Love Will Keep Us Together - Or Will It? Incredible Hulk 148

Incredible Hulk #148 (February 1972)
"But Tomorrow -- the Sun Shall Die!"
Archie Goodwin-Herb Trimpe/John Severin

Doug: A couple of weeks ago I sang the praises of John Severin's inks over Herb Trimpe on the Incredible Hulk book. I was initially going to review Hulk #140, which features the 1st appearance of Jarella. But after noticing that her second appearance contained the above mentioned art team, the decision was pretty easy. So here we are. I'll be reading and scanning from the trade paperback, The Incredible Hulk: Heart of the Atom. I've read several of the stories from the start of the book, and while certainly no Hulk aficionado, I have enjoyed myself so far.

Doug: We open in the New Mexico desert at Project: Greenskin. Assembled are General "Thunderbolt" Ross, Betty Ross, Major Glenn Talbot, and Dr. Peter Corbeau. This was a nice bit of Marvel history for me, as I'd only known Corbeau from the first Sentinels story in the All-New, All-Different X-Men. Everyone's there to discuss how Corbeau's plan for the Hulk, using his StarCore technology, is going to work. Corbeau is convinced that he can permanently free Dr. Bruce Banner from the Hulk. Of course, he has to have the Hulk to make this work. That's where the Hulk-Busters come in. Right then (because, you know, this is a comic book and we only have 20 pages to work with), Ross is alerted to a local Hulk sighting. Immediately four fighters are dispatched to bring in the Jade Giant. Quick comment -- Trimpe's love of aviation really shows in these few panels! We cut to the back 40, where the Hulk lumbers along, oblivious to all around him. We the readers, however, can see over his shoulder the approaching jets. Archie Goodwin does a nice turn when he writes, "Of machines that can out-distance their own sound, that can all but sit on your massive neck before they're heard...?" And then BRA-KOW! Seriously -- bra-kow and the Hulk goes tumbling, his ears ringing. The second pair of planes are on him immediately, strafing him with sedative-tipped missiles. Down, and out.

Doug: We cut to another world, where we see the fair queen Jarella leading a small detachment of men through a wilderness. Above, men loyal to the traitor Visis wait on winged steeds. As soon as Jarella's column emerges from cover, they are set upon. The battle rages, and most of Jarella's men are slain. The queen fights well, and still stands at the conclusion of the fracas. She thinks to herself that she needs a warrior, the man she loved from before. Bruce Banner. For those of you not aware, the Hulk had been shrunk to atomic size by the villain Psyklop, emerging on a microscopic world where he became a champion for the queen. That queen, Jarella, pledged to marry him, which really ticked off Visis, her suitor who would be dictator. As the Hulk could not speak the language of the strange world, Jarella's sorcerers concocted some magicks that not only allowed him to learn the language but also gave him the brain of Bruce Banner while still the Hulk. Got it?

Doug: Jarella makes her way to the retreat of her chief sorcerer and tells him that she would like to regain the services of Banner. Torla, the magician, says that it would take incredible sorcery, and might be so dangerous as to shake not only their world but the very cosmos! Cut to earth, where the Hulk is now bound in the presence of Dr. Corbeau. Corbeau relates that he has more than a humanistic stake in this operation -- he and Banner were college friends, so it's personal. Corbeau says that StarCore's sun-facing orbit is going to allow him to harness the energy of the sun, project it to Earth, and bathe the Hulk in enough solar energy that it will completely eradicate the gamma energy stored in his cells. Guess what? It works! The Hulk shrinks/changes to Banner, and nearby technicians report that there is no presence of gamma radiation anywhere in the area. Banner has indeed been cured! But immediately StarCore's sensors alert the scientists and military brass to a new danger -- a huge solar flare, large enough to have destroyed the Earth. Ross asks Corbeau for an explanation -- Corbeau can only hypothesize on the coincidence of what has just happened with the Hulk.

Doug: Cut again back to Jarella's world, where she is in the process of being sent in search of Banner. Her sorcerers warn that the consequences could be dire. Bravely, she goes through with it. But we see that someone spies on this process. It is Visis, who knows enough magicks of his own to be able to send his top assassin into the stream behind Jarella -- with orders to slay the queen and her champion. Back on Earth, all concerned are monitoring the sun's activity. Banner, hero that he is, tells Corbeau if he really thinks the process to remove the Hulk's presence is to blame, then reverse the process. Corbeau will hear none of it, and offers that Banner should go to Corbeau's retreat on the coast, get some separation and relax. Banner takes him up on it, and after a military flight soon finds himself listening to the surf. Just then a green aura begins to glow on the sands. Suddenly Jarella appears, human-sized, and greets Banner. Bruce is elated to see her and hops the deck's fence to embrace the girl he'd loved those months before. But Fialan the assassin has also made the passage and lurks just yards away. But his malevolent plan is interrupted by the noise of a helicopter. It lands, and Glenn Talbot emerges to ask Banner to return to the desert with him.

