Tales to Astonish #88, Story B

Featuring: Hulk
Release: November 3, 1966
Cover: February 1967
12 cents
Hulkamorous script by: Stan (The Man) Lee
Hulkitudinous art by: Gil (Sugar) Kane
Hulkifying lettering by: Sammy (Dozin’) Rosen
10 pages

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Tales to Astonish #87, Story B	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #33
Tales to Astonish #88	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #89

The poor, lumbering brute! He was guilty only of being feared– and misunderstood!

Gil Kane is going to become a big name at Marvel. We’ve seen him once before on a Hulk story a dozen issues back under the alias of Scott Edward and we reviewed his career at the time.

It’s possible this is his first properly credited Marvel work.

He brings a distinctive style, a very different take on Hulk from that of John Buscema the past two issues.

It’s been 7 issues since Boomerang entered Hulk’s life. We finally see that saga reach a conclusion. It’s been a long road, and I summarize in painstaking detail that road below. These past 6 months have been the most interconnected the Marvel Universe has yet been. Perhaps fittingly we will soon see that the phrase “Marvel Universe” also debuted in that timespan.

At this point it seems like everybody knows Hulk’s secret identity. But the first person to learn it after Rick was the President of the United States, presumably President Johnson. And that is presumably President Johnson now interceding on Hulk’s behalf.

Unfortunately, Boomerang intervenes and drives Hulk to a rampage and another conflict with the military.

Rick tries to help but gets slapped away hard for his efforts.

It looks like a hard slap, but Hulk must have pulled his punch, or else Rick would be dead.

This is sad because Hulk was on the verge of being recognized as a hero. If not for Boomerang’s intervention, this could have been a turning point.

General Ross tears up the presidential memo authorizing complete amnesty for the Hulk.

Now Boomerang confronts Hulk in a very ill-advised battle.

Boomerang is on the edge, and Hulk tries to save him from falling into the dam, but Hulk transforms back to Bruce Banner, who isn’t strong enough to hold him. Boomerang falls, presumably to his death.

Perhaps Boomerang had to die, as that’s the standard fate of those who learn the secret identities of our heroes. Should I be concerned for the fate of Betty, Talbot, and General Ross? Are they all about to suffer amnesia or worse?

This isn’t a perfect pausing point for Hulk, as next issue continues where this one left off. But we’re done with Boomerang. And done with the Secret Empire. So that’s good enough for now.

Mails to Astonish:

Includes a letter from future Marvel scribe Don McGregor. Not the first we’ve seen from him. He was far more impressed with Tales to Astonish #84 than I was.

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The Saga of Them, AIM, and the Secret Empire

I’d like to take a minute to review the continuity of the last 50 or so posts, as it’s been the most involved yet, and I’d like to see where all the characters were and how the titles interacted.

This will be lengthy. A recap to put it all together. The saga of Them, AIM, and the Secret Empire, and how it all ties into the larger Marvel Universe.

The last time I was so closely focused on how titles lined up, I was more focused on behind-the-scenes things. I wanted Ditko’s leaving to line up in Dr. Strange and Spider-Man, and I wanted us to appreciate the connections in publishing time between Ditko telling his best Dr. Strange and Spider-Man stories and Kirby telling his best Fantastic Four stories. In continuity, I’d wanted to give at least a plausible explanation of where everybody else was when the FF fought Galactus.

Two titles were not at all caught up in the recent web of continuity. One is Sgt. Fury, as it’s set in the past. The other was the X-Men, who are doing their own thing. We just saw them fight the Locust.

And then the Fantastic Four don’t directly connect to anything. Though there are hints about how the continuity of Fantastic Four ties into the larger Marvel Universe. For example, Johnny, Peter, and Jean are all freshmen in college, so we can sometimes see where they are in the school year or if they are on break. Wyatt and Johnny were off searching for the Inhumans instead of attending classes when we last checked on the FF. Maybe they are playing hooky, or maybe they are on break. A reference to how hot it is in a coming issue might suggest they are already on summer break.

These continuity notes are interesting and have been studied at length by smarter people than I like George Olshevsky or Paul Bourcier. But they aren’t what I let affect the reading order. I want to read comics as they came out, and shift them a little bit if it gets character appearances in a sensible order and keeps stories together. But I’m not trying to align stories based on the color of the leaves.

Most every other title has been impacted by the saga of Them/AIM and the Secret Empire in ways large or small. There was build-up in Nick Fury and Captain America’s stories, but everything became chaotic when the Secret Empire was introduced in Hulk’s title.

At one point in the story, Hulk rampages in Manhattan, and it’s during that rampage that Spider-Man meets with the Avengers when Thor and Iron Man are present. Spider-Man had a motorcycle in that meeting, which he got in Amazing Spider-Man #41. So it had to be after that issue. Some sources think it goes right after that, but I disagree, certainly from a reading order perspective, as Amazing Spider-Man #41-43 share enough story threads surrounding the Rhino, John Jameson, and Anna Watson’s niece to be seen as one story. So I wanted to get at least to Amazing Spider-Man #43. In issue 42, Matt Murdock was unable to defend the Rhino because he was on the Owl’s island, as seen in Daredevil #20–21.

