In the latest drawing crazy patterns spotlighting five recurring themes in the comic, we look into dozens of times Peter David made pop culture references in his Hulklan.
The late Peter David was a great comic book writer, but it’s important to remember that he was also a very fan himself. He loved popular culture, so he often spitted pop culture references into his comic books. One of the most famous examples of this was the series that made him a major comic book star with his iconic incredible Hulk run.
Again, he did this quite often and thought he only gave an example from his start with the incredible Hulk #331 through the incredible Hulk #400. When he began the series, he was clearly finished with the work by previous author Al Mirgrom, so it was not of David’s classic style. But soon he began to show his own specific approach to comic and pop culture references. Here is an example.
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Hulk pays homage to his major influence
in Incredible Hulk #335 (by Peter David and John Ridgway), Hulk corners the villain that realizes as a dark charm that comes when a young man sleeps. Both the villain and the Hulk contrast with the 1931 film, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hydestarring Fredric March.
The clever thing to make a big impact on Jack Kirby when he and Stan Lee create the Hulk.
The Hulk creates some terminator references
in Incredible Hulk #341 (by David and Todd McFarlane), David worked in several references to the film The Terminator. First, a very subtle mention of the film’s funny moments…
And a more obvious reference to the film’s most famous line…
Rick Jones watches a movie that reminds him of Rom
in Incredible Hulk #344 (by David and McFarlane), Rick Jones and Clay Quatermain go see Robocop.
Sheen also mentions the film Chopping Mall starring David’s longtime friend Bill Mewmey.
Marlo watches old friends on TV
in Incredible Hulk #354 (by Peter David, Jeff Perves and Marie Severin), Marlo Chandler is about to escape from her kind of boyfriend, Joe Fictitt (he is a Hulk, who is clearly a Hulk disguised as if he was killed in a gamma bomb explosion), but he watches the incredible Hulk TV movie of the time…
Video Conventions bring familiar faces to the series
In the next issue, in his Bruce Banner Persona (by the name Bruce Bancroft), Bruce and Marlo attend a video convention in Vegas, where they meet the actor Freddie Kruger…
David was about to write a nightmare in an Elm Street comic book at the time.
Later in this issue, Siskel and Ebert Fill-Ins debate Michael Keaton discusses casting as Batman (a massive deal at the time, mentioned in Marvel Comic’s book at the time).
Peter David remakes Star Trekline
in Incredible Hulk #376 (by David, Dale Keown and Bob McLeod), Skrull engineers echoed the lines from the time Star Trek v…
It seems like David is not a fan of Scotty’s line, but it worked for the bad guys.
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Hulk wasn’t a fan of his action figures
As I said in the work a while ago, in 1990, the toy company known as Toybiz decided to license Marvel Comics characters to action figures. This was the first new line of company-wide action figures in the market as DC and Marvel had action figures using Super Power and Secret Wars figures in the early 1980s, respectively. The difference here is that Toybiz was a small enough company (the license was available as no one had licensed many comic books in the late 1980s), and Marvel’s licenses were essentially not bread and butter, allowing us to concentrate on our products a little more than the big companies did.
Each toy comes with accessories…
However, Hulk’s accessories were boulders and metal pieces…
in Incredible Hulk Annual #17 (David, Ron Wagner, Mike Witherby), Hulk complains about the accessory of an action figure in a homage to another pop culture. It’s a great pumpkin, Charlie Brown…
Something cute.
Archie’s friends and a gal?
in Incredible Hulk #384 (David, Keown, Mark Farmer), Betty Banner, now blonde, goes to work at the hotline, her colleague is named Veronica…
She was “Roni” after this.
Rick Jones’ new band was a real band
in Incredible Hulk #386 (David, Keown, and Farmer), Rick watches play in the band in the seduction of The Innocent, including Bill Mumy and Miguel Ferrer, with a song about Jack Kirby and about the Simpsons, referring to Doc Samson…
Of course, Feller was Albert. Twin Peak.
Rick and Hulk make references for double film
in Incredible Hulk #390 (David, Keown, and Farmer), Rick gives an Indiana Jones reference and pays attention to him seeing the Hulk T2: Judgment Day, And the Hulk refers to the Terminator himself.
In the same issue, Rick refers to Superman to Hulk wearing glasses…
The Hulk wasn’t a truly hilarious green giant…
Finally, Incredible Hulk #392, Hulk saves Havoc and refers to the commercial for Jolly Green Giants…
David is an incredible writer and it was fun to see him bring these pop culture references to his story.
Remember that these lists are not exhaustive in nature. They are a list of five examples (here, I decided to do a dozen). So, if it is not listed, there is no “missing”. That’s not one of the five examples I’ve chosen. If anyone else is suggesting about future drawing crazy patterns, drop a line on me at brianc@cbr.com!
