Featuring: Hulk
Release: January 5, 1965
Cover: April 1965
12 cents
Power-packed script by: Stan Lee
Hard-hitting art by: Steve Ditko
Two-fisted inking by: Vince Colletta
Silken-soft lettering by: Art Simek
10 pages
| Previous | #351 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Tales to Astonish #65, Story B | Reading order | Tales to Astonish #67 |
| Tales to Astonish #66 | Tales to Astonish | Tales to Astonish #67 |
We are almost up to date with our Hulk stories. This is the last issue where we’d read the Giant-Man/Wasp stories in the past.
We just had a discussion about how Colleta’s inking over Kirby.
How do we feel about Colletta over Ditko? The answer is that we dislike all inkers over Ditko. Ditko is best when inking himself. However, the final artwork here looks close enough to Ditko work. Ditko must have done tight pencils. So we don’t hate it. But we don’t prefer it.
The scientist we met last issue dies protecting the Hulk. Killing Hulk’s friends makes him angry. And, well…
Lee is starting to get a handle on Hulk’s speech patterns. Starting this issue as far as I can tell. We see Hulk using incomplete sentences and referring to himself in the third person. “Hulk walks alone!” “Was friend! Died for Hulk!” Nothing really consistent yet.
We check in with Major Talbot, still trying to prove Banner a traitor. His motives are a mix of patriotism and a desire to win Betty from Bruce.
The Leader thinks Hulk is a natural ally. Green-skinned people have to stick together.
A lot to take in on this page. Banner has Hulk’s memories, but they are faint and hard to access. Seeing the dead scientist prods Banner to remember what happened. They then mention this sent him into a rage. I think this is the first time the word “rage” has ever been used in connection with a transformation into Hulk. And then we get a cool effect. Banner is caught in a blast that should kill him. But just in time he transforms and is saved by the Hulk.
Hulk refers to humans as “puny insects”. Have we heard him use the word “puny” before? I failed to note it if we did.
As noted, we’ve caught up to where we left off with the Giant-Man/Wasp stories, which is good as it feels weird to divide up a single comic in my reading. We want to continue this Hulk saga. So we’ll read the next three issues of Tales to Astonish, including both the Giant-Man/Wasp and the Hulk stories.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 54/100
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/Dr. Bruce Banner
- Prisoner scientist
- Soviet Commandant
- Major Glenn Talbot
- General “Thunderbolt” Ross
- Betty Ross
- Leader
- Chameleon
Story notes:
- Speaking patterns starting to develop. Third person references. Incomplete sentences.
- Unnamed scientist dies saving Hulk.
- Chameleon is Leader’s top lieutenant.
- Soviets think Leader works for them, but he has his own agenda.
- Bruce has faint traces of Hulk’s memories.
| Previous | #351 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Tales to Astonish #65, Story B | Reading order | Tales to Astonish #67 |
| Tales to Astonish #66 | Tales to Astonish | Tales to Astonish #67 |
