In 1962, Stan Lee’s creation, The Incredible Hulk, took the comic book scene by storm. Bruce Banner’s tragic story is the ultimate “what-doesn’t-kill-you-makes-you-stronger” story, In an unfortunate accident, Banner is drenched with gamma rays giving him an unusual super power. When he’s stressed or in any sort of emotional distress, he transforms into a giant green rage monster. Unlike other superheros, he tries to keep his power in check, and avoid situations that trigger emotional responses.
For those familiar with Gothic literature, the origin of Hulk sounds remarkably similar to two great Victorian stories: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818). Indeed, Stan Lee always admired Gothic stories like Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Frankenstein. He found a way to incorporate elements of both stories into Hulk, albeit updated for the time in an original way.
The similarities between these classic characters from literature and Dr Bruce Banner and his alter ego is undeniable. The gamma rays that activate Banner’s alter ego Hulk, who wreaks havoc and destruction is a modern update on Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic Gothic tale, Dr Jekyll transforms into the animalistic Mr Hyde after taking his own experimental serum. The story is an exploration of the duality of the human psyche. As Mr Hyde, Jekyll lets his dark side run amok and is unapologetic for the violent crimes he commits.
This is where Lee departed from Stevenson’s Mr Hyde. He wanted Hulk to be good, like Frankenstein’s monster. While Mary Shelley created the Gothic tale, Lee’s memories of the monster were from Hollywood cinema:
“In the Frankenstein movie [starring Boris Karloff] I always felt the monster is really the good guy. He didn’t want to hurt anybody. All those idiots with torches were always chasing him up and down the hills. I thought it would be fun to get a monster who was really a good guy, but nobody knew that.”
Hulk made his debut in The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962). Lee wrote the story, which was penciled and co-plotted by the legendary Jack Kirby. He was immediately a hit with readers, and over the years through various comic book runs, TV shows, and now in the MCU, Hulk is probably more well-known than the two Gothic tales he’s based on.