Musings about the Incredible Hulk Part 3

Musings about the Incredible Hulk Part 3

Originally posted January 16, 2009

I continue my somewhat uninformed and random look at the misadventures of the Incredible Hulk. Forgive me if my thoughts are more prosaic than usual. I woke up to find that the heat in my apartment is off and having nowhere to go I am sitting all bundled up in sweaters, with some hot tea close at hand and typing mainly to keep my mind off the cold. (It’s 8 below outside).



Incredible Hulk 240

I jumped a few months from where I left off in IH 234. Hulk has just arrived in the secret city of El Dorado. The Avengers came here once in the not so memorable Avengers 30-31 (I didn’t remember it anyway).

Hulk is carrying an unconscious guy in a gold costume, Goldbug. I had no clue who this guy was so I assumed since Hulk was carrying him that he must be an ally. I looked online Goldbug is a villain. That makes the scene a lot funnier IMHO. Not only does the Hulk defeat the guy, but also he further insults the guy’s villainous chops by helping him.

Meanwhile at Project Gamma Betty arrives in a fighter jet. Did anyone else think that was kind of hot? Especially when she takes her helmet off and flips her hair like Farrah Fawcett.

But it seems to me that a weakness of a lot of these stories is that the Hulk is out on some adventure and then it cuts to this base in Arizona and some kind of drama is playing out there, but the two stories never seem to meet! It’s like if Peter Parker moved to Cleveland Ohio, but 2 or 3 pages each month were devoted to MJ and Aunt May back in NYC.

Fred and Trisha get a page. Fred is writing a book about the Hulk’s adventures and wonders where ol’ Greenskin has gotten to.

Surprise, Surprise, it turns out the elders were using the Hulk. At the end of the issue Bruce Banner is hanging over some kind of machine about to become it’s power source.



Incredible Hulk 241

In the letters page of one of these issues maybe 234, someone wrote in complaining that the Hulk comic was starting to resemble the Hulk television show way too much and that they issues needed to have more super villains, more science fiction, and more action! Nowhere is the Hulk comic/Hulk TV show more evident then the cover of this issue. Which by the way really has nothing to do with the story inside.

Bruce Banner is dangling over a huge flame and the 3 villains can’t help but stand around and gloat. One of them has a really cool chessboard with hero and villain pieces, Thor, Absorbing man, the Hulk, Hercules, The Black Panther, Spider-Man etc.

One of the three elders turns out to be done other than Tyrannus! He uses the Hulk’s power to rejuvenate himself. Goldbug gets the Hulk free and the stage is set for an all out battle royal! Unfortunately I don’t have the next issue.

Musings about the Incredible Hulk Part 2

My Hulk musings on my random collection continues

Originally posted January 14, 2009

Our first stop is the classic Incredible Hulk 140, with a story by the great Harlan Ellison.

“The Brute That Shouted Love at the Heart of the Atom.” What a great title. They just don’t make them like that anymore.

The story involves the Hulk being shrunk by a quasi-human named Psyklops. In this microscopic world the Hulk finds a kingdom of Green humans and a beautiful empress Jarella. The queen digs Jade Jaws and gets her sorcerers to teach the Hulk their language. Somehow in the process their magic merges Banner and the Hulk and so for the first time the Hulk body is piloted by Banner’s mind.

In the end Psyklop’s giant hand whisks the Hulk out of the Kingdom and makes him normal sized again. However, the enraged Hulk who was truly happy for maybe the first time is stronger than Psyklops could ever guess and Psyklops is overpowered.

Then as a final indignity a huge hand again comes crashing in through the ceiling and this time Psyklops is killed by the before mentioned claw-hand.

To me this story isn’t so much a comic, but a comic book version of an episode of the Twilight Zone or the Outer Limits. Just like the Twilight Zone where Astronauts travel to the end of the universe and seems to tap at glass only to reveal that the universe as we know it is nothing more than a glass jar on some unknowable behemoth’s shelf. In this comic the Hulk travels to a microscopic world, but in the end we see, that the world the Hulk knows. Good old Earth 616 is really just a microscopic world to whatever dark clawed power punished Psyklop’s failure.




