Incredible Hulk #152. The Fantastic Four and Matt Murdock

(Cover from June 1972.)

“But Who Will Judge The Hulk?”

Written by Gary Friedrich.
Art by Dick Ayers/Herb Trimpe.
Inks by Frank Giacoia.
Lettering by Artie Simek.

Had an accident that wasn’t your fault? You need a lawyer. Caused a whole bucketful of accidents that were your fault? You need a great lawyer.

Sadly, in the world of Marvel Comics, there aren’t any great lawyers. There’s just Matt Murdock, a man who thinks it’s a good idea to give Bruce Banner a stimulant to liven him up a bit.

Yes, the Hulk’s been captured again and this time President Nixon - making yet another appearance in the strip - has ordered he be put on trial for his crimes. Thus Bruce Banner finds himself on a plane, headed for court, and Matt Murdock finds himself on board as his appointed legal representative.

It’s hard to know who’s stupider in this tale, Matt Murdock for ordering his client be given a gee-up, on a plane, thus inevitably turning him into the Hulk, or Thunderbolt Ross for instantly wrecking the truce Murdock sets up with the monster, thus sending the Hulk back on the rampage again.

Then again, there're other odd things afoot throughout the tale. Leaving aside the fact the issue has a different, writer, inker and penciller from normal, we get a guest appearance from both Captain America and Nick Fury, neither of whom do anything at all in the story before declaring their work is done and clearing off.

Fortunately, the Fantastic Four, who also guest in the tale, at least know what they’re there for, to fall out with each other and then arrive just in time for the story’s climax when the Hulk smashes out of the plane, delivers a line of dialogue he’d never deliver and sets himself up for a scrap with them.

Dick Ayers' and Frank Giacoia’s take on the strip stands out like a sore thumb, after Trimpe & Severin; less moody, more conventional and less sophisticated. But, although somewhat uninspired in its layouts, it does its job efficiently - and Herb Trimpe clearly had a fairly strong hand in page twelve at least. So, if we're not happy about the absence of our usual team, unlike the president we won't be calling in the lawyers just yet.

Incredible Hulk #108. More of the Mandarin

(Cover from October 1968.)

"Monster Triumphant!"

Written by Stan Lee.

Drawn by Herb Trimpe.

Inked by John Severin.

Lettered by I Watanabe.

Anyone who doesn't think an inker makes that much difference to how a strip looks only has to be pointed towards The Incredible Hulk #108 because the transformation from last issue is genuinely astonishing. Gone is Syd Shores and in comes John Severin. Suddenly, it's like you're looking at the work of a completely different penciller. Whereas Shores' heavy inks weren't at all suited to Trimpe, Severin's more subtle and detailed work is perfect for him. And the comic looks fantastic, oozing energy, urgency and action in every panel as Trimpe finally starts to make the most of his strengths as an artist.

There's something else also started to change. From the moment the strip was born, it had the glaring problem of how to build stories around a stupid, inarticulate and witless character. Here, Stan Lee and Herb Trimpe simply bypass the problem by making the Hulk a supporting character in his own book, a catalyst as much as a protagonist. It's not something that hadn't been done before but it's a solution the strip would increasingly use from now on and enabled it to achieve an ever greater richness of story-telling.

So, what actually happens? Simple; the Mandarin, having captured the Hulk, uses him to launch an attack on the Chinese. For some reason, Nick Fury and his Russian equivalent Yuri Brevlov fear this'll cause China to declare war on their respective countries. Why they think this, is anybody's guess but it's enough to convince them to team up. Happily for them, and for no reason I can make out, Tony Stark concludes the Mandarin must be behind it all. And so the pair attack the Mandarin's fortress as the Hulk takes on the entire Chinese army. Needless to say it all ends with the Hulk smashing up the Mandarin's castle before blundering off into the distance, bemoaning the fact he can't find anywhere where he's welcome.

That's what he thinks because he's more than welcome in my house. I really can't stress how much of an improvement on recent issues this one is as, after years of inconsistency and sometimes plain floundering around, the strip's quickly starting to stumble upon a story-telling style and a format that'll finally put it up there among Marvel's genuinely great strips.

And next issue is where that moment'll finally arrive.