Len Wein (creator of Swamp Thing and more), Adam Beechen (Hench), and Ben Blacker (Thrilling Adventure Hour) discuss more definitives — stories, writers, and artists — including Swamp Thing, Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison, Wonder Woman, and lots more.
The definitive Hulk was the Len Wein era Hulk. Peter David did the most damage to that character of anyone who has written him. Hulk only makes sense if he can be angry beyond reason, which is only possible when he has the inexpressible temper tantrums of a child. He is the pure emotional self without control. Once the Hulk can speak intelligently, the ability to think and reason reduces the extent to which he can fly into a rage. It was when Peter David started writing the character that I lost interest in him and stopped reading the book.
Read Brubaker’s Catwoman — best Catwoman. She was a character I never really cared about, but Brubaker’s run established her as an interesting, complicated character.
I’m not sure it’s definitive, but the best attempt at establishing Wonder Woman as a character was the animated film version. It managed to combine all of the elements of her personality into a compelling story. The definitive look for Wonder Woman was Lynda Carter.