310 INCREDIBLE HULK, THE
Difool live up to his destiny— bringing the periled universe’s awaited consciousness to
light by bearing witness to a catalyst for the subversion of the dystopian conditions
under which he lives.
According to the trade paperback versions of the prequel series, the Incal “is the dual
nature of reality embodied in the form of two pyramids; the Black Incal and the White
Incal,” and is “representative of the basic confl ict within everything; hero/coward, light/
dark, beautiful/ugly, up/down, etc.” Th e story in Th e Incal: Th e Epic Conspiracy and Th e
Incal: Th e Epic Journey follows Difool as he comes into contact with these pyramids,
which help him and others to bring about the downfall of the system wielding power
over Terra #2014 and beyond. In the end, Difool must take the Incal to the place where
its light can replace the old light, which has been all but consumed by darkness—the
light and dark are here both literal and fi gurative. In this sense, Th e Incal maintains
utopian potential by suggesting that the present system and the damage done by it can
be overcome and replaced by a better one. It is this to which Difool becomes the “eternal
witness.”
Beyond the original series and the prequels (illustrated by Zoran Janjetov), Th e Incal
spawned the spin-off series, Technopriests (illustrated by Janjetov) and Th e Metabar-
ons (illustrated by Juan Giménez), as well as a Metabarons role-playing game. A sequel
entitled Après l’Incal ( After Incal ), originally scheduled for six volumes, appeared in
2000 but was abandoned by illustrator Moebius ( Jean Giraud ) due to overwork. In its
place came Final Incal (illustrated by José Ladrönn), set for only two volumes, the fi rst
of which, Les Quatre John Difool ( Th e Four John Difools ) was released in 2008.
Selected Bibliography: Jodorowsky, Alejandro. Th e Incal: Orphan of the City Shaft.
Hollywood: Humanoids Publishing, 2002; Jodorowsky, Alejandro. Th e Incal: John
Difool, Class “ R ” Detective. Hollywood: Humanoids Publishing, 2003; Jodorowsky,
Alejandro. Th e Incal: Th e Epic Conspiracy. Hollywood: Humanoids Publishing/
DC Comics, 2005; Jodorowsky, Alejandro. Th e Incal: Th e Epic Journey. Hollywood:
Humanoids Publishing/DC Comics, 2005.
Alex Hall
INCREDIBLE HULK, THE. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s Th e Incredible Hulk is an endur-
ing Marvel Comics character who fi rst appeared in his self-titled series in May, 1962.
His story features one of Marvel’s most complicated and convoluted mythologies. Th e
Hulk was the quintessence of human rage, and was originally an outgrowth of the Cold
Wa r , the Frankenstein /Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde mythos, and a 1950s fascination with
nuclear-inspired monsters, notably Th e Amazing Colossal Man (1957); but over the
next several decades, the Hulk would become one of the most Promethean and complex
fi gures in comicdom.
Th e story of the Hulk is as follows: Robert Bruce Banner was a nuclear research
scientist working on a gamma ray bomb with General Th addeus “Th underbolt” Ross.
Banner was in love with Ross’s daughter, Betty, but on the day of a test explosion, Banner
