A while back I was writing about the old magazine THE RAMPAGING HULK and I mentioned that it was and excellent magazine that added the more mature themes of the television series into the fun common to the Hulk comic book. Well, I was half right in this assessment. The book ran about 15 issues and the last 8 or so definitely fit this description. However, the first few issues where dramatically different. These tales followed a mature theme but where set in the early days of the Hulk’s career. So, what we got with these issues was basically a Hulk Year One meets The Ultimate Hulk. And, yes, it was three decades ahead of its time.

Unfortunately, it was not all that appreciated by the readers at the time. The 1960’s retro-look apparently went over like a lead balloon and the format was scrapped. In Hulk issue 269, it was revealed these first issues were a motion picture produced in outer space (!) a way of completely wiping them out of the Hulk’s continuity. This is a shame as the stories were certainly not all that bad. In fact, there were a fun variant on the traditional Hulk tales.

Those that would like to take a look at these odd, offbeat tales can pick up a copy of Essential Rampaging Hulk #1. This is a cool trade paperback that presents the complete run of the magazine and it is a nice relic from Marvel’s mature magazine days of the 1970’s.