Thor is a busy man, and it’s hard to find a moment in his life when he’s on Earth and not busy, to just casually be chilling with the Avengers. He’d been busy since Thor #129 when fate deemed he must be a champion for Hercules. He returned from battles against Pluto to find Jane’s roommate had sent Jane away and conquered the Earth. This led him into a battle with Ego and then a search for Jane in Wundagore. At the same time, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were near Wundagore, as it was their homeland, and they were hoping to restore their fading powers.

From Wundagore, Thor took Jane straight to Asgard, where they broke up and then each immediately met and fell in love with someone else. This is the first breather that Thor had where he maybe could have attended an Avengers meeting, but I think it’s clear he wasn’t on Earth, that he was spending time in Asgard flirting with Sif. He would soon mention he had been gone too long from Earth. Anyways, then the Troll War broke out. Thor briefly visits Earth, but in the middle of Troll-fighting shenanigans. Thor #140 brings him back to Earth and finally gives him a stress-free minute. Though we had to go 8 months into the future publishing time to find it. Thus we have read far ahead in Thor’s story.

Of course, the Tales of Asgard stories are also disconnected, but I just read those alongside the Thor stories they share an issue with.

Dr. Strange’s saga isn’t particularly connected to events, except that he shares a comic with Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, who is at the center of things. So we read his story along with SHIELD’s, and went one issue further with Dr. Strange to wrap up his battles with Kaluu.

That leaves Hulk, Namor, Iron Man, Captain America, Nick Fury, and the Avengers.

The introduction of Boomerang and the Secret Empire is where I want to tightly track the continuity, but there had been build-up to this era in Nick Fury’s encounters with Them. So we’ll summarize the relevant info on Them and see where each character was in their stories when Boomerang attacked.

After the defeat of Hydra, SHIELD tackled with Mentallo and the Fixer. Fixer was working for an organization called Them. Nick Fury had sent an agent to deal with something called Inferno 42.

Hulk had been transported to the future, and Rick thought he wasn’t coming back, so he told Major Talbot the truth, that Hulk is Bruce Banner. 5 minutes later, Hulk came back. Oops. In the following issue, Rick tells Betty the secret.

Namor battled a creature called the Behemoth, controlled by Krang. Dorma agreed to marry Krang if he spared Namor. Not understanding this, Namor gets quite angry at Dorma.

Captain America had defeated Red Skull’s Sleeper robots, but found himself hurtling toward the sea. He made it out okay, but soon found himself meeting that SHIELD agent with Inferno 42. It was a woman who reminded him of a woman he had once loved back in World War II. Batroc had been sent by an unnamed shadowy organization to steal the thing.

SHIELD got involved with dealing with the Druid, while still concerned with this organization Them that the Fixer was working for.

We finally meet Them in Tales of Suspense #78. Them is an organization of evil scientists dedicated to world domination. The person in charge is called the Imperator. Their uniforms are yellow and make them look like beekeepers. Them sends an android to attack Captain America and Col. Fury.

Senator Byrd had been trying to get Tony Stark to testify before Congress about Iron Man’s secrets, when Mandarin captured Tony Stark and whisked him off to China (or at least somewhere in Asia). Somehow Iron Man showed up and battled the Mandarin’s robot Ultimo. Stark returned to America to learn Byrd had canceled all Stark’s military contracts and that Stark factories were shut down. Perhaps Iron Man was in China when Galactus attacked New York.

Them is a secret organization of scientists. AIM is a prominent organization of scientists seeking to do business with the US government via their representative Count Bornag Royale. After mounting an attack on a Them base, Fury suspects a connection between the two organizations.

The Avengers found themselves in a hidden South American kingdom and were perhaps there when Galactus attacked New York.

The above is a lot of background. That’s where all the characters are when we get to Tales to Astonish #80, when Tyrannus transports Hulk to his kingdom to help battle the Mole Man. In the following issue, Hulk leaves Tyrannus behind, and it’s then we meet the Secret Empire and Boomerang. That was post #566. Finally in post #605, we see the defeat of Boomerang and finish that story.

Namor begins his pursuit of Krang and Dorma, which just resolved.

Red Skull is not dead. He had been saved by Them, and they are allies. There is definitely a connection between Them and AIM. At least they have the same tailors. Either they are identical organizations with AIM the public face, or one is a subsidiary.

AIM/Them had built something called the Cosmic Cube, which the Red Skull obtained, betraying Them. It gave him godlike power, but Cap still defeated him.

Iron Man needs help and finds the Avengers not at home, perhaps because they are in South America, though Stan Lee suggests they are down the street dealing with Black Widow. Iron Man becomes a target of Krang, and then of Namor.

His battle with Namor resolved, Tony Stark calls Senator Byrd to agree to testify.

Boomerang was supposed to steal the Orion missile for the Secret Empire. He thought kidnapping Betty Ross would be a good first step. Hulk rescues Betty. The Secret Empire deems Boomerang a failure and Number One will now inexplicably blame the Hulk for their downfall.

