THE HULK

Instantly recognizable the world over – it’s hard to stay incognito when you’re ten feet tall and bright green – The Hulk has sometimes been a simplistic character, simply punching things again and again (the recent story arc, World War Hulk, was particularly guilty of this).

But when writers like Peter David – the definitive Hulk scribe, as far as we’re concerned – get hold of him, Hulk and Banner become a psychologically complex, nuanced being with an incredibly complicated history involving Banner’s battle for control, which has led to Hulks green and grey.

It’s been fun watching The Hulk become a major, major player in the Marvel Universe of late, with Planet Hulk, the aforementioned World War Hulk and the current Red Hulk storyline. Long may Hulk continue to (be a) smash. Oh, and incredibly, incredibly strong – in fact, the madder he gets, the stronger he gets.

AKA: BRUCE BANNER

FIRST APPEARED IN THE INCREDIBLE HULK #1 (1962)

CREATED BY STAN LEE AND JACK KIRBY