The Incredible Hulk #271

A raccoon steals the anniversary

The Incredible Hulk #271 went on sale on February 9, 1982, with a May cover date, and was billed as the Hulk's Twentieth Anniversary Issue. It cost sixty cents for 36 pages. Al Milgrom's cover gives the joke away with its first line: "What?! Hulk has to share his 20th anniversary issue with puny talking animal?"

The 22-page story carries one of Marvel's longest titles: "Now Somewhere in the Black Holes of Sirius Major There Lived a Young Boy Name of... Rocket Raccoon!" It is a riff on the opening of the Beatles' 1968 song "Rocky Raccoon." The Hulk wakes up on Halfworld, an abandoned colony in the Keystone Quadrant, where Rocket and his friend Wal Rus find him, and he helps them against Judson Jakes, the Black Bunny Brigade led by Blackjack O'Hare, and a gang of killer clowns before being sent home to Earth.

The Beatles jokes run deep. Rocket's girlfriend Lylla is named for Lil, Rocky Raccoon's girl in the song, and the villain is after a book called Gideon's Bible, which the song also mentions. Back on Earth, a subplot has Betty Ross pleading with the alien Bereet to save a dying Rick Jones.

A public defender and his favorite artist

Bill Mantlo, born in Brooklyn on November 9, 1951, started at Marvel in 1974 as a colorist before he began writing. He created Rocket with artist Keith Giffen for Marvel Preview #7 in 1976, where the character was called Rocky and spoke in British slang. Mantlo also co-created Cloak and Dagger and wrote the toy-based series Micronauts and Rom: Spaceknight.

Mantlo wrote The Incredible Hulk for five years, from 1980 to 1985, and is remembered for a more human Hulk. Alongside comics he earned a law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1987 and became a public defender in the Bronx. On July 17, 1992, he was struck by a car while rollerblading; the driver was never identified, and Mantlo suffered severe brain damage that has required full-time care ever since.

Sal Buscema, born in Brooklyn on January 26, 1936, the younger brother of John Buscema, drew the Hulk for ten years and called the character his all-time favorite. He penciled and inked this issue himself. Buscema died on January 24, 2026, at 89.

From ten comics to the big screen

Rocket returned in a four-issue limited series beginning in 1985, written by Mantlo and drawn by Mike Mignola. For about three decades he appeared in only around ten comics in all.

That changed with the 2008 relaunch of Guardians of the Galaxy, which brought Rocket to prominence. In 2014 Marvel Studios put him on screen in Guardians of the Galaxy, voiced by Bradley Cooper, and he has appeared in several Marvel films since.

Marvel Studios negotiated compensation with Mantlo for the use of Rocket in the films, money that helps pay for his lifelong care. In 2014 he received the Bill Finger Award.

Direct, newsstand and the 9.8 market

Like most Marvel comics of 1982, #271 was printed in two versions: a direct edition sold to comic shops and a newsstand edition sold through magazine racks. The statement of ownership printed in the issue shows the title's scale: an average of 201,497 paid copies a month in the year to October 1, 1981, and 187,123 for the issue nearest the filing date. No separate print run for #271 appears in the sources consulted.

Because so many copies exist, value lives at the top of the grading scale. In 2024 through 2026, standard CGC 9.8 copies have sold in a fairly tight band, mostly between $520 and $850, with a single $1,200 sale in September 2024. Newsstand 9.8 copies have traded higher, generally around $900 to $1,100 over the same period.

No public census figure for the issue was available in the sources consulted, so the number of CGC 9.8 copies is not given here.

The numbers

Cover price

60 cents

Pages

36; lead story 22 pages

Frequency

Monthly

Paid circulation (statement of October 1, 1981)

201,497 average per issue over 12 months; 187,123 for the issue nearest filing

Print run of #271

Not documented in the sources consulted

Census

Not available in the sources consulted

CGC 9.8 sales on record

27 dated sales of standard copies with a single clear sale price, May 2024 to September 2026

Timeline

1. 1968

   The Beatles release "Rocky Raccoon," which will inspire the character's name.

2. 1976

   Rocket debuts as "Rocky" in Marvel Preview #7, created by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen.

3. 1980

   Mantlo begins a five-year run writing The Incredible Hulk.

4. Feb 9, 1982

   The Incredible Hulk #271 goes on sale with a May 1982 cover date.

5. 1985

   Rocket Raccoon gets a four-issue limited series by Mantlo and Mike Mignola.

6. 1987

   Mantlo graduates from Brooklyn Law School and becomes a public defender.

7. Jul 17, 1992

   Mantlo is struck by a hit-and-run driver while rollerblading.

8. 2008

   Rocket joins the relaunched Guardians of the Galaxy.

9. 2014

   Guardians of the Galaxy reaches theaters with Bradley Cooper as Rocket; Mantlo receives the Bill Finger Award.

10. Sep 25, 2024

    A CGC 9.8 copy sells online for $1,200, the highest price in the period reviewed.

11. Jan 24, 2026

    Artist Sal Buscema dies at 89.

12. Jun 5, 2026

    A direct-edition CGC 9.8 copy sells online for $685.

The world in 1982

• Jan 13, 1982

  Air Florida Flight 90 crashes into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, killing 78.

• Feb 1, 1982

  David Letterman's late-night show debuts on NBC.

• Mar 29, 1982

  Chariots of Fire wins the Academy Award for Best Picture.

• May 1, 1982

  The World's Fair opens in Knoxville, Tennessee.

• May 30, 1982

  Cal Ripken Jr. begins his record streak of consecutive games.

• Oct 1, 1982

  EPCOT Center opens at Walt Disney World.

• Nov 13, 1982

  The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington.

• Nov 30, 1982

  Michael Jackson releases Thriller.

Price record

A realized private sale is a completed transaction outside an auction room. The amount is what changed hands on the date shown. Private sales are reported less consistently than auction results, so a single comparable carries less weight than a run of them.

By reference price, The Incredible Hulk #271 is number 72 of 100 in the comics entries of the FLOAT 100. 92 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (69 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The story title riffs on the opening of the Beatles song "Rocky Raccoon."
• Rocket's girlfriend Lylla is named after Lil, the girl in the Beatles song.
• The cover has the Hulk complaining that he has to share his 20th anniversary with a "puny talking animal."
• For about 30 years Rocket appeared in only around ten comics.
• Writer Bill Mantlo was also a public defender in the Bronx.
• Marvel Studios negotiated with Mantlo over Rocket's film use, and the money supports his care.