Incredible Hulk #6

Cover Date: March 1963

Plot Overview: The Hulk returns to his hideout and once again becomes Bruce Banner. Banner is getting weaker with each dose of gamma radiation. He sees on the view screen where a military test is interrupted by an alien calling himself the Metal Master. He can control metal with his mind and he's come to Earth to conquer it. Rick breaks away and comes to find Banner. Banner uses his gamma ray gun to become the Hulk but his face doesn't change for some reason. He puts on a Hulk mask and heads off to battle the Metal Master.

The Metal Master keeps the Hulk at bay with various attacks until he knocks the Hulk out with a giant piece of metal. The military captures the Hulk as a result and the Hulk blames Rick for betraying him. Rick leaves dejected and the Hulk starts pounding on the prison walls.

Rick meets up with his old friends and they show him their new ham radio. This gives Rick the idea to form the Teen Brigade. The teen Brigade will become a nation wide group of teenage ham radio operators that will help out the Marvel superheroes.

Meanwhile the Hulk breaks out of his prison and returns to his hideout. He once again becomes Bruce Banner but he's even weaker than before. Rick arrives and Banner calls out to him. Banner is grateful for Rick's help and Rick realizes that it was the Hulk talking. Banner has an idea and they enlist the help of the Teen Brigade. Teenagers all across the country send Rick and Banner transistors and other parts.

Banner becomes the Hulk again and the Teen Brigade gathers to see what Banner and Rick have come up with. The Hulk walks out with a giant gun and confronts the Metal Master. The Metal Master is stunned that he cannot alter the gun with his mind. As a desperation move he tosses a piece of metal at the Hulk but the Hulk quickly captures him. The Hulk threatens the Metal Master until he changes all of the damage he caused back. The Metal Master then departs as the Teen Brigade is thrilled to have helped defeat him. The Hulk and Rick depart as the military arrives on the scene. Banner tries to change back but this time he's still the Hulk. The Hulk goes into a rage but suddenly turns back into Banner. The gamma radiation is getting more unpredictable with each usage. Banner goes to see Betty Ross and the issue ends with him telling her that he can't reveal his secret because he cares about her too much.

My Take: This issue felt like they were finding a groove with the Hulk issues. Banner continues to struggle with the Hulk when in the Hulk form and now the gamma ray gun is causing some odd side effects in him. It's also becoming clear that the transformation is slowly killing him each time he does it. It was nice to have 3 issues of building in a direction instead of the first 3 issues where the direction of the book changed every issue.

The strength of this Hulk series, to me, was the strong cast around Bruce Banner and the Hulk. And the cast became even stronger with the addition of the Teen Brigade. Most of the other titles have a supporting character or two while the Hulk has about 4 or 5 right now. It helps to develop both characters and lay the groundwork of the dichotomy of the Banner/Hulk personalities. It's really a shame that the book is cancelled with this issue. It feels like they had just figured out how to make this comic work.

The art was pretty good in this issue. I always have a soft spot for Steve Ditko's work. It felt like the art wasn't rushed. The Hulk also looked better than he usually does. I like the Metal Master character design a lot. He's not out there or cool, I just enjoy his design. And the effects for his metal altering were pretty good in my opinion.

I'd give this issue *** for *****

Notes: This is the last issue of the Incredible Hulk series. From here he kind of becomes a villain and antagonist for various heroes. After awhile, he'll become a co-feature in Tales to Astonish. This is the first appearance of the Teen Brigade. They will be an important part of the Avengers forming later this year and will play a role in several comics throughout the 60s.

I wanted to take a moment and look at why the Incredible Hulk failed as a book. I think it has to do with the lack of direction to the first 3 issues. It felt like Stan Lee had a really good initial idea and then didn't know where to go with it from there. The book also struggled from an identity crisis. It didn't know if it wanted to be a sci-fi horror book or a superhero book. I also think this book was a few years ahead of it's time. The anti-hero concept maybe wasn't quite ready to take off with the readers. The 60s needed to take hold a little bit more before that kind of a concept would be more widely accepted. Just my two cents though.

Next Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #1

Fantastic Four #12

Cover Date: March 1963

Plot Overview: The U.S. military mistakes the Thing for the Hulk and tries to capture him. A higher up calls off the attack and apologizes to the Thing. The Thing returns to the Baxter Building just in time for Thunderbolt Ross to arrive. Ross wants the Fantastic Four to take care of the military's Hulk problem. This leads to Reed, Johnny and the Thing dreaming up scenarios where they capture the Hulk.

