MMW Hulk

I bought MMW Hulk v15 just today and decided to make a discussion of it going forward. To get us started, here is what I posted about v14 to the "What Comics Have you read today?" discussion back in September of last year.

My first issue of Incredible Hulk was #167 which, fortuitously, just so happened to be a great jumping on point. Plot threads were continued from earlier issues, but #167 was the point at which everything came together. I read for 39 issues, then dropped comic books... for good. "For good" lasted 15 issues. I picked up #221 of the spinner rack, "just to see what's happening," and never looked back. This volume collects #223-233, Annual #7 & Captain America #230 (a crossover). 

Like #167, #223 just so happened to be another great jumping on point. Roger Stern had been scripting over Len Wein plots for several issues, then he had one issue solo and #222 was a fill-in. Also like #167, #223 pulled together plot threads from previous issues and is where things really took off. As I was admiring the cover of #223 (also the cover of the MMW), it struck me for the first time that it's an homage to that of issue #1. ThenI opened the book to read Roger Sterns' introduction, and he confirmed that was the intent. The majority of the volume is by roger Stern and Sal Buscema.

#233 begins with the Hulk "burning off" his gamma energy resulting in Banner being cured (at least temporarily). Spad McCraken (from #160) is reintroduced into the supporting cast. Other supporting cast members include April Sommers (Bruce's landlady), Kropotkin the Great (another roomer) and Jim Wilson. Also, the identity of the amnesiac stranger who staggered into Gamma Base in #209 is revealed to have been Sam Sterns... the Leader.

#224-225 deals with the Leader and leaves dangling a plot thread which would remain unaddressed until earlier this year. In #226-227, doc Samson psycho-analyzes the Hulk and an overdose of gamma epinephrine causes Banner to remain the Hulk for at least a week. Annual #7 is sandwiched between #227 and #228, but frankly reads better as a follow-up to the late, lamented Champions series. #228-229 continues the psychoanalysis theme with the introduction of the new female Moonstone. #230 is a fill-n from inventory (with a new page added to advance the sub-plots).

#231 introduces Hulk's new sidekick, Fred Sloan, before crossing over into Captain America #230 for the first part of the "Corporation" subplot which had been running through multiple titles. #232 reveals that Jim Wilson is the nephew of Sam Wilson, the Falcon. (According to Stern's introduction, this was an idea of former writer/editor Len Wein, who never got around to using it.) To me (at the time) it came out of left field (there was no scene in which Jim "discovers" it); now I guess he simply recognized his uncle, despite his being in costume.

#233 confused the hell out of me when I first read it in 1979. Fred takes Hulk to a commune and introduces him to Trash Starr, who reveals "...we're old friends! Aren't we, Hulk?" to which the Hulk replies, "Yes, Hulk knows you! You are... Trish Starr!" This revelation is followed immediately by the blurb: "Do you remember Trish Starr? Do you know her as well as you think?" By 1979 I had either completed my collection of Incredible Hulk or I was damn close, and I had no idea who this "Trish Starr" might be. Unfortunately that's the last issue in this volume, so if you don't know you'll have to wait until MMW Hulk v15 to find out.

But that's not all! The Mighty Marvel Comics Calendar of 1979 (featuring the Hulk) is reproduced in its entirety, and there are some other goodies as well. The stories in this volume hang together really well (except #230 and, perhaps, Annual #7), but I recommend it as a good jumping on point for anyone interested in this era of the Hulk.

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  • The years when I was manifestly not a Hulk fan were when Herb Trimpe was on the book. I began to perk up a little when S. Buscema took over, especially when he had interesting inkers, like Joe Rubinstein or Ernie Chua/Chan.

    But I wasn't entirely tuned in at this point; I don't remember much about the above summaries, although the names ring a bell. Speaking of which, I remember the blurb asking if we remembered Trish Starr, because I remember rattling off who she was in my brain (or possibly aloud) the instant the question was asked. Back in those days, I had a lot less Marvel history to remember, and it was all pretty linear, so I was much better at Marvel trivia.

    Otherwise, most of that supporting cast was pretty lame, as evidenced by the fact that most of them aren't around any more. It will be a few more years before I Hulk out.

  • #234:

    42172865216.234.gif?profile=RESIZE_710x

    We left off last time with me confused as to the identity of Trish Starr. A flashback sequence complete with footnotes led me to decide to collect Hulk appearances in Defenders now that my collection of Hulk was complete (or nigh complete, anyway). I don't remember exactly where my subscription began, but I do remember hating this cover. (There would be many others by Al Milgrom I wouldn't care for in the months to come.) The issue is inked by Jack Abel. I'll never understand why his style is not more well-remembered than it is. I love his thin line and clean, deliberate style, whether over Herb Trimpe or Sal Buscema. 

