Are you one of the many people who read Planet Hulk due to its
Spinning out of the Planet Hulk storyline, World War Hulk is a 2007 Marvel event which saw a very angry Hulk take his revenge out on Earth and their heroes because of the misdeeds against him. The result, world-wide destruction on a massive scale. Will the heroes of the Marvel Universe be able to stop Hulk from destroying everything? You’ll have to read on to find out!
As events, especially Marvel’s, can sometimes be confusing, I have put together the World War Hulk Reading Order Guide. In it is everything you need to know to start reading this comic book event with ease. This includes the recommended reading order and some notes on where to go from there.
Enjoy!
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How to read World War Hulk
If you look at the list below there are a fair few comics listed. For some that might be quite daunting, especially if you just want a quick read or don’t want to track down every comic. Luckily, there are a few ways to read World War Hulk depending on how much you want to invest in it.
These are your options:
- Read World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker #1 and World War Hulk #1-5
- Read World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker #1, World War Hulk #1-5 and Incredible Hulk issues (this is the major tie-in)
- Read World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker #1, World War Hulk #1-5 and any tie-ins that appeals to you
- Everything
It’s totally up to you how invested you want to get into this Marvel event. Don’t feel obliged to read everything just because it’s listed below.
Before World War Hulk
The instigating events which cause World War Hulk happen in Planet Hulk, which runs through Incredible Hulk (1999 series) #92-105 and Giant-Sized Hulk #1.
Check out this review if you want to know more about Planet Hulk.
World War Hulk reading order
- World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker
- Incredible Hulk #106
- World War Hulk #1
- Ghost Rider (2006 series) #12
- Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. #19
- Incredible Hulk #107
- World War Hulk: Front Line #1
- World War Hulk: X-Men #1
- Irredeemable Ant-Man #10
- World War Hulk: Gamma Corps #1
- World War Hulk #2
- World War Hulk: Front Line #2
- Avengers: The Initiative #4
- Ghost Rider (2006 series) #13
- World War Hulk: X-Men #2
- Heroes for Hire (2006 series) #11
- Heroes for Hire (2006 series) #12
- Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. #20
- Incredible Hulk #108
- World War Hulk #3
- World War Hulk: Front Line #3
- Incredible Hulk #109
- World War Hulk: Gamma Corps #2
- World War Hulk: X-Men #3
- Avengers: The Initiative #5
- Incredible Hulk #110
- Heroes for Hire (2006 series) #13
- World War Hulk: Gamma Corps #3
- World War Hulk #4
- World War Hulk: Front Line #4
- World War Hulk: Front Line #5
- Punisher War Journal (2006 series) #12
- Heroes for Hire (2006 series) #14
- Heroes for Hire (2006 series) #15
- World War Hulk: Gamma Corps #4
- World War Hulk #5
- Incredible Hulk #111
- World War Hulk: Front Line #6
World War Hulk: Aftersmash reading order
World War Hulk: Aftersmash are comics that tie-into the conclusion of the World War Hulk. The best order to read them is below.
- World War Hulk: Aftersmash
- World War Hulk: Warbound #1
- World War Hulk: Warbound #2
- World War Hulk: Warbound #3
- World War Hulk: Warbound #4
- World War Hulk: Warbound #5
- World War Hulk: Aftersmash – Damage Control #1
- World War Hulk: Aftersmash – Damage Control #2
- World War Hulk: Aftersmash – Damage Control #3
- Incredible Hulk #112
- Incredible Hercules #113
- Incredible Hercules #114
- Incredible Hercules #115
NOTE: From issue #113-141 Incredible Hulk is renamed Incredible Hercules and stars Hercules instead of Hulk. If you are enjoying issues #113-115 then definitely continue reading if you’re looking for something to read afterwards.
What to read after World War Hulk?
There are a few stream you could go after reading World War Hulk.
- There’s the aforementioned Incredible Hercules which takes Incredible Hulk’s numbering for a while
- There’s a 2008 series called Hulk, which deals with a new mysterious Red Hulk.
- Finally, there’s Skaar: Son of Hulk, which is not essential but if you’re looking for more to read is worth having a look at.
For Bruce Banner fans, don’t worry, he will eventually return a year later in 2009’s Incredible Hulk #600.
Collected editions
For those who want to read this in trade paperback, these are all of the ones which involve World War Hulk.
