9:34 AM
Brad
Cover Date: May 1962
Plot Overview: Dr. Bruce Banner and the U.S. military are preparing to test his creation the gamma bomb. General Ross and his daughter Betty stop by and Ross makes his disdain for Banner known. Right before the bomb is about to go off, a teenager appears in the testing area. Banner rushes out and grabs the teenager. He tosses him into a trench but is caught by the explosion and takes a full blast of gamma radiation.
Banner comes to at the base and the teenager introduces himself as Rick Jones. The military decides to detain them for awhile. Nightfall comes and Banner turns into a monster. The monster breaks through the wall and heads off into the desert. One of the military men call him the Hulk during the search and he has been named. The Hulk makes his way to Banner's house and finds a spy named Igor searching for Banner's gamma radiation notes. The Hulk dispatches the spy and then becomes Banner as the sun rises.
The military arrive and arrest the spy. Betty Ross stops in and offers to help and comfort Banner. Banner sends her off and tells Rick that he's going to turn into the monster again when night returns.
We switch scenes to Igor as he sends a secret message to Russia. The message eventually reaches the Gargoyle, who heads for America. The Gargoyle begins his search for the Hulk. At the same time Banner and Rick are heading out into the desert when Banner again becomes the Hulk.
The Hulk stumbles upon the home of General Ross and his daughter Betty. Betty passes out when she sees the Hulk. The Gargoyle then arrives and shots the Hulk and Rick with a mind control weapon. He returns to Russia with them and is surprised to see that the Hulk has become Bruce Banner. He figures out the secret and approaches them later in their jail cell. Banner figures out that he can cure the Gargoyle's deformity with radiation. The procedure is a success and the Gargoyle helps them escape. The Gargoyle destroys the base he's on as Banner and Rick escape in a rocket.
My Take: I was really enjoying this issue until the last few pages. I would've enjoyed the Hulk fighting the Gargoyle more than the whole capture and take to Russia thing. Banner curing the Gargoyle was a nice little twist in there.
The first 18 pages of this book were really good though. The horror aspect of the Hulk in this issue was great. He's not a raging "Hulk Smash" guy. He's more of an arrogant and vain creature that hates weakness. He's not really actively trying to hurt people. He just considers them to be ants and treats them accordingly.
The character development in this book was really good. The Fantastic Four just started getting the character relationships down after 4 issues and this book came out of the gate with it. Banner, Jones, Betty and General Ross all have decently developed personalities and they all have unique relationships with Banner. On top of that, the Hulk has a really strong supporting cast right out of the gate.
The negatives to this issue are that whoever was responsible for the coloring couldn't figure out the gray Hulk. His shape was constantly changing and he was even green at one point. It was so bad that they decided to make the Hulk green in issue two.
I'd give this ***1/2 out of *****
Notes: This is the first appearance of the Hulk, Rick Jones, Betty Ross, Thunderbolt Ross and the first Gargoyle. As you noticed from the plot recap, the Hulk's transformation isn't triggered by emotion. It's triggered by the night. The Hulk is also fairly intelligent in this appearance. The Hulk was of course gray in this issue but is quickly changed to green due to issues they were having with the coloring.
Next Issue: Fantastic Four #5
Posted in: Betty Ross,Hulk,Incredible Hulk,Rick Jones,The Gargoyle,Thunderbolt Ross
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