Incredible Hulk 148 is the sequel to Ellison’s story and actually improves some elements of the original.

The Issue begins with “Thunderbolt” Ross and the others looking at the almost completed Project Greenskin Base, (whose plans appeared a few issue before in issue 145 and were the only cool part of that entire issue.) But anyway, some fighter planes find the Hulk in the desert and shoot sedative tipped missiles at him knocking him out. Now that’s cool!

Then the scene shifts to Jarella it her microscopic world, now she is a warrior queen. A much better match for the Hulk then as portrayed in Ellison’s story.

Somehow Jarella’s sorcerers transport her to earth just as the Hulk is bombarded with solar radiation and cured.

Well, everything is not alright because an assassin from the microworld piggybacked with Jarrella and unless they are both returned to their world solar energy flares caused by the imbalance of their presence on Earth will destroy the world!




Incredible Hulk 210

Len Wein and Sal Buscema produced this disappointing issue.

It’s been a rather large jump from 148-210. Banner has a new girlfriend April Sommers. Over at “Gamma Base.” Talbot and Betty Ross are married. Doc Samson is around, Thunderbolt Ross too of course and some other dude with blonde hair that looks a little like Quicksilver.

Banner meets Doctor Druid, (my least favorite Avenger ever. I avoid those issues like the plague.) and they go looking for Maha Yogi. (a crappy X-men villain)

Banner claims he’ll help Druid as Banner but that he’s not “changing into the Hulk again…not even to save the whole blamed Planet!” Is he really that dimwitted to believe he can control it? Dude you transform into the Hulk when you get angry even 8-year-old kids understand that. And further why would Druid want Banner around for a firefight. He’s playing you!

This is “revealed” on the last page. I say “revealed” because the betrayal is also featured on the cover.

Incredible Hulk 231

What a difference a day makes. Roger Stern and Sal Buscema are putting the Hulk back on track. The artwork (rather than the phoned in 210) is tremendous especially the full page shot of Hulk smashing a police car to bits.

The story is really neat too. The Hulk wanders into a town at 2 a.m. and sees this guy (Fred) being thrown out of a bar and about to get beat up. Hulk sees him as an innocent being attacked by a soldier and defends him. Fred knowing a good thing when he sees it wants to be friends with the Hulk. The Hulk says that Fred’s “long hair is crazy!” but agrees to “bed down” at Fred’s place.

A very funny scene follows of Hulk waking up in the morning. Fred’s girlfriend has come over and surprised Fred with eggs and beans, but it is the Hulk that comes to breakfast first. I love the Hulks happy face as he eats contrasted to the girlfriend screaming and running away.



Incredible Hulk 233

Marvel Man appears in this issue, the Hulk kicks his butt and as he’s on the ground some little kids asks him what his name is. “Marvel Man,” he says “That’s a stupid name,” the kid replies. Did this kid represent readers? In the next issue Marvel Man says his new codename is Quasar.

Later in the Issue Talbot gets off a plane and sees a newly redesigned knockout Betty. “I almost didn’t recognize you,” he says again mirroring the readers.

Fred and the Hulk continue their journey after the Hulk beats up some villain named Jackson and Marvel Man. And at the end of the issue Fred pulls into a house and is greeted by Trish Starr.

Incredible Hulk 334

Fred is surprised that the Hulk and Trish Starr already know each other

Starr describes her five previous appearances in Marvel Comics. She was captured by her Uncle, “Egghead” who was going to siphon off the energy from her brain, fortunately Ant-man stopped him. She then goes to New York and discovers her old friend is secretly Nightwing. Then her uncle plants a car bomb and blows one of her arms off. Then she turns to mysticism and ends up forming a bond with an evil extra dimensional being Shazanna and is saved by Dr. Strange and the Hulk. (If you can name all those appearances you get extra points)

What is wrong with this girl? Does she have the worst luck ever?

There is a great scene in this issue where some of the house’s residents are discussing with Fred and Trish that the Hulk is eating all the food and should leave. The Hulk slowly stews silently until his anger explodes. The Hulk smashes a table and shouts “Tell Fred’s friends to stop talking about the Hulk like he wasn’t here! Hulk HATES that!!”