    This issue transitions into a new storyline, so there are several ongoing subplots to be dealt with. First, Marvel Man changes his code name to Quasar and flies off into Marvel Two-In-One. [NOTE: It was not Roger Stern who revamped Wendell Vaughn's alter ego, but he was the editor of MTIO at the time and set  up the "Project Pegasus" storyline for Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio.] Doc Samson helps General Ross as he recovers from a nervous breakdown induced by the new female Moonstone a few issues back. Betty and glenn Talbot are in Mexico city for a quickie divorce. Meanwhile, back in Berkley, CA, the Hulk settles in to the communal lifestyle.

    One of the residents is a stringer for the Corporation, however, and rats Hulk out to Jackson of the West Coast branch. Jackson sets up Machine Man and his human partner Peter Spaulding by framing MM for the kidnapping of Trash Starr. Roger Stern is putting the wraps on some old plot threads from Machine Man's recently suspended solo series and ends up providing a link, in issue #235-237, between the Kirby and the Ditko runs. 

    I realize that much of my enjoyment of this run of issues is purely nostalgic.

    So what?

  • #235: I had not been there (not "live" anyway) for the introduction of Rick Jones, and I even missed the introdiction of Jim wilson by a year or two. But I was right there for Fred Sloan! Honestly, I did not like Fred as much as I liked Rick or Jim, but he was "my" Hulk sidekick in a way the other two never could be. There was even a debate in the letters page at the time over who was the, first better, then best, Hulk sidekick. I don't think it was ever resolved but, although Fred wasn't around as long as the others, he does still pop up from time to time whenever you least expect him. 

    Peter Spaulding lives in Central City, CA, and yes (if Richard Willis is reading), this city is "The Birthplace of the Fantastic Four," as proclaimed by a billboard on the outskirts of town. Plot threads from Machine Man's series are revisited: Col. Kragg has made his peace with Machine Man; Congressman Brickman has been appointed by the governor to serve out the rest of Senator Spivak's term. 

    No one is home at Spaulding's house when the Hulk and Fred arrive, so Hulk breaks in. Snooping around, Fred finds a variety of high-caliber handguns in Spaulding's desk drawer. Machine Man and Spaulding return and the Hulk, thinking Machine Man has kidnapped Trish Starr, immediately attacks. Fred uses one of Spaulding's own guns to hold him at bay, while in the yard, Hulk literally beats Machine Man to pieces. 

  • #236: This is the issue that almost made me a gun collector. It's mainly an issue-long slug-fest between Hulk and Machine Man, plus one scene with Fred Sloan and Peter Spaulding, and another with Trish Starr and Mr. Jackson. At the end of the issue, Hulk tries to defeat Machine Man with a fistful of live wires (as the Thing tried on him way back in FF #25), but there's a gas main leak and he ends up triggering a devastating explosion instead. 

    Back to the scene between Sloan and Spaulding. Fred is holding Peter at gunpoint, but cannot bring himself to shoot. He turns the gun over to Spaulding, who has by now gained his trust. Once he hears Fred's story and realizes the Hulk has been duped and Jackson must be behind it, he dashes off to enlist the aid of Col, Kragg. He tosses the gun back to Fred, saying, "Here, you can have this!" Surprised, Fred replies, "I can?" to which Spaulding says, "Sure, it's just a replica. You don't think I'd collect real guns, do you?"

    That was brilliant, I thought. I had always admired guns and there were certain ones I would have liked to own, but I was only in junior high school at the time. Ah, but replica guns is something that I could buy on my own, so I quickly acquired a catalogue. there were several a wanted: a Mauser, a Luger, a .38 snub-nose, a Colt .45. A year or two later I finally got around to ordering my first, Dirty Harry's .357 Magnum, but I quickly came to the realization that gun collecting, even replica gun collecting, was more expensive than  collecting comic books, and stopped after just that one piece. 

  • #237: In true Marvel fashion, after Machine Man and Hulk spent all last issue fighting, this issue they team up. The Hulk's attention is directed toward Jackson's headquarters, the 80-story Mid-State Tower. the Hulk is, at this point, about as angry as we've ever seen him, and Machine Man's goal is to try to keep him from becoming a murderer and to mitigate the damage as much as possible. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be very much. Machine Man does manage to get Jackson to safety, but the Hulk demolishes the entire skyscraper. The only thing Machine Man can do after that is to use his "Mesmer Effect" to calm the Hulk, then cancel gravity under him to go floating off into space (and Hulk Annual #8). 

