Incredible Hulk #93

History

Planet Hulk grew from a directive by Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, who wanted the Hulk to cut loose on an alien world as a slave-gladiator; writer Greg Pak has recounted that Quesada summoned him and said simply 'Hulk, alien planet, gladiator, battleaxes' — and Pak immediately signed on. Editor Mark Paniccia paired Pak with artist Carlo Pagulayan, who had been working on lighter Marvel Adventures material and was given significant latitude to design Sakaar's terrain, arenas, races, and characters from scratch; colorist Chris Sotomayor contributed the distinctive visual idea of making the Hulk the only green element on the otherwise desaturated planet. Issue #93 falls within Pagulayan's initial story-arc run on the title, bearing a cover by José Ladrön and interior credits for inker Jeffrey Huet, letterer Randy Gentile, and editors Paniccia and Nathan Cosby.

Trivia · 7 facts

• First appearance of Korg (Earth-616): the Kronan rock warrior debuted here as a named, individualized character, created by Greg Pak and Carlo Pagulayan; he was subsequently retconned in the very next issue (#94) as a survivor of the same race of Stone Men who battled Thor in Journey Into Mystery #83 (1962).
• First appearance of Hiroim the Shamed (Earth-616): a Shadow Priest of Sakaar and member of the Shadow People, introduced here as a silent prisoner in the Maw alongside the Hulk.
• First appearance of Elloe Kaifi (Earth-616): an elite Sakaaran citizen thrust into slavery after her father, Ronan Kaifi, is executed in this very issue by Primus Vand; she becomes one of the Warbound's most passionate rebels.
• First appearance of No-Name of the Brood (Earth-616): a Brood warrior who, severed from her hivemind queen and world, defied her species' nature by forming a lasting individual bond with the Hulk's group — this issue contains her debut and her introduction of herself as having no name, no world, and no queen.
• Written by Greg Pak with interior art by Carlo Pagulayan; cover art by José Ladrön; edited by Mark Paniccia and Nathan Cosby — the creative team that established Planet Hulk's visual identity.
• The entire Planet Hulk storyline — including this issue — was collected in the hardcover Hulk: Planet Hulk (Marvel, June 2007) and the expanded Planet Hulk Omnibus (Marvel, September 2017), which adds Fantastic Four #533–535 and supplementary material.
• Korg and Miek, both introduced in or around this issue, were adapted for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Thor: Ragnarok (2017), with Taika Waititi providing Korg's voice via motion capture; Korg subsequently appeared in Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), and the short Deadpool and Korg React (2021).

Cast · 9 characters

Full credits

Key issues in Incredible Hulk

★

#36 1st appearance — Sandra Verdugo

★

#92 1st appearance — Miek

Variants (1)