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I guess I can live with the fact that the Incredible Hulk changes size drastically when he transforms, but why does his shirt rip off and not his pants?

I think that we need a little better answer than "it keeps us tied to the fact that inside he's still human".

Mithical
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jcolebrand
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    but...could he use the pockets? – Major Stackings May 13 '12 at 03:59
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    I always assumed Banner woke up naked in an alley after his first Hulk-out and realized he urgently needed to find a solution to the pants problem. He used his outsized genius brain and figured out a way to keep his jolly green junk hidden after that. – Kyle Jones Jan 07 '13 at 19:02
  • It ties into the origin of the Ultimate Lizard. – John Sensebe Aug 13 '16 at 20:51
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    Elastic pants are not exactly super science. – Nacht Aug 03 '17 at 01:43
  • British "pants" (underwear) or American "pants" (trousers)? – Rand al'Thor Jul 27 '18 at 07:01
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    Urban myth back in the seventies was that the pilot episode showed Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk naked from behind running down the city street. Sadly some local resident further up the road stepped out into the street for a better view and was ran over by a bus. This became the basis for "You mustn't cross when the green man is flashing". – Danny Mc G Mar 04 '18 at 07:50
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    "Your pants can stretch as far as you can without injuring yourself, and still retain their shape. Virtually indestructible, yet they breathe like Egyptian cotton." – Misha R Jul 30 '18 at 14:45
  • Okay but who said that? – jcolebrand Jul 30 '18 at 15:29
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    @jcolebrand Edna Mode. When she made pants for Bruce Banner, of course. – Misha R Jul 30 '18 at 16:23
  • @MishaR: Was this before or after the lawsuit-happy Americans decided to outlaw "hulking out"? – Kevin Feb 23 '19 at 22:17

6 Answers6

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Stan Lee answered this question in an interview with Eric Spitznagel of Vanity Fair (March, 2011). You can read the transcript on ComicBookMovie.com.

VF: If it weren’t for the Comics Code, would the Hulk’s pants have ripped off like his shirt?

Stan Lee: I guess it probably would have. So occasionally the Code did some good things.

VF: Did you ever try to make sense of the Hulk’s magical purple pants? Why did they always conveniently remain intact while the rest of his clothes were ripped to shreds?

Stan Lee: I just figured that Bruce Banner had probably been a friend of Reed Richards [Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four], and Reed had given him some elastic trousers. There’s an explanation for everything, but you may not be technically advanced enough to follow me on all of this.

This is known on TV Tropes as Magic Pants.

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Bill the Lizard
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    I dunno. There's that, and ... well, I've gained about 30 lbs in the past year. My pants from before I gained weight still fit, but my shirts sure don't. – Karl Katzke Sep 26 '11 at 22:03
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    @KarlKatzke You must be working out then, because my last 30 lbs definitely contributed exclusively to my pants size. :( – Bill the Lizard Sep 27 '11 at 21:50
  • All mine's gone straight to my liquid grain silo, aka Milwaukee Blister, aka spare tire, aka... – Karl Katzke Sep 27 '11 at 21:55
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    Unstable molecules. – aVeRTRAC Sep 28 '11 at 00:36
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    Huh. I'd never made the connection back to Mr Fantastic and the existence of other super-stretchy materials within that universe. That's actually a more reasonable explanation than I was expecting... – Nerrolken Mar 12 '15 at 21:28
  • Well, Dr Manhattan clearly disagrees with the Comic Code, and nobody seems to mind. Although I suppose it does help that Manhattan has no extreme action shots for us to look at. – Misha R Jul 29 '18 at 18:42
  • @MishaR Like a lot of Alan Moore's work, Watchmen was not approved by the Comics Code Authority. It was late enough in his career (post Swamp Thing) that DC probably didn't even bother to submit it for approval. – Bill the Lizard Jul 29 '18 at 22:49
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    @BilltheLizard Heh. In a surprising twist of events, one of the best written, boldest, uncompromising comics had not received the censorship authorities' approval. – Misha R Jul 29 '18 at 23:03
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    So the lack of a similarly expanding shirt would likely be the result of a conscious in-universe decision to show off his pecs. – ApproachingDarknessFish Feb 24 '19 at 08:17
  • Last thing people want to see is a naked Hulk......... – MissouriSpartan Aug 26 '19 at 02:53
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"Power Man & Iron Fist" #65 circa 1980 offered an insight into this question. Luke Cage, notorious for losing his yellow shirts due to violence and mayhem, visits his local haberdasher for replacements... enter image description here

Blaze
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In the later part of the TV series, his jeans ripped up to the top of his thighs, which is fair enough, considering lou ferrigno as the hulk had the dimensions of a bodybuilder with small waist and huge muscles elsewhere, and ferrigno was considerably smaller than his comicbook counterpart.

In the comic however, (especially the Sal buscema era) those darn purple pants of his are not like normal jeans or trousers at all. They are more like super durable and stretchy long legged purple underwear worn under jeans or trousers, that rips at the ends. I reckon that would make more sense, considering they always hugged his legs as the hulk and as banner after his transformations. In the comic, they never looked like everyday jeans or trousers. Perhaps that's what Reed Richards or Tony Stark made for his friend Bruce Banner?

Carts
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In the MCU at least, S.H.I.E.L.D. gave him "elasti-pants" of some sort. Go to Hulk's page on the MCU wiki for more information.

Donatello Swansino
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As I remember in looking at the early (Kirby) issues of the Hulk comic, Dr. Banner wasn't a "total square." He wore purple pants with cuffs. Not daring, as he was otherwise dressed like a good researcher of the day would have. Blues, grays, browns and greens, were also common colors for pants. But dark purple slacks were not unseen. They could have been something like pleated work slacks from Sears. Those slacks had hip pleats. I know that when you snap off the belting fabric you still only gain about two to four inches at the hips and no inseam. And as the joke goes, "If my pants were that tight, I'd turn green too."

OK, so we give Bruce pleated work slacks with Inseam Guard (1966?) and almost no wear. Brand new! That might let the fabric stretch out to paper thin for a while. Is the tension itself holding the stitching in place? Is the fly fused shut?

Looks like some questions breed more questions.

Slytherincess
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The Riftalope
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In the Incredible Hulk series episode called ''Prometheus'' Lou's Hulk did indeed lose his trousers. In part one he transformed by those rocks, and as the helicopters approached the Hulk actually tore his trousers off, revealing shorts underneath.

Andrew Dexter
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