Peter David

Hulk: Maestro by Peter David Omnibus gathers three decades of the Hulk's darkest what-if. The Maestro is a future Bruce Banner who kept the Hulk's raw power and his own intelligence but lost the conscience that held the monster back. It begins with Future Imperfect (1992), Peter David and George Perez's landmark story where the present-day Hulk is thrown a century forward to face the tyrant he could become, and closes with the modern origin trilogy — Maestro, War and Pax and World War M — that shows exactly how he crossed that line. A complete study of a hero fully embracing villainy.

The moment when Peter David merges the three personalities of the Hulk into a single entity: Professor Hulk. Body of the original, intelligence of Banner, cunning of Grey. Considered by many to be the best Hulk ever written and the version Marvel Studios adopted for Avengers: Endgame. Dale Keown on the art.

Incredible Hulk by Peter David Omnibus Vol. 1 begins one of the character's richest psychological eras, with Bruce Banner, the Hulk personas and years of trauma pulled into the same frame. Dale Keown's art gives the run physical force, while Peter David turns rage into character study rather than simple destruction. This edition works best when read as a study of anger with consequences: every transformation says something about fear, control and the people left dealing with the damage afterward.