36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal

Nairavoice | 16h ago 0 0 7 min read
36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
Join Nairavoice On Telegram

Almost 40 years after its Marvel debut, the greatest Hulk design of all time has yet to be bested, despite major competition both before and after. Here’s why the design in question deserves its crown, and which other contenders come close.

Inspired by horror icons Frankenstein and Mr. Hyde, the Hulk was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Despite being one of the most iconic characters of all time, Hulk was originally very different – a grey-skinned jerk who spoke in sophisticated sentences and only came out at night.

Over the years, Hulk became the monosyllabic, emerald-skinned monster that Marvel fans know, though it took several of the most legendary creators in comic history to perfect Bruce Banner’s other half.

Dale Keown Is The Greatest Hulk Artist Of All Time

    &lt;<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/dale-keown-hulk-art.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" />
    </figure>

The best Hulk design of all time is a hotly contested topic among fans of the Jade Giant, but we’re handing the gold medal to Dale Keown, who drew The Incredible Hulk from 1990-1992 alongside acclaimed writer Peter David, with the two re-teaming for the non-canon Incredible Hulk: The End in 2002, which sees the character contend with a nuclear post-apocalypse.

Keown’s Hulk is a barrel-chested behemoth with fists bigger than his head. His brow isn’t just pronounced, it combines with a smaller, flatter nose and gaping mouth to create a hyper-expressive, highly distinct silhouette. The green skin is bright and luminous with a tonsure-like head of hair that looks like it didn’t grow at the same rate as the rest of Bruce Banner’s body.

  • dale-keown-art-for-incredible-hulk-1962-376 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • dale-keown-art-of-hulk-laughing 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • dale-keown-s-hulk-in-pain 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
dale-keown-art-for-incredible-hulk-1962-376 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
dale-keown-art-of-hulk-laughing 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
dale-keown-s-hulk-in-pain 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal

So, what makes Keown our pick for the Hulk GOAT? It all comes down to one thing: Hulk’s humanity. The best Hulk stories of all time understand that whatever Bruce Banner might think, the Hulk isn’t a simple, singular expression of his rage. Hulk and Bruce are equally complex aspects of the same person – unique but deeply connected – and Keown communicates that better than any other artist.

There are a LOT of artists who have nailed Hulk’s monstrous intensity and world-shattering rage. However, Keown’s art is uniquely capable of showing Hulk laughing, glowering, grinning, wincing and roaring without losing the core of the character. Many of Hulk’s earliest artists nail the sense of an impossible monster, but not one with a legitimate inner life.

    &lt;<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/keown-hulk-art.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" />
    </figure>

The ability to depict different aspects of Hulk’s personality was vital working alongside Peter David, who further splintered Bruce’s psyche into the grey Joe Fixit, genius Professor Hulk and the brutal Maestro – the villain Bruce may one day become. These concepts have become the bedrock of Hulk’s best modern stories – they were all good ideas, but it was Keown who ensured they were all ‘Hulk.’

The Classic Contenders for Hulk’s Greatest Artist

  • jack-kirby-hulk-art 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • john-romita-sr-art-of-spider-man-and-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • sal-buscema-hulk-art 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • john-byrne-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
jack-kirby-hulk-art 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
john-romita-sr-art-of-spider-man-and-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
sal-buscema-hulk-art 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
john-byrne-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal

While we’re holding Dale Keown up as creating the best Hulk design of all time, it’s a close thing, given the wealth of talent who have worked on the character. And while you may not agree with our call, rest assured that there are many, many Hulk artists we still consider greats.

Hulk co-creator Jack Kirby drew Hulk with unbelievable menace, giving the character his heavy brow and tombstone teeth. Under Kirby, Hulk was a pure creature of the id – teeth bared and fists balled. Likewise, Herb Trimpe’s Hulk is a howling monstrosity, reducing concrete to powder under his apish mitts and possessing a hunched, embattled physicality.

    &lt;<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/herb-trimpe-s-hulk.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" />
    </figure>

John Romita Sr.’s Hulk nails the concept of a monster that is still recognizably Bruce Banner, while Sal Buscema turned the character into a canvas for raw emotion. Despite a famously short run, it’s worth noting that John Byrne accomplished the same sense of humanity as Keown, conveying a Hulk who is more than just rage.

