Herb Trimpe: From Hulk to GI Joe to the Extreme 90s 

I was the one that brokered the deal for Herb to draw Savage Dragon for Erik. I was friends with both guys and working with Herb, and Erik asked me to help make it happen. I actually hired Herb to work with me and Larry Hama on a book called COR Controlled Organic Robotics. It was the last cover Herb finalized in pencil and last story. I was inking the cover as I got a call that Herb passed.

Trimpe was also a chaplain at ground zero for several months after 9/11. Dude was amazing.

"I wasn't gonna hold the gun to my own head, they'll need to shoot me themselves" That's a cold line.

Herb was a pal O' mine. He was a brilliantly smart guy. His fave artist was Jack Davis. Herb praised Stan for hiring him. Herb was also a great, kind guy to other pros and fans alike. His work on HULK, GI Joe, Godzilla, and SHOGUN Warriors is legendary.

I loved working with Herb. I was his editor on Nick Fury as well as Fantastic Four Unlimited. He was humble and brilliant. It's a shame how Marvel cast him aside like garbage after decades with them.May he rest in peace.

He was always such a gentleman to fans at conventions. Did not charge me anything when he signed my Inc Hulk 181 with the CGC, I told him it was going into my will for my non-existent son if I ever had one. He looked at his booth neighbor and they laughed. God rest Herb, what a sweetheart of a man.

Man, you're the gold standard for comic youtubers as far as I'm concerned

My mom was friends with his wife, so I met him a few times as a kid and a teen. When I was about 12, I had a job for a few days organizing him comics collection. He received some/all Marvel comics for reference material. He had boxes upon boxes of comics. It was like a dream come true for a comic nerd like me to organize his collection. I’m pretty sure it was his wife’s idea, but he was very nice about it. I thought his kids were lucky because he got toys for GI Joe and Shogun Warriors (full size) since he drew those comics.

If there's one thing I can say about Trimpe, was that his cover of GIJoe's first issue was perhaps the first comic solely promoted as an advertised television commercial!

It's very humbling to hear Herb Trimpe have a kind of respect for the artists in the 90s and vice versa. This guy rocked.

Workmanlike. Dependable. Professional. You've got to respect those qualities. *Corporate* should respect those qualities.

Dude was an absolute cornerstone of Marvel's golden age. He drew fewer issues of GI Joe than I thought, but I don't think that book would have looked the same without his influence.

Herb Trimpe's Hulk was the very first Hulk artwork that I had ever seen, even before Kirby. In my eyes, he was the template for how Hulk and his entire cast of characters should look.

For what it's worth I think comics tropes is the best, most original and creative comicbook channel. That's probably not the perfect recipe for popularity -as if there were such a thing- but still ...so much respect to you and your work, Chris. Words I don't say lightly

Herb and Marie Severin were both very loyal, underappreciated, and underrated. Thanks Chris

Herb Trimpe, Mike Zeck, Ross Andru are the top 3 most under-appreciated comic artists to me.

I started collecting comics at the age of 9 in the summer of 1974. I bought 2 comics from my local 7-11 on that first day to begin my collecting journey... Fantastic Four 149 (Rich Buckler art) & Incredible Hulk 178 (Herb Trimpe art). These two covers really caught the eye of 9 year-old me, and they are still two of my favorites to this day.

Herb Trimpe exemplified professionalism. He used to come to Baltimore Comicon every year and is sorely missed. great video, Chris, great subject❤

Herb was the freaking best🙌🏻, I had him sign my WOLVERINE 181,he says "HEY! I remember this one, you know this cover reminds me of me and my wife,We both laugh including his wife,"no it's true everytime I try to eat something unhealthy she turns into the HULK" hahahaha I'll always treasure that memory THANKS HERB!🙌🏻 R.I.P HERB TRIMPE

His humble approach for everything was really awesome. A wonderful artist, that even take the chance on changing his art style, which isn't a minor thing.

Herb Trimpe is someone who's work I've admired for the longest time. But I honestly had no idea how interesting a back story there was there. I never knew this one was so humble and professional. I think I have a newfound respect for the work this guy put in.

I met him years ago at Boston Comic Con. Had him sign some Hulk collections. One of which he was like oh this got collected. He then said his porch was filled with packages from Marvel of collections. He never opened them. The Ellison storyline was the one where he was surprised was collected at the time. Also got Roy Thomas years later to also sign.

Was lucky to meet him at East Coast Comicon, he was super nice. It was shocking to find out he passed away the day after the con ended.

You are definitely this fan's favorite.

I met Trimpe at a very small comic convention in 2015. That day, I also met George Perez, Rob Liefeld, Joe Rubinstein, and Kevin Eastman. Trimpe signed my comics for free, and I recall that he was very humble.