Doug: Back at Project: Greenskin, Banner is updated on the sun's status. It seems that the sun has been affected not only by the process they'd used on Banner, but also by "the appearance of some object that ripped the very fabric of our time and space... something that broke from another dimension." Yup - Jarella. And the sun's cure for it's current condition is to burn itself out! Banner speaks up and says that any thoughts of sending her back will surely send her to her death at Visis' hands. Corbeau says to relax, that he's working on an alternative. However, if the solar system burns out, Jarella's world will along with our earth. Very soon a SHIELD craft lands, piloted by none other than Dum Dum Dugan, who has brought Col. Nick Fury himself to the desert. And Fury's brought with him a present -- a Life Model Decoy of Jarella, perfect in every sense. The team gets to work immediately on making the dimensional transfer of the LMD in Jarella's place, which is a mystery to me. Was it just that any transfer was made, or is it Jarella's presence here that is the problem. Seems to me (and what the heck do I know about it?) that if they sent the LMD but she stayed here the problem would not necessarily be ended. Ah, Marvel science. Gotta love it! Anyway, Banner reports that his part of the operation is successful, so they should be good to go. Jarella suddenly appears, to speak in private with her potential betrothed. But again standing just off-stage is Fialan (how's that security at Project: Greenskin, hmmm?). He gets off a shot, and then hovers menacingly above our couple.

Doug: Bruce breaks from Jarella and runs away. Fialan scoffs, as the coward has now left Jarella to him and his mission. As he levels his blaster at her, the building begins to shake. A rumbling emanates from the closed door behind which Banner had locked himself. And suddenly, bursting forth is the incredible Hulk! Fialan levitates higher, out of reach of the behemoth. Hulk turns to see Jarella, and they come together. Just then Fialan blasts a large bank of machinery, causing a huge explosion. Jarella is killed in the chaos, and a distraught Hulk emerges from the smoke right in front of Fialan, whose ability to escape has been destroyed as well. Hulk grabs him, and in one of the very few times I can ever recall metes out his own brand of justice. The following panel is interesting, as Hulk cups his face in his huge hand and says, "Hulk did it... but... It does not bring Jarella back!" But it's Jarella who approaches to console the Hulk -- Corbeau and Ross had planned to employ the LMD once they knew Jarella's assassin was on site. But now Hulk is faced with a new dilemma -- the military still need to save our sun. Hulk stands against them, but he's shot from behind with the heavy tranquilizers. Now down, Corbeau tells Jarella it is time. She consents, and soon is back in her subatomic world. The sun almost immediately begins to quiet its activity and all is right with the world. That is, except for the broken heart of the Hulk.

Doug: I've found these tales of Jarella captivating. It's interesting to read them as stand-alones. Although they tie together, the many adventures that came between these stories make me wonder which is better -- to read this as a running narrative, or as treats dispersed to the reader along the way? Jarella's first appearance was in Hulk #140, the follow-up is in today's issue (#148), and then we saw her again in #156. Then we don't find her until #202, around four years later! So I'd love for any of our readers who came to these stories off the rack to discuss their impact on you. Did you feel that this was a plotline that should have been explored on a more frequent basis? Or did you think perhaps that, knowing Jarella's ultimate fate as we do, the story should have been compressed and told over the course of maybe just a year's worth of issues? While Goodwin's script forced me to suspend my disbelief a time or two, I thought the art was fabulous. Herb Trimpe is a penciler who has a unique style and I'm not always his biggest fan. But under the influence of John Severin, the art here is a winner. This was overall a nice 20-minute diversion.

I'm Just Waiting on a Friend

Doug: How are you at waiting?

Doug: I'm terrible at it. Like right now. Back in June I pre-ordered IDW's Herb Trimpe's Hulk Artist Edition. The thing was supposed to ship back in September, but you know how that goes. I saw earlier in the week that it shipped on the 11th. But as we all know, that was Veterans' Day, so even if it did ship it would not have been until Thursday. I've heard nothing from the company, there has been no further charges made past the nominal deposit I'd made months ago. So I'm really not out anything other than $5. But I still hate waiting.

