I thought I remembered the issue of Hulk that was from, but it turns out I was just remembering the ish where Rick Jones’ friend who actually does have AIDS comes to town and gets sliced up by Speedfreak.
Anyway, that was a good issue, too.
Actually it was from an issue of Omaha the Cat Dancer by Reed Waller and Kate Worley.
I remember that exchange, too, and it wasn’t in Hulk, because I don’t read Hulk. Or most superhero comics.
Dammit, where the hell did I hear that from?
I’m too lazy to dig out those issues of the Hulk, but that sounds like Peter David to me.
No one who ever wrote Alpha Flight was witty enough to write that.
Sounds like David to me too…maybe during his X-Factor run?
…and the late Kate Worley. 
The Issue #1 rule:
If you’re going to put #1 on the cover, it should be the beginning a new story, and the story should be accessible to people who are entirely unfamiliar with the character(s).
This means that you do not start a story line in JLA, then have knowledge of that story be a prerequisite for understanding Doom Patrol #1.
What you do is provide the new reader with enough information to understand what’s going on, even if the character is an established one. Madrox and Astonishing X-Men #1 both did this well.
And the prequel to that rule, which was either Julius Schwartz’s or Mort Weisinger’s*:
EVERY ISSUE IS SOMEONE’S FIRST. Yeah, it was kinda silly to read “Due to a necessary impurity, Green Lantern’s ring cannot affect anything yellow" every single issue, but dammit, it’s better than simply assuming that the casual browser will have any idea of your backstory and maybe losing them as a regular reader.
Stan Lee knew this too and he was the gawd of the expository back-story discussion… "My heavens Reed! I never thought that the Mad Thinker would be able to capture us using our own powers against us!!”
“Yes Sue. If we hadn’t been distracted by the Red Ghost and his Commie Super-Apes*** trying to undermine the Infante Terrible’s outer-space Montissori School’s field trip, the Mad Thinker would never have caught us by surprise!”
“Oh Reed, how can we get out of this deadly trap in time to see our son Franklin’s piano recital?”
“Hmmm…I have a plan…”
Granted, it’s awkward when reprinted in a trade paperback, but dammit, if you want new readers (of comics, not of a given book), you have to get them to jump on in the issue they pick up. They’re not going to think “Hm. This looks kind of interesting. I’ll certainly remember to come back in five months when this arc ends!”
Fenris
**A rogue scientist almost as smart as Reed, True Believers!–footnotin’ Stan
***A Commie agent (and his three apes) who got their powers from COSMIC RAYS which also gave the Fantastic Four their powers–Accuracy is Everything Stan