I saw the first issue on a spinner rack and was instantly enthralled by the character. Unfortunately, my mother strictly restricted by comic purchases -- Age of Wertham still in effect -- and I spent a lot of time begging to be permitted to pick up the Hulk's book. Finally she relented in time to let me get issue 5. Lousy distribution meant I did not even see issue 6 -- and then the book was canceled!

I filled my Hulk cravings by attempting to build a model of the character out of clay. About eight inches tall. Everything that could possibly go wrong with it went wrong with it. Limbs kept falling off. The head fell off. Finally it was ready for "firing" (baking in the oven) where it fell over and smashed the face flat!

I was thrilled to see the Hulk show up in FF 25, but it turned out to be Part One of a "continued story," and it was literally years before I was able to track down the second part!

After I turned pro, I kept an eye out for any chance to work on the Hulk. I did a Hulk annual with Roger Stern, but the art was demolished by the inks. I shared a cab with Jim Shooter and told him some of the things I'd thought about for the Hulk, and he said "DO IT!" so I swapped titles with Bill Mantlo, ALPHA FLIGHT for THE INCREDIBLE HULK, and half a dozen issue in Shooter said "You can't DO this!"

Meanwhile, to amuse myself, I built another clay statue -- which fell over in the oven and smashed the face in.

I returned to the book as writer, years later, at the request of the penciler. Less said about that experience the better.

Clearly, ol' Greenskin and I were just not meant to be!!

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Uhm... no. My career got "launched" by X-MEN, which I'd been doing for more than a year when this Annual came out.

(Coincidentally, both have December cover dates, X-MEN in 1977, HULK in 1978.)

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Neal Adams was a master of zip-a-tone, which unfortunately inspired a whole lot of people who were NOT masters of zip-a-tone (myself included) to go crazy with it. (One inker with whom I was inflicted had a great fondness for a particular dot-pattern of zip that conflicted with the color plate screen. Little "flowers" bloomed everywhere. When I asked him to stop, for this reason, he said "I like the flowers!")

It truly became a nightmare when artists also fell in love with color holds (something else Neal used well) and started combining them with zip. Sometimes layers upon layers! One artist notoriously turned in a page on which a single panel had SIXTEEN overlays, combinations of zip-a-tone and color holds!!!