Love him or hate him, Todd McFarlane set the standard for 1990s comic art. While his most enduring work tends to center on Spider-Man and Spawn, his Incredible Hulk covers were truly epic.
Todd McFarlane's run on Incredible Hulk was rather short lived, but it was significant. It's spawned (pun intended) tributes and homages for decades, though it gets less attention than his work on Spider-Man.
The McFarlane style of over-sized, 1980's-era Arnold Schwarzenegger physiques meshed perfectly with the Hulk. While many would criticize this in his Spider-Man art, considering that Spidey is normally depicted as smaller and more lanky, the exaggerated bulk fits the Incredible Hulk and makes the covers dynamic.
I have to start with this cover simply because, next to Amazing Spider-Man #300, it is the most memorable cover the superstar artist has ever created. I actually prefer this over ASM #300. After all, it is arguably the single most iconic image of Wolverine ever drawn, and this coming from a huge fan of Frank Miller's artwork on the original Wolverine limited series from 1982. This cover and interior art makes me wonder how amazing a Todd McFarlane X-Men run would have been.
The dynamic image of Hulk breaking through his own title has often been recreated in tributes. What made McFarlane's Hulk so distinctive is his Neanderthal features - particularly the brow - which echoed the old savage Hulk despite this being a time when he was putting together complete sentences. Having him pushing apart the lettering on the cover is engrossing, and I've always enjoyed the tiny "Incredible" letters littered at his feet. It provides a scope for Hulk that encompasses his power and size.
Does this cover look familiar? There was just something about McFarlane and leaping yoga poses in front of a circle. In 1988, he created the legendary Amazing Spider-Man #300 cover, and Incredible Hulk #344 hit store shelves that summer. Maybe it's not the most original artwork, but it's still an interesting cover that typically gets lost in the shuffle of all things McFarlane.
This isn't an Incredible Hulk comic, but it's another impressive Hulk cover nonetheless. In its own way, it's metaphorical of McFarlane's two enduring Marvel characters, the Hulk and Spider-Man. As Spider-Man seemingly gives the "grey Goliath" the knockout blow, so does his Spider-Man art outshine his work on the Hulk. It's also another example of how much he enjoyed having his subjects interact with the trade dressing as Hulk is being punched through the title.
Historically, this issue is significant because it was the last of McFarlane's run on Amazing Spider-Man.
This is an interesting cover because of the prominence of the Leader as he looms over the action from the background. In the foreground, we have Hulk battling Half-Life, who was introduced into Hulk lore only a few issues earlier, but it's the Leader who steals the spotlight. Whenever I look at this art, my attention is immediately drawn to him and his claw-like hands, which echo McFarlane's depiction of Venom's menacing hands and nails.
