11:00 PM
Brad
Cover Date: July 1962
Plot Overview: The Hulk happens upon a random town but Rick manages to divert his attention at the last moment. The origin of the Hulk is recapped.
Strange aliens have arrived at earth. They are the Toad Men and they want to capture the smartest man on Earth to determine how advanced mankind is. Meanwhile Banner and Rick head to a cave in the desert. He's come up with a door system that should hold the Hulk in the cave at night with the help of Rick.
Just then the Toad Men strike and capture them. They eject Rick and then move to the darkside of the Earth. Banner changes into the Hulk and he makes short work of the Toad Men. The Hulk is impressed with the ship and thinks that he'll use it to destroy the human race. Back on Earth, the U.S. military spots the ship and shoots it down. They find the wreckage and Banner emerges. General Ross has him arrested for attacking Earth.
The Toad Men avoid detection and signal the fleet to attack. The Toad Men leader reveals himself to the human race. He announces that they've used their amazing magnetic powers to pull the moon towards Earth. The moon will slowly destroy the world as it gets closer. Meanwhile night falls and Banner becomes the Hulk.
The Hulk breaks out of his cell and fights his way through the military. He comes across General Ross' home and abducts Betty. The military tries to stop him but ultimately fail. The Hulk takes Betty to Banner's lab. Rick arrives shortly afterwards and tries to convince the Hulk to fight the Toad Men. The Hulk attacks Rick but the sun rising saves Rick. Banner is updated on the situation and uses the Gamma Ray Gun and it reacts to the magnetic power of the Toad Men and tosses them far from Earth. The moon also resumes it's orbit.
The issue ends with General Ross expressing the belief that Banner and the Hulk are connected. The last panel of the issue has Rick locking the Hulk in the cave for the night.
My Take: I didn't really care for this issue that much. I don't like the early format of Banner ultimately solving the conflict in the book while the Hulk doesn't really fight a villain. I also didn't really care for the Gamma Ray Gun suddenly just existing and being the solution to the Toad Men threat. I also didn't care for the Toad Men as villains. They were just lame and bad foils for the Hulk.
There were some positives to this issue. I think the green Hulk works much better than the gray Hulk with how limited the colors were at the time. He was at least consistent this time. The characters continue to interact well with each other. I think the characters have developed more in 2 issues than the Fantastic Four have in 5 issues.
I'd give this issue *3/4 out of *****
Notes: The Hulk becomes green in this issue. That's really it. The Toad Men are pretty obscure as far as the Marvel Universe goes. I'm not sure if they actually appear in another issue of any comic. If they do, it's cameo appearances here and there. They're still sticking to the Hulk appearing at nightfall.
Next Issue: Journey Into Mystery #83
Posted in: Betty Ross,Hulk,Incredible Hulk,Rick Jones,Thunderbolt Ross,Toad Men
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