    And that was, more or less, my first exposure to Machine Man. My friend Billy had issue #2, but I flipped through it and immediately decided it was a "kid's comic" and tossed it back on the pile. (I was not a fan of Jack irby in those days... didn't even know his name, really, or who he was.) I was not inspired to read the Machine Man series until many years later, in college. Marvel's Machine Man: The Complete Collection tpb, BTW, includes this three-issue Hulk story sandwiched between the Kirby and the ditko issues of MM's solo series.

    Billy was a good friend, but he came to a bad end. He was a tough guy who could fight, but he also liked to read comic books. I always liked hanging out at Billy's house because his mother let us drink beer.

    "Mom, can me and Jeff have a beer?"

    "I can't say 'no' if I don't see it!"

  • HULK ANNUAL #8: I don't remember when, exactly, it was that I bought Hulk Annual #8, but I think it was years later. It wouldn't have been part of my subscription, and by the time it was referenced by a footnote in #238 it may have been too late. I probably picked it up in college while filling Hulk-holes, or, more likely at that time, Alpha Flight-holes. This annual features Sasquatch but makes no mention (obviously) of the later retcon that Bruce Banner and Walter Lankowski went to college together. 

    If I had picked this up in 1979, it would have been my first exposure to Alpha flight (although the team does not appear as such). Generally, the non-Byrne appearances of solo AF members aren't all that great, but this one is co-written by John Byrne along with regular Hulk scribe Roger Stern. (There are a few references to Canadian geography within, which is a Byrne trademark.) Although the penciler is Sal Buscema, the inker is Afredo Alcala. Although Alcala did a great job, his style is so different from Jack Abel's (whose work appeared on either side of this annual), it seems like an intrusion. 

  • #238:

    42172865216.238.gif?profile=RESIZE_710x

    If the cover of #234 is my least favorite of the collection, then this is my favorite. I just like that composition. This issue is the beginning of a new six-part storyline. Not a lot happens in terms of action, but all the pieces are put into place. I remember reading this issue more than once before the next came out. (I did that in those days.) I wasn't too thrilled with the Machine Man story at the time, but I liked this next one. Here's what roger Stern had to say about it in his intro...

    "And that brings us to our final story arc--The Incredible Hulk #238-243--the saga of 'They Who Wield Power." This story was actually the resolution of a mystery that had been running through several Marvel series over the previous seven years. Len wein had started the ball rolling with a mention of 'mysterious benefactors' who had equipped the super villain The Orb in Marvel Team-Up #15, and 'They' had appeared--in shadow, as was their custom--most recently in The Incredible Hulk #208-209. Rarely a month went by that I didn't receive at least one letter froma long-time reader, wanting to know when we were going to reveal 'The Secret of They.' So I decided to put my mind to figuring out just who 'They' were."

    The issue opens with Clay Quartermain of SHIELD giving then-President Jimmy Carter and then-California Governor Jerry Brown a tour of downtown Central City after the Hlk's recent "visit." then the (fictional) Senator Hawk (of New Mexico) joins his real-life political counterparts in order to present his ideas on how to restructure Gamma Base. (There's a nice little bit of continuity for long-time readers as Senator Hawk mentions his mentor, Senator Cleggman, who legislation led to the first Hulk-Buster Base.) Meanwhile, the Hulk is still in Canada... a wheat field in Saskatchewan, specifically, under the surveillance of of "They Who Wield Power"... or "We Who Are They"... or just "They" for short.

    A week later, Doc Samson leaves Gamma Base with General Ross (who has suffered a nervous breakdown) in his care. In South Dakota, the Hulk has settled down for a rest... atop George Washington's head on Mt. Rushmore! In Brooklyn, NY, the villain Goldbug picks up his new vehicle from the Tinkerer. (Goldbug is working for "They" and plans to use the Hulk as a power source.) In Mexico City, Betty learns of her father's breakdown and splits while Glenn rants against Bruce Banner and the Hulk. 

    and thet pretty much sets up the next five issues. 

  • #239: The Army is walking on eggshells so as not to provoke the Hulk who might destroy a national landmark, which gives Goldbug the opportunity to slip in and trick the Hulk that he's on his side. Once about Goldbug's ship, Hulk is again tricked into grasping the "power grips," immediately super-charging the craft, which takes off at high speed. "They" are monitoring from afar and, when the ship is over the Andes, they sabotage the ship and it crashes into the mountains. Hulk grabs the semi-conscious Goldbug and is greeted by a robed acolyte with long, silver hair and carrying a staff. The man ushers the Hulk into the fabled city of El Dorado. 

  • Jeff of Earth-J said:

    Peter Spaulding lives in Central City, CA, and yes (if Richard Willis is reading), this city is "The Birthplace of the Fantastic Four," as proclaimed by a billboard on the outskirts of town.

