The Incredible Hulk (1996), The Complete Series

Born out of the same 90's superhero renaissance that brought us such outstanding takes on Batman, Superman, and the X-Men, The Incredible Hulk Animated Series was a short lived equivolent of those great series centering on everyone's favorite green-eyed monster. To me this is the most complete vision of the Hulk that has ever been put to screen, as every other series or movie he's been in has emphasized certain aspects of the mythology over the others. Here you have the Hulk, an innocent with more power than he knows how to deal with, erupting from within the lives of Bruce Banner, Betty Ross, and General Thunderbolt and generally stamping out any hopes they have at a normal, happy life. Unlike the 80's series which I personally have no interest in, this take is very reminiscent of what the comics is all about, due in large part to the unrestricted nature of an animated series. To me this show captures everything I love about the Hulk and his world. Lou Ferrigno does a fantastic job as the voice of the Hulk, giving him dimensions that are largely left by the wayside in other productions, and we get to see (or rather hear) him bring out his love for the character in each simple word and howl. Also, due to the nature of the Hulk (who seems to have been made to explore the Marvel universe), we get to see him meet and battle several other superheroes along the way--Iron Man, Ghost Rider, Sasquatch, and so on. This is a fantastic series, especially in light of "Hulk and the Agents of SMASH" which I find to be an insufferable squandering of this character's legacy. I am pleased that I now have the ability to own it on iTunes and I would like to thank Marvel and Disney for making it available. Now all I can hope for is that they continue to make good on his legacy in the Avengers and his own future solo films. Green is my favorite color.