Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk Vol. 18

Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema continue their fan-favorite Hulk run!

Bruce Banner has lived the waking nightmare of being the Incredible Hulk for years, but what if his gamma-powered other self wasn’t an unhinged engine of destruction? What the if man controlled the monster? Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema explore a new world where it’s mind over monster for Marvel’s green goliath, a world where Bruce Banner’s mind dominates the Hulk. It opens surprising new opportunities for comics’ most tormented psychological pair. Yet, despite Banner’s new control, the power of the Hulk’s rage may still burst out with more fury than ever. It’s a saga that ends on the doorstep of the White House, but who will be there to meet the President? Banner the man, or Hulk the monster?

COLLECTING: Incredible Hulk (1968) 266-279, material from Marvel Fanfare (1982) 7 | Bill Mantlo began his Marvel career on Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, in which he introduced White Tiger, one of the industry’s earliest Hispanic super heroes. Eventually writing stories for almost every Marvel title, he did some of his most fondly remembered work on Incredible Hulk and Spectacular Spider-Man. He also launched Cloak and Dagger in a pair of miniseries and guided Alpha Flight through some of its most harrowing ordeals. Mantlo excelled at integrating licensed properties into the Marvel Universe, as demonstrated by Micronauts and Rom: Spaceknight, both of which he wrote from start to finish. At DC, he wrote the Invasion miniseries for one of the company’s biggest crossover events.

After a start as inker to his older brother John, Sal Buscema penciled Captain America, Defenders, Incredible Hulk and more. Famed for his ability to meet tight deadlines, he spread his talents across multiple genres. His 1970s work ranged from Ms. Marvel and Nova to Sub-Mariner and Spider-Woman’s first appearance in Marvel Spotlight. He was the uninterrupted artist on Spectacular Spider-Man for more than one hundred issues and penciled the web-slinger’s adventures in Marvel Team-Up, in which he and writer Bill Mantlo introduced Captain Jean DeWolff. After handling more team-ups in the Thing’s Marvel Two-in-One, he reunited with brother John on Steve Englehart’s Fantastic Four. He later provided inks for Tom DeFalco’s Spider-Girl titles and Thunderstrike miniseries.