What’s the greatest threat for the Hulk, the strongest one of all? Or even for Bruce Banner, the smartest one of all? I mean, he’d likely survive a nuclear apocalypse, and be left behind with the cockroaches and whoever might have hidden out…
There’s a story in the comics where just such a turn of events happens. As the strongest survivor of World War 3, the Hulk by right of conquest becomes the Maestro. And so we find the Hulk’s greatest threat – his own cruel future self.
The Maestro is the creation of Peter David, one of the best known writers of The Incredible Hulk series (and my personal favorite author). In a two-part comic called Future Imperfect, the Hulk is recruited to head to the future and defeat the Maestro. As the only one who possibly could.
They duke it out physically, where the 100-years-older Maestro is nonetheless stronger, having absorbed so much radiation. Of course, it’s still a pretty good fight…
The Maestro is stronger, and he wins the fight, taking Hulk prisoner. At that point, the battle turns internal. The Maestro wins the mental battle as well – as they fight over whether the death of the Hulk would alter the timeline. The Hulk doesn’t give in to try this desperate play.
The other battleground is internal, as the Maestro knows the Hulk and what he might want. He also has the arguments and simple proof that the Hulk eventually gave in – and became the Maestro. So the third battleground is temptation. The idea that the Hulk could join the Maestro, and that together they could rule, and as the strongest ones, take whatever they wanted.
The future that was painted was interesting. It reminded me a lot of The Incal and I was surprised to see it wasn’t Moebius doing the art. It’s a full-on dystopia (literally called Dystopia), with a lot of new slang and a lot of horrible things. The Maestro, in particular, is ridiculously chauvinistic and most of the women in the society might come to be his possession. It’s good of the Hulk to come around and beat him…
It also has one of those great sorts of future scenes that often show up in visions of Marvel’s future: a room full of the paraphernalia of dead heroes and villains.
Future Imperfect is a fascinating little comic, so if you’re looking for something to read that will make you really root for the hero to overcome the villain, check out this classic!
All images from Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect, copyright Marvel, and captured from the Marvel App.
Looks awesome! I want to get more into the Hulk, now that I know how awesome he can be. 🙂 Great starting point!
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I thought the same thing. There’s decades of Hulk comics… Plus all his team stuff, since as I’ve seen in the movies, he can be even better with a team! I’m not sure I know a good place to go next for Hulk reading.
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I picked up She-Hulk, which has been… Interesting. Superhero law is amusing, and she has some unusual quirks. But I definitely have a lot of Hulk reading I want to do, too!
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I still think She-Hulk would lend to a TV show… legal stuff, and also smash. Which to be fair, is pretty close to Daredevil as well…
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There are now some other Hulk reading recommendations in the thread 🙂
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Discovered your blog on the Challenge Road Trip. You will appreciate that I am more a cup of tea and a English cosy mystery gal, but going to share your link with a bright and interesting grandson. Appreciate that your posts are well presented and easy to read. So many aren’t. Hope lots of new readers find you on this Road trip. Cheers.
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Well hi Stepheny! I actually found your blog during A to Z last year 🙂 Sourcerer here is a contributor blog so I am one of many bloggers here. One of the deepest wells on the site are the posts with music in them, so maybe something to check out. Thanks for stopping by!
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The Hulk certainly could survive a nuclear apocalypse, as the events of Planet Hulk and World War Hulk clearly demonstrate. He survived ground zero of a MASSIVE explosion. But puny, city-destroying bombs are no threat to the Hulk! …just to everyone around him! 😉
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Future Imperfect came before Planet Hulk or World War Hulk… The groundwork was there for him surviving explosions I guess! Good recommendations of the Hulk stories, though 🙂
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That crowd panel is mind-bending. 🙂
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George Perez specializes in that kind of thing. That and twenty-panel pages.
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Yes it is! It’s also page one so you open to that!
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FUTURE IMPERFECT is the greatest Hulk story, and I have an eighteen-inch Maestro statue in my library as a testament to it. PLANET HULK is the second greatest Hulk story. THE END, also by Peter David, is up there. And honestly the run that just got rudely interrupted by SECRET WARS, which continued stuff that started in Mark Waid’s brief run, has been pretty damn good too.
I prefer my Hulk talking and rude, if that’s not perfectly clear. 🙂
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Ah ha, so you’ve been enjoying Doc Green. Just looking at the Secret Wars stuff so far… looks like Doc Green is around in the Planet Hulk series, and they’re returning to Future Imperfect (by Peter David!) as well. So while Secret Wars kind of feels like a crazy nostalgia ploy… they also identified some good stuff to run with 😉
I am planning some posts to lead up to the current Secret Wars. I am reading the current comics at the trade paperback point (though digital), so I’m not there yet… just looking at all these short-run titles dropping and having to figure out which, if any, I’d like to read! They might all have to wait to be read with Marvel Unlimited…
Meanwhile! Will have to check out Planet Hulk and The End sometime too 🙂
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I’ve actually got a hardback with The End and FI packaged together. Great compilation. I was more excited about the idea of a new Secret Wars before I saw what it was; it’s barely started and I can already feel myself losing interest.
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I’m heading into Secret Wars almost exclusively from reading Hickman’s main comics which lead straight into the main Secret Wars story… the rest feels like a combination of gimmicks and nostalgia. Which still… returning to stories like Days of Future Past, Marvel 1602, the Infinity Gauntlet… There’s potential there. Not a lot of it being done by the original writers, though, which makes some of Peter David’s stuff (2099, Future Imperfect) seem like the most interesting stuff to watch out for.
Also, obligatory moment where I recommend Hickman’s Avengers stuff and you mention that you haven’t gotten into it yet 😉 However! How about some main recommended reading?
New Avengers v.1
Avengers v.1+2
Infinity (including the NA & A tie-in issues, they’re all tied up together)
Then unless you’re really into it (in which case, there’s a few prior and after collections I’m leaving off… and if you really like it Avengers World which I haven’t read…):
Time Runs Out v.1-4
Volume 4 of Time Runs Out isn’t out yet… that’s the one leading straight into Secret Wars! I want to know how it all finally got there! But by now I have a pretty good idea. And corporate-wise, I get why – I just wonder how much it will really have a lasting effect, or be brushed off like so many “this changes everything” events of the past… Hickman at least has spent years building up to the idea of tearing everything down around them!
And with that, I’m done hijacking my own thread…
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Honestly, with DC still stuck in Convergence and Marvel doing this, I may as well use my reduced comic budget over the next few weeks to catch up on trades. 🙂
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Agreed. I’m thinking I’ll let the dust settle on Secret Wars and decide in the fall if any of the 5-or-so issue series are worth reading at all. It’ll be like the Age of Apocalypse – tons of short titles, of various interest and merit.
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Oh, and while I’m at it, I LOVED LOVED LOVED the FCBD Avengers issue.
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The one this year? That sounded like the intro to the post-Secret Wars Avengers lineup! No local comic shop so I didn’t get that one and don’t see it digital yet… someday!
We’ll see how I’m feeling post-Hickman. Might be time to find a new comic obsession. Of course, my instinct would be to check out the New 52 to get into DC… except oh wait, just a few years in they’re nuking the whole thing… At least this is the first time Marvel is really doing this?
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Oh! Which also makes me think Ms. Marvel but that’s more @hannahgivens‘ expertise 🙂
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What what now? You’re gonna try Ms. Marvel in the interim? Yes, try Ms. Marvel.
Honestly I think the New 52 is probably MORE worth checking out now that we know it’s got an expiration date. I knew that was coming, but we didn’t know exactly when they’d call it quits. Really I’d recommend knowing the characters first, though.
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