World War Hulk
Collects: World War Hulk #1-5
World War Hulk: Incredible Hercules
Collects: Incredible Hulk #106-111
NOTE: Named The Incredible Hercules due to the title transitioning over to Hercules post-WWH. Includes all the Incredible Hulk issues that tie-in.
World War Hulk: Marvel Universe
Collects: Avengers: The Initiative #4-5, Irredeemable Ant-Man #10, Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D #19-20, Ghost Rider #12-13, and World War Hulk: X-Men #1-3
World War Hulk: Frontline
Collects: World War Hulk: Front Line #1-6
World War Hulk: Heroes For Hire
Collects: Heroes for Hire #11-16
World War Hulk: Gamma Corps
Collects: World War Hulk: Gamma Corps #1-4
World War Hulk: Warbound
Collects: World War Hulk: Warbound #1-5
World War Hulk: Damage Control
Collects: World War Hulk:
World War Hulk has also been collected in an omnibus edition, which includes the main event and all the tie-ins.
World War Hulk Omnibus
Collects: World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker, World War Hulk #1-5, Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #106-111, Iron Man vol. 4 #19-20, Avengers: Initiative #4-5, Irredeemable Ant-Man #10, World War Hulk: X-Men #1-3, Ghost Rider vol. 4 #12-13, Heroes for Hire (2006) #11-15, Punisher War Journal vol. 2 #12, World War Hulk: Gamma Corps #1-4, World War Hulk: Frontline #1-5, World War Hulk: Aftersmash, World War Hulk: Aftersmash – Damage Control #1-3, World War Hulk: Aftersmash – Warbound #1-5 and Planet Hulk Saga
Did you enjoy World War Hulk?
Are you digging this Hulk-based event? Have you found this checklist helpful? Let me know (spoiler-free) in the comments below or via Facebook or Twitter.
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Previous Marvel Event Reading Order: Civil War
Next Marvel Event Reading Order: Secret Invasion
Not even really a huge comics fan; but something about the Planet Hulk story arc grabbed me and the subsequent World War Hulk seems like a natural conclusion. Your reading list is about the dozenth I’ve seen – but is also the best by far. Yours is the only one to highlight the interweaving of the actual World War Hulk 1-5 arc within the gobbeldy-gook that sadly passes for storytelling in the Marvel cannon. So many crossovers and tie-ins and multiple universes/Spiderverses that eventually you just sorta stop caring altogether. Honestly, Marvel’s inability to maintain a coherent storyline is one of the main reasons I never got that into comics in the first place. Thank you so much for providing some much needed clarity!
I’ve been reading this, but the sequence I have appears to be different than what you guys have listed and some other places. The way it read didn’t seem to make sense to me so I have this thing out of order. Its so many comics! I’m thinking I’m going to scratch this and read the small one you listed. LOL. Thanks for the info!
I’m glad the list has been helpful! Happy reading!
Hello, thanks for this guide to World war Hulk. I been away from Hulk comics for a long time and really wanted to see what this world war and world breaker hulk was about but didn’t understand what sl went into it and what I sold read. This was so great and once I found it saved me so much time. Thanks for that.
I have a question: I’ve heard someone talking about Heart of the Monster Hulk. Does that fall in line with World War Hulk story?
Hi Steve. It’s awesome that the reading order has been helpful. Heart of the Monster isn’t part of World War Hulk but is a different story. Writer Greg Pak would continue to write the Hulk after World War Hulk for a few years and Heart of the Monster story is his final story in his long run. I hope that answers your question!
Trying to figure out what the Planet Hulk Omnibus contains and if it is different from the trade paperback called planet Hulk. Same thing for World War Hulk Omnibus and WWH tpb. I’d like to read the whole arc but don’t want to track down 50 different volumes. I have the tpb Return to Planet Hulk, the tpb Planet Hulk, and the tpb World War Hulk. Is that a good start? What other tpb would help?
Hey Steve, great question! I did a bit of digging into this for you and found out that the Planet Hulk Omnibus includes the Planet Hulk storyline (which is what the TPB includes) but also a few additional issues that lead up to it. These additional issues show the events which spark the decision to spend the Hulk into space or the actual act of doing it. Planet Hulk starts off with him already into space. You can read it without reading the lead up issues so it’s totally up to you if you want to read those issues. As for the World War Hulk omnibus, that includes the main story and all of the tie-ins as listed in this reading order. The trade paperback only collects the main story, but you get a full story from start to finish. It’s up to you if you want to read all of the tie-ins. They’re not essential, so you could just read the ones that interest you.