Doug: I've also become really curious about the Rich Buckler retrospective we told you about a year ago. That's right -- I said A YEAR AGO! I've inquired twice about this book, neither time getting a response. I did make a deposit with the Kickstarter or GoFundMe or whatever it was. Silly me.

Doug: Shoot, I get impatient just waiting for an order from Amazon. How about you?

Suggestion Unboxed - Appreciating the Underappreciated

Doug: You may recall that back on October 9, in the midst of a fit of non-creativity, we solicited readers' thoughts on post ideas. What we got was amazing, and we've already mined that one-day flurry of brainpower for several good days' conversations. Today I'm pulling two thoughts from the same comment. Both were in a cornucopia (seasonal reference there) of offerings from Martinex1, and since they are related I am putting them together in the same post. I'll take the liberty of leading off with some thoughts of my own. Many thanks again to all -- and this isn't the last time we'll be doing this, so if you took a penny for your thoughts, you'll yet be further rewarded.

Mike S. (Martinex1): Under appreciated comic book artists and writers (no Kirby, Byrne, Lee, Claremont here...).

Mike S.: Under appreciated heroes and villains. If you were in charge who would you give a title to?

Doug: In answer to the first question, I've always enjoyed the inks of John Severin and Sam Grainger. Certainly Severin was a star in his own right in the 1950s, but most Bronze Age fans will remember him best as the inker over Herb Trimpe on early issues of the Incredible Hulk. Severin brought a polish to Trimpe's pencils that really did give it that throwback look to the period right before the Marvel Age dawned. Great pairing. Grainger worked into the 1970s and shows up all over the Marvel Universe. I most fondly recall his inks over a young Sal Buscema in those turn-of-the-Age Avengers tales. Again, Grainger really polished Sal's work and gave it a rich texture. Grainger also inked Dave Cockrum in the first issues of the All-New, All-Different X-Men.

Doug: As to underappreciated characters, count me among anyone who digs Kid Flash. While I don't know if Wally West could have carried his own series, he was always a favorite of mine in the Secret Society of Super-Villains and the Teen Titans revival.  Oh, and you want an underappreciated villain? I always thought the Gladiator had a great look. The whirling blades on his wrist seemed dangerous enough, but especially to him! I enjoyed his appearances in Daredevil and wished he'd crossed over into the Peter Parker or Nova books (for examples).

Discuss: Herb Trimpe

Karen: As I'm sure most of you know, artist Herb Trimpe passed away this last Monday. Please feel free to share your thoughts about him and what his work meant to you. For me, he will always be "THE" Hulk artist, as he was the artist on that title when I first started reading it. He managed to make the Hulk so expressive. The character really seemed alive to me as a child, and it was mainly due to Mr. Trimpe's work.

from Hulk #141, with John Severin

from Hulk #147, also with Severin

from Hulk #172, with Jack Abel

from Hulk #182, Trimpe inking himself

Doug: Just before I was ready to shut things down and head to bed, the following arrived in our BAB email account. It's from a friend of all of yours, formatted in 100 Words:

RIP Herb Trimpe. I still have some issues of his work on assorted titles like the Defenders, Godzilla, the Shogun Warriors and of course Hulk. Like Gil Kane his linework was instantly recognizable no matter what title he drew. One headline said he was the first to draw Wolverine but to me he represented more than that. His style seemed to suit giant robots and monsters perfectly, guess that's why he drew Hulk for 8 years! Thanks for giving me many great childhood memories Mr. Trimpe.  

Yours in comics,

Mike 'never knew Trimpe rhymed with shrimpy' from Trinidad & Tobago.

Arc of Triumph? Incredible Hulk 176-178

Karen: These three issues were somewhat scandalous back in the day, taking Warlock and putting him in the role of Jesus (with Hulk as an unwitting Judas!). They also had heavy Watergate allusions. When they came out it all pretty much went over my little noggin but reading it today it seems fairly harmless if a bit silly. Any thoughts on this three parter by Gerry Conway and Herb Trimpe?

Heroes and Horrors: Incredible Hulk 162

Incredible Hulk #162 (April 1973)
"Spawn of the Flesh Eater!"
Steve Englehart-Herb Trimpe/Sal Trapani

Doug:  Welcome to October, BAB readers!  Usually it's all manner of ghosts, goblins, demons -- you name it.  This year, however, we decided to check in on some of our favorite heroes and their encounters with monsters and ghouls.  But I can't help but wonder if Kang the Conqueror must have gotten hold of the controls at the BAB, because we are definitely doing some temporal jumping around here.  Issue #162 of the Incredible Hulk surely comes before issue #181, but we already did that one a week ago.  This should be fun to see a character in his first appearance right after we got to see him in his third appearance.  Let's check out the wild 'n' wooly Wendigo!

