Featuring: Hulk
Release: December 3, 1964
Cover: March 1965
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee (our faithful writer!)
Drawn by: Steve Ditko (our reliable artist!)
Inked by: Dick Ayers (our dependable inker!)
Lettered by: S. Rosen (our other letterer!)
10 pages
| Previous | #350 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Tales to Astonish #64, Story B | Reading order | Tales to Astonish #66, Story B |
| Tales to Astonish #65 | Tales to Astonish | Tales to Astonish #66 |
Our saga continues. Stan offers a recap. Hulk and Talbot are on Astra Isle with a new nuclear device of Dr. Banner’s. Hulk is fighting the Leader’s humanoids and a Marine task force is closing in.
We know now that strain triggers the transformation. When Dr. Banner feels strain, he turns into the Hulk. And when the Hulk feels too much strain, he turns back into Dr. Banner.
Now that Roussos has moved on, Ditko will have rotating inkers to finish off his run on the Hulk. Of course, Ditko’s work looks its best when he inks himself.
The cliffhanger of last issue resolves by page 2 as Hulk and the Humanoids fall into the ocean.
This leads to the actual plot of this issue. Banner is rescued by a Soviet sub and taken to an unnamed Soviet country as a prisoner.
We see again that communism is bad when the Soviets threaten that Banner will not eat unless he works for them. A capitalist society would never insist somebody have to work to earn the basic right of food.
Banner is not the only scientist taken prisoner. He recognizes a missing geophysicist named Professor Stromm. Eventually, a scientist named Mendel Stromm will become important in our reading. It’s not clear if there is any connection between the two. We’ll reflect on this again when we meet the other Dr. Stromm.
The more important scientist in the issue is not named. He will become Hulk’s friend.
Hulk and his new friend break free of prison, but a regiment of Soviet tanks is on their way to destroy Hulk.
We see how this isn’t so much one single story as a whole bunch all jammed together by cliffhangers. Issue 63 ended with the Hulk in prison. Issue 64 resolved that but ended with Hulk fighting Humanoids. That’s been resolved, and now the issue is actually about the Soviets capturing Bruce Banner. It again ends with a cliffhanger. Only the Leader lurking in the background really unites these disparate threads.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 52/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
I read this story in The Incredible Hulk Epic Collection vol. 2: The Hulk Must Die. You can also find the story in Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk vol. 2. Or on Kindle.
Characters:
- Hulk/Bruce Banner
- The Leader
- Major Talbot
- Professor Stromm
- Scientist prisoner
Minor characters:
- Mac (Marine)
Story notes:
- Talbot thinks Banner’s sighting aboard the Soviet sub proves he’s a traitor.
- Professor Stromm a geophysicist believed to be dead.
| Previous | #350 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Tales to Astonish #64, Story B | Reading order | Tales to Astonish #66, Story B |
| Tales to Astonish #65 | Tales to Astonish | Tales to Astonish #66 |
