I don't see why this approach wouldn't have/could still work. Banner has been the victim for so long, and the unimaginative writers today seem unable to give Banner his due unless Banner is a "merged" Hulk or the Intelligent Hulk.

I like the idea of Banner purposely transforming himself, and in control of the monster even if he has a tendancy to be violent/crude/disgruntled/misanthropic as the Hulk. And the reason I love it is because that's what I wanted to be able to do as a kid.

I never thought of the television series Hulk as seperate from Banner, or a victim, as Bill Bixby's moral/ethical sense always propelled the television Hulk. Thus, this whole "Banner as Hulk's bitch" routine that became the standard just meant to us (kids) that Banner in the comics was to be ignored completely. Which he essentially was for most of two decades.

The point is: Banner controlling the transformation is what I would have done. If you gave me (a kid) a machine to bombard myself with Gamma Rays so I could punch a bully's head off, I'd have done it.

By the way, I wonder if JB would have brought back the Kirby Hulk's hairy arms. As usual, Kirby came up with a cool misanthropic antihero with hairy arms long before Wolverine was a splat in any fanboy's jeans.

Joel Tesch wrote: Interesting that you bring up Al's detractors on the artistic side. I never really understood that. I thought he was a fine artist.

I'm sure he's a nice guy, but I can't stand his art.  When I'd see a title with him as artist, it was the quickest way to get me to drop a title. 

After this, I read JBs HULK with new eyes. I reread it last weekend. I never did read what happened just after JB left.

 All I can think about now, is what could have been.

Hulk going into that machine looks strange. He's been drawn straight on, as if we're seeing him directly from the side. The machine has some pretty strong foreshortening going on. The Hulk and table he's on don't seem to match the machine.

Chad, with writer/editor Roy Thomas's blessing, Rich Buckler brought back the hairy-armed, hairy-chested Hulk in 1974:

, but I don't think he's been seen since. Brian, in the early days of mighty Marvel, when the King seemed to be drawing virtually EVERY feckin' book they published, Jack often was chided in letters' pages for not being able to keep straight how many fingers and toes the Hulk and the Thing had on each hand and foot.  Stan, similarly overworked, had an equally difficult time when it came to editing - he confessed he couldn't remember, either.