Herb Trimpe's work on the Incredible Hulk was a fond memory for me growing up. His Hulk interpretation was thick and had substance. I have something signed by him and will treasure it . A class act and my respect for him has been deepened by your fine tribute video. Thank you

One of my all time favorite Marvel artists. His Hulk run is my favorite..

You had me at Herb Trimpe!

I was never a Trimpe fan, but I admired the hell out of Trimpe for making that gamble in the 90s. He tried, and he tried well.

I'm a lifelong Incredible Hulk fan..& Herb Trimpe was one of my FAVORITE Hulk artists.... especially when he did his own inks...I get a kick out of the fact that he was the 1st artist to draw Wolverine 👑

Oh no, just the thumbnail reminded me of Trimpe's late period Liefeld-like style ughh. Thanks Chris for risking your visual health for us to enjoy some quality entertainment ❤

As on old timer who read Marvel Comics in the late 70's and 80's, I loved and still love the Shogun Warriors series. Herb was great at drawing huge robots and sci fi monsters. And Doc Samson is one of my favorite Marvel heroes.

Thanks! The ComicTropes episodes about comic creators are my absolute favorites!

Trimpe's work in G.I. Joe was brilliant, particularly with vehicles. He was a long-time favorite of mine for that book specifically.

I met Herb Trimpe at AwesomeCon in DC in 2014. I brought GI Joe 119, which Trimpe wrote, drew, and colored and the friend I was with had a Captain America sketch. I remember how happy Herb was that we talked with him for about ten minutes about his work without bringing up Hulk 181.

My appreciation for Herb Trimpe’s art got grew and grew the further down my Hulk collection all the way back to issue 118.

Loved, loved, LOVED this one Chris. As another late GenX kid who got into comics via G.I. Joe, Herb and Hama will always occupy a nook in my soul. Btw, if you look at that Hulkbusters logo Herb designed, you can spot the influence of Terry and the Pirates.

Imagine all the kids, teens, adults he entertained, inspired...taught. Thanks Herb.

18:49 Holy crap! I had that Guardians of the Galaxy issue!!! I had no idea who the artist was at the time because I was just a kid, but man! He did draw weird!! I saw those stills from the comics in this video and it unlocked hardcore awesome but forgotten memories!!!

His dynamism and clarity of storytelling was great. His 'it's just a job' view was refreshing, and didn't detract from the quality of his art.

It makes no sense and makes me kinda mad Comic Tropes isn't among the biggest and most subscribed-to comic book channels on RU-vid. It's hard for me to imagine someone having this much passion for comics and putting in so much effort to making what's essentially a history lesson so much fun. This channel is what the Punk Rock MBA used to be, when it focused more on the history of music. Hang in there, Chris. People respect your work ethics and thoroughly enjoy your videos. This is one of my favorite channels on RU-vid and I can't even imagine what a better comic book historian would look like. Oh, yeah. And don't drop the "oh, hi" intros. ❤

I met Herb once and only once at SDCC in 2012 or 13. I was (and am) a big GI Joe fan, and I had made a tiny comic of toy photography based on Joe. When I saw Mr. Trimpe sitting at his small booth in artist's alley, I stopped to offer my appreciation. We ended up chatting for about 20 minutes, and I tentatively offered him one of my littel books - thinking he might just kinda laugh it off. He totally brightened, and said "hold on!" He pulled out his phone, and showed me pictures of some 12-inch figures of his - they were WW2 pilot figures, posed in front of planes. He said they were his characters in a flight-sim game he loved to play. It was kismet. We talked about how it was just good to be creative and have fun. He took my book, and then gave me the print he had brought to sell - a beautiful amalgamation with Shogun Warriors (which I also loved!), Hulk, Wolverine, and GI Joe. He signed it "To Nas - You are right!" I love that print. I loved that interaction. I never got to chat with him again, sadly. But it sure feels good to know I got to meet such a treasure of the comic-book world, and really - a treasure of a man. Thanks for this episode!

That 4 Issue Machine Man series is really good, I loved how the cover art in each issue was his head being assembled in different stages, I would line them up side by side and just stare at them for awhile. Machine Man is underappreciated and underused by Marvel.

One of my favorite Trimpe works was his Machine Man mini series, inked by Barry Windsor Smith. Such an unlikely pairing, but it worked really well…

Loved his GI Joe issues. That's where I discovered him. Great video. Nice to see props given to a staple of the Marvel legacy.

Glad you covered this. I’ve hear about how Trimpe changed his style but never seen it.

Ah, nineties comics, always fun topic.

You don't have near the subscriber counts of other channels because (aside from the awesome Casually Comics) you don't just give inaccurate recaps of storylines or read Wikipedia pages about a character's origins. You actually do research and educate us on all aspects of comics. And that's why we love you.

