Alone... Against The Defenders!

THE HULK IS ON THE RAMPAGE! After losing his love, Jarella, as a result of his battle with the Crypto-Man, the Hulk has lashed out in grief and anger while searching for the Master of the Mystic Arts, Dr. Strange, desperately hoping that the magician will be able to restore Jarella to life. And now, after fierce clashes with the forces of both Gamma Base and the N.Y.P.D., the Hulk suddenly finds that Dr. Strange has at last come to him--but after observing the Hulk's path of destruction, both Strange and the rest of the dynamic Defenders make it clear that they mean to bring a halt to the Hulk's actions, however they must.

Fortunately, Strange and the others have fought beside the Hulk often enough to avoid the face-off that appears to be taking place here, and instead attempt as comrades and friends to discern the cause of the Hulk's violent outburst. But due to his grief which still gnaws at him, combined with all of the recent unprovoked attacks against him aimed at stopping his potential threat, the Defenders have their work cut out for them.

In effect, the Hulk has sabotaged his own objective of soliciting Strange's help--his unabated rage making it impossible for him to focus on or even voice his immediate problem concerning Jarella, while the Defenders see only their friend's threat endangering lives while having no idea of the true root of his anger.

And so, at least for the time being, battle it must be--and while Strange initially takes a different approach, the Hulk is mentally equipped to take Strange's actions only one way.

With this issue's cover^*, we can reasonably surmise how things will go once the Defenders locate the Hulk again. But once the story fulfills the task that sold the comic book, the greater drama awaits.

^*More nice work by Dave Cockrum. (Did you recognize the license number on that car's front plate?)

Before things heat up, writer Len Wein and artist Sal Buscema take a moment to rejoin the Hulk, as he conceals his movements and ponders what he will do now that it seems that Strange has turned against him. In the Hulk's limited way of thinking, he still considers asking for Strange's assistance a matter of "making Jarella well again," perhaps even suppressing the thought that she's truly died. We know that the Hulk understands the concept of death, since he frequently makes such threats in dealing with his enemies--but death appears to become less of a finality to him when it applies to someone he truly doesn't want to lose. In this case, the Hulk's reaction might translate to one of us walking around in a daze instead of accepting the reality of the loss and coming to grips with our grief.

So when he mistakes a woman he encounters for Jarella, only to discover that she is not--rather than following his usual behavior of simply ignoring her and walking away, his disappointment instead becomes the catalyst for venting his frustration with humans, with their hatred and betrayal, with the attacks he constantly endures, and with his life. With everything except what has recently happened.

This time the face-off is for real, though it bears mentioning one important point: At no time before now has the Hulk mentioned to the Defenders that he sought out Strange for his help, much less elaborated on the reason for needing it. Asserting it now at this stage of the story could either be an oversight by Wein, or a sleight-of-hand method of extending the length of the story by making it appear the Defenders initially acted rashly and must now deal with the consequences. (More on that in a moment.) The way I prefer to interpret it is that, consumed by his anger and grief, the Hulk believes he made his situation clear at their first meeting, and that in his eyes the Defenders answered with betrayal.

Whatever the premise, we're now treated with predictable scenes of the Defenders showing their mettle against the Hulk, with predictable results. Strange is immediately sidelined with mystically shoring up the highway the Hulk damaged (if not that, Buscema could have chosen to render him unconscious); the thrown belt buckle of the Red Guardian, which she believes to be "a weapon equalled only by Captain America's legendary shield!", elicits an annoyed "Huh??" from the Hulk (and perhaps a few readers) and nothing more; the Valkyrie's enchanted sword proves ineffectual, except when hurled by the Hulk to take out both the Valkyrie and the Guardian; and Nighthawk, who battles the Hulk in daylight and thus has only his agility and no enhanced strength to use against his foe, fights to no avail.

But once he's been cornered by the Hulk, and words are all he has to save his life, Nighthawk fortunately makes up for with sincerity what he lacks in power. Regrettably, he mostly succeeds because Wein indeed circles back to bulk up Nighthawk's regret on behalf of the Defenders with the notion that they previously heard the Hulk ask for their help.

With the preliminaries over, the story shifts to its more interesting aspect--Strange's efforts to comply with the Hulk's wish. It's curious that Strange chooses to pursue the request, rather than counsel the Hulk just as he likely would anyone else who asked him to resurrect the dead, particularly since he's heard how the Hulk has already been down this path with the medical examination of Jarella at Gamma Base. On the other hand, it makes sense that, as a former surgeon, Strange is still sympathetic to those who seek a second opinion on a medical condition, even one that seems as hopeless as this.

And so Strange releases his astral self and appears at Gamma Base to assess Jarella's state. Though given the circumstances, it's not really clear why he approaches Samson and the rest with words of arrogance rather than hope. It seems the old Stephen Strange will always be with him in some capacity.

The measured tones and assurances that Strange uses with the Hulk on his return can of course only go so far to help one whose last hope finally fades. Those in grief often react at the unfairness of the loss, and bemoan the inability to understand it--and while others can sympathize, they cannot truly share the depths of that loss as profoundly as those closest to it. Combine all of that with a creature born of rage--someone whose entire hunted life has been plagued with torment and loneliness and rejection--and the loss of someone so treasured by the Hulk lays bare the tragedy of his existence. Though in the process, the profile of Jarella--a supporting character, when it comes down to it--is raised in death more than it was in life.

Whether we've seen enough here of the effect of Jarella's death on the Hulk is debatable for each reader. There are, of course, future sales to consider, and more Hulk stories scheduled to come down the pipe--and originally, there were thirty days that would pass once the reader turned the final page to this issue, allowing more than enough time for even someone deeply moved by the Hulk's fictional anguish to be ready for the next phase in the Hulk's life. Indeed, even as Wein and Buscema do justice to their story by implying that the Hulk would engage in a period of mourning (if off-panel), the closing caption would make it clear that pivoting to that phase was exactly Wein's intent; and there seems to be no mistaking the symbolism of the last panel, where it's apparent that Wein considers the matter closed.

Incredible Hulk #207 Script: Len Wein Pencils: Sal Buscema Inks: Joe Staton Letterer: Irv Watanabe