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Post by Red Oak Kid on Jul 30, 2016 18:24:23 GMT -5
If you were an original fan of the Hulk comic, what did you think of the tv show?
If you had never read the comic, and first learned of the Hulk in the tv show, what did you think of the comic?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2016 20:10:08 GMT -5
I started reading the Hulk comic when it changed from Tales to Astonish (with Hulk & Namor). I was excited in the 70's to see any live adaption on TV. At that time I was in my early teens & realized that comics could not be faithfully translated to TV because of budgets & the limitations of special effects at that time. Plus Bill Bixby was one of my favorite TV actors from Courtship of Eddie's Father & My Favorite Martian. I loved his version of Banner. I met Lou Ferrigno decades later & he was very approachable. I was always OK with different interpretations of the characters in other media. The Hulk & Wonder Woman TV shows were some of my favorite TV shows during the 70's.
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 30, 2016 23:59:08 GMT -5
I only read a scant few issues of Hulk comics growing up, but I enjoyed the TV show. I recently rewatched some episodes online a while back, and was surprised at how good the pilot episode holds up. I feel like they could have updated that pilot and it would still work today. Bill Bixby does a really great job protraying a haunted and tormented David Banner. And even though the Hulk in the comics talks (with varying degrees of verbal ability), I liked that the TV Hulk never said a word. Then there was that great ending theme:
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Post by tingramretro on Jul 31, 2016 0:33:05 GMT -5
The Lonely Man is one of the best end themes in TV history.
Incidentally, in 1979-80, Marvel UK published several UK originated Hulk stories (most of them drawn by Dave Gibbons) which, while clearly using the character of Bruce Banner rather than David, were nonetheless very much in the style of the TV show in order to draw in new readers more familiar with that version (A few of these were laer reprinted in the US as backups in, I think, Marvel Super Action). They also published hardcover Incredible Hulk Annuals in 1979 and 1980 which carried originated strips featuring the David Banner version.
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Post by tolworthy on Jul 31, 2016 1:51:45 GMT -5
I read the comics first (in Mighty World of Marvel) and always liked the gentle Hulk who just wanted peace, and could never find a friend. This is one of the first Hulk stories I read and this page moved me.  Around that time there was a scene where the Hulk cradles a deer (I think), and this was when he loved Jarella and lost her. That to me was/is the definitive Hulk. I think the TV series captured it perfectly. For me it's the best adaptation of a Marvel comic ever. I wish they had a hundred times bigger budget for special effects, but I can live without that: that's what the comics are for. For me the 1970s Hulk is better than anything in the MCU because it's so believable (though the First captain America movie comes close). These were people you could care about. The first MCU Hulk movies failed I think because the CGI Hulk was not believable at all. The Hulk in the first Avengers movie finally had a personality, but nothing beats the Bixby/Ferigno combo for me. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2016 4:56:46 GMT -5
To me, the Opening Sequence of the Intro of that Show was BRILLIANT ... ANGER to DANGER !!!
The Hulk Television Show was the best by far as Television goes, and Bill Bixby was superb as Doctor Bruce Banner - the opening sequence that set the tone of the show itself and having said that it's also captures some of the early Hulk's Comic Books of where David Banner being hunted down and all. I did not read much of the early comic books but the Television Series made a believer out of me I felt it was done in a brilliant way of showcasing Banner's quest to find a solution to eradicate the dwelling spirit that inside him and that's the reason why the did the lonely man sequence at the end because David Banner did not have many friends along the way because at any given moment when he gets angry a raging spirit emerges and that's became his problem from day one and unable to find a solution for it.
This television series was more like a Drama than a Superhero and most of the time it's deviates from the HULK COMICS and that alone made it truly special and that alone and I did not like the three 2 hour movies after the show was cancelled.
Incredible Hulk Returns (1988) - Featuring Thor and the last appearance of Jack Colvin.
The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989) - featuring Daredevil and Wilton Fisk, Rex Smith played Daredevil.
Death of the Incredible Hulk (1990) - this was a tragic movie that I cried after seeing it because it was a tragic love story involving Jasmine.
I watched all three of them - just out of curiosity and every time I was disappointed in them. Sorry Members.
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Post by tingramretro on Jul 31, 2016 5:44:17 GMT -5
I was always a little puzzled by Jack Colvin's character, journalist Jack McGee. He seemed to spend years fruitlessly travelling around the country trying to track the Hulk, purely on his own initiative. Who was paying him? Why were they paying him? If I was his editor, I'd have told him fairly early on to either come up with a genuine story, or get another job. Also, McGee-and thanks to him, the authorities-apparently believed that the Hulk was guilty of the murder of David Banner; that's why the Hulk was a fugitive from justice. I'd have thought it would be fairly easy for Banner to prove the Hulk's innocence. Surely, all he'd have had to do was walk into a police station somewhere and say "Hi, I'm David Banner-I'm not dead, I haven't been murdered"? Why is that so difficult? The man hadn't actually committed any crime, that anyone could prove. Why was he running?
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Post by hondobrode on Jul 31, 2016 16:35:41 GMT -5
I think everyone liked that show back then.