Later while the Hulk is asleep Fred and Trish have a very interesting conversation. Fred says that he’s disappointed in the housemates and asks, “what happened to all the principles and ideals we used to pledge ourselves to?”

“We were all such a part of the sixties,” Trish replies, “maybe we didn’t try hard enough to make something of the seventies”

This is interesting on so many levels because Marvel is always in the present this was effective for more than twenty years until the end of the Bronze Age when it was kind of like “hey, how come no one’s aging?”

There are a whole bunch of issues still to come in my ramblings.

Musings about the Incredible Hulk Part 1

(Tales to Astonish 81)

Originally posted January 4, 2009

I’ve never been a fan of the Incredible Hulk because where as many superheroes such as Spider-Man, Batman and Iron Man are at their cores intellectuals, who are just as likely to outwit their enemies rather than overpower them. The Hulk on the other hand is basically a one trick pony; he is literally the ultimate meathead who can only succeed by relying on his superior strength. Since I myself have always resembled the “meek and mild” Bruce Banner or the “bookish milksop” Peter Parker, it’s not hard to understand why I feel more of a kindred spirit towards super-thinkers.

But in my attempt to try new things I’ve been digging deep into my comic collection and reading the myriad of random issues of Old Jaded Jaws and here are my thoughts. (Tales to Astonish 81, Incredible Hulk 111, 113, 128, 133, 145)

At first glance the Hulk stories are as I’ve always thought somewhat repetitive, but when looked at in an analytical sense do possess certain fascinating thematic elements.

The Hulk is a lonely character. He travels all over the world and sometimes into outer space and to other planets on a quest to be left alone. Why does he search for seclusion?

Is he an isolationist? Or an existentialist?

I am being somewhat facetious, because I do actually have an answer; He wishes to end the suffering that every being he meets causes him. Whether it is the American military, alien races, or super-villains, everyone the Hulk encounters attempts to capture, trick, use, or hurt the Hulk.

The Hulk can be seen as a kind of modern day Buddha attempting to reach a form of nirvana by finding an end to his suffering. However, like the ancient warrior Popes, this spiritual figure is not afraid to use violence to reach his religious goals. It would be interesting to see what would happen if the Hulk stumbled into a monastery or a non-violent society. All evidence shows that the Hulk is not truly a violent monstrosity by nature, but merely an animal that feels caged and provoked by mankind and reacts in violent retaliation. However, there are many occasions where the Hulk has saved innocent people or been reasoned with. Perhaps in a non-violent environment the Hulk could find the peace he seeks.



(Incredible Hulk 133)

Another interpretation is the Hulk is an anarchist. In issue 133 the Hulk ends up in a European dictatorship run by a man named Draxon. Draxon offers the Hulk a place in his army and says together “they can put the country on the map.” The Hulk replies that he cares not for maps because when he leaps from place to place he sees no lines in the countryside. The Hulk has no respect for the leaders or the laws of man, he respects only brute force, he is the living embodiment of Darwin’s survival of the fittest, or perhaps Rousseau’s “noble savage.”



(Incredible Hulk 111)

It seems strange to me that the Hulk so often becomes involved in the realm of alien invaders. After all it is the FF or the Avengers that are known for battling such menaces and yet the Hulk seems to have a bull’s-eye painted on his chest that every alien passing by the Earth can see. However, thematically, the aliens are no different then when the Hulk fights super-villains or dictators. All of them seek to use the Hulk’s strength to their own advantage.

The other interesting detail is that it is the Hulk that is the star of the comic not Bruce Banner. In most Jekyll and Hyde type literature the Hyde character is portrayed as an evil creation that must be stopped. However, Marvel embraces the Hulk and devotes little time to developing Bruce Banner, whose only function in the 6 issues I looked at was to be captured by unsuspecting aliens twice. Ironically in the Hulk TV show the opposite was true; for the majority of any given episode David Banner would get himself into some sort of situation and then at the end of the episode the Hulk would get him out of it and somehow save the day.