Why was Hulk cancelled after 6 issues?

[trmoore54]

I love your group shot! Better than mine, but I managed to get them in the right order.

 

I wanted to keep the slabs and raws all together for alignment sake in the pic

 

They could have remained in alignment as "L" shapes...

[Jaylam]

In hindsight, yes, the 1-6 is a little bizarre, knowing the Hulk like we all do now, BUT......

 

I don't find the first 6 Incredible Hulks any goofier than some of the other titles Marvel was putting out at the time. And the original Kirby Hulk is awesome to behold. I haven't read them in a bit, but I remember the artwork of the series being (predictably) strong. I always liked the look of the Ditko inks over Kirby pencils in #2.

 

Came down to bad sales, which might be chalked up to the title being a bit of a Hero/Monster hybrid, and the whole distribution mess.

 

Back in those days, how did they even know what the sales figures were for any particular book?

[Unca Ben]

In hindsight, yes, the 1-6 is a little bizarre, knowing the Hulk like we all do now, BUT......

 

I don't find the first 6 Incredible Hulks any goofier than some of the other titles Marvel was putting out at the time. And the original Kirby Hulk is awesome to behold. I haven't read them in a bit, but I remember the artwork of the series being (predictably) strong. I always liked the look of the Ditko inks over Kirby pencils in #2.

 

Came down to bad sales, which might be chalked up to the title being a bit of a Hero/Monster hybrid, and the whole distribution mess.

 

Back in those days, how did they even know what the sales figures were for any particular book?

 

They used an abacus.

[SupergirlDC1959]

Because Hulk sucked then and still sucks today!! The guy just breaks things boringggggggg!! There I said it.....so shot me!!

 

Boring for kids and even more boring for adults.

 

The main reason the #1 is worth so much now is almost everyone threw them in the garbage. Now there are only a few nice high graded copies left for a some what of a ''large'' collecting base. Nothing comparable with the amount of fans Spider-Man has or the X-Men have.

 

Same goes for Ant-Man why would anyone buy his 1st appearance for that kind of money.....never ever understood it and never will either. To be blunt I understand the value of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 better than that of the Ant-Man's 1st appearance.

[PovertyRow]

Same goes for Ant-Man why would anyone buy his 1st appearance for that kind of money....

 

I agree and same with TTA 13! BOTH should come back down to regular Pre-Hero Marvel prices until I can add them to my collection!

[SupergirlDC1959]

Even then I would pass on the Ant-Man......sooooooooo many more characters deserve more recognition than him.

[PovertyRow]

Even then I would pass on the Ant-Man......sooooooooo many more characters deserve more recognition than him.

 

One must look at it from a completest point of view. TTA 27 IS a very nice Pre-Hero Marvel. But not for its current "price".

[Unca Ben]

There I said it.....so shot me!!

 

 

Bourbon or Scotch?

[Unca Ben]

Because Hulk sucked then and still sucks today!! The guy just breaks things boringggggggg!! There I said it.....so shot me!!

 

Boring for kids and even more boring for adults.

 

The main reason the #1 is worth so much now is almost everyone threw them in the garbage. Now there are only a few nice high graded copies left for a some what of a ''large'' collecting base. Nothing comparable with the amount of fans Spider-Man has or the X-Men have.

 

Same goes for Ant-Man why would anyone buy his 1st appearance for that kind of money.....never ever understood it and never will either. To be blunt I understand the value of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 better than the Ant-Man 1st appearance.

 

Yeah, why buy the Incredible Hulk #1 when gems like these were being offered on the newstand that same month

 

[SupergirlDC1959]

This is from a 100% sober view point!! Maybe after a few drinks Hulk will start to look good hahahaha!!

[RockMyAmadeus]

[Hammerhead]

Even then I would pass on the Ant-Man......sooooooooo many more characters deserve more recognition than him.

 

A year or so ago I bought the Ant-Man Marvel Masterworks and was very surprised at how much I enjoyed reading it. It was a fun read and ever since I have grown much more fond of Ant-Man.

 

I have the Hulk Omnibus and it took me a long time to finish it, I really had to push myself. Usually I read a Omnibus withouty picking up other comics/TPB's before finishing. Not so with the Hulk. I found it very boring. I did however enjoy some issues, the Boomerang appearances were fun.

 

Have you ever read the early Ant-Man comics?

 

As for the OP question: for me for the personal collection I would pick FF #1, but for investment you probably should grab the Hulk #1. I think the Hulk will continue to climb and trail right behind AF #15.