Karen: I guess I'm to blame, for selecting this story as part of our "Heroes and Horrors" month here at BAB. But I think it fits the bill, and hopefully it's a minor transgression.

Doug:  Blame?  Who's to blame -- I'm on a Hulk high, friends!

Doug:  We open in a Canadian military briefing room, where General "Thunderbolt" Ross has arrived to brief our neighbors to the north on a guest taking up temporary residence within their borders -- the Incredible Hulk!  Ross argues with an emissary of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau about the effectiveness of the Hulkbusters -- he's asked if they're so great, then why hasn't the Hulk been brought down?  Ross assures him that a) there are some things civilians don't understand, and b) the Hulk has had more than his fair share of luck.  The Canadian relents, and assures Ross that Trudeau will be asked to grant clearance for the Hulkbusters to stay on Canadian soil and remove the Hulk.  We then cut to our star, alone and wandering through the thick forests.  Hulk gives us a little recap of the last issue and complains to himself that he's lost in the denseness of the trees, and his mind is going in circles.

Karen: I know I've said before that I'm lukewarm about Trimpe's art, except when he was inked by John Severin. But I thought Sal Trapani did a very nice job here. He brought a crispness to the work that made it pop just a little bit. As for old Jade-Jaws, he's still hung up on Betty. I'd forgotten how long that was a theme in his book. I suppose Jarella had already died at this point, so it was OK to go back to his old flame??

Doug:  I recently commented over at Rip Jagger's Dojo on his review of the Hulk tpb "Heart of the Atom" and told him that I recently purchased that book.  Maybe in February we'll look in on that Hulk/Jarella love story here at the BAB?  Seriously, I'm into these Hulk comics and admittedly surprised that I am!

 Doug:  The Jade Giant is frustrated, and in his frustration exerts a little force on the mountain, shattering a share of it.  But he's startled to hear a voice claiming to be from a Paul Cartier and requesting urgent help.  Hulk looks around and strains to find the source of the voice when he's suddenly attacked by some of the locals (man, was I thinking Deliverance in this scene or what?) open fire on him.  Of course the bullets bounce off the Hulk, he gives the usual "Everywhere Hulk goes it's always the same -- why won't men leave Hulk alone?" speech, but then something totally unexpected happens:  a young woman approaches the green behemoth, shakes her fist at him, and says she is not afraid.  Then she thoroughly confounds our guy by calling him the Wendigo and saying he ate Paul... well, at the least he killed him.  Paul, you see, is her brother.  The Hulk, and I was a little surprised at his processing prowess given the amount of stimuli he was under in these panels, says he heard Paul's voice.  Hulk says that he doesn't even know what a Wendigo is, assures the girl that he is not him, and then saunters off to find this Paul.  Hmmm.....  pretty nice set-up by Mr. Englehart.

Karen: This scene lays out all the qualities of the Hulk of my childhood, the definitive Hulk for me. Rampaging one second, and good guy the next. Despite his limited intelligence, he always had a strong moral compass, in the sense of he knew what was right and what was wrong, what was fair and what was unfair. He also had a soft spot for the weak and defenseless.  I completely bought this scene and so had no problems with him helping the girl.

Doug:  I was eternally disappointed that the TV Hulk did not speak.  While I thought the show was well done, I just never understood why he didn't speak.

Doug:  We cut to a couple of skiers, and quickly learn that it is Glenn and Betty Ross Talbot on their honeymoon.  Glenn thinks to himself that he's come far away to get Betty away from any Hulk goings-on, but that while he knows the Hulk is in Canada he prays Betty does not find out.  Glenn's a little paranoid about Betty falling back toward Bruce Banner, and that wouldn't be good on a new marriage.  But at least for the time being, things appear to be rosy.  We then jump back across many miles to find the Hulk out on his search mission.  He's walking along, minding his Hulk-business, when he steps down from a ledge and right onto the side of the Wendigo!  We remarked last week in our review of Hulk #181 that the Wendigo was supposed to be larger than the Hulk.  Well, Happy Herb Trimpe gets it right in this first panel -- if the Hulk is 7 feet tall, then the Wendigo is closer to 9'!  The Wendigo delivers a jaw-rattling left cross that the Hulk almost laughingly shakes off.  But right when it's go-time, a man emerges from beneath the ledge.  Hulk calls out "Paul!", but the man does not identify himself.  He asks for the Hulk's help, telling him that the Wendigo is a flesh-eater and has been toying with him until its hunger sets in.  But the man's cry is cut off as the Wendigo backhands him, hard.