The FF show off their new FantastiCar before heading to the desert with General Ross. Reed Richards and Bruce Banner meet as there's a big meeting. Banner's assistant Karl Kort has a run in with The Torch and Thing and quickly exits the scene. Banner swears that the Hulk isn't responsible for the recent damage. He believes it's a saboteur that he's dubbed the Wrecker.

The Torch and Thing grow tired of waiting and barge in and cause havoc as the meeting comes to a close. The Torch hands Rick Jones the wallet of Karl Kort and asks if he'd return it. Rick goes to find Kort and realizes that Kort is literally a card carrying Communist.

Back at the base, the FF have fixed up an experimental rocket sled and have the Thing ride it. The Thing hits a sabotaged piece of track and crashes. Banner approaches to ask for their help because Rick has been captured by the Wrecker. Banner doesn't want to reveal he's the Hulk so they ultimately don't believe him. Banner heads to his secret cave and becomes the Hulk. The Hulk comes upon the Fantastic Four and takes out the Thing with one punch and uses dirt to put out the Torch's flames. The Hulk smashes his way to the surface where he escapes Reed. He uses his sonic boom clap to take out Reed, Johnny and Sue. The Thing attacks and they battle until a mysterious ray takes out the Hulk.

The Thing follows the ray and smashes a giant robot he finds. This leads the Thing to a chamber where Karl Kort is. Kort tries to use a ray gun on the Thing but Sue disarms him. The FF have cleared the name of the Hulk. The Hulk watches as the FF return home at the end of the issue.

My Take: This was a great issue. It really felt like it clicked. The characters were really distinct and came across well developed. The story wasn't goofy or too wacky. They had an idea of having the Hulk fight the Thing and they executed on that idea. No silly pseudo-science, no bait and switch or anything like that.

The art was really great in this issue. All of the characters looked really good and the action scenes were good. I also enjoyed that there was some action in this issue. Marvel has been really hit and miss with giving us actual fights in the comics. And I always enjoy when they go through with a battle.

Other than Amazing Fantasy #15 this was probably the best comic I've read since doing this. I would hold this issue up against anything that's come out today and I feel it could hold it's own. It's still a little rough around the edges but the quality of a good story is in there.

I'd give this issue ****1/2 out of *****

Notes: This issue is the first time that Marvel characters have truly crossed over in the Silver Age. To this point there had been little references to other comics like someone reading a Hulk comic. But nothing like this. It even went so far as to have supporting cast interact with the heroes. This is really important as one of the huge innovations that Marvel did was having a shared universe.

Don't get me wrong. DC characters crossed over before this of course but Marvel really made it feel like any of the characters could turn the corner and just run into another Marvel character. That's where their real innovation in the shared universe department came from.

Next Issue: Tales to Astonish #41

Incredible Hulk #5

Cover Date: January 1963

Plot Overview: The first story starts with Thunderbolt Ross showing footage of the Hulk to Bruce Banner and Rick Jones. It's up to Banner to rid the world of the Hulk menace. Betty secretly pines for Bruce after he leaves. The scene shifts to the underworld where Tryannus is plotting his revenge on the surface world. He was banished by Merlin but has stayed alive by using the Fountain of Youth that Ponce De Leon was searching for. He's also using the technology of an underground race of creatures that he's enslaved.

Bruce and Rick return to the Ross house to find that Betty is with Tyrannus. Tyrannus is claiming to be an archaeologist and has asked Betty to show him some nearby caves. Betty hopes this will make Bruce jealous. Tyrannus eventually takes Betty hostage and Bruce returns as the Hulk.

Tyrannus uses gas to capture the Hulk and Rick. Tyrannus then has the Hulk fight a giant robot in a gladiator style fight. Bruce loses control and goes on a rampage. He destroys the robot and goes after Tyrannus. Tyrannus uses Betty to delay the Hulk and then stuns him with a ray gun. Tyrannus makes the Hulk do many tasks in his service but grows bored with it. He decides to have the Hulk killed. Just then, Rick manages to rescue Betty and together they free the Hulk. The Hulk smashes the main pillars to Tyrannus's kingdom just like Sampson and Tyrannus is trapped in the underworld. The story ends with the Hulk thinking that humans should be scared of him.