[Sqeggs]

I actually like them..... but it was obvious that it wasn't fully gelled in Stan's mind as a concept. The course they took was the best one, as Hulk definitely wasn't ready for his own title. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

Yeah, I think that's it. Seems weird but I don't think Stan (or Jack, or Jack and Stan, or just Jack, or ...) really gave a lot of thought to how the characters would evolve beyond issue 1 -- that was a problem to worry about next month.

 

It's particularly glaring with Hulk that the character wasn't well thought out, but I think it's also true of Iron Man. A lot of floundering in those early issues. Iron Man meets Cleopatra?!

 

Or the Avengers. I doubt they initially intended to give Hulk the bum's rush out of the group that fast.

[namisgr]

It's one of the things I actually find appealing about the initial Hulk stories, and the early SA Marvels in general. It typically took quite awhile to flesh out the characters and their powers, weaknesses, side cast-of-characters, and costumes. It's neat from the point of the creative process to see these aspects of the books evolve over time. With the Hulk in particular, there were a lot of changes not only within those first six issues, but even a bit later on in Tales to Astonish. The topper was TTA77, that I think was the first time a Marvel Superhero had his/her secret identity revealed to the world.

[Unca Ben]

It's one of the things I actually find appealing about the initial Hulk stories, and the early SA Marvels in general. It typically took quite awhile to flesh out the characters and their powers, weaknesses, side cast-of-characters, and costumes. It's neat from the point of the creative process to see these aspects of the books evolve over time. With the Hulk in particular, there were a lot of changes not only within those first six issues, but even a bit later on in Tales to Astonish. The topper was TTA77, that I think was the first time a Marvel Superhero had his/her secret identity revealed to the world.

 

This. Times a hundred.

[spracknetch23]

As a lifelong Hulk fan, I'd have to say the initial six issues were a snoozefest. In fact, most of his '70s stuff was also very stale, repetitive and a chore to get through. I didn't even enjoy 180-181 much What got me most into the Hulk was Peter David's run, which was being released when I started collecting comics. He actually made the book interesting for the first time in a long time (ever?). Still, I collected all of those old back issues and read them all anyway.

 

All of this being said, I love Hulk 1-6 even though I didn't enjoy the stories. Strange huh?

[rjpb]

As a lifelong Hulk fan, I'd have to say the initial six issues were a snoozefest. In fact, most of his '70s stuff was also very stale, repetitive and a chore to get through. I didn't even enjoy 180-181 much What got me most into the Hulk was Peter David's run, which was being released when I started collecting comics. He actually made the book interesting for the first time in a long time (ever?). Still, I collected all of those old back issues and read them all anyway.

 

All of this being said, I love Hulk 1-6 even though I didn't enjoy the stories. Strange huh?

 

The covers are early Marvel goodness. I did enjoy the whole Leader storyline from TTA last time I read it ( probably back in the 80s), and I recall enjoying the Roy Thomas/ Herb Trimpe/John Severin issues in the early 70s when I was a kid, but have no idea if they still hold up.

[markseifert]

 

Just to be a little picky with numbers ...

 

Yep. Appreciate it.

 

A visual aid would probably be useful here.

[markseifert]

Back in those days, how did they even know what the sales figures were for any particular book?

 

Well, the returns system (and of course, their internal accounting) plus various other methods of getting info direct from newsdealers.

 

The newsstand system was far more developed by the Golden Age than we generally think. By the time of Action 1 (and probably before) it was possible to get a mid-month status check on individual titles.

 

It's an interesting subject. Basically, print periodicals in the US started taking off in earnest after the Civil War. Many publishing fortunes were made and lost between the 1880s and WWI.

[markseifert]

As a lifelong Hulk fan, I'd have to say the initial six issues were a snoozefest. In fact, most of his '70s stuff was also very stale, repetitive and a chore to get through. I didn't even enjoy 180-181 much What got me most into the Hulk was Peter David's run, which was being released when I started collecting comics. He actually made the book interesting for the first time in a long time (ever?). Still, I collected all of those old back issues and read them all anyway.

 

All of this being said, I love Hulk 1-6 even though I didn't enjoy the stories. Strange huh?

 

The covers are early Marvel goodness. I did enjoy the whole Leader storyline from TTA last time I read it ( probably back in the 80s), and I recall enjoying the Roy Thomas/ Herb Trimpe/John Severin issues in the early 70s when I was a kid, but have no idea if they still hold up.

 

I will say I have heard the "these stories are bad/corny" sentiment A LOT from younger fans, who just don't understand how any of this stuff could have possibly caught on. I tried for years to give Marvel Masterworks, etc to younger relatives for xmas/birthday, when I knew they like the current movies... but they just don't connect with the original material.