Karen: I'm wondering how Talbot thinks he can keep news of the Hulk away from Betty? Won't she hear about any sort of major fight between the Hulk and the Hulkbusters on the news? I'm sure the amount of destruction such an engagement would cause would hit the national (if not global) news services. Oh well, maybe I am over-thinking it. Getting back to the Hulk -I absolutely loved the way Trimpe drew Hulk about to step on the Wendigo! That whole shot of the Wendigo, all curled up, was creepy enough, but when you realize that he's got Georges trapped underneath him...brrrr! Freaky. And Georges's comment about Wendy being a flesh-eater....This book came out at the same time I was really into reading about Bigfoot too, so the Wendigo was right up my alley. Although the idea of a Bigfoot-like creature eating people scared the Hell out of me!

Doug:  Do you remember when they had book fairs in grade school?  I bought one in the 2nd grade on "real" monsters like Bigfoot, the Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster, etc.  You don't have to tell me what having the Hell scared out of you is all about!

Doug:  You want two giants beating the snot out of each other?  Our creators give us just that, over three pages of slamming, throwing, and slugging.  The Hulk ends up at the bottom of a gorge, with the Wendigo at the top holding the man aloft.  Greenskin maneuvers into position to catch him, and indeed guesses right about "Paul's" trajectory.  About a half an hour later, the Hulk has his unconscious man in a small village.  He presents the fellow to Marie Cartier, but is alarmed when she says that it's not her brother!  Instead, this is his friend, Georges Baptiste.  After Georges has been revived, he tells a story, of he, Paul, and another friend hunting when they were beset by a pack of wolves.  Taking shelter in a nearby cave, the third man later died from wounds sustained in the wolf attack.  Without supplies, Paul and Georges were in dire straits.  But on the fourth day, Georges awoke to find Paul... eating.  One of the hunters assembled in the house told Marie that Paul, after eating human flesh, was now beset with the curse of the Wendigo.  The Hulk, realizing what had happened, went outside.  He'd pledged to help Marie and had not.  He'd make that right.

Karen: That fight scene is classic. Hulk is quite the trash-talker! I love how he goes on about how he's fought bigger enemies than Wendigo, but he's always won. If you think about it, Hulk does have a pretty good track record. And there's a great shot where Hulk lays a punch to Wendigo's jaw and the way Trimpe draws it, it looks like the white beast's head is flying off! It's so dramatic. When we hear the story of what happened to Georges and Paul, it's a shocker. Cannibalism was certainly not something I had encountered in a comic before, even handled as subtly as this. Reading it now, it made me wonder if Englehart was at all influenced to write the story by the events of the Andean plane crash in late 1972 with the Uruguayan rugby team that had to resort to eating parts of the dead in order to stay alive (a film titled "Alive" was made in 1993). It seems like that would have been in the news. Of course, he might have just been doing some research and  have just come across the legend of Wendigo serendipitously. 

Doug:  We switch back to the forest, where the Wendigo is punching right through huge tree trunks.  The Hulk, bounding about looking for the big white ugly, lands.  Now it's game on!  The Wendigo is chasing a group of loggers when Jade Jaws blasts out of the sky.  Rising from the initial hit, the Wendigo stops and points at the Hulk.  The Hulk then again hears a cry for help from Paul; he's confused, though, as the sound does not emanate from the beast's mouth.  Well, Hulk knows no other way to help Paul than to defeat the Wendigo and drag his hide back to Marie and the other humans.  As the two brutes  engage each other, the Wendigo begins to howl out its name.  Hulk is further puzzled (he gets that way...) as he hears Paul in his noggin again.  Paul urges the Hulk to defeat the Wendigo.  And then Steve Englehart just writes a great line:  "Hulk sees now!  Wendigo has Paul trapped inside him!  Wendigo makes Paul do things Paul doesn't want to do!  It hurts Paul -- and that makes Hulk mad!"  All this, followed by the text box:  *How ironic -- since the incredible one has never understood that his own situation has many of the same characteristics!*  Great stuff.

Karen: Hulk's recognition of Paul/Wendigo's condition makes you shake your head. It's kind of heart-breaking. A nice touch by Englehart.

Doug:  The Wendigo manages to get the Hulk entangled in a heavy chain.  The woods beast then hoists a huge truck and crane over his head and hurls it at the Hulk... who bursts his bounds and annihilates the truck in one fell swoop.  Then the major butt-kicking, clock-cleaning, you name it commences.  Hulk just beats the Wendigo, and beats him again.  As the Hulk's green fingers close about the giant's throat, Paul's voice is heard again, but trailing.  He tells the Hulk that it's too late, that the curse has finally taken full hold.  Paul fades away, and the Wendigo bursts up from the ground.  The Hulk reels, and then rights himself to see the Wendigo run off into the forest.  It's a somber Hulk, who knows that he failed those to whom he'd made a promise.

