After looking at hundreds of comic book covers, it becomes quickly apparent that not every cover is 100% original. In fact, some of them look exactly like a cover from the past! Now, calling it a swipe might make it sound almost malicious but, most of these are done in homage to the original source. Whether done intentionally or even underhandedly, there’s something about uncovering these “swipes” that adds a new element of fun to reading and collecting comics.
In the 1960s, having an annual was a “big” deal. Much bigger than it seems to be in today’s market. Back then, an annual was an opportunity to present a story so grand that it needed extra pages to contain it! Such was the case with Incredible Hulk Annual #1. The very cover boasts a “King-Size Special” with “Twice As Many Pages!” and “Twice As Many Thrills!” They chose not to mention twice as much to pay for it as the normal 12 cent price tag was more than doubled to one quarter. But, I digress.
The story at hand (by Gary Friedrich and Marie Severin) was indeed a grand opportunity as it pitted the Incredible Hulk against the Inhumans! In the 1960s, encountering this reclusive race was a rare sight to be seen and to celebrate this special, Marvel hired Jim Steranko to produce a cover to appropriately enclose this gem.
In the early 2000s, after the departure of the mega-popular Hulk-scribe, Peter David, the Hulk title lost a lot of steam. And, after floundering around for about three years with no well-regarded driving plot, Marvel turned control of the book over to Bruce Jones and John Romita, Jr. To celebrate this new change in direction (and it was certainly a big change!), the cover artist, Kaare Andrews, payed homage to another Hulk story of grand design, the Incredible Hulk Annual #1. Naturally, other books throughout the years have tipped their hat towards this classic cover, as well.
 the Incredible Hulk Annual #1 Jim Steranko October 1968 |
 the Incredible Hulk vol. II #34 Kaare Andrews January 2002 |
 the Incredible Hulk vol. II #112 Art Adams January 2008 |
 Cable vol. II #9 Ariel Olivetti February 2009 |
On Ebay: Hulk | Jim Steranko | Kaare Andrews