyable action-comedy issues along these lines, and David manages to nail the X-Men’s characterisation in a few short scenes. The humour mixes perfectly with the action, and Kubert’s depiction of the same is faultless. The later years of David’s turn on the title are often forgotten, but the short X-Men related run which began with the Savage Land fight and included run-ins with both Apocalypse and Juggernaut, before it ended with Hulk accidentally crippling Rick Jones a few issues later, is a particularly enjoyable arc in a classic Marvel tradition. The amount of X-Content does make it fairly certain that it was designed to grab a few extra readers, but when the stories are that memorable purely on the strength of their writing, it’s easy to forgive such a gimmick.

The run begins with Incredible Hulk #454, and is well worth tracking down - especially if you’re looking to read some great Hulk stories and feel like saving a little cash on all this Red Hulk nonsense.

Tags: Adam Kubert, Hulk, Peter David
Publisher: Dusting Off, Marvel