Incredible Hulk #38

The cover by Kaare Andrews takes a quietly clever approach — the Hulk and a green-haired companion sit with their backs to us at a diner counter, perched on chrome stools beneath a "Special Today" chalkboard, while a wide-eyed short-order cook peeks over the counter in barely contained alarm. It's a wonderfully understated image that plays the Hulk's sheer, muscle-bound enormity for dry humor rather than spectacle. Bruce Jones, John Romita Jr., and Tom Palmer bring that same restrained tension to the story within, making this 2002 issue of Incredible Hulk a fine example of the series' knack for finding unexpected humanity in its green-skinned lead.