Doc Samson is now the new Sasquatch on Alpha Flight, Wolverine's Canadian team when he was first introduced. Full circle complete.

For me he was the first artist I was actually conscious to (I was 5). His work on Shogun Warriors was mind blowing. Like you said he was good at drawing vehicles and he really made those robots come to life for me.

Thanks for putting that video together! Trimpe is one of those consistent artists, that is not given much of a spotlight. I loved his runs on Godzilla, Hulk, Planet of the Apes and anything else he’d work on. Always had clean, dynamic and solid artwork. ❤👍🏼

I love this channel. I’m always learning new things about comics I have. I didn’t even know this artist’s name but I have some of those books.

Who would be considered “the biggest comic book RU-vidrs”?? If that isn’t you then who is!

I never collected the Hulk. I appreciated him as I did Superman when he returned in Kingdom Come… oh *bleep*, we’re screwed now. Which is to say, small dramatic doses. What I didn’t realize until this exceptional episode is that Herb Trimpe was responsible for my visual perception of the Hulk. Much like John Byrne for the X-Men, Neal Adams with Batman, Steranko for Nick Fury, or George Perez on everything he touched in the 80s, but especially the Teen Titans. In any case, when I’d see Trimpe’s name on post-Hulk stuff, it was never “oh, I’ve got to get this!” but there was the security that the work would be solid. Now, learning his story and his attitude, my appreciation has vaulted to admiration. Thank you for that Chris. With that in mind, I hope anyone watching this channel on their $1000 phone, paying $100 or more for cell service, drinking their daily $5 cup, can actually find as little as $1 a month for Patreon to support a creator who has provided us with hours of thoughtful, insightful, and fun content for years. Okay, I’ll stop spend-shaming.

Hell yeah new Comic Tropes!!!

His Hulk was my first introduction to Marvel comics. Seeing those old books fills me with nostalgia. And when I see it now, I still think the art is great!

Wolverine has come a long way from his start as just a back up camera

Herb was such a nice guy. I met him at the 2012 Malta Comic Con. I was an artist there too. We stayed at the same hotel. He sat behind me on the bus going to the convention center from the hotel where we were staying. He told us stories of his time at Marvel. Eventually, he signed my Incredible Hulk 180 & 181 and drew me a Wolverine. I was truly devastated when we heard the news of his passing. RIP.

This is the best comic book channel on RU-vid.

One of your best episodes yet, amazing how you sourced all the Trimpe interviews and articles!

Great video. He was a very underrated artist. Thanks for something good to show my sons.

Thanks Chris, the bell still works. Mr Trimpe made Wolverine and Psylocke and I never heard of him!? Thanks for the history lesson.

Met herb when I was in High School, lived in the same town. Really welcoming, cool guy, let me visit his studio, and talk about comics as a career.

Thanks for giving some love to herb! Sure you did it for the paycheck, but the man you know how to work with the system and still is able to push out something that was really wonderful to us all! Definitely didn't think he contributed so much without realizing the body of work he completed😂

Great tribute. Great episode. Haven’t watched in a while, glad I tuned in today.

This was great. What an interesting character. The name always stood out to me but I couldn't tell you what he worked on.

Your channel is in my view, the best resource for comic books, graphic novels and any kind of sequential art which is demonstrated by over 200,000 subscribers. There is no channel better who respects the work of graphic artists.

"I couldn't wait to get in to work..." what a positive situation; shame it went tits-up after 20 years. It is good to hear that he remained positive throughout his life.

My take on Trimpe is exactly the same as yours - and its sad how Marvel treated him in the 90s. Sidenote- LOVED his G.I. Joe work. I was SO pissed and disappointed when I opened up the first Vosberg issue of G.I. Joe and there was no more Trimpe art. Issues 6 and 7 are iconic for me.

I had the opportunity in 2005 to commission an artwork from Mr. Trimpe, through his representative at the time. Three years later, I met him in person at a convention, and got to chat with him for a while and take his picture with the drawing he'd done for me. He was the same kind and humble person described in this video. To this day, if I close my eyes and think, "comic book Hulk," it's Herb Trimpe's version I envision. Thanks for the terrific tribute to his work and life.

I loved Herb Trimpe's HULK when I was buying it off the stands in the Silver Age, and it remains my favorite to this day. I've got them all. Phantom Eagle, too, He was a one of a kind artist.

Herb was a regular at the art store I worked at. He was the nicest guy, and was always willing to chat. I miss him.

This kind of videos is why I like your content so much. Thank you.

One of my most treasured comics in my collection is a Hulk 148 that has an original sketch of the Hulk’s face on the cover. It’s small but it is an original artwork for the late, great Herb Trimpe.

