"Future Imperfect" (96 pages)

Comics Review: Desolation Row
Jan 25, 2006
Review by RIZAL SOLOMON

PLANET HULK PREVIEW

(excerpt)

There was this classic story written by Peter David and illustrated to perfection by George Perez called Hulk: Future Imperfect. In it, the present-day Hulk was brought forward in time by rebels of the future, led by his best friend Rick Jones, now an old man and part of a resistance.

In this future, World War 3 had come and gone and decimated the planet. The only superbeing to survive it is/was the Hulk – who has now become a despotic ruler called the Maestro.

Thus, in the desolation of this post-apocalyptic world, the Hulk has become a tyrannical ruler who brings his version of order and justice to the surviving humans.

It explored previously untapped facets of the Hulk mythos. And remains one of the best Hulk stories.

HULK SMASHES

HULK: FUTURE IMPERFECT

DC SPECIAL SERIES #27

Wizard picks its gamma-irradiated brain to bring you the 30 Hulk comics every fan must own!

(excerpt)

TOP 5 ESSENTIAL HULK STORIES
written by Todd Casey

3. FUTURE IMPERFECT #1-#2 (1993)
Hulk is the strongest one there is? Tell that to the Maestro. A tyrannical future version of the Green Goliath, Maestro took over the world after a nuclear war left Earth's mightiest heroes dead and civilization in shambles. an aging Rick Jones brings a young, untainted Hulk from the past to battle his more powerful future incarnation for the fate of the world... and his own soul.
$10 each

HULK'S 5 MOST BIZARRE MOMENTS
written by Jake Rossen

1. BATMAN VS THE INCREDIBLE HULK (DC Special Series #27) (1981)
Hulk smash puny human, etc, etc.... we know the drill.  But in this case, Batman actually lays out the Hulk!  The Joker convinces Green Genes that Batman is their common enemy, sending the Hulk on a destructive rampage. The Dark Knight laughably tries to use pressure points strikes to bring the monster down, which only leads to him getting squeezed like a roll of Charmin  by the big, green brute. Then Bats gets smart.  With the room filling with gas, the Caped Crusader lands a well-placed kick that forces Hulk to suck in air, knocking the beast unconscious.  Wayne, you are one crafty (and lucky) mutha.  $30

372 × 600 GPM.jpg (81 kb)

George Perez's Hulk "Future Imperfect" 10 yrs later re-colored !
Posted by Tom smith on Sunday, April 06 2003 at 17:55:16 GMT

Hi guys..

In honor of the 10 year anniversary of what I always consider the greatest Hulk story ever told and my first project coloring my good pal George's work. I have now re-colored "now with the computer with all the bells and whistles" my favorite page of the series.

Would this be cool if Marvel would let me re-color the whole mini series this way? I can dream about it , although it will never happen.

Best..
Tom Smith " Hulk FI CAL!"

WHAT THE--?
Speaking With... Peter David
Sunday, February 23
By Marv Wolfman

(excerpt)

INCREDIBLE HULK: FUTURE IMPERFECT TP

MW: What do you consider your most successful works, and why?
PD: Comics? Well, artistically successful, I’d put The Atlantis Chronicles up there. And Future Imperfect with George Perez, and The Last Titan with Dale Keown, which was the last Hulk story. Supergirl 1-50, I was very pleased with artistically. I really wanted to reach with that series, to do something probing theology and faith and religion and the power of purity of the heart. Unfortunately too many readers just shrugged it off, but the people who really opened themselves up to it seemed to “get” it and embrace it. Financially? Beyond question, Spider-Man 2099 #1. The only book I’ve written to sell over a million copies.

...

MW: When you are in charge and other writers write your characters (novelizations, tv shows, comics), what are you looking for as the editor as well as the creator?
PD: I had to do that a good deal when Bill Mumy and I were doing Space Cases for Nickelodeon. In that case, you find yourself doing something that’s equally creative and damage control. You have to deal with writers who are trying to grasp not only character nuances, but the realities of the world you’ve created. So in that case, when a writer submitted a script that had our ship, the Christa, shooting at someone, we had to completely rework the story because the ship is established as not having weapons.

MW: How do you define your relationship up front with your editor / story-editor / producer / the writers who work under you?
PD: That it’s my job to make them, and the show, look as good as possible. During Space Cases there were scripts that required my doing such massive rewrites that technically I could have put my name on them. I never did.

IMPENDING DOOM
THE BLEAKEST FUTURES IN COMICS

INCREDIBLE HULK: FUTURE IMPERFECT (1993)

Glory, the Hulk is pretty much plenty depressing enough on his own. Throw him into a barren wasteland of a future and you might as well read this thing on suicide watch at Bellevue. Banner gets tossed into the future courtesy of a mohawked Rick Jones descendant only to find the populace overrun by The Maestro, a graying, mean, old bastardy future version of himself. Hulk is left to consider why he becomes such a tool in the future, and it's up to him to put a stop to his evil self's plans. This involves the Hulk punching himself in the nads, then transporting him back to the site of the gamma explosion. Way to go. Also: Ow.