Karen: There's a compelling sequence of panels there, as Paul begins to fade out, and Trimpe focuses in on his eye. I thought that was well-done. 

Doug:  This was a really good story!  I've said before that I'm certainly no Hulkophile; in fact, I'd wager that the Hulk stories we've written up for this blog are more than the number of Hulk comics I'd read at any time prior.  But this one was very well-written, and Trimpe did a fine job.  Aside from the fact that this tale has two monsters slugging it out, how does it qualify for our annual October Halloween reviews?  Jeez -- cannibalism, possessed hunters, curses... I mean -- that's a pretty good list!  I'm glad we read this one.


Karen: I'm glad you liked it. I did too. I hadn't re-read it in a very long time -maybe 25 years or more? - and I had forgotten most of it, so it was a true pleasure to rediscover it. It was a surprisingly sad story - our hero, Hulk, fails to save anyone at the end. That's 70s downerism for you! But it really was sharp and exciting. And this felt like the Hulk to me. Nuff said!

Hulk Smash Little Man: Incredible Hulk 181

The Incredible Hulk #181 (November 1974)
"And Now... the Wolverine!"
Writer:  Len Wein
Pencils:  Herb Trimpe
Inker:  Jack Abel

Karen: Ah ha, here we go, finally reviewing one of the biggies of the Bronze Age: the first full appearance of Wolverine! At this point we knew so little about him that we wouldn't have been able to label him an "anti-hero" (to fit into this month's theme), although that would come soon enough, in the pages of the revived X-Men. Here, he was just another adversary for the Hulk. In this tale, we would actually have two: Wolverine, and that hairy brute known as the Wendigo (or as he seemed to prefer, Wen-Di-Go!).  Oddly enough, we'll be looking at Wendigo's first appearance next week, when we kick off "Heroes and Horrors" month. So we're going a bit out of order, but I think most of you are relatively familiar with him. So let's get on with the story!

Doug:  I have distinct memories of the kids next door having either this issue or the one prior to it -- I vividly remember Wolverine.  However, as I was not much of a Hulk fan I'm sure I dismissed it with a hint of disdain.  No 1990s fanboy was I, back in the '70s!

Karen: In the previous issue, Hulk felt compelled to return to Canada. It turns out it was due to the sorcerous work of one Marie Cartier, sister to the man who is now trapped in the form of the Wendigo. With the very reluctant help of Georges Baptiste, friend of her brother, they lured the Hulk north in order to perform a ritual that would allow Marie to transfer the curse of the Wendigo from her brother Paul to old Jade-jaws. However, they were unable to pull it off before a slumbering Hulk awoke and discovered the Wendigo nearby and of course fisticuffs ensued. And right in the middle of that, who should appear but a Canadian super-agent sent by his government to stop the Hulk. Yes, they honestly think Wolverine can take down the Hulk.

Doug:  Going solely off that battle that Todd McFarlane drew in Incredible Hulk #340, I wouldn't bet against the runt!

Karen: So that's where issue #181 starts -with Wolverine jumping into action against both the Hulk and Wendigo. The first six pages of the book are nothing but a free-for-all between the three of them. Wolverine jumps on the Hulk first, but switches targets when he recognizes that his adamantium claws are ineffective against the Hulk's hide (surprisingly). He has more success against the Wendigo, who, as he notes, is bigger than Greenskin but not as resilient. Hey partner, I found it interesting that the Wolverine (as he was called here) actually used his claws to cause the Wendigo to bleed. We've commented before about how heroes with swords were always having to use "the flats of their blades" against their foes. None of that here for the Wolverine! 

Doug:  Yeah, the slicing and dicing isn't bloody by any stretch of the imagination, but we are told several times that the claws have pierced and raked the Wendigo.  The script even tells us that ol' Whitey is "startled by the savage slashing".  So at least Wein got that aspect of the character (or what we'll later come to know as Wolverine's character) right.  The voice, though?  Not even close!  He's a wise-cracker here, and now seeing this in two books Len Wein wrote (Amazing Spider-Man #161 was the other) I have to wonder if Wein envisioned Wolverine as being a guy like this and was determined to write him that way.  But even though this is his first appearance, it still doesn't feel "right" to me.

