Issue No. 1 of The Incredible Hulk comic book, published by Marvel Comics on May 1, 1962, written by Stan Lee, penciled by Jack Kirby, and inked by Paul Reinman, with the iconic front cover art showing Bruce Banner transforming into the large gray Hulk. The cover notes a 12-cent price and features a group of eye-catching captions: “The Strangest Man of All Time!!,” “Fantasy As You Like It!,” and “Is He Man or Monster or...Is He Both.” This classic comic contains the origin and first appearance of the Hulk as well as the first appearances of Rick Jones, Betty Ross, and Thunderbolt Ross. Also of note, Banner's cover transformation into the Hulk depicts a gray-skinned monster, a color choice made by Lee who didn't want to reference any particular ethnic group. The gray didn’t stay, however, as a printing error in the first issue resulted in the Hulk being presented in a variety of gray and green tones. Lee took to the new look and asked his colorist Stan Goldberg to make the character green for the second issue. Encapsulated and graded by CGC as 3.5 (off-white to white pages).
Currently ranked No. 2 on Overstreet's list of the Top 50 Silver Age Comics, the first issue of The Incredible Hulk famously premiered as the second title of the new Marvel Age of Comics, releasing seven months after the debut of the Fantastic Four. The series was not initially a hit and Hulk was canceled after just six issues to make room for the new Marvel war series Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos. However, after appearing as an original member of the Avengers in September 1963, and then being featured in a few other stories, the Hulk earned a headlining spot in Tales to Astonish, splitting time with Giant-Man in issue No. 60 (October 1964). The Hulk was a smash — and four years later, the would-be 102nd issue of Tales to Astonish officially became the second incarnation of The Incredible Hulk series.
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