They both drove home how, despite all this power, he's the one treated badly because he's different. The Hulk just wants peace and acceptance, like we all do.
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Post by tolworthy on Jul 31, 2016 18:31:01 GMT -5
I was always a little puzzled by Jack Colvin's character, journalist Jack McGee. He seemed to spend years fruitlessly travelling around the country trying to track the Hulk, purely on his own initiative. Who was paying him? Why were they paying him? If I was his editor, I'd have told him fairly early on to either come up with a genuine story, or get another job. Also, McGee-and thanks to him, the authorities-apparently believed that the Hulk was guilty of the murder of David Banner; that's why the Hulk was a fugitive from justice. I'd have thought it would be fairly easy for Banner to prove the Hulk's innocence. Surely, all he'd have had to do was walk into a police station somewhere and say "Hi, I'm David Banner-I'm not dead, I haven't been murdered"? Why is that so difficult? The man hadn't actually committed any crime, that anyone could prove. Why was he running? I figure a journalist could make a good living from following the Hulk and reporting on what happened. The more he reports, the more he becomes the "go-to" guy. Given his obsession I expect he would develop all kinds of theories about what happened. He'd have to, to keep people reading. And for every person the Hulk helps, there's somebody else who hates him and will give some scary quotes. That would be enough to make it dangerous for Banner to ever hand himself in. And what if he told the truth? Given the climate created by the journalist, the truth would be enough to convict Banner: At least, that's how I justify it. |
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Post by chaykinstevens on Aug 1, 2016 11:48:43 GMT -5
Incidentally, in 1979-80, Marvel UK published several UK originated Hulk stories (most of them drawn by Dave Gibbons) which, while clearly using the character of Bruce Banner rather than David, were nonetheless very much in the style of the TV show in order to draw in new readers more familiar with that version (A few of these were laer reprinted in the US as backups in, I think, Marvel Super Action). They also published hardcover Incredible Hulk Annuals in 1979 and 1980 which carried originated strips featuring the David Banner version. Gibbons only drew the Hulk strip in the first issue of Hulk Comic. I think Steve Dillon and John Bolton also drew one strip each before Paul Neary became the regular penciller, with David Lloyd inking some of Neary's later strips. On the other side of the pond, the colour Hulk magazine seemed to try to get closer to the TV series than the black and white Rampaging Hulk issues (much more to my liking) that preceded it. |
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Post by brutalis on Aug 1, 2016 12:12:13 GMT -5
I was a Hulk comic reader and considered the television show as good for what it was. At that time Hollywood could really have cared less about comic book's and their followers. We got lucky in having Kenneth Johnson running things behind the scenes to make this series so good. And we truly were blessed having Bill Bixby for Robert Bruce Banner. He carried the series in many ways as without his acting abilities and pathos then we might never had cared enough for the burden he carried. And without Lou Ferrigno giving a such a strong physical representation the entire series might have been just a blunder. Even today in repeats it holds up very well story wise if you can tolerate the slower pacing of that time's television shows.
And i know during the show's time on television during my high school years you constantly heard the school athletes in the gym all doing their workout chant of " LOOK LIKE LOU" as they grunted through reps on the weight machines!!!
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Post by Randle-El on Aug 1, 2016 19:26:22 GMT -5
The other thing I liked about that show was that they used an actual person (albeit a huge one) to play the Hulk, and the transformation sequences were done with makeup and practical effects. Of course, that had more to do with realities of TV/film production in those days than anything else -- it's not like they even had the option to use CGI. But even so, it made the transformation process seem more real and plausible. Having a normal sized man transform into seven foot tall, more muscular version of himself seemed more plausible than having him turn into a giant. It also gave the show more of a monster movie feel. Having the change start with his eyes turning white was also brilliant -- it was a very unsettling image.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 1, 2016 19:45:53 GMT -5
I loved the show as a kid and agree that Bill Bixby's solid acting was the linchpin of the series. It's underwhelming today, but it wasn't about geek service and superhero universes, it was a classic drama/monster series with the comic being used as a loose scaffolding. The bulk of the audience at the time wouldn't have accepted a more "Marvel" take I don't think, particularly if they tried to use arch-foes like The Leader or the Abomination. I do think the series misses Thunderbolt Ross, Betty Ross and Rick Jones, as well as the whole Cold War anxiety aspect of the early comics.
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Post by tingramretro on Aug 2, 2016 15:28:34 GMT -5
"Don't make me Ang Lee. You wouldn't like me when I'm Ang Lee".
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 2, 2016 21:08:15 GMT -5
I love the pilot episode for the TV show, but the rest of the series felt utterly repetitive to me (TV movies aside). I guess that was true of the comic as well, though.
Maybe the difference for me is as follows: With the TV show, the part I loved was Dr. Banner. Bill Bixby was so utterly likable. Meanwhile, the Hulk itself was a bit of a joke. With the comic, The Hulk was the endearing part (especially when Len Wein was writing and portraying him as an innocent child with a temper who only wanted a friend), but Dr. Banner was a stick in the mud who took valuable time away from the character we really wanted to see.
So both had their strengths and their weaknesses.
Incidentally, I've still yet to read The Hulk magazine, which (I believe) was written to be more in line with the television series.
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