Fans of the 1970s television show “The Incredible Hulk” need to know up front that “Hulk The End” has no connection to “The Death of the Incredible Hulk,” the made-for-TV movie that ended that series.

Instead, “Hulk The End” is one of those future looks at a character from an age in comics when such storylines were rare in the Marvel Universe, save for its regular “What If?” comic book.

“Hulk The End” is a book collecting two storylines from the “Hulk” title a few decades ago. 

“Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect” features the Maestro, an old Hulk/Bruce Banner mix of brawn and brains with a razor-deep cut of Machiavellian malice.

Maestro is the only super-powered being left on earth and he rules the world with a green, iron fist – no velvet glove, just political savvy and complete power.

The Maestro storyline rocked the comics world at the time. If introduced now, Maestro would probably be a mega-comics series lasting for months and crossing over into and interrupting every Marvel title. Instead, it was a two-part story arc. 

In “The End,” Hulk lives in a ruined world. He’s almost alone with exception of Hulk’s greatest nemesis.

Both stories were written by Peter David, one of the longest-running and most influential “Hulk” writers. David reintroduced the grey Hulk, the Joe Fixit Hulk, a Banner-Hulk mix that led a super team and the Maestro.

Peter David made a character who is the “strongest one there is” intriguing, multifaceted with a much more deeper psychological background delving into the multiple personalities of Banner and the Hulks.

“Hulk The End” is a splendid standalone volume but “The End” can also serve as a strong introduction to the incredible world Peter David’s Hulks.