Hulking out in the UK

I don’t think my shelves can take much more graphic novels added on it. I just found out that this week that Marvel’s going to reprint Hulk stories that were done for Marvel UK more than thirty years ago, well that's one to get.  Obviously I was too young to read them when they were available, but when I was ten or eleven, I’m not too sure about the precise age but I recall buying a few issues in a Dudley market stall, before I eventually settled for the glossy US versions.

I’m bit of a completist when it comes to early Hulk appearances, I’ve got Hulk annuals which were released during the eighties it’s usually filled with a reprinted issue and prose stories with illustrations. David Lloyd, the artist famed for V for Vendetta contributed for one of the stories and drew pictures for the prose tale. Along with the aforementioned Lloyd material, the collection will also reprint a Hulk tale "Monster and the Matador" which hasn’t seen the light of day since the late sixties. 

Hulk by Dave Gibbons, he's only drawn the character twice. It'll be great seeing strips like this reprinted but will they be in colour this time round?

Towards the end of the swinging seventies, the UK line was edited by Dez Skinn and Neil Tennant before he went onto pop fame as the front man of the Pet Shop Boys. Skinn was responsible for hiring artists like Dave Lloyd, Dave Gibbons and Steve Dillon who all made a pit stop on Hulk comic which was released to capitalise on the success of the Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno TV show and the three page stories were highly influenced from it.

I think this is a superimposed drawing. The head is drawn by John Romita Sr but could the rest of the body be drawn by artist Brian Bolland?

Earlier on in the year Marvel and their owners Disney decided to stop Panini UK from publishing original material which was a massive kick in the teeth for the UK comics industry. It’s a shame as the home grown stuff was really good. A lot of artists did good work for Panini including Simon Williams, whom top comic reviewer Gary Miller recently said “the premier Hulk artist U.S. fans have never heard of.”

It’s always a good thing that Marvel is finally reprinting material that would give back issue enthusiasts like me headaches and also the comics giant is acknowledging the illustrious history of Marvel UK. I was at Another World in Wolverhampton earlier today and I had a quick glance at the oversized IDW hardcover of Doctor Who which features the entire run of Dave Gibbons’s art on the fourth Doctor, which was originally printed for Marvel UK. I’d like to see Marvel give the same kind of treatment to the Panini material that’s out there.

This is my last post for the year. I'll see you next year folks!

Posted: 30/12/2011
Categories: Initial / Thoughts

Gary Miller | 05/01/2012: 04:53

Thanks for the mention, Neil! Here's hoping the US reprint of the UK Hulk stories has even more content in it than announced...or, at least, maybe there'll be a second volume? Best wishes in '12! ~G.