The Amazing Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk are two of Marvel Comics’ most popular original characters. Spider-Man made his debut in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962 and quickly crossed paths with the Fantastic Four before building his impressive rogues’ gallery. Hulk debuted in Incredible Hulk #1 in 1962, and he was part of the original Avengers lineup before becoming one of the comic line’s most popular antiheroes. Three months separated their Marvel Comics debuts, and they crossed paths for the first time two years later in Amazing Spider-Man #14, when Spider-Man accidentally came across Hulk while battling the Green Goblin.
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Most of the time, when Spider-Man and Hulk met up, they fought each other since Spider-Man felt the need to stop the rampaging Green Goliath. They have worked together more than once, but when it comes to the two Marvel Comics heroes, they don’t usually get along when they cross paths.
6) Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3
The first time that Spider-Man met up with Hulk, he stumbled across Hulk’s hiding place while Spidey was fighting Green Goblin, and Hulk lashed out to defend himself from the presumed attack. Spider-Man wanted nothing to do with the Hulk and just used his brains to escape the onslaught. However, the second time they met, Spider-Man specifically targeted Hulk. In Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3, Spider-Man was considered for the Avengers, and they had a test. They told him to bring in the Hulk. Wanting to prove himself, Spider-Man raced off before they could explain the mission, and he ended up fighting Hulk. However, a gamma ray explosion transforms Hulk into Bruce Banner, and Spider-Man realizes he is sick. He doesn’t understand why the Avengers would target a sick man, so he leaves Hulk and rejects the Avengers’ offer. What he didn’t realize was that the test was to bring Hulk to the Avengers so they could help him.
5) Peter Parker: Spider-Man #14
One of the best Spider-Man and Hulk stories came in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #14. A plane crash cost over 100 people their lives, including Mary Jane Watson, and Spider-Man blamed Hulk. While Hulk had been cleared of the incident, Spider-Man didn’t care, and he wanted someone to pay for MJ’s death. He lashed out, and this was the one fight between Spidey and Hulk where Spider-Man didn’t hold back and kept fighting until he was exhausted. The best thing about this fight was that Spider-Man began monologuing about his wife being dead and not wanting to let anyone else die, and Hulk stopped fighting back, saying his wife was dead too. Spider-Man wanted to keep fighting, but Hulk stood there taking it until they realized they destroyed a train track and needed to work together to fix it to prevent an oncoming train derailment. Seeing Spider-Man losing control and Hulk reigning him back in was a brilliant subversion of how these fights usually end up.
4) Marvel Team-Up #27
Marvel Team-Up was an ongoing title where Spider-Man teamed up with a different hero in each issue. In the 27th issue, it was Spider-Man and Hulk, but this one was not so much a team-up, and more of a situation where Spider-Man needed to fight Hulk before he could stop the bad guys. The issue sees Chameleon trying to break his friend Joe Cord out of prison, and Spider-Man is there to stop him. However, Chameleon, a master of disguise, disguises himself as Rick Jones and asks Hulk to help break out his friend. Hulk shows up, and Spider-Man fights him. This is how most Hulk fights went in the early years, with someone tricking Hulk into fighting for them and the heroes not knowing any better. It also ended as they typically do, with Spider-Man and Hulk teaming up to fight the villain.
3) Amazing Spider-Man #381-382
This story begins with Doc Samson wanting to take Hulk to a research center, where they are using gamma radiation that could help Hulk finally control his emotions. However, for a change, Hulk knows better and rejects the offer. It’s a good decision, because an accident there causes Doc Samson to go savage, prompting him to leave and attack Hulk. From here, the gamma virus transfers to Hulk, and Spider-Man finds that he has to fight him. There is no way for Spider-Man to beat Hulk in a fight, not even with Doc Samson fighting by his side. This issue shows how Spidey usually deals with these situations, as the gamma radiation caused a virus, and it needs to burn out, so Spider-Man and Samson fight Hulk until it starts to wear off, and then Peter tries to get through to Banner, who is finally able to rid his body of it. These moments show why Spider-Man’s brain is often enough to beat any enemy, no matter how powerful.
2) Web of Spider-Man #7
Web of Spider-Man #7 had what might be the most bizarre and unique Spider-Man and Hulk battle in all of Marvel Comics. That is because this fight did not happen in the real world. Doctor Strange had cursed Nightmare to always be pursued by Hulk in the Dimension of Dreams after Bruce Banner underwent a psychic suicide, turning Hulk savage, and forcing Strange to banish him from this realm. The demon pulled Spider-Man into the realm to save him. Spider-Man spent most of the issue fighting Hulk to protect Nightmare, but then finally realized that he needed to save himself and let Hulk drag Nightmare away so Peter could wake up. It was a fascinating story where Spider-Man did something selfish to survive, but it was something that had to be done.
1) Web of Spider-Man #69-70
Web of Spider-Man #69-70 features a Spider-Man and Hulk battle that throws everything out of whack. A new character arrives named Armand Jones, a man who wants revenge against the Fantastic Four, whom he believes murdered his brother. This was from one of the greatest Fantastic Four stories ever told, “This Man… This Monster,” where his brother was the previously unnamed scientist who switched places with The Thing before sacrificing himself to save Reed Richards in the Negative Zone. Armand had a device that could transfer powers, similar to his brother’s, but he was interrupted by Hulk after using the device on Bruce Banner. Spider-Man showed up and tried to stop Hulk. However, after Hulk almost beat Spider-Man to death, the Green Goliath left, and Spider-Man was blasted with the device. This led to the second issue in the story, where Peter became Spider-Hulk and went on a rampage of his own before the effects wore off. It was great, since it gave Spider-Man a chance to see what it felt like to be The Incredible Hulk.
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