Featuring: Hulk
Release: June 30, 1966
Cover: October 1966
10 pages
Script… Stan (The Man) Lee
Art… Almost the whole blamed bullpen
Lettering… Artie (Smarty) Simek
Therapy… Honest Irving Forbush
10 pages
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| Tales to Astonish #84 | Reading order | Tales of Suspense #85 |
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Can a green-skinned introvert, with anti-social tendencies, find happiness and fulfillment in a modern materialistic society?
I leave it to your eagle eyes to determine who drew what in this issue. Some artwork may or may not be due to Bill Everett, Jerry Grandenetti, Gene Colan, Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers, John Tartaglione, Mike Esposito, Sol Brodsky, or others.
Can a green-skinned introvert, with anti-social tendencies, find happiness and fulfillment in a modern materialistic society?
We’d seen a similar question posed at the beginning of Hulk’s current series in issue 60.
Can a man with green skin and a petulant personality find true happiness in today’s status-seeking society?
In this issue’s Namor story, we learned Hulk was in the city. And this story is conveniently titled “Rampage in the City”.
Hulk thinks saving Betty from Boomerang means people won’t hate him anymore. Good luck with that.
Hulk used to be an Avenger, so he goes to New York to ask them to help him find Betty.
Hulk and Betty were together not long ago. He’s the one who jumped away last issue. Presumably she’s still nearby, whereas New York is the other side of the country.
To be more inconspicuous, Hulk steals clothes. Remember this is a sort-of crossover with this issue’s Namor story. We already see a thematic parallel: putting on clothes only to soon take them all off again.
Hulk enters the same theatre Namor was at, and sees Namor create a commotion and run away.
Remember, Namor was looking for the Hulk. They were in the same cinema at the same time, but Hulk’s trenchcoat disguise was too clever for Namor.
None will ever forget the great epic confrontation between Hulk and Namor where they almost see each other at the cinema.
Namor has his memory back so is no longer working for the Secret Empire to hunt the Hulk. He’s back after Krang and Dorma. Presumably Number One is still hunting the Hulk for no particular reason.
But the important thing is that Hulk is in New York. Which means we are ready for a story where Spider-Man meets the Hulk. The Avengers, including Iron Man and Thor, are also in that issue. So we need to get Thor and Iron Man into a suitable spot in their stories first.
So, Iron Man and Thor, then Spider-Man. Then back to these Namor/Hulk stories to finally put this whole Secret Empire nonsense to bed.
Here’s a letters page.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆, 37/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
Characters:
- Hulk
- Namor
- Rick Jones
Story notes:
- Hulk goes to missile base looking for Betty.
- Radar defense technicians detect Hulk’s approach to New York.
- Hulk enters the Hulk newsreel evading police, just as Namor is being chased away.
- Newsreel has more detail of Talbot’s confrontation with Boomerang.
- Rick is hired to drive a car from Cape Kennedy to New York. He is instructed to not open the trunk, and gets a bonus if he can get there in 48 hours.
- Crowds fear Hulk; police chase him.
- Hulk saves train, perhaps guided by the small part of Banner within.
- Crowd can’t decide if he saved or attacked the train.
| Previous | #593 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Tales to Astonish #84 | Reading order | Tales of Suspense #85 |
| Tales to Astonish #84 | Tales to Astonish | Tales to Astonish #85 |