The second story starts off with Thunderbolt Ross using a special missile to freeze the Hulk. The Hulk's body heat quickly melts the ice and he escapes. The Hulk becomes Banner again and he realizes that it's becoming harder to become Banner again. The scene shifts to Asia where General Fang is conquering many towns.

The news reaches Banner and Rick and Banner decides to intervene as the Hulk. They arrive after some issues on a plane and the Hulk disguises himself as the Abominable Snowman to scare the soldiers. He reeks havoc on the army of General Fang and news returns to Fang. He uses the 3D image of a dragon to lure Hulk into a cage. With the Hulk captured Fang decides to move on to the next town. Rick releases the Hulk from the prison and the Hulk makes short work of Fang's army. Fang tries to flee but the Hulk easily captures him. The Hulk drops Fang in enemy territory and then heads back to America. The Hulk mentions that he has no intention of going anywhere.

My Take: This is the first issue in awhile where they didn't try to shake things up and I think this issue was better for it. I like how Banner is slowly losing control of the Hulk in that form. It makes sense and you wonder every time he changes if this is the time where the Hulk takes over. The art has also gotten really good. The Hulk really stands out among the other characters for Marvel right now. Mostly because he's green but the art just feels different for this book.

I really liked the first story. It was a quick read and I thought Tyrannus was your typical Silver Age super villain. He had a fairly original history and he was a good foil for the Hulk. The second story I wasn't as fond of. They've gone the hero taking out a Communist army 3 or 4 times already and I get bored by it everytime. I would rather the hero struggle more like he did in the first story. I don't like the stories where they just roll over regular human beings as much.

As I mentioned earlier, the book seems to have a defined direction and it really helped the stories. It seemed like up until this point that I was getting a different direction every issue. It was really dragging down the quality of the stories.

I'm not a big Hulk fan. I've read some issues here and there but I've never really gone out of my way to read Hulk titles. With that said, the Hulk has the most well defined and developed cast of supporting characters and it's really made the book more enjoyable. He has a lot of regular people to play off of and I think that's really developed Bruce Banner as a character compared to Donald Blake or Henry Pym. I'll be kind of sad to see the book go after issue #6.

I'd give this **3/4 out of *****

Notes: This issue is the first appearance of Tryannus. He'll pop up here and there over the years to bother the Hulk or the Avengers. He never becomes a major villain or anything though. This is the second to last issue of the Hulk. The series is going to be cancelled with issue #6 in March.

Next Issue: Strange Tales #104

Incredible Hulk #4

Cover Date: November 1962

Plot Overview: Betty Ross details how she met Bruce Banner and how he was involved in the gamma bomb explosion. She recounts how the Hulk first showed up around then too. She realizes that there's a connection between Rick Jones and both Banner and the Hulk. She goes to her father and asks him to find Rick Jones.

Rick Jones sends the Hulk away before the military captures him. The Hulk wanders about until Rick Jones summons him back to rescue him from the military. Rick takes the Hulk to a secret lab where he uses a gamma ray device to turn the Hulk back into Bruce Banner. Banner has devised a way to turn himself into the Hulk and retain his mind.

Banner becomes the Hulk and saves a family in a burning cabin. He flees the scene when the sheriff opens fire on him. The new Hulk/Banner combo seems to be getting more wild and savage. The Hulk returns to the lab and turns himself back into Banner. Banner retires to bed worrying about if he can continue to control the Hulk.

In the second story an alien named Mongu arrives on Earth. He challenges the mightiest creature on Earth to face him in a battle. Banner changes into the Hulk and arrives to face Mongu. Mongu reveals himself to be a trap set by the Communists. They want to capture him so that their scientists can study him. Hulk defeats the Communists with relative ease. Meanwhile, the general public blames the Hulk for the Mongu hoax as the issue ends.

My Take: This book has really been in a tailspin the last 2 issues. Stan Lee seems to be in panic mode as he's now changed the direction of the book in a serious way yet again. He seems to be throwing everything at the wall and hoping something sticks to save the book. I know Marvel was really new at this point but they probably could've given the book a couple of years and give audiences a chance to attach to the book. Not everything can grab enough of an audience long enough to survive.

