Tales to Astonish #83, Story B

Less than Monster, More than Man!

Featuring: Hulk
Release: June 2, 1966
Cover: September 1966
12 cents
Script: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Layouts: Jolly Jack Kirby
Art: Wild Bill Everett
Lettering: Whammy Sammy Rosen
Applause: Honest Irving Forbush
10 pages

Previous#575Next
Tales to Astonish #83Reading orderStrange Tales #147
Tales to Astonish #83Tales to AstonishTales to Astonish #84

If the man I love really is behind that grotesque face… does this mean I’ve lost him… forever?

“Less than Monster, More than Man!” A good title. Very Hulk.

These interactions between Betty and the Hulk give very significant insights into his character and their relationship.

Continue reading “Tales to Astonish #83, Story B”

Tales to Astonish #82, Story B

The Battle Cry of Boomerang!

Featuring: Hulk
Release: May 5, 1966
Cover: August 1966
12 cents
Stan Lee, writer
Jack Kirby, designer
Bill Everett, illustrator
Artie Simek, letterer
A touch of the muse, inspirer
10 pages

Previous#573Next
Tales to Astonish #82Reading orderTales to Astonish #83
Tales to Astonish #82Tales to AstonishTales to Astonish #83

Simple boomerang! That can’t hurt Hulk!

Where were we? Namor tired of fighting Iron Man and continues his pursuit of Krang and Dorma. Tony Stark has made the decision to give in to Senator Byrd and turn over the secrets of Iron Man to the US Government.

Hulk has just made his way back to the surface from the subterranean realm where Mole Man and Tyrannus are at war. Tyrannus’ prisoners Talbot, Betty, and Rick, had also recently returned to the surface. They weren’t back long before Betty was captured by Boomerang, who was hired by the Secret Empire to steal some type of weapon.

“No one shoots Hulk! No one!” exclaims Hulk.

Actually, people shoot at Hulk all the time. They just never hurt him.

Ross blames Hulk for his daughter’s abduction. He blames the Hulk for most everything. Note he is talking about Betty’s previous abduction by Tyrannus. He doesn’t know she’s been abducted again since then.

Anybody else notice Betty gets abducted a lot?

Continue reading “Tales to Astonish #82, Story B”

Tales to Astonish #81, Story B

The Stage is Set!

Featuring: Hulk
Release: April 5, 1966
Cover: July 1966
12 cents
Hulkable script by: Stan Lee
Hulksome layout by: Jack Kirby
Hulkorious art by: Bill Everett
Hulkated lettering by: Sam Rosen
Costumes by Tibor of Transylvania!
10 pages

Previous#566Next
Tales to Astonish #81Reading orderTales of Suspense #79
Tales to Astonish #81Tales to AstonishTales to Astonish #82

“His boomerang is causing a rock slide!”
“It’s returning to him like an arrow!”

A lot happening in this issue. For Hulk, he’s finishing up his encounter with Tyrannus and Mole Man from last issue. But in the background, important villains are being introduced. They will set up a confusing mess of coming issues.

The secret empire known as Hydra has fallen. Nick Fury and Captain America have been having trouble with a new secret empire called Them, which may be connected to AIM. Now we meet a new secret empire, known as, er, the Secret Empire.

Continue reading “Tales to Astonish #81, Story B”

Tales to Astonish #79, Story B

The Titan and the Torment!

Featuring: Hulk
Release: February 3, 1966
Cover: April 1966
12 cents
Hulkish story by: Stan Lee
Hulkable layouts by: Jack Kirby
Hulking artwork by: Bill Everett
Hulksome lettering by: Artie Simek
10 pages

Previous#491Next
Tales to Astonish #79Reading orderTales to Astonish #80
Tales to Astonish #79Tales to AstonishTales to Astonish #80

Even he cannot suspect that Bruce Banner’s gamma rays have miraculously given Hulk the power to grow stronger, rather than weaker, so long as his rage keeps mounting!

As Richard recently pointed out in the comments, this is a great cover of Hulk battling Hercules, courtesy of Kirby and Everett. I fear the issue itself won’t quite live up to the image.

There is some pretty tight continuity on display. When we last saw Hercules, he and a casting agent had left New York bound for Los Angeles. Here we see them on a train from New York to LA. We’ll next see them arriving in LA in Thor #128. The casting agent doesn’t know this is the real Hercules. He’s been cast to play Hercules, so the agent assumes he’s method acting.

Note how little time there has been to breathe in these stories. Hulk’s battle with the Leader led right into his battles in the future, which have led right into his battle with Dr. Zaxon. There’s been no room to breathe. Cliffhanger after cliffhanger. Not so much one long story, as a bunch of story threads that don’t respect issue boundaries.

Continue reading “Tales to Astonish #79, Story B”

Tales to Astonish #78, Story B

The Hulk Must Die!

