There has been plenty of Marvel personnel who have written the adventures of the Hulk. Among them have been Stan Lee, Bill Mantlo, John Byrne, Greg Pak, and Mark Waid. However the most famous of these are Peter David and Al Ewing.
David's run on The Incredible Hulk, which started in 1987 and ran for 12 years, set up numerous plot points other writers utilized in subsequent decades. Ewing took on writing chores for The Immortal Hulk starting in 2018 and carried on many of David's plot points. Together, they are probably the most influential scribes of the Green Behemoth.
10 Peter David Established Banner's Multiple Personalities
By the time David took over The Incredible Hulk, the series was faltering. One moment Bruce Banner had control of his gamma-radiated side, and the next he was out of control. Not long before the writer took over the Hulk was split from Banner then combined again to reintroduce the Grey Hulk.
David figured he had nothing to lose. So, he mixed things up. He began to separate the identities of the rampaging Hulk (eventually known as the Big Guy), the Grey Hulk (Joe Fixit), and Banner. He took the concept of multiple personalities introduced by others and expanded on it.
9 Al Ewing Expanded On David's Concept
When Al Ewing took on the Immortal Hulk he didn't throw out the proverbial playbook established by David and other creators. If anything, he expanded on their concepts and established a being with true Dissociative Identity Disorder (D.I.D.)
He did this through a similar method David took during his run. He went into Banner's mindscape. For Ewing, it was more than just the Big Guy, Fixit, and the good doctor. It was the Devil Hulk who ended up being something similar to the father Banner always wanted. Instead of steel doors to keep everyone separated, the doctor's brain was filled with Hulk's in chained-up metal armor that couldn't be broken by the Banner's different identities.
8 Peter David Brought Lightness To The Hulk
David has always had a humorous touch in his writing. It showed in Spider-Man, Young Justice, and even Star Trek. With lighter touches being taken on series like the DC's Justice League titles in the late 80s and early 90s, David was the right person to lighten up the Hulk's adventures.
While not as blatant as League's Keith Giffen and his partner, J.M. DeMatteis, David added plenty of humor to the title. Noticeably, he injected references to numerous DC characters to generate chuckles. During Incredible Hulk #431 he even had Betty Ross Banner try to disguise her husband with a green fin on his head. Similar to a certain Savage Dragon at Image Comics.
7 Al Ewing Returned Horror To The Hulk
The Hulk was never considered a superhero. Stan Lee, co-creator with Jack Kirby, took influences from Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll, and Mr. Hyde. In other words, there was a horror element to the character.
While other creators shifted Hulk toward superheroics, David one of them, Ewing went back to Lee's influences. In doing so he ratcheted up the horror in many of the ways the Banner and others were killed or transformed. Though disturbing, Joe Bennet's artwork makes the grotesque beautiful. In the end, readers were both disgusted and fascinated.
6 Peter David Introduced The Professor
Something new took place in The Incredible Hulk #377. David and artist Dale Keown sat Joe, Big Guy, and Banner down for a therapy session with Leonard Samson. It wasn't done in the outside world. Instead, thanks to the hypnotic abilities of the Ringmaster, it took place within Bruce's mind.
Samson's goal was to convince the three personalities to work together because they were stronger as one entity. Upon their agreement emerged the personality known as The Professor. David's influence to bring in this version of the Hulk continued through his run as well as other media. The concept of a highly intelligent Hulk was eventually adopted in Avengers: Endgame.
5 Al Ewing Reimagined Joe Fixit
One of David's Hulk manifestations was Joe Fixit. This was a smaller and somewhat weaker version of the monster's grey incarnation that worked in Las Vegas as a go-to bouncer. Joe maintained a full-time presence for several months thanks to magic. Yet, when that wore off, he had to share time with Banner during the day.
Ewing took this concept one step further. Instead of bringing back the Grey Hulk, he personified Joe as a human facet. To the point that he could take over Banner's mortal body without changing. In a graphic yet beautiful set of panels in Immortal Hulk #40, the Big Guy gave "birth" to a human version of Joe, complete with cheesy mustache and sideburns.
4 Peter David Made Rick Jones And Betty Banner Important Players
Though he has hung out with the likes of Captain America, Captain Marvel, and The Avengers, Rick Jones is first and foremost a member of Team Hulk. So is Betty Ross Banner, the woman who fawned over Bruce and eventually married him. However, these important characters tended to be secondary players.
David promoted them to the main cast during his run on the series. In fact, the writer's influence made both characters much stronger. What went on in their plots was sometimes more interesting than Hulk's adventures.
3 Al Ewing Revealed The Ugliness in Rick And Betty
Unfortunately, Rick and Betty went through a lot between the end of David's run and the start of Ewing's. Both became Hulks -- A-Bomb and Red She-Hulk, respectively. Both apparently died and came back to life. Even though they needed a break, Ewing decided to make things more difficult for them.
For instance, Rick's body was removed from Severin Memorial Cemetery by Shadow Base and used as a gamma shell for a resurrected Abomination. Later, his rebirthed body was taken over by The Leader. Meanwhile, Betty was accidentally shot in the head by a member of the base. She transformed into the harpy version of herself. She would continue to show this ugly side of her to Bruce whenever they wanted to talk. In the end, Ewing's influence revealed how damaged these two characters were after years of dealing with the Hulk.
2 Peter David Tackled Serious Issues
David's time at The Incredible Hulk wasn't all quips and giggles. He tackled several serious issues during his 12-year run. The abuse of Banner's father was constantly brought up in the series and became the impetus for his D.I.D.
He also dealt passionately with the HIV crisis of the late 80s and early 90s. Jim Wilson, Hulk's former partner, was diagnosed with the disease and became an advocate for others. In a poignant story from Incredible Hulk #421, Jim asked Hulk for a transfusion of gamma-irradiated blood to save him from full-blown AIDS. Seeing it as a risk, Banner decided against it, and Jim died from the disease.
1 Al Ewing Carefully Addresses D.I.D.
Though he wraps a serious condition in a blanket of superheroics, Ewing doesn't mock D.I.D. Actually, he takes it seriously in the pages of The Immortal Hulk. It's an influential examination of the disorder shown through Banner's different facets.
He does this best when Banner and his counterparts are shown in his mindscape. Ewing reveals the pain some of them feel through transformations and constant battles. How Banner becomes one of the Hulks is an examination of horror as one door shuts when his meek body is killed and the Green Door allows for Hulk's resurrection.