The Incredible Hulk Animated Series (1996-1997) Impressions

Jan 10, 2014

incredible hulk logo

I was at home with the flu and thought to myself, “well, I will be off for the next couple of days. Why not look for an animated series that I have not seen before?” I thought I would give The Incredible Hulk animated series a try. The first season is all about Bruce Banner voiced by Neil McDonough trying to find a cure to get rid of his alternate persona The Hulk voiced by Lou Ferrigno. To me there is no other Hulk than Lou. Yes, Fred Tatasciore is good but he is no Lou! With that being said, the real reason I decided to give this a try was seeing that Mark Hamill was doing the voice-over for the Gargoyle.

creepy guy pic 2He does a magnificent job once again. Just like he stole the show in Batman:The Animated Series, he leads this show as well. The funny thing is that he is not even a main character but is featured a lot as the Leaders sidekick. One person I thought I would hate but ended up loving was Rick Jones voiced by Luke Perry. Yes, that Luke Perry from Beverly Hills 90210. His voice was perfect for Rick. You might say “no way!”, but he does a great job. The story line was good was it great no. It kept me entertained and that’s all I ask for. You get all the regulars you would expect in a Hulk show: Abomination, Betty Ross, The Leader, and Major Talbot. Also some good cameos from Dr. Doom, Iron Man, Doc Samson, and The Ghost Rider.

angry green woman 3There’s only one problem: season two! It should never have happened. You can thank me later for telling you not to even bother. The only reason that I finished this series was to write this last bit. The name is changed to “The Incredible Hulk and She–Hulk.” In the first season we get to see the back-story for Jennifer Walters but then she becomes a regular and, very frankly, an annoying character in season two voiced by Cree Summer.

I would rather hear cats in heat while scratching their claws on a blackboard than listen to Cree voice She-Hulk. Then, if that is not bad enough, we get very poorly written plot lines. Want an example? Okay, let’s take episode five of season two entitled “Fashion Warriors.”  In this episode, She-Hulk (and that disturbing voice of hers) fight-off The Leader with the help of some fashion models at a runway show. Need I say more? In conclusion, I would only suggest watching season one and then pretend that season two never existed.

fashion warriors 4

HULK SMASH!