Issue(s): Rampaging Hulk #1
Cover Date: Aug 98
Title: "The monster or the man? / Outsiders"
Credits:
Glenn Greenberg - Writer
Rick Leonardi / Denys Cowan - Penciler
Dan Green / Tom Palmer - Inker

Review/plot:
The purpose behind Untold Tales of Spider-Man was to find an era for Spider-Man where things were a 'classic' status quo and there were no clones or anything like that. I suspect Rampaging Hulk had a similar purpose, finding a period for the Hulk where he wasn't "merged" and such. Unfortunately, whereas Busiek and Olliffe were an awesome creative team for Untold, the quality of Rampaging's isn't all that hot. And Spidey's classic period had a lot of potential, whereas the dumb Hulk period generally just means the Hulk getting chased by the military a lot.

And that's what we have here, a fairly generic story about the Hulk fighting the military.

It isn't very good, just judged as an isolated story. And it certainly doesn't add anything to the Hulk's backstory. UTOS often provided new insights into what was going on in the old Amazing Spider-Man books. There's nothing like that here, and there doesn't seem to be any real care taken to ensure that this book fit in properly with any particular Hulk run. It's not surprising that this only lasted 6 issues.

The story here is that Bruce gets a job as a janitor at a Brand lab, and performs a cure attempt that puts him in a half-Hulk state.

The military then capture him, but he soon fully Hulks-out and escapes. A back-up story with art by Denys Cowan and Tom Palmer has the Hulk yelling at a bully.

The bully's victim's last name is Stilwell. No relation to Farley and Harlan Stillwell, i guess.

Quality Rating: D+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The placement for this is actually really tight. The military's base is called Gamma base so it has to take place after Hulk #198. Glenn Talbot had been in a coma until Hulk #200, and after that the Hulk is in alternate dimensions, and then returns with Jarella and is on semi-friendly terms with the military until the death of Jarella in Hulk #205. The Hulk is then in mourning for Jarella and not really up for generic stories until after Hulk #208, and at that point Bruce Banner has an established status quo that lasts until #211, at which point Talbot and Betty Ross have broken up. So it all has to take place somewhere between Hulk #205-210. The MCP place this entire series during Hulk #209, which i don't really like because during that issue Bruce Banner has been actively and successfully moderating himself and avoiding transforming into the Hulk. So it doesn't really fit to drop six issues (even if i don't have the other five) of the Hulk vs. Military fights. I understand why they put it there, though; there aren't a lot of other options. I'm instead finding a gap between the end of Hulk #208 and the beginning of #209 where Banner leaves his apartment for an extended period and these issues occur, as well as some Defenders appearances and Hulk annual #6. It's probably equally problematic; any option would be difficult. Unlike Untold Tales of Spider-Man, it doesn't seem like there was a serious effort to fit these issues into existing continuity.

References:

• There's a brief recap of the Hulk's origin from Hulk #1.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? Y

My Reprint: N/A