So with those frustrations aside let's get down to a review. The art was a little weaker than last issue. It seemed a little more rushed and they seemed a little lost as to where to take the Hulk in this issue. So they threw us a reboot and a second story where he fights some bad guys. I personally don't like this direction for the Hulk. I feel the combination of the two personalities runs counter to what Stan Lee was going for in the first place. Banner is still struggling with the monster within, just in a less direct way. I kind of liked the nocturnal Hulk.

The stories themselves were solid enough. It was nice to see the Hulk in action again this issue. The second story was mostly action and was enjoyable. Regular people are nice for really showing off how powerful the Hulk is supposed to be.

This book historically is in a lot of trouble at this point and gets cancelled with issue 6. The book really reeks of the desperation to keep it afloat right now and that's hurting the overall product.

I'd give this issue **1/4 out of *****

Notes: There was nothing of note in this issue.

Next Issue: Strange Tales #102

Incredible Hulk #3

Cover Date: September 1962

Plot Overview: The issue begins with Hulk locked in the secret cave room that they discovered previously. Rick heads off to get some sleep but gets picked up by the military. General Ross meets with Rick and tells him that they need the Hulk to test a rocket. Rick mulls it over and decides that it's his civic duty to help the United States.

Rick releases the Hulk and leads him into the cockpit of the rocket. The rocket blasts off and General Ross reveals that the rocket is to make sure the Hulk never returns to Earth. Rick overhears this conversation and looks for ways to get Banner back to Earth.

Meanwhile in space the Hulk reverts to Bruce Banner and the ship heads into a radiation field. Banner is once again bathed in radiation. At the same time Rick hits the button to make the rocket return to Earth. Rick gets a shot of the radiation and it creates a link between him and the Hulk.

The rocket crashes back to Earth and the Hulk emerges and chases Rick. Rick begs him to stop and the Hulk does. Rick realizes that the Hulk has to follow his mental commands now. Rick and the Hulk head to Banner's cottage and Rick decides to sleep. When he wakes up he realizes the Hulk is gone. The Hulk has begun rampaging in a local town and the local state troopers can't stop him. Rick arrives on the scene and gets the Hulk back under control.

Rick takes the Hulk back to the cave so he can get some sleep. While the Hulk is locked up Rick goes over the origin of the Hulk in his head.

The scene shifts as two FBI agents arrive at a small town. All of the inhabitants are frozen like statues and the agents comment that several towns have suffered similar fates. One agent finds a poster for the circus. The scene changes to the circus as the Ringmaster hypnotizes the crowd and has his minions loot the entire town.

Rick wakes up and takes the Hulk to the town where his Aunt Polly is. Rick stops in to wash up and get some food before hitting the town. Rick sees the circus and decides to attend. The Ringmaster begins to hypnotize the crowd but Rick manages to call for the Hulk. The Hulk arrives and knocks the Human Cannonball out of the tent. He approaches the Ringmaster but several minions use a fire hose to stun the Hulk. They lock the Hulk up and since Rick is hypnotized the Hulk can do nothing. The Ringmaster muses to himself about turning the Hulk into a special attraction when Rick and the FBI agents arrive. The Hulk springs to life and captures the Ringmaster. The military arrives and Rick has the Hulk grab him and make his escape. Thunderbolt Ross vows to capture the Hulk as the issue comes to an end.

My Take: Finally, some action in the Hulk. I had been waiting for two issues to see the Hulk battle some bad guys. The battles were pretty short in this book but at least I got to see the Hulk in action. The art was really good in this issue. The best art for the series so far. The story felt more like two stories tied together but I liked both stories for the most part. I've always had a soft spot for the Circus of Crime. They are lame as villains but I find them to be fun.

I'm not sure about how I feel towards the end development that Rick can mentally control the Hulk. I don't like it because it defeats the purpose of the Hulk but at the same time it's interesting. One thing that is starting to bother me is the constant retelling of origins. I know why they're doing it but it just gets old. I understand that they had a lot of new people checking out the books so they needed to do this. I hope that they slow down on that as 1963 hits and the books start taking off more.

I'd give this issue *** out of *****

Notes: This is the first appearance of the Silver Age Ringmaster and the Circus of Crime. A Ringmaster appeared in Captain America #5 as a Nazi agent and this Ringmaster is supposed to be his son. The extra dose of radiation has made it so that the Hulk is always the Hulk. Rick Jones also has mental control over the Hulk. Betty Ross was absent from this issue. There really wasn't a place to fit her in.

Next Issue: Fantastic Four #7

Incredible Hulk #2

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

Incredible Hulk #1

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