Man, you're awesome. Thanks a lot for EVERY show you've been releasing through these years. I always feel better when I watch your work, no matter how bad or sad I might be, because it always bring me back to the amazing feeling of getting deep into universes and creations I love.

I have a new appreciation for Herb Trimpe after watching this video. He should be recognized among the all-time greats in comic book art. Some major contributions to the business. A very informative video.

21:46 Sergio Leone inspiration. Cowboy movies were awesome!!!

Comic Tropes knows… one of THEE reasons I started MY channel is lack of RESPECT Modern Comic Kiddos have for Herb Trimpe and Larry Hama …. There would be NO Todd Mcfarlane, Jim Lee, and Rob Liefield if there wasn’t Herb…. I find it weird all these under 35 year olds go crazy for Hulk 181 and NOT realizing Herb drew the iconic cover …

Herb and Sal seemed greatly underappreciated in their day, two of my favorite Hulk artists. I have a Marvel school folder signed by Trimpe.

I knew Herb through Ron Wilson. Used to gang around him at Baltimore Comic Cons, very cool guy. He went slways show up to his rable late but have a long line of people patiently waiting fir him. His wife would always split the table with him displaying/selling her homemade jewelry and trinkets.

This was fantastic. I was vaguely familiar with Trimpe but had no idea he was so important, and seemingly a great guy to boot. Trimpe may say he just did it for the check but it's hard to look at some of the stuff he drew and not think that he didn't have a passion for it. But hey, maybe he was just that dang talented. Great video.

This is one of the most respectful and honouring videos I've seen. I think ComicTropes is my favourite comic channel... and then he blows me away with this. My favourite Trimpe work is, controversially, GI Joe vs. The Transformers. I think he's underrated on that because I don't think the story is well regarded but it isn't because of Trimpe.

I'm currently reading the Hulk run that Herb Trimpe draws. I was very surprised with his art, the establishment of the location of the scenes and the visual narrative in general is very good! And what a great coincidence that you made a video about his career right at this moment, when i'm reading it. That was very pleasant. Thank You! Hello from Brazil \o/

Stellar video, Chris. While I love getting deep dives into the careers of artists I'm less familiar with (like Trimpe), please keep your health in focus and don't work too hard!

Well done. Trimpe was a real contributor to the best era of Marvel Comics. I love his 60’s/ 70’s Hulk.

Back in the day, I remember reading "Stan's Soapbox" in a back issue of...something, and in it Stan wrote "...and then there's Herb Trimpe (rhymes with Shrimpy)...". And I was, like, "Huh! I've been calling him Herb 'Trimp' all this time - thanks for the heads up". Anyway, great illustrator and heck of a nice guy. Cheers, Chris.

Herb was my cousin and just an amazing guy. He was a personal hero of mine growing up and a hero to many. While he is best known for his work with Marvel, not many people were aware that he was an ordained minister and spent many months as a chaplain working at and around Ground Zero helping people to cope with the death and destruction after 9/11.

I really enjoy these deep dives.

Great episode. His Captain Britain work is often unfairly overlooked, it definitely has a Kirby vibe.

Hey, Chris! This was a very informative video. I did not know how significant his contribution was to the Hulk. I have every issue of "G.I. Joe" and know of him through his work there. A truly unsung talent and Marvel stalwart. Great job! Please do a video on CrossGen's "Sigil" omnibus published by Marvel. They were my favorite comic company and I'd love their entire line to get the omnibus treatment!

Herb Trimpe was such a class act with a beautiful art style. Great episode!

Respect to the artists who are transparent about the pay rates.

Pretty impressive that he could pivot his artstyle to look 90's just like that.

the way that he was most interested in the money is so charming lol

I met him in person at the Baltimore ComicCon in September 2014. Such a gentleman. He and his wife chatted my wife and me for over 5 minutes with 50+ people waiting in line for autographs, and when he learned I was an Air Force Officer, he insisted on standing up and saluting me! We even took a picture, and we are both grinning so wide little two little kids instead of a 75 year old man and a 50-year old. I was heartbroken that he passed away only 7-8 months later. His Godzilla run got me into comics.

Machine Man? I only remember Barry Windsor Smith. But Trimpe is listed Right there!

I worked in a few comics stores in the late 80s/early 90s, and Legends of Nascar, which he drew, was quite a collector’s item for a little while there. Also, I loved me some Shogun Warriors.

I’ve been a fan of Herb since about 1972. Near the end, I was blessed to get to know him and Patricia. A gracious and kind professional, I miss him tremendously still.

Any video you make about Hulk content is going to be my favorite.

Glad you did a video on Herb. He was my favorite Hulk artist. Every time I think of the Hulk it's his version I always see. Great video!