Karen: When the Hulk sees Wolverine fighting Wendigo, poor old Greenskin is confused.  He quickly -incorrectly -reasons that if the Wendigo is "little man's" enemy, Wolverine must be his friend, so he decides to help him. He slams into Wendigo, announcing that he has come to help his little friend. And little is right -a caption tells us that Wolverine is only five foot five inches tall (I think the Marvel guide books would later say he was five foot three). Wolverine decides to take advantage of this, and jumps on Wendigo's back, urging his "friend" the Hulk to smack Wendy around while he's got him distracted. Hulk does even better than that: he grabs Wendigo and tosses him into some trees, completely uprooting them. Wolverine is shocked by the sheer power and violence of Hulk's attack, but only a moment; he leaps upon the stunned Wendigo and uses his claws on him. We're not shown anything but told they make a "sickening thwuck" as they strike, the implication being that Wolverine has stabbed the prone Wendigo in the throat or chest. Hulk congratulates Wolverine in his primitive way for killing Wendigo, but Wolverine says that although he should be dead, the Wendigo must be immortal. "My talons only rendered him unconscious." Talons?? Aren't those usually found on birds? With one monster down, Wolverine decides it's time to go after number two, and turns on the Hulk, which really steams the Jade Giant. Not a good idea!

Doug:  I've long complained about artists struggling to maintain consistency when drawing the giant characters (Goliath, Black Goliath, Colossal Boy, etc.); we see that here with an extremely short character as well.  I don't ever get the impression in this story that Wolverine is only 5'5" tall.  If the Hulk is a 7-footer, then Wolverine is fluctuating somewhere between 5'10" and 6'2" to my eyes.  And I think that's been an issue with all artists to take on the character.  While it might be (aside from his claws) his most important physical attribute when in a panel with other characters, it seems to be consistently missed (on purpose?) by his various caretakers.

Doug:  These were the days when the Hulk was so gullible, but I just love the speech patterns.  "Little friend", indeed!  And I have to agree with you on the "sickening thwuck" -- I'm not sure Conan was as potentially gory as this hack/slash fest! 

Karen: Hey, what happened to Marie and Georges, the nuts who had started all this trouble? They've been watching the fighting. Seeing the Wendigo -Marie's brother - unconscious, they take the opportunity to go out and drag him (what? he must weigh 1000 lbs!) into the little cave where she has been preparing to transfer his curse to the Hulk. They set up the ritual implements, including vapors that will keep the Wendigo

slumbering. Georges all the while tries to talk Marie out of it. While he was Paul's (her brother's) friend, he can't imagine that Paul would want his curse placed upon another human being. But Marie is determined. She figures the Hulk is already cursed just by being the Hulk -adding on the Wendigo part can't make it much worse. 

Doug:  I'm glad you mentioned these two very average sized people pulling the Wendigo all the way into the cave, as I thought it was a little past what I could accept.  Hasn't Wein told us already a time or two that the Wendigo is a little larger than the Hulk?  And how about those natural herbs and spices?  "Ritual implements", indeed!  I sort of felt for Marie's devotion to her brother, but she does in effect create a choiceless choice for Georges.

Karen: Back outside, Wolverine and Hulk are continuing their own little dance. We get a glimpse inside the Canadian military base that serves as Wolverine's home. There, a group of officers discuss their Weapon X. A couple of officers voice doubts about his ability to handle the Hulk, but the commanding officer remains confident. He says that they've spent a lot of time and money developing his mutant abilities, and "despite a few kinks still remaining in his psychological make-up, I think we've done a pretty good job!" So even at the very beginning of Wolverine's existence, it seems that it was planned that he would be somewhat unstable. There have been mentions of his savagery, and of course the claws lend to that sort of thing. I just wonder, if Len Wein had continued to write the X-Men, would we have seen berserker Wolverine? The commander states that in the case that Wolverine fails, they have a chopper full of commandos ready to take on the Hulk. Really? Commandos? Were the Canadians not paying attention to what had been happening to the U.S. soldiers for years when they encountered the Hulk?

Doug:  As I said above, was a framework being laid here for the future of Wolverine?  Did you ever wonder if the "X" was just used as the most commonly named variable, or was it a harbinger to the All-New X-Men?  After all, it's quite possible that Giant-Size X-Men #1 was in the works as this story was being written.  Does anyone have insight to the timetables discussed here, as far as Wolverine's potential use in the X-Men?  I do like the Barry Windsor-Smith serial Weapon X that showed this Canadian backstory to Wolverine.  Of course, anyone who doesn't like wires might not care for it...  But I think as we all would say, the character was never better than when he still had some mystery to him.

