Nice article. Thanks for posting it!

This is my biggest "what if?" JB project. He's so well-suited for the character, it breaks my heart that the run was so short. The interviews of the period in which JB discusses his plans for the book only rub salt in the wound! JB totally gets what the Hulk is all about--that eternal schism between Banner's reason and the Hulk's rage.

Woulda been great to see the Hulk get back to basics. JB mentioned at the time that Banner would almost have been like an alcoholic--seemingly in control of the Hulk (but still losing it), and becoming addicted to being the Hulk. Unfortunately, the run ended just before JB moved things out of the status quo and back to basics. There was even going to be a "very, very, very important death" that we never got to see (I agree with the author's theory about that).

Of course, as it mentioned in the article, the first seeds of this aborted plotline can be seen in # 319, when Banner frustratedly mentions that he thinks there might have been a way from the start to have been in control of the Hulk's power.

That, of course, harks back to the early stories in which Banner wanted to use the power of the Hulk for the good of mankind, but couldn't quite maintain control over his brutish alter-ego.

Woulda been great!

I've been obsessing over this for over 25 years.

I'm sure JB would say it's a ridiculous notion, to obsess over what never was or could be, since it's gone. But for a kid who loved the Hulk, Kirby's early version, Sal's version, and pretty much any version before Peter David got his mitts on him (though the Gray Hulk--not "Mr. Fixit" which was stupid--reminded me enough of Kirby's issues 5-6 Hulk to intrigue), I couldn't help but want JB to educate me on a Hulk I didn't know existed. No matter how critics want to say JB is a staunch retro-vivalist, I know his work speaks volumes about uniqueness filtered through the past. JB's FF wasn't a slavish Lee/Kirby homage, and I didn't figure the Hulk would be either!

What I wish would happen, which won't, would be for JB to create an original creator-owned series, like DANGER UNLIMITED, as the Hulk series he wanted to produce. The history wouldn't be there, but then it's easy enough to world-build with analogues.

I'd be mighty interested in what kind of name JB would come up with for a creator-owned Hulk character, "creature of the night" behemoth based on Lee/Kirby's!

I'm going to have trouble looking at the Hulk now without
thinking about what might have been.

So I'm reading along, and thinking This is all WAY too positive! Does this guy actually have the stones to simply say he LIKES what I did, and damn the Byrne Bashers?

Then I hit that line, and the cosmic balance was restored.

Dennis::I guess he was not fated to have any success with the Hulk...

How are you quantifying/defining not successful??

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Not the most flattering of assessments, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was a line meant to appease Byrne-bashers.

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Call it appeasement, or call it yet another manifestation of that annoying habit some fans have of not being able to simply express a liking for something without having to QUALIFY it. As if they are afraid that saying "I like Joe Fonebone's work!" will unleash a torrent of demands that justification must be given for liking an issue Joe did fifteen years ago, when he was recovering from brain surgery and drawing with his feet.