The Modern Contenders for Hulk’s Greatest Artist

❤Enjoying this article? Support our work with a small crypto donation.
  • adam-kubert-s-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • lee-weeks-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • john-romita-jr-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • ultimate-hulk-looking-terrifying 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • daniel-acu-a-s-hulk-design 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
adam-kubert-s-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
lee-weeks-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
john-romita-jr-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
ultimate-hulk-looking-terrifying 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
daniel-acu-a-s-hulk-design 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • adam-kubert-s-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • lee-weeks-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • john-romita-jr-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • ultimate-hulk-looking-terrifying 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • daniel-acu-a-s-hulk-design 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
adam-kubert-s-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
lee-weeks-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
john-romita-jr-hulk 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
ultimate-hulk-looking-terrifying 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
daniel-acu-a-s-hulk-design 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal

In modern comics, Hulk has attracted some of the best artistic talent in comics. Adam Kubert’s Hulk is an explosive mass of muscle that can’t be contained by page or panel, Lee Weeks returns him to his Frankenstein-ian roots as a tragic homunculus, and John Romita Jr. captured a Hulk destroyed by grief and wrath, his humanity hanging on by a thread.

Bryan Hitch reinvented Hulk for the 2000s-era Ultimate Universe, turning him into a near-parodic wrecking ball of hate, lust and frustration. Daniel Acuña’s work on Avengers: Twilight realized Bruce Banner’s worst fears – the Hulk as an apocalyptic atrocity.

    &lt;<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/immortal-hulk-joe-bennett.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" />
    </figure>

And while allegations that Joe Bennett hid antisemitic imagery in the background of Immortal Hulk can’t be forgotten, he undeniably collaborated on the single greatest Hulk story of all time with writer Al Ewing, juxtaposing intense body horror and flying spittle with quiet, existential despair and righteous anger, bringing back Hulk’s simian brow and bared teeth without abandoning the truth of a frightened child lashing out at an often deserving world.

Hulk’s Design In Live-Action

  • i-still-can-t-believe-the-incredible-hulk-s-director-suggested-the-avengers-movie-had-the-hulk-as-their-villain-that-it-might-have-been-better-than-the-mcu-story-we-got-jpg 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • Lou-Ferrigno-Hulk-Posing 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • eric-bana-as-hulk-in-battle-in-hulk-2003 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
i-still-can-t-believe-the-incredible-hulk-s-director-suggested-the-avengers-movie-had-the-hulk-as-their-villain-that-it-might-have-been-better-than-the-mcu-story-we-got-jpg 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
Lou-Ferrigno-Hulk-Posing 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
eric-bana-as-hulk-in-battle-in-hulk-2003 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal

While discussing Hulk’s best comic designs, it would be silly to ignore his live-action appearances. Lou Ferrigno’s snarling Hulk changed the franchise forever, acting as a near-unparalleled cultural touchstone. Ang Lee’s Hulk embraced the imagery of a confused, superpowered toddler – dull-eyed and slathered in dirt – surpassing the pure rage of 2008’s Incredible Hulk, at least in design.

However, the obvious winner is the MCU’s Hulk, and for the same reasons as Dale Keown’s art. Designed around the likeness of Bruce Banner actor Mark Ruffalo (who performs the Hulk’s scenes using motion-capture technology), the most modern depiction of Hulk rages, but he also smirks, mourns, comprehends and fears.

  • mcu-hulk-grinning 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • mark-ruffalo-s-hulk-snarls-in-the-mcu-s-avengers-age-of-ultron 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • mark-ruffalo-s-hulk-looking-shocked-in-avengers-endgame 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
  • mcu-hulk-looking-confused 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
mcu-hulk-grinning 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
mark-ruffalo-s-hulk-snarls-in-the-mcu-s-avengers-age-of-ultron 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
mark-ruffalo-s-hulk-looking-shocked-in-avengers-endgame 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal
mcu-hulk-looking-confused 36 Years Later, Hulk's Greatest Design Still Has No Equal

This approach doesn’t just make Hulk more interesting, it lets fans in on the vital lie that great Hulk stories deconstruct – that the Green Goliath is just a rage monster who lives inside Bruce Banner, rather than a vital aspect of his soul that’s just as complicated and valid as the timid scientist.

Are We Right About Hulk’s Greatest Design?

    &lt;<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/hulk-collage-image.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" />
    </figure>

Hulk’s strength and size are essential to the character, but ultimately he also needs to be capable of emotional depth on par with his human side. The greatest piece of Hulk art of all time may or may not be by Dale Keown, but his design for the character encompassed everything the Hulk needs to be to tell the range of stories the character is capable of supporting.

Art is subjective, and everyone gets to have their own favorite Hulk artist/design, so let us know your opinion below. Share your thoughts on our picks in the comments, and vote in our reader poll, with every artist honored in this article (plus a few others) available to vote for. Voting in the reader poll won’t just count your vote towards the greatest Hulk design of all time, but reveal other fans’ choice.

Show Some Love By Sharing

Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

❤Enjoyed this? A small crypto donation helps us keep publishing.
Nairavoice
Nairavoice

Contributor at NairaVoice.com.ng

All Posts

Related Posts

Leave a Reply