Can the Hulk be controlled? Donny Cates & Ryan Ottley plan to try that out in new #1

(Image credit: Ryan Ottley/Frank Martin (Marvel Comics))

A new Hulk comic book series launches this fall, from the superstar team of writer Donny Cates (Venom, Thor) and artist Ryan Ottley (Invincible, Amazing Spider-Man). Cates and Ottley's spin on the Hulk will find Bruce Banner discovering a "radical way to control" his Hulk persona.

"Marvel just gave me the keys to the strongest one there is," writer Donny Cates says in the announcement. "Haha... oh boy. You guys are just not ready for this. You're about to find out what happens when Ryan Ottley and I get angry... and guess what? Well... pretty sure you’re gonna like us a lot when we're angry."

Cates' passion for the Hulk is well-documented, often talking online and at conventions about having a unique pitch for the character for the past few years, and waiting for the right time to pitch it to Marvel. With Al Ewing and Joe Bennett's hit Immortal Hulk run ending in just a few months, now seems to be that time.

For Cates, this new series takes the place of his long-running Venom ongoing for Marvel, which ends June 16 with Venom #35 (celebrated as the 200th issue of the Venom series as a whole). Just prior to this Hulk news, a new creative team was announced for Venom - writers Ram V and Al Ewing, along with artist Bryan Hitch. So if you look at it a certain way, this is a trade of Hulk for Venom between Ewing and Cates.

While this new Hulk series won't debut until November, the impending run will be previewed with a special prequel story in Free Comic Book Day: Avengers/Hulk #1, which will be available free in participating comic book shops on August 14.

While you wait, make sure you've read all the best Hulk stories of all time.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)