Hulk Future Imperfect - My Favorite George Perez Story

My favorite George Perez (1954-2022) Story.
Over the course of his long career, George Pérez was not simply one of the hardest working creators in the industry, but his work was wildly popular with superhero fans, earning him a galaxy of comics-industry awards.

In a December 2021 interview with Newsarama, Pérez summed up what his career and the admiration of his many fans meant to him: “I appreciate everything. There's a lot of great people out there, people that have been very very good to me. I'd like to cherish that. I had a good run.”

Peter David wrote a lot of Hulk stories, and individual tastes differ, so there’s no critical consensus, but ‘Future Imperfect’ is frequently cited as his finest. It’s perhaps a little odd that this wasn’t part of his long and acclaimed run on the regular Hulk series, but a speculative look into the future. Once available as a very slim graphic novel, it’s now been combined with another look into the crystal ball ‘The End’ under the original title. It’s an enticing package.

The title story occurs in a dystopian future into which the then present day Hulk was transported, this being the combination of the Hulk with Banner’s intellect. It’s not a pleasant society, and one where everyone fears the Maestro. Without giving it away to those who don’t know, suffice to say that the Maestro is also familiar with gamma radiation, and when he tells the Hulk “I know every move you’re going to make”, he’s not just whistlin’ dixie.

George Pérez knocks himself out the art. The opening spread is the comics equivalent of a Jacques Tati observation, teeming with hundreds of characters, every single one visible in the foreground occupied with something. The sample illustration is a museum with the remnants of the superheroes the Maestro has disposed of, Pérez not only creating an amazing spread, but providing a spot the reference puzzle to boot.

There’s not a single point where ‘Future Imperfect’ disappoints as it delivers shock and awe all the way to a well plotted conclusion. The bonus is that with the Maestro David created a legacy character that other writers have picked up on.