Incredible Hulk #5, Story B

The Incredible Hulk vs The Hordes of General Fang!
Featuring: Hulk
Release: November 1, 1962
Cover: January 1963
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
11 pages

I read this story in Incredible Hulk Omnibus vol. 1.

There are ways in which Stan and Jack are ahead of their time on social issues, and ways in which they are not. Their depictions of Asian people remain pretty racist. It will take a couple decades before Marvel is able to do much better. General Fang is an awful stereotype, and the story is more cold war propaganda, depicting the forces of Red China as strangely-drawn, yellow-skinned, and cartoonishly evil. Even the Asian people depicted as allies–including the citizens of Llhasa (Lhasa, Tibet) and the soldiers of Formosa (Taiwan)– have cringeworthy depictions.

This is the year after Breakfast at Tiffany’s came out…

In Fantastic Four #2, Mr. Fantastic ends the Skrull invasion by showing them comic book images of monsters to scare them away. This despite that an advance race should surely be able to identify a drawing– and also despite that the FF had observed in the previous issue that the earth is full of real monsters. Some find charm in the silliness of such plots; I find it dumb. We get a similar story here: Hulk decides to disguise himself as a monster to frighten the Chinese army. That’s right: he puts on a disguise– to fool people into thinking he’s a monster.

Great disguise, Hulk.

We saw Ross testing the iceberg rocket in issue 4. It has some similarity to the weapon Zemu planned to use to invade our dimension. Now we see it in action… to anticlimactic effect. Not accounting for the fact that ice melts– that plan doesn’t sound very “carefully laid”.

That doesn’t sound very “carefully laid”…

Hulk flies coach.

This is why we have strict TSA measures today…

Another ominous ending note…

Hulk: Threat or menace?

I really, really hope Hulk was just talking about how cowardly the General is.

Rating: ★½, 25/100
Significance: ★☆☆☆☆

Yup. Lowest score yet. Be less racist, Marvel!

Characters:

  • Bruce Banner/Hulk
  • General “Thunderbolt” Ross
  • Rick Jones
  • General Fang

Minor characters:

  • High Lama (Religious head of Llhasa)

Story notes:

  • “Gotta exercise this way once a week so I don’t end up bein’ a muscle-bound creep!” — Hulk, explaining why he’s in Hulk form
  • Soldier makes reference to Ross getting another star. Suggesting he is not a 4-star general. Perhaps he is a Major General or Lieutenant General.
  • “How I hate giving up my power– my strength– just to return to the dull, ordinary human form of… Bruce Banner!” — Hulk
  • Bruce weak after change
  • Bruce fears that Hulk is resisting changing back more and more.
  • Principality of Llhasa (Lhasa, Tibet?) in Asia under attack
  • General Fang most brutal warlord since Genghis Khan
  • Hulk mentions landing in Formosa, which refers to the island we know as Taiwan.
  • Hulk notes he is hot, even in freezing weather
  • Hulk is fooled by fake dragon
  • Trap holds Hulk easily; electronic cage

#42 story in reading order
Next: Journey Into Mystery #88
Previous: Incredible Hulk #5


Author: Chris Coke

Interests include comic books, science fiction, whisky, and mathematics.

One thought on “Incredible Hulk #5, Story B”

  1. I think the melting makes sense since it is saying hulk runs so much hotter than a typical humanoid. They probably expected to be able to re up the ice before he melted.

    The racism on the other hand groans.

    This has been really interesting.

    Reply

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