Featuring: Hulk
Release: January 4, 1966
Cover: April 1966
12 cents
Story by: Stan Lee (Certainly!)
Layouts by: Jack Kirby (Naturally!)
Artwork by: Bill Everett (Surprisingly!)
Lettering by: Sam Rosen
10 pages

Previous#489Next
Tales to Astonish #78Reading orderTales to Astonish #79
Tales to Astonish #78Tales to AstonishTales to Astonish #79

Everett is on art now. We know him as the creator of Sub-Mariner, who told Namor’s original stories. And as the co-creator of Daredevil with Stan Lee, who worked on that series for a single issue. He was removed for being very over-deadline. I think a full-length comic for an entirely new character takes longer than a 10 page Hulk story.

Nonetheless, Kirby is brought in for layouts. Though Everett is the more senior of the two and has long been a writer/artist.

Hulk’s story hasn’t had a pause to breathe since he got his new title. No sooner had the Leader finally been defeated than Hulk was transported into the future. Thinking him dead, Rick revealed Banner’s secret to Major Talbot. But Hulk lives, and has returned from the future.

Has Talbot not told anybody his news yet? Not even Ross?

Continue reading “Tales to Astonish #78, Story B”

Tales to Astonish #77, Story B

Bruce Banner is the Hulk!

Featuring: Hulk
Release: December 2, 1965
Cover: March 1966
12 cents
Script by: Stan Lee
Layouts by: Jack Kirby
Pencilling + inking by: Johnny Romita!
Lettering by: Sam Rosen
10 pages

Previous#487Next
Tales to Astonish #77Reading orderTales to Astonish #78
Tales to Astonish #77Tales to AstonishTales to Astonish #78

Why shouldn’t I tell? It’s time the world learned the truth…!

That’s a damn compelling cover, a collaboration between Kirby and Romita, with the Romita influence coming in heavy, but a unique look for the Hulk that is very distinctive compared to either man’s style. Dramatically, we shockingly hear Rick Jones tell an officer (presumably Talbot) Hulk’s secret. We’ll see how that plays out.

John Romita took over as the regular artist on Daredevil last month. He’s just filling in here, as the series has floundered without a regular artist for the last 10 months. Bill Everett will be taking over next issue. We also saw Romita filling in on last month’s Captain America

As we noted in our recent Daredevil post, John Romita just recently passed away in June 2023 at the age of 93. One of the greatest comic artists of all time.

It is a compelling title. “Bruce Banner is the Hulk!” Is this the issue where his secret identity is finally revealed? Secret identities have been revealed on occasion before, but the learner of the identity usually develops amnesia or dies.

Recall from last issue the army built Banner’s T-Gun without knowing what it did. They hit Hulk with it and now everybody assumes Hulk is dead. In fact, Hulk has been transported to the future.

Continue reading “Tales to Astonish #77, Story B”

POSTLUDE: Marvels #2

Monsters

Featuring: Marvels
Release: December 14, 1993
Cover: February 1994
$5.95
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Alex Ross
Letterers: Starkings w/ John Gaushell
Editor: Marcus McLaurin
Assitant editor: Spencer Lamm
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco
Cover design & logo: Joe Kaufman
Interior design: Comicraft
45 pages

PreviousNext
Weird Science #20PRELUDE
Tales of Suspense #72Reading orderSgt. Fury #22
Marvels #1MarvelsMarvels #3

The real story was the people who’d been scared too long. Who’d been wound tight by talk of mutant menaces and hidden conspiracies and shadows under the bed.

I’ve mentioned before I want to frame our reading around the Marvels miniseries from the 1990s. That hasn’t really been obvious yet. We read Marvels #0, which retold a few pages from Marvel Comics #1. And we read Marvels #1, which paralleled 1940s Marvel comics. But our reading is concentrated in the 1960s. Finally, we get to Marvels #2, which parallels the 1960s Marvel stories, ranging from Avengers #6 (May 1964), the 191st entry in our reading, through Tales of Suspense #69 (June 1965), the 404th entry in our reading. Quite the range. We are reading it after completing the Iron Man story from Tales of Suspense #72, because we’d first needed to tie up some continuity ends.

We’ve hinted before at the theme of this comic, and I’d like to just discuss it up front. The two centerpiece stories are the wedding of Reed and Sue in Fantastic Four Annual 3, and the attack on the X-Men by the Sentinels in X-Men #14. The writer Kurt Busiek had noted in his own Marvel Universe research what we also found in our reading here, that these events must occur on nearly consecutive days. That’s not obvious from any comic, but does follow from a close reading of the many interconnected comics. And the two stories make for quite the juxtaposition.

The contrast between these two arcs becomes the central tension of this issue. The Fantastic Four wedding is the celebrity event of the century. The press covered it, crowds of fans gathered, famous people like Tony Stark and Millie the Model attended. The Fantastic Four are super-powered heroes and beloved by the public.

The X-Men are also super-powered heroes. But where the Fantastic Four gained their powers from cosmic radiation, the powers of the X-Men are innate, based on an accident of birth, perhaps from radiation their parents had been exposed to. The “Children of the Atom”. And that difference is big enough that the same public who cheered on the wedding of the FF members would listen with interest and nods of approval as Bolivar Trask went on the airwaves to declare mutants a menace and announce he’d created robot-hunting Sentinels to hunt and kill the X-Men.