The Secret Empire is betrayed from within! Number Nine kills (or stuns) Numbers Two Through Eight. Only Number One remains at large, to blame the Hulk for everything. Notice that before their downfall, we had seem them do basically nothing.

Namor catches up to Krang, but suffers a blow which gives him amnesia. Number One takes advantage of the situation to trick Namor into believing they are allies, and he sends Namor to destroy the Hulk.

SHIELD continues the battle against AIM/Them when they raid the barbershop headquarters. Royale describes AIM as a branch of Them. I had been thinking of them just as the same organization, with AIM as the public face, but maybe AIM is a subsidiary.

Hank Pym needs help dealing with his size problems and calls Tony Stark. Presumably he catches Tony after the battle with Namor and before the hearings. Tony recommends Bill Foster to help out. Pietro and Wanda are still in Europe recovering. The Avengers run afoul of the Sons of the Serpent.

AIM is trying to get Nick Fury removed from SHIELD, but Nick Fury is one step ahead. The narrator describes AIM and Them as “in league”. I choose to ignore the narrator and believe that AIM is a subsidiary of Them.

An AIM agent describes both AIM and the Secret Empire as branches of Them, which is where I land in my interpretation. That Them is the larger organization. Turns out that Number Nine who destroyed the Secret Empire was actually Gabe Jones in disguise. SHIELD pursues Royale to AIM headquarters only to see it blow up, taking all of AIM with it. Perhaps Them is the larger organization that destroyed AIM. Perhaps Them has another name, which Nick Fury is deducing… perhaps Them is Hydra.

Before Tony Stark can testify before Congress, the Soviets send Titanium Man for a rematch with Iron Man. With Titanium Man defeated, Tony Stark is about to testify… when he has a heart attack. The press begins to suspect Tony Stark is Iron Man, so Happy puts on the Iron Man armor to throw them off the scent, which makes him a target for the Mandarin.

Royale was not immediately killed in the explosion at AIM quarters, but fatally wounded. He mutters to SHIELD agents that the Adaptoid is free. The Adaptoid is a shape-changing robot created by AIM, which attacked Captain America. It evolved into the Super-Adaptoid, and gets sad when it can’t find any new directions from AIM.

Number One sends Namor to find and destroy the Hulk. So Namor attends a movie about the Hulk at the cinema. Then Krang attacks Namor and restores his memory, so Namor returns to pursuing Krang.

Hulk traveled to Manhattan to find the Avengers so they’d help him find Betty. He also went to the cinema to see the same Hulk movie as Namor, but Namor didn’t notice him.

Iron Man rescues happy from the Mandarin. He now has enough of a breather to attend an Avengers meeting.

Iron Man and Thor attend an Avengers meeting. They agree to give Spider-Man a test to see if he’s worthy of membership. The test is to deal with Hulk, who is rampaging in New York. During the conflict, Spider-Man learns Hulk is Bruce Banner, and takes pity on him, letting him go and rejecting his chance to join the Avengers.

A paranoid Number One has lost control of Namor and fears Hulk is after him. He sets a bomb to kill the Hulk, but gets caught in it himself. So ends the Secret Empire. On a chalkboard, AIM and the Secret Empire are crossed out by a Hydra agent. It is time for Hydra to return.

Krang floods Manhattan, but in the end Namor and Krang return to Atlantis, and have a duel which ends in Krang’s imprisonment. Namor and Dorma work out their differences.

The Secret Empire is defeated, but Boomerang is still up to stuff, and a spy Gorki has sent that Orion missile toward New York. Only Hulk can stop it. This leads to Hulk’s final battle with Boomerang detailed above and gives us a good pausing point.

Plenty of loose threads. Tony still needs to testify before Congress. Umar has taken over the Dark Dimension. Hydra may have returned. Johnny and Wyatt are looking for the Inhumans, who are trying to escape the Negative Zone around the Great Refuge. Silver Surfer is trapped on Earth and sad about it. Basically everyone seems to know Hulk’s secret now. There’s a new redhead in Peter Parker’s life.

But this is the quietest moment for our heroes we’ve had in a while.

A good time to head back to World War II and see what Sgt. Fury was up to…

Rating: ★★★☆☆, 53/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆

Characters:

• Hulk/Bruce Banner
• General Ross
• Betty Ross
• Major Talbot
• President Johnson
• Boomerang
• Rick Jones

Story notes:

• Picks up where last issue left off. Hulk had been unconscious but now is awake.
• The President calls Ross to say they must recognize him as a hero and try to cure him.
• Boomerang throws disc to anger Hulk and make him rampage. Crowd doesn’t see disc and thinks Hulk has just lost control.
• Rick tries to convince Hulk to show people he’s not a threat, but Hulk refuses. He slaps Rick out of the way.
• Presidential memo to Ross authorizes amnesty for the Hulk, but leaves the decision up to him. Ross tears it up.
• Gas calms Hulk enough to change into Banner
• Boomerang helpless, and begs Hulk to save him. Hulk does mid-change. But Banner isn’t strong enough to hold him and he falls to his death.

Previous	#605	Next
Tales to Astonish #87, Story B	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #33
Tales to Astonish #88	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #89