World War Hulk #1
World War Hulk #1 marks the explosive payoff of a multi-year narrative arc that began with the Illuminati secretly exiling Bruce Banner into space during the Planet Hulk storyline — making it one of the most consequence-driven launch issues Marvel had produced in years. The issue introduced the 'Worldbreaker' incarnation of the Hulk, a version of the character operating at a power level explicitly framed by writer Greg Pak as exceeding nearly every mortal and immortal in the Marvel Universe, representing a genuine evolution of the character rather than a cosmetic upgrade. Arriving in the immediate post-Civil War period — when Marvel's superhero community was fractured, Iron Man had become a government enforcer, and Captain America had just died — the issue placed the Hulk in the morally compelling position of aggrieved victim seeking justice against the very heroes readers had been following for years, forcing audiences to question which side, if any, was right. The event it launched became Marvel's dominant summer crossover of 2007, threading through more than a dozen ongoing series and spawning three dedicated miniseries, cementing the Planet Hulk–World War Hulk two-part saga as the definitive Hulk epic of the modern era.
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The story's genesis predates the final title: a behind-the-scenes account from editor Tom Brevoort reveals that Greg Pak's earliest surviving outline — dated June 23, 2006, and already in its third draft after revisions with editor Mark Paniccia — was called 'Planet Hulk: Empire' and envisioned the story running primarily through the ongoing Incredible Hulk series with tie-in annuals, not as a standalone miniseries. The title 'World War Hulk' was not yet settled, with 'HULKMAGEDDON' among the names considered. By the time the project reached its final form, Marvel had elevated it to a dedicated five-issue miniseries with Greg Pak writing and John Romita Jr. on pencils — a creative team whose collaboration, under editorial guidance from Paniccia and Brevoort, emphasized themes of vengeance and imperialism within the Hulk's personal arc. Issue #1 shipped on June 13, 2007, as a double-sized 40-page debut with interior art by Romita Jr. and inker Klaus Janson, and a cover by David Finch; it sold out its first print run, prompting Marvel to announce a second printing featuring a variant cover by Romita Jr.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Written by Greg Pak with pencils by John Romita Jr., inks by Klaus Janson, colors by Christina Strain, and a cover by David Finch — a separate creative team from the interior art.
- First appearance of the 'Worldbreaker' Hulk incarnation — described by Pak as the Hulk at a power level exceeding virtually all mortals and most immortals in the Marvel Universe, distinguishing it from all prior versions of the character.
- The issue opens with Hulk defeating Black Bolt on the Moon — a figure later retroactively revealed in Secret Invasion: Inhumans #3 to have been a Skrull impostor rather than the genuine Black Bolt.
- The story directly continues from and serves as the payoff to Greg Pak's Planet Hulk arc (Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #92–105), making it a rare event debut that requires no new character introductions and functions as the second half of a continuous narrative.
- The crossover event it launched encompassed three dedicated miniseries (World War Hulk: Front Line, World War Hulk: Gamma Corps, World War Hulk: X-Men) and tie-in issues across Avengers: The Initiative, Iron Man, Ghost Rider, Heroes for Hire, The Punisher War Journal, and Irredeemable Ant-Man.
- Two variant covers shipped on June 27, 2007: one by John Romita Jr. and one by Michael Turner; an Aspen Comics exclusive variant also existed.
- The event's conclusion directly seeded later Marvel storylines: the gamma radiation siphoned from Hulk at the end of World War Hulk was later revealed (in the 2010 'World War Hulks' arc) to be the source used to create the Red Hulk, and the Incredible Hulk series was subsequently retitled The Incredible Hercules beginning with issue #113.
- Zen Studios adapted the story into a virtual pinball table in 2012, released on the arc's fifth anniversary as part of the Avengers Chronicles downloadable content package for Marvel Pinball, Zen Pinball 2, Pinball FX 2, and Pinball FX 3.
Reprints
Reprinted in Hulk: WWH - World War Hulk #[nn] (2008), The Mighty World of Marvel #1 (2009), Hulk: World War Hulk Omnibus #[nn] (2017), Die offizielle Marvel-Comic-Sammlung #54
Key issues in World War Hulk
Other variants of World War Hulk #1 (3)
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