We read the Heroes & Legends retelling of the wedding, which focused on this very tension in the form of a child, who was a huge fan of the Fantastic Four, but afraid of the X-Men. He learned better by issue’s end.

Here, the arc will play out within Phil Sheldon, the photojournalist who specialises in shots of the people he’s dubbed the Marvels. A person who idolizes heroes like the Fantastic Four and Avengers, but fears mutants like the X-Men.

It’s entirely irrational, just like all forms of bigotry.

That’s enough belaboring of themes. Let’s dive into the story. As we do, we’ll try to draw the parallels between what’s happening on the page and our reading.

I’ll note that the title is called “Monsters”, which brings to my mind Thing and Hulk. The latter doesn’t appear, and the former is a minor player at best.

It’s 20 years after the events of Marvels #1. Phil Sheldon is now an established freelance photojournalist happily married with two kids. We see hm doing freelance work for Barney Bushkin at the Daily Globe. The shadows on the page somewhat obscure Phil’s eyepatch, a lifelong injury sustained last issue by getting too close to a superhero battle.

We remember meeting Barney in Amazing Spider-Man #27. He’s nicer than Jonah, but asked too many questions for Peter’s tastes.

Continue reading “POSTLUDE: Marvels #2”

Tales to Astonish #72, Story B

Within the Monster Dwells a Man!

Featuring: Hulk
Release: July 1, 1965
Cover: October 1965
12 cents
Thrills, as only Stan Lee’s story can provide them!
Power, as only Jack Kirby’s layouts can create it!
Drama, as only Mickey Demeo’s artwork can present it!
Sound effects, as only Sam Rosen’s pen point can letter them!
10 pages

Previous#384Next
Tales to Astonish #72Reading orderTales to Astonish #73
Tales to Astonish #72Tales to AstonishTales to Astonish #73

I mustn’t change… I won’t let myself change…!! For… if I change… I die!!

Where were we. Banner has a bullet in his brain. Only alive so long as he stays in Hulk form. He has Banner’s intelligence, but his personality seems darker, more like Hulk’s. The equipment he needs to maintain his Hulk state is in his secret lab, which has been uncovered by the military, who are closing in.

His only way out is to accept an offer of help from his enemy, the Leader.

The Leader is Hulk’s opposite. Both exposed to gamma radiation, Hulk received the world’s most powerful body, while Leader received the world’s most powerful brain. Together, they could be unstoppable.

The Leader transforms Hulk into electro-waves to transport him to Italy. “Matter-portation”, he calls it. Star Trek premieres next year; did the writers read this comic?

I appreciate the Leader’s science experiments; they’ll get this story a higher score. His ambition is to create a new life.

He secretly exposed Hulk to a gas that he himself has built up an immunity to. Similar to what one might do with iocaine powder.

Continue reading “Tales to Astonish #72, Story B”

Tales to Astonish #71, Story B

Like a Beast at Bay!

Featuring: Hulk
Release: June 1, 1965
Cover: September 1965
12 cents
Stunning story: Stan Lee
Lavish layouts: Jack Kirby
Awesome art: Mickey Demeo
Luscious lettering: Artie Simek
10 pages

Previous#382Next
Tales to Astonish #71Reading orderTales to Astonish #72
Tales to Astonish #71Tales to AstonishTales to Astonish #72

Don’t ever call me “Doc”! Dr. Banner is dead! From now on, I’m just the Hulk!

Notice Kirby is only credited with layouts. Mike Esposito (alias Mickey Demeo) is the credited artist.

We get a scene with a poetic callback, perhaps intentional. Rick rushes into the path of a blast to save Hulk just as Banner had once raced into the path of an explosion to save Rick.

Are they using nuclear weapons on American soil? That seems like a big deal. Oh, I guess this is a “clean bomb”, which leaves no radioactive fallout. I feel better, I guess.

The new status quo is pretty confusing. Hulk apparently has Banner’s mind, but also insists Banner is dead. And his speech reminds us more of Hulk’s.

Continue reading “Tales to Astonish #71, Story B”

Tales to Astonish #70, Story B

To Live Again!

Featuring: Hulk
Release: May 4, 1965
Cover: August 1965
12 cents
Take a Stan Lee story,
add Jack Kirby artwork,
mix with Mickey Demeo inking,
and Artie Simek lettering…
Presto! Instant confusion!
10 pages

Previous#380Next
Tales to Astonish #70Reading orderTales to Astonish #71
Tales to Astonish #70Tales to AstonishTales to Astonish #71

And the madder I get, the stronger I get–!

A little surprising this series is continuing since last issue ended with Bruce Banner dead. But then, the title of this issue is “To Live Again!” So maybe we shouldn’t give up on him.

We’d probably have gotten around to this story sooner if I hadn’t just assumed he was dead and it was over. Now I’m beginning to think this Hulk guy is Immortal.

Plus, the threat of the Leader still looms.

Are we going back to the days of the constantly changing status quos for Hulk? We’d been able to hold on to this one for an entire dozen issues. Now we’re back to: always Hulk, Banner’s mind. Perhaps all creators except for Ditko struggle with how to deal with a non-heroic protagonist.

Continue reading “Tales to Astonish #70, Story B”