    Here we go with Central City, again. If I didn't know better I'd think that Roy Thomas was involved, shoehorning in old stories and fixing it all. (By the way, Roy Thomas just turned 80!).

    I will now proceed in anal mode. 

    fDIislR.gif

    Like I said in the FF discussion, Central City is identified on page one of FF #1. Looking at the first few issues (my first was #5), Central City is never mentioned again. Early on, Stan Lee wasn’t identifying the city inhabited by his heroes as New York City. Jack Kirby was drawing New York City even though Stan said it was Central City in his FF #1 caption. (Below I have identified the tallest buildings in California when the FF debuted.)

    In FF #3 (page 5) it is stated that they are the owners, not renters, of their headquarters tower, another conflict with later stories. On that same page is a diagram of their elaborate headquarters, including multiple rockets and vehicles.

    On the first page of FF #4 (page 1) it is stated that they are in New York City. They didn’t suddenly move. They were always there.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------

    In 1961, when the fictional Central City was mentioned in the FF (later to be said to be in California), there were no skyscrapers in California like the ones Jack drew..

    From:

    https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/l-a-s-changing-skyline-a-brief-h...

    “For decades, developers lobbied the city to relax the restriction, to no avail. Los Angeles made only one exception: in 1926, it allowed its own City Hall to soar to 454 feet (23 floors). It would remain the city's tallest building for 40 years.”

    This was the tallest building in L.A. for five or six years after the FF was created.

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    From the website “Skyscrapers in the United States”:

    “The Russ Building is a Neo-Gothic office tower located in San Francisco's Financial District. The 133 meter (435 feet) (32 floors) building was completed in 1927 and had 32 floors as well as the city's first indoor parking garage. The building was the tallest building in San Francisco from 1927–1964.”

    This was the tallest building in San Francisco for three years after the FF was created.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------

    From WorldAtlas.com:

    “The Ordway Building is a 28-story skyscraper in Downtown Oakland, close to Merritt Lake. The twenty-eight floors are used for office space, and the building has a unique H-shaped floor-plan which means that each floor contains eight corner offices. The 404 ft building is the tallest in Oakland and the entire Bay Area, outside of San Francisco.”

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In case you’re wondering about San Diego, from: Wikipedia List of tallest buildings in San Diego:

    “The history of skyscrapers in San Diego began with the completion of the U.S. Grant Hotel in 1910. The building, at a height of 211 feet (64 m), remained the tallest building in San Diego until 1927, when the El Cortez Hotel at 310 feet (94 m) took its place. The skyscraper's height was surpassed in 1967 by the Union Bank of California Building, which stood as the tallest building for two decades with its height of 388 feet (118 m).”

    So the El Cortez Hotel at 310 feet (14 floors) was the tallest in San Diego when that FF was created. This is cool because for many years the El Cortez Hotel was the location of the San Diego Comic-Con. The U.S. Grant Hotel (built by the General’s son) was its location in its first year.

  • Welcome to the discussion, Richard. Thank you for posting.

    I'm not entirely certain what point you're arguing. You seem to be saying (and correct me if I'm wrong), that the reference to "Central City" in FF #1 is a mistake and should be ignored in light of later evidence (such as FF #4) that their headquarters is in New York City (in the same way the reference to the FF owning the tower in #3 is refuted in #9. I am aware of these discrepancies and I generally accept a newer story to "overwrite" an earlier one (especially if the later story is by the same creative team), but only in cases in which the initial "mistake" is not repeated in subsequent stories. 

    Let's look at FF #10, in which Lee & Kirby are clearly "transcribing" the FF's "real" adventures into comic book form. these are early days, and if you are willing to accept L&K's "mistake" that the FF owned the tower floors of the Baxter Building in FF #3, why not their "mistake" of Central city is issue #1? It could be argued that, perhaps, the Marvel Comics of the MU at first decided to set the stories in Central City (for "security purposes" let us say), but later decided to base them in NYC because everyone in the MU would know that, anyway.

    I am, you might say, creating a lot of leeway out of whole cloth, and perhaps I am. But here is a further example I've been thinking of quite a bit recently: Israel's so-called "Iron Dome." I'm sure you remember Avengers #25, in which Dr. Doom pulled a lever which caused a "giant plastithene dome to  make all of Latveria safe from atomic attack." I was in junior high school when I first saw the depiction of an actual dome literally enclosing the entire country (p9).

    06381365136.25.gif?profile=RESIZE_710x

    Uh, uh. No way. that was back  in the days of President Reagan's "Star Wars Defense Initiative and I mentally "translated" Doom's dome as a comic book "translation" of that. Doom's plastithene dome might well be considered a true "Mopee" in that it has never been mentioned since, but that is not the case with "Central City."

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