One Hulk, Two Hulk, Green Hulk, Red Hulk Or Wait, Why is the Hulk Red?

With the release of Captain America: New World Order, We — as a comicbook aficionado, historian, journalist, and creator for over 60 years — have been repeatedly asked by several of our non-comics friends and family this very same question, “Wait, why is the Hulk red? (and when did he become red?)” Well funny story about all that, this didn’t just happen with this film, but the seeds of which were planted way back before the creation of the Marvel Universe. Back then, Marvel was still mostly Westerns and Monster comics. Before the introduction of the character we now know as the Hulk, there was another “Hulk”, In Journey Into Mystery #62 (1960) the psychic predator, Xemnu, created by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, and was referred to as "the Hulk" before Bruce Banner's version even existed. Then, later in ’62 When Banner came on the scene, he transformed into a gray Hulk, but we’ll get to that in a minute, first, we want to talk about Chris Giarrusso and a strip he created called Bullpen Bits (which later evolved into Mini Marvels) that ran on the Bullpen Bulletin Pages in Marvel comics beginning in 1999. (Oh, if you want to know what I think of the actual Captain America film check out my review, over here).

We mention Chris because it was in his strip with little cartoon characters of the various Marvel characters (Giarrusso described it as Marvel done “Peanuts style” doing silly things. According to Chris it was in 2008 that Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness created the Red Hulk in the regular Marvel Universe. later Paul Tobin, Sean McKeever, and Marc Sumerak, each contributed to the Mini Marvels run of stories. Later on, Jeph’s daughter, Audrey, while in high school, got the gig writing the Mini Hulks strip soon after with art by me. It was a Mini Marvel adaptation of an already existing character. Neither Chris or Audrey had any hand in the creation of Red Hulk. but it was Audrey's idea to include a Blue Hulk, which was unique to the strip. The Mini Marvels strip eventually graduating into a series of full-sized one-shot comics and trade paperbacks.

In addition to the regular Marvel characters that were being spoofed in that strip, Audrey, Chris Giarrusso and later Paul Tobin, Sean McKeever, and Marc Sumerak, all contributed to the Mini Marvels run of stories. Needless to say, the very concept of different colored Hulks apparently garnered enough traction amongst the Marvel staff that they made their way into the mainstream Marvel books. Still, it is important to understand that when Hulk first appeared in Incredible Hulk #1 (1962) co-created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby he was in fact gray. According to Marvel Lore, when that book appeared in print the actual coloring process of comics wasn’t sophisticated enough to maintain the same gray hue throughout (causing the Hulk to range in color from light to dark gray, to purple to blue to green, so the decision was made to color him green going forward).

Thus, it wasn’t until the second issue that the Hulk appeared as “normal” green self (Incredible Hulk #2, May 1962). Therefore, it was a green Hulk that existed in comics (with him later appearing from 1977–1982 on our TV screens in the form of Lou Ferrigno (with Bill Bixby portraying his alter ego of David Bruce Banner. Then, back in the comicbooks, in February of 1980, Bruce Banner’s Cousin, Jennifer Walters, was involved in a near fatal accident and received a transfusion of Bruce’s irradiated blood which transformed her into the Savage She-Hulk. (In 2022 She Hulk also got her own TV series on Disney+ with Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer and Malia Arrayah She-Hulk.

Interestingly enough, when the series was announced there were some conservative newsreaders who bemoaned the “Woke agenda” of a female hulk, without realizing that the character had been created some 40 years earlier, and not so much as an attempt to create a progressive character, but as a way for Marvel to protect their copyright on the name “Hulk” as a superhero.) In fact, during the run of The Incredible Hulk TV series, in a recorded interview, a journalist even asked Bill Bixby if there had been any talk of a female Hulk showing up, which Bixby thought was a good idea, but never actually occurred in the show.

Back in the Marvel comics, in 2015 the character, Amadeus Cho, also became a green Hulk, (The Totally Awesome Hulk #1), after being exposed to a concentrated dose of gamma radiation while attempting to save his friends from a villainous attack, essentially mirroring the origin story of Bruce Banner, this radiation triggered a similar transformation within Cho’s body, allowing him to turn into a powerful, green Hulk-like form. Two other gamma-irradiated characters (villains, actually) in the Hulk mythos are the Abomination (Emil Blonsky (1967), played by Tim Roth in The Incredible Hulk, 2008 and She-Hulk ‘22) and The Leader (Samuel Sterns, 1967) played by Tim Blake Nelson in both The Incredible Hulk (2008), and Captain America Brave New World (2025)

The Gray Hulk eventually reappeared in Incredible Hulk #324 (July 1986) while Peter David was writing the series. In this incarnation, Gray Hulk wasn’t so much of raging monster, as he was a Vegas crime boss named “Mr. Joe Fixit”. It wasn’t until the mid-to-late 2000s that Hulks began to take on more of a variety of rainbow hues. As noted, before, this began in a humorous strip entitled Bullpen Bits that appeared in various Marvel comics on the Bullpen Bulletins Page, written by Audrey Loeb, Chris Giarrusso, Marc Sumerak, Sean McKeever, and Paul Tobin (and which Giarrusso drew) it was in that strip that tiny red and blue Hulks were introduced.

In January of 2008 Jeph Loeb (Audrey’s father) and Ed McGuinness introduced Red Hulk in a new volume of Hulk comic. At first the actual identity of Red Hulk was unknown, but two years after his introduction, he was revealed to be General Thaddeus E. “Thunderbolt” Ross. (This came as something of a surprise to everyone, as the character of Thunderbolt Ross had been killed some 20 years earlier. No explanation was given for this resurrection. This was, of course, followed in 2009 by the appearance of Red She-Hulk in Hulk (Vol. 2 #15) who turned out to be General Ross’ daughter, Betty, who ultimately morphed into Red Harpy (2019 in Immortal Hulk #16). Betty had been previously transformed into a Green Harpy way back in Incredible Hulk #168 (July 1973).

Other Hulks have included a Purple Hulk who first appeared in Avengers #24 (March 2012) created by Brian Michael Bendis and Daniel Acuna, who turned out to be Norman Osborn (formerly The Green Goblin, one of Spider-Man’s most notorious foes). Norman was given Super Adaptoid technology which he used to absorb all the powers of the Avengers at once, Hulk included… and nearly killing himself in the process. Outside of the comics, Happy Hogan became a purple Hulk during the events of the What If…? animated series.

While an Orange Hulk originally appeared as a playable character in the videogame Marvel vs. Capcom, this Hulk was not given any significance storyline but played slightly different from the standard Hulk later an Orange Hulk was introduced to the comics by Rick Remender and Mark Brooks Uncanny X-Force #12 (July 2011). This “Solar Hulk” was from Earth-295 (the Main Marvel Earth is 616). Orange Hulk seems to have gained his powers from solar radiation in the same way that Bruce Banner traditionally gained his through gamma radiation. It is also implied that he is stronger during daylight hours.

Blue Hulk who became Captain Universe in Incredible Hulk #1 (November 2005) was created by Jay Faerber and Carlos Magno. However, someone else who could well deserve the title of the Blue Hulk is Rick Jones. When Rick was exposed to gamma radiation by the Intelligencia in Hulk (Vol. 2) #2, he became a new type of Abomination, christening himself the ‘A-Bomb’ Hulk. As to why he became blue instead of green, it was assumed that since the Gamma radiation had been combined with other forms of radiation, it altered his skin tone to blue rather than green. He was later cured of the radiation and returned to his human form.

There was also a Brown Hulk who first appeared in The Incredible Hulk (Vol. 2 #13, February 2000). This “Devil Hulk” (which was created by Paul Jenkins and Ron Garney was actually less of a physical monster and more of an inner demon for Bruce Banner to wrestle with intellectually rather than physically.

Then there was a Black Hulk from Avengers & X-Men: AXIS #4 (November 2014) by Rick Remender and Leinil Francis Yu who was the character Kluh (this Hulk was linked to yet another incarnation of a greenish, deformed Hulk, referred to as “Guilt Hulk” who was just one of several split personalities of Banner formed by his abuse by his father Brian Banner.

Next is Yellow Hulk (this one enhanced by the villainous scientific group A.I.M.) who was introduced in Matthew K. Manning and Marcio Fiorito’s Marvel Action: Avengers #9 in 2018. The Yellow Hulk is a result of the godlike Nightmare messing with Captain America’s mind. Nightmare brought Steve Rogers’ nightmares to life, creating a pocket reality where his Avengers allies had been corrupted by the terrorist group Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.) The Yellow Hulk is seemingly identical to the Savage Hulk in power and personality, but now A.I.M.’s signature shade of yellow.

Apparently, there is also another individual who is a yellow Hulk, and that is Jackson Lenard who is a character created by the gaming company Legend but eventually used in the Marvel Universe. He is a friend of Dr. Banners who was trying to find a cure for the Hulk but was turned into one himself!

Silver Hulk (otherwise known as Galactus’ Herald was designed by Ron Lim, and appeared in the one-shot comic What If...? Galactus Transformed Hulk? #1 (2025). The story sees Galactus choosing Bruce Banner as his new herald, imbuing him with the Power Cosmic.

Finally, there is actually a White Hulk (a Hulk clone) which appeared in James Kochalka’s story Hulk Squad, Smash! from Strange Tales Volume 5 #1, (September 2, 2009). The White Hulk was essentially written as a joke character in the anthology of weird and wild stories. Needless to say, given the nature of Marvel’s multiverse it means this character does officially exist in Marvel canon, and he’s described as part of a team of experimental Hulk clones created by the government.

Actually, there is “technically” one more Hulk-like character, and that is a “Skin-Tone Hulk” (Doc Samson), a psychiatrist who attempted to steal Hulk’s powers. While Samson became incredibly muscular, only his hair turned green. In the past, Bruce Banner has shown the rare ability to use his Hulk strength when still in human form (see Bruce Jones and Mike Deodato’s Jr.’s Incredible Hulk Volume 2 #50, 2003), suggesting he too qualifies for the ‘skin-tone Hulk’ title.

As a postscript to all of this, our friend, Ray Felix has independently developed a Red Hulk-type character that he wound up using in his own Bronx Heroes comic series A World Without Superheroes. That character eventually came to be known as Rampage. and went on to appear in Bronx Villains #1 from Ray’s production company Bronx Heroes.

The Measure of a Superhero: Ray Felix

This is an “older” article of mine that was originally published elsewhere. I’m choosing to (re)present it here as I consolidate my work under a unified umbrella. 

Ray Felix is a real life superhero.

No really, he totally is, and we are not exaggerating in the least. In a world where most aspiring comicbook professionals want to work for one of the big two comicbook companies on one of their iconic superhero franchises, Ray has quietly been building his own Tyler Perry-style funnybook empire. Not only does he publish comics as Bronx Heroes, he runs an annual comicbook show in the Bronx (Bronx Heroes Comic Con), attends other shows (including NYCC & Alex Simmons Kids’ ComicCon — also in the Bronx), he is involved in the Bronx Council of the Arts, he produces T-shirts spotlighting his own characters, bottles his own brand of Bronx Heroes soda, has his own art studio (Cup ‘O’ Java), stages art events in and around NYC (including a Black Comic Day in Harlem, an art show celebrating women in comics, a sequential art show spotlighting Will Eisner, and more). Hey, he even traveled to Africa with Simmons to teach kids about comics. Then in his “spare time” he teaches.

Then, just to make his life interesting, he is standing tall, David-like against the mega-super-goliath(s) of Marvel and DC comicbook corporations as he attempts to “take back” the word “Superhero.” That’s right, back in the late ‘70s Marvel and DC got together on one of their earliest team-ups not to produce a precedent-setting crossover of some of their well-known superheroes, but to copyright and trademark the word “superhero” itself. Now, according to published reports, the two companies jointly co-own the word in all of its iterations (one word, two words, hyphenated, etc.). Further, they apparently have the word so locked up (and the courts so bumfuzled, that if you tried to open up a retail store, sell a sneaker, bottle a soda, market a surfboard or, in any way, shape, or form, utilize the word “Superhero” without first paying these two corporate entities off for the “right” their team of well-paid lawyers will descend on you like the hordes of Hydra on Captain America and a slice of apple pie.

Needless to say, this type of bizarro corporate branding seems as silly to any intelligent person as Microsoft and Apple co-owning the word “PC,” Anheuser-Busch and Molson Coors co-owning the word “beer,” or Coco-Cola and Pepsi co-owning the word “soda.” Needless to say, it is actually happening. Back in 2010 Ray, under Cup ‘O‘ Java studio, published a comicbook entitled A World Without Superheroes. It wasn’t long afterward that he received his first Cease and Desist letter from The Big Two (TBT). In April of 2012 Ray (who it turns out has balls as big as Montana) chose to not back down but to enter into the ring with Twin Titans of Comics in order to dispute their unfair, and completely illegal monopoly of the word “Superhero.”

“They’re holding the word ‘superhero’ hostage,” Ray tells us. “It’s an infringement on our First Amendment rights.” Ray then goes on to point out that the word “Superhero was first used in 1917 before either company existed. The word is in the dictionary. It doesn’t belong to anyone.” While Marvel and DC attorneys (naturally enough) disagree, Ron Coleman, a lawyer specializing in intellectual property, indicates that the joint ownership by Marvel and DC over this word violates the basic tenet of trademark law. According to Coleman, “A trademark stands for a single source of origin, not two possible sources of origin. If the public understands that the word ‘superhero’ could come from A or B, then by definition that’s a word and not a trademark.”

According to Marvel and DC when most folks think of Superheroes they think of the long-underwear wearing characters published by them, hence they don’t want somebody’s “inferior” product besmirching the good image of what they publish (an unintentionally ironically funny position to take, considering the entirety (and quality) of material churned out by these two corporations) over the past 75+ years. Still, even though the possibility of him actually winning his counter suit (the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) which has officers from both companies on its Board, refuses to take Ray’s case), Ray is standing firm in his tracks, categorically refusing to be bullied by the corporate giants.

Meanwhile, Ray isn’t about to slow down, he’s publishing four titles (with more on the way). He’s even has teamed up with the legendary comicbook artist Trevor Von Eeden to produce comics for Bronx Heroes. One of Ray’s newest projects is “Occupy Superhero” where Ray takes his fight to the people. He is attempting to garner support amongst those who actually read (and create) superheroes by selling Occupy SuperHero T-Shirts. According to Ray’s website these shirts will be available on sale July 27, 2013 at SuperHeroes Comic Con @ The Andrew Freedman Home. George Bernard Shaw once said, “Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not?” Ray Felix is precisely one of those guys, a whirling dervish of perpetual motion; never willing to sit still and always looking towards his next project. Truly — in the final analysis — if part of the definition of a hero is someone who stands up against bullies, then Ray Felix is not just a Superhero, but he’s a Superhero’s Superhero.

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This article originally appeared online in 2013. It is being republished here as we consolidate some of our work into our own blog. SInce this article was originall written Ray has gone on to actually win his suite against Marvel and DC and is allowed to use the word “Superhero” in the title of his comics. He has also (along with Tom Sciacca and Tom Ahearn) published a satiric comic where his heroes meet donald trump =. That book Bronx Heroes in Trumpland is available from Arsenal Pulp Press, as well as through Amazon. 

One afternoon at the Superhero bar

Yeah, you can just see this happening, eh?

(NSFW language)

So my buddy Ray Felix put together this great indie comic entitled A World without Superheroes that took a very personal (tragic) experience and translated it into a very moving and profound comic. Next he moved on to continue the story, only he received a letter from Marvel & DC.

It seems that Marvel & DC jointly own the term "Superhero" in all its forms (Super Hero, Super-Hero, etc.) and have issued him a cease and desist order.

Yeah, you read that right Marvel & DC have the world-wide rights to the conjoined words Super and Hero, and no one (NO ONE) can use that term without paying them a royalty fee.

Needless to say, Felix is trying to fight it, stating that it is a restraint of trade issue, and that both those words, (including used together), have been in the public usage since 1917, so there is no way that Marvel & DC should ever have been allowed to trademark these words.

Personally, I agree, and I'll just bet that you folks do as well.