Before this issue, which sports a much-imitated cover, Peter David and Todd MacFarlane were doing good.
Here, they turned the corner to iconic.
Yes, it’s time for this one. It’s standard for comics to revisit, rehash, and retell prior stories. Decades into telling tales about the same characters, repetition becomes inevitable. And by the late ’80s, it was becoming apparent that Wolverine would be one of Marvel’s most lucrative and popular characters. So it made sense to go back to his beginning, his first appearance in Hulk #181.
Taking place during the Fall of the Mutants, Hulk carelessly causes a jet airliner to crash.
The X-Men happen to be flying by and save all the passengers, and then Woverine takes on Hulk.
But mostly, there’s just good, solid fighting—and remarkably crisp dialogue.
I also am pretty sure this is the first time we’ve seen that Hulk has a healing factor.
The battle ends when SHIELD shows up and starts shooting Hulk with big guns, and he decides to just leave rather than keep fighting.
Also, Leader and gamma zombie Half Life are looking for gamma bombs.
Oh, and for the iconic cover and some tributes, look below the credits. This is one of the best single-issue stories of all time, according to this objectively accurate list. And also one of Peter David’s best.
And the iconic cover itself is, kind of, a tribute.
