When Did Hulkling First Appear In Marvel Comics?

There's a warm, canon romantic arc between Hulkling and Wiccan that Marvel has consistently kept in its main continuity: they've been partners since the early days of 'Young Avengers' and their relationship grows into something deeply committed. Wiccan (Billy Kaplan) is a powerful magic-user whose backstory ties into the legacy of chaos magic, and Hulkling (Teddy Altman) is an alien-shifting powerhouse with a royal destiny—together they balance each other in ways a lot of other couples in comics don't. Over the years Marvel moved them from teenage crushes to mature partners, with proposals, wars, and political drama woven into their storylines (think 'The Children's Crusade' and the big political events that touch the Kree/Skrull stuff). The company has treated their couplehood as fully canonical, and they've even taken the obvious step of formalizing their bond in later issues. As someone who discovered them in a dingy comic shop with two-dollar back issues and a stubborn love for found families, seeing that progression felt both earned and joyful.

When I picked up the recent issues, the first thing that hit me was how much Hulkling’s shapeshifting keeps stealing the show. He’s not just doing simple face-swaps anymore; I’ve seen him bulk up into massive, hulking forms that push his strength and durability into straight-up powerhouse territory. That size-shift is more than cosmetic — the panels show him taking hits that would flatten a normal Skrull or Kree and just shrugging them off, which reads like serious regeneration and superhuman stamina. Beyond the brute-force stuff, he still uses the classic Skrull/Kree hybrid tricks: forming armor pieces, creating blades or shields from his own body, and even reshaping limbs into wings for short bursts of flight. There are moments where he looks comfortably at home in space, so environmental resilience (vacuum survival, extreme temps) is on display too. If you liked his royalty arc in 'Empyre' and the more character-driven beats in 'Young Avengers', these issues feel like a mash-up of political weight and upgraded physical powers — he’s a fighter and a king in the same breath.

I still get a little giddy when I think about how messy and brilliant Hulkling's origin is. Growing up, Teddy Altman was just another kid on Earth with a knack for shape-shifting and a huge heart, but the comics slowly peeled back his backstory. It turns out his parents were a literal political power couple from opposite sides of a galactic war: his mother was a Skrull princess named Anelle and his father was the Kree hero Mar-Vell. That mixed blood is what made him such a unique figure — both the living symbol and the biological heir of a forced union meant to bridge two empires. The arc in 'Young Avengers' teases that heritage, but it’s really during the events that build up to and include 'Empyre' where everything clicks: Teddy’s lineage is publicly recognized and he’s thrust into the role of emperor of a new Kree-Skrull Alliance. I love how the story doesn’t just give him a crown for shock value; it wrestles with political legitimacy, identity, and duty. Plus, his relationship with Wiccan adds an emotional anchor — he’s not just a galactic ruler, he’s a person who found love and chose responsibility. It’s one of those character evolutions that feels earned, messy, and surprisingly heartwarming.

On the page, Teddy Altman never reads like an ordinary kid — and that's because he's not ordinary. He gained his shape-shifting abilities through his Skrull heritage: Skrulls are a race of biological shapeshifters in the comics, able to rearrange their tissues to mimic other forms. Teddy is revealed to be a Kree–Skrull hybrid (the son of Mar-Vell and a Skrull princess), so he inherited that Skrull cellular flexibility. Because he's a hybrid, his powers don't behave exactly like a run-of-the-mill Skrull. The Kree side seems to amplify his durability, strength and ability to take on hulking, armored forms — which is why he can bulk up into a powerful green warrior rather than just swap faces. That mix is explored across stories like 'Young Avengers' and later the 'Empyre' event, where his dual lineage becomes central to who he is and what he can do. I love how writers used biology and family lore instead of a single gimmick: his shape-shifting feels organic, rooted in identity and history. If you want a starting point, flip through 'Young Avengers' and then 'Empyre' — you'll see the evolution of his abilities and why being part Skrull matters so much to Teddy.

My take on Hulkling's costume evolution has always felt like watching a friend grow up in public, and I love that. Early on, in the pages of 'Young Avengers', he mostly looked like a scrappy teen—hoodies, casual layers, a mix of streetwear and tentative superhero colors. Artists leaned into that awkward-teen charm: familiar clothes with splashes of green or subtle emblem work that hinted at something more than human. As the character matured, the outfits followed. The costumes shifted toward cleaner silhouettes, sleeker team uniforms, and then full-on regal armor when the story moved to his Kree–Skrull heritage. The 'Empyre' era really leans into ceremonial symbolism—ceremonial capes, segmented alien armor, crowns or headpieces that combine both cultures. You can see design choices that tell a story: protective plates for battle, blended iconography to show his dual lineage, and richer fabrics and metallics that read as political power. What I enjoy most is the way artists use color and texture to track his identity: softer, human tones when he’s Teddy at home; deeper greens, golds, and alien motifs when he’s leading armies. Cosplayers and fan art reflect that full arc, too—neat homemade hoodies alongside baroque, layered armor pieces—so his wardrobe feels alive and evolving with the narratives.

I still get a little giddy thinking about how Teddy—Hulkling—grew from a shy kid into literal royalty. The person who started that whole trajectory was Allan Heinberg, with artist Jim Cheung, in 'Young Avengers' (the 2005 original run). Heinberg gave Teddy his heart: the tender, complicated romance with Wiccan and the gentle, awkward personality that made readers root for him. Jim Cheung’s designs cemented the visual identity—clean, heroic, with subtle cues that hinted at his alien heritage. Years later Heinberg circled back in 'The Children's Crusade', and that arc leaned into the mystery of his parentage and the emotional stakes of being a hybrid Kree–Skrull heir. Then Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s 2013 take reshaped the team’s aesthetic and tone again—McKelvie’s minimalist costumes and Gillen’s sharper dialogue modernized Teddy without betraying his core. The biggest structural reshaping came from Al Ewing and Pepe Larraz during 'Empyre'. Ewing turned Hulkling into a political, cosmic figure—an heir, a commander—while Larraz drew him as regal and dangerous. Those shifts moved him from a beloved side character to a key player in Marvel’s cosmic chessboard, and I still love how each creative team layered something new onto him.

I was hooked the minute I flipped through the pages of 'Young Avengers' — that run is where Teddy Altman (Hulkling) is born as a character, and it’s the essential starting point. If you want the way he acts, the jokes, the awkward teen hero energy, and the early hints about his mysterious heritage, read 'Young Avengers' (the original 2005 series) straight through. It introduces his friendship and romance with Wiccan, his shape-shifting powers, and the social dynamics that make him feel real. For the deeper origin stuff about his Kree/Skrull lineage and the political weight of who he really is, follow up with 'Avengers: The Children's Crusade' and then jump to the big event 'Empyre'. 'Children's Crusade' digs into his identity and the emotional fallout, while 'Empyre' gives you the full-on revelation and payoff where he goes from kid on the team to someone with a throne-sized destiny. If you like collections, look for the 'Young Avengers' trade(s), the 'Children's Crusade' TPB, and the 'Empyre' main and tie-in books — together they tell the origin-to-leader arc in a satisfying, layered way.

I've been hunting down Hulkling stories for years and my favorite way to read them is on Marvel Unlimited — their search and collections make it so easy to follow a character across eras. Start with the original 'Young Avengers' run (the 2005 series) to see his origin and chemistry with Wiccan, then move to 'The Children's Crusade' (the collected edition) which really digs into both of them emotionally, and finally read the Kieron Gillen 'Young Avengers' run and the 'Empyre' event where Hulkling takes center stage. If you prefer to own issues, Comixology (and the Kindle/Google Play stores) sell single issues and trade paperbacks. Your local library might have digital checkouts through Hoopla or physical trades like 'Young Avengers: The Collection' or 'Empyre' on the shelf — I once found a pristine 'Children's Crusade' TPB at a small branch and it felt like striking gold. For a comfortable binge: Marvel Unlimited for day-to-day reading, Comixology/ebooks for ownership, and library/brick-and-mortar shops for serendipitous finds.