A Man-Brute Berserk!

The shelf life of the woman known as Jarella--the woman who ruled a sub-atomic world and encountered the incredible Hulk as first an ally and then, with Bruce Banner's mind in control, as a lover--was extended well beyond her debut in the title in mid-1971, lasting until her tragic death in late 1976 and even posthumously, with a two-issue follow-up that explored the reaction of a grief-stricken Hulk whose rage engulfed both himself and those unfortunates around him. As spotty as Jarella's appearances were in Incredible Hulk (she existed on a planet smaller than an atom, after all, necessitating that her stories appeared only on rare occasion), it's fairly easy to bring anyone unfamiliar with the character up to speed on the circumstances which led to her death.

Following the Hulk's abrupt departure from Jarella's world due to the machinations of Psyklop, we see the Hulk reappear there after an unstable reducing serum developed by Henry Pym causes the Hulk to plummet again through the microverse until he eventually arrives on her planet^*, where a traitor, Visis, wages war against her. Eventually, his forces are suppressed--but Pym's serum wears off, causing the Hulk to grow again, with unfortunate results for Jarella's world.

^*The odds are nothing short of incredible that, time and again, the Hulk manages to zero in on Jarella's world, despite having an entire universe of worlds, moons, asteroids, comets, and stars to end up on.


Much later, when Banner (as the Hulk) is reduced in size and surgically implanted in the brain of Maj. Glenn Talbot in order to save his life, the destruction of a controlling mechanism causes the Hulk to begin growing before the extraction process can begin, forcing those monitoring the "operation" to hurriedly shrink the Hulk further. That has him arriving you-know-where, where he finds Jarella's world rocked from earthquakes caused by the Hulk earlier kicking it from orbit. Psyklop, meanwhile, has used the quakes to convince Jarella's superstitious people that a false "god" he's manufactured wishes Jarella to be destroyed.

Meanwhile, Talbot's team is able to remove the atom containing the Hulk from his brain, and prepare to restore the brute to his normal height--the ramifications of which will become apparent shortly.

Once Psyklop is destroyed, Doc Samson's retrieval procedure is initiated--only this time, because of Jarella's close proximity to the Hulk, her people are witness to their queen being taken along with the Hulk. And due to the most incredible "oops" moment of all time, Jarella will find that she no longer has a world to return to.

So, for all intents and purposes, Jarella becomes a resident of planet Earth. And with both herself and Banner now free to enjoy their relationship without being separated again, Jarella certainly bounces back from the loss of both her people and her entire world in record time.

But an old menace, reactivated by a villain in the shadows, threatens to shatter the couple's joy, particularly when its gaze falls on Jarella:

Which receives the response you might expect from the easily-alarmed Banner.

The resulting battle takes its toll on the area, especially when you consider that the Crypto-Man once tangled with Thor--so it's no surprise to see innocent bystanders suffer in this clash. And because this battle occurs in a comic book, and in the midst of happiness, it's also no surprise to see tragedy strike, as Jarella pulls a Captain Stacy on us and finally makes her exit from the book.

Accordingly, the Crypto-Man is fatally dealt with--as is its mysterious master, when its destruction sends a deadly surge back to the villain's lair and overloads its control panel. The Hulk, of course, is left clueless as to why this has happened and why he's suffered the loss of the one who held his heart. But he won't stay in shock for long--and you can be sure the awe won't be far behind.

After returning to Gamma Base with Jarella only to find that she's beyond the help of Samson to revive (of course she is--will someone please drum it into Samson's head that he's a psychiatrist, not a surgeon??), the Hulk roams the country in a last-ditch and desperate attempt to locate Dr. Strange, believing that magic might help her where science failed. But Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross, against Samson's protests, does what he always does, and sends fighter jets in pursuit. In the Hulk's current mood, they meet a swift end, with their pilots nearly sharing the same fate.

Reaching New Jersey, the Hulk spots the Statue of Liberty and leaps to it in order to gain an optimal vantage point for his search. But fearing damage to the monument, the N.Y.P.D. attack the Hulk on sight--and the damage they sought to avoid becomes unavoidable, not only for the statue but also for themselves.

Nor do New York City's vagrants fare well against the brute's frustration and impatience, given that the Hulk appears to be what some among their number are not--a teetotaler.

Finally, the Hulk locates Strange's sanctum--but when an unseen force prevents him from entering, and his efforts to breach it fail, he assumes that no one is home and decides to wait at the doorstep for Strange's return. His patience isn't rewarded even at dawn; but a startled passerby, now startled and alarmed, notifies the authorities, who arrive in force.

To their credit, they wisely hold their fire for the time being, in an effort to avoid provoking the Hulk--but an unsteady rookie, with frazzled nerves and a trigger finger to match, finds out the hard way that a show of force against the Hulk is met in kind, and then some.

Leaping off to continue his search, the Hulk arrives at the Manhattan waterfront, where more police follow. Ripping off a section of a building's roof to hurl at them, however, he discovers that the one he seeks has found him--and Dr. Strange has not come alone.

Good grief! Why are Strange and the others squaring off against their friend?

Didn't Strange just say he wants hostilities to cease?

BONUS:

Since the Hulk's face on artist Dave Cockrum's cover looks like the work of Art Director John Romita, we could assume that it's Cockrum's version that we see on Marvel's digital copy (left to right, respectively). Can the Hulk look too berserk for even his own company?

NEXT:

Alone Against The Defenders!

Incredible Hulk #206 (with scenes from #s 156, 202, 203, and 205) Script: Len Wein Pencils: Sal Buscema Inks: Joe Staton Letterer: John Costanza