Doug:  Dumb soldiers... 

Karen: As Hulk and Wolverine battle, Marie and Georges come out of their cave and Marie starts to cast a spell. Georges tries again to convince her to stop, but she now rips into him, blaming him for the incident that caused her brother to become the Wendigo (and you can read all about it here next week). Her spell causes both Wolverine and Hulk to pass out, and when the Hulk does, he becomes Bruce Banner again. Seeing the human Banner causes Georges to become even more certain that they should not proceed with Marie's plan. He refuses to help her. She tries to guilt him into helping, saying he owes her a debt.  He storms off, but as he sits in the woods, contemplating everything, he thinks of Marie and how she will never rest until her brother is restored. He makes a decision. Unknown to Marie, he goes back into the cave where the Wendigo lies dormant.

Doug:  Georges is a noble man, but a man influenced by the pangs of love.  Say, did it strike you that Marie sort of gave off a Max vibe, a la Where the Wild Things Are?  

Karen: Unfortunately  I've never read that book! The industrious Marie has wrapped Wolverine in chains, and goes to Banner and tries to drag him back towards the cave. She strains to pull him and then realizes he's transforming back to the  Hulk. Hulk becomes upset because he feels betrayed by Marie ("animal girl").

He spends a minute yelling at her, then grabs the bound Wolverine and throws him against the ground, which only breaks his chains. Ever-ready for a fight, Wolverine jumps right back in and starts hacking at Hulk. Marie uses their battle as a chance to race off to the cave, but is surprised when she runs into a now-awake Wendigo. The battling Wolverine and Hulk are startled when they hear Marie scream. That momentary distraction is just enough time for Hulk to lay a haymaker on Wolverine's skull -and remember, we didn't know that the runt had adamantium bones back then - and only by virtue of his quick reflexes does Wolverine avoid getting killed. He is knocked unconscious though.  Back in the cave, we see that the Wendigo is trying to communicate with Marie. She is puzzled. He points to the chamber beyond and we see now that lying on the slab inside is her brother, Paul! Which means that the Wendigo is not her brother but Georges! Marie, seemingly remorseful, asks why he would do such a thing. Georges, now the Wendigo, uses the last of his intelligence to communicate -telepathically? - and tells her that he didn't take on the curse because he felt he owed her a debt, but because he loved her. The last bit of his intellect now gone, he knocks out the back of the cave wall and disappears, leaving Marie sobbing hysterically. The Hulk comes on the scene, not necessarily understanding everything that has happened, but understanding the simple human emotion of grief. He puts his hand on Marie's shoulder to comfort her.

Doug:  So you also found it funny that Marie was struggling to drag Banner even before he started to increase his mass.  Georges must have been doing some serious heavy lifting when they moved the Wendigo!  And "Animal girl" -- gotta love it!  Parts of this plot were a little too conveniently arrived at, such as the chains.  You took the words right out of my mouth (or off my fingers, I guess), because Wolverine takes a serious jolt when the Hulk slams him to the ground and pops right back up from it. No healing factor has been mentioned yet, right?  I thought the panel where he immediately engages the Hulk and showed him with his right arm bent, rather than with claws extended was for Comics Code approval.  Note that we never saw the title character slashed, as was the Wendigo.  Another curious aspect of this issue is the fact that the claws are always extended -- I read once that (I think it was) John Romita envisioned the claws as being part of the gauntlets.

Doug:  And good old child-like Hulk.  He's taken a whoopin', but he's truly a gentle giant.  I always appreciated that about him and the way he was written in the Bronze Age.

Karen: We came in on the second half of this tale, and you can feel it. But even so, it's a solid story. Not

much in the way of characterization. Wolverine is not the star here, just another threat for the Hulk to have to deal with. But the story is well-paced and the writing is solid. It's a good read, nothing spectacular but not bad at all. I'm not a fan of Trimpe's work but I've always accepted it on Hulk, as he was the artist on the book when I started reading it. He manages to convey the Hulk's raw power, and does a nice job in the quiet scene at the end. This was a fairly low-key first appearance -we certainly wouldn't have known that Wolverine would blossom into a superstar based on this.

Doug:  I agree with your assessment of Trimpe's art.  A long time ago we reviewed a few issues of Super-Villain Team-Up and I didn't care for his work there.  Granted, it looked the same as it does here, but just as you stated I accept it here.  As we, and many Trimpe apologists have stated before, Herb never looked better than when John Severin inked him.  But by now those days had passed.  I'm not sure what I thought of Wolverine as a kid, but I can guarantee you that he would get a lot more interesting and a lot cooler in just a few short months!