Yuck! It's The Return Of The Glob!

It didn't seem likely that the incredible Hulk and the muck-monster known as the Glob would ever have a rematch, considering the burning swamp waters that appeared to seal the Glob's fate in their last encounter. It's also not too often that we would find the Hulk showing up in the Florida Everglades, though it's amazing just how much super-powered traffic that area is prone to. But it looks like the Glob has not only managed to rise again, but he's also decided to migrate to Los Angeles--and even for a city that has seen it all, this sight would likely have Angelinos heading for the hills.

Yet our story begins with Bruce Banner, wandering the countryside after the Hulk's battle with the Avengers and about to hitch a ride with one of his deadliest enemies. Though it may not appear that way, particularly when the driver seems to be clueless as to his own identity.

If this fellow's predicament seems a little familiar to you--and if his name rings a bell--then you're a lot closer than Banner is to solving the mystery of his amnesia. But the unveiling of this man's true self isn't long in coming--because although he isn't aware of it, his goal was to secure certain information from Banner as to whom the scientist felt friendship toward. And with that information now divulged, "Mr. Sterns" is no longer needed.

More often than not, the Leader has been as fixated on revenge against the Hulk as he is on conquest--so at times he goes to extraordinary lengths to strike back at the brute. As for what Banner could have told Sterns that would facilitate that revenge, it's a little surprising to find out just who--what--Banner feels he has a bond with.

Yet it's more accurate to say that it's the Hulk, not Banner, who feels a bond with the Glob, on the basis that he considers the two of them to be so alike in certain respects. That will prove to be both tragic and unfortunate, since, unlike the Hulk, the Glob will feel no compunction to go easy on his foe--in whatever form he finds him in.

Banner gets lucky as far as avoiding the Glob's initial strike, though finding himself submerged in wastewater probably has him wondering if "lucky" is the right word here.  At any rate, given that you and I would be scurrying for dry ground, you can imagine what effect Banner's quickening pulse rate has on him.

The collateral damage that occurs in these comics battles often spared lives, even when the Hulk's thrust here has ripped up an entire street. But though a wide swath of automobiles and street rubble are strewn into the sewer, somehow all the people remain topside, shaken but otherwise alive to tell the tale. Little do they know that they've only seen the tip of the iceberg here.

The Hulk doesn't yet realize that the battle has begun in earnest for the Glob, who has evaded the impact and explosion of the fuel tanker (don't ask me how a "glob" evades anything) and moves to a position from where he can attack anew. All the while, the Hulk bemoans the fact that he's been forced to fight this one whom he feels kinship with. It seems an unlikely approach for writer Roy Thomas to take in either of the stories featuring the Glob, since the character mostly shambles along and doesn't really register as a creature whose existence parallels the Hulk's in any way. Perhaps it's merely a way for Thomas to pad the encounter between the two with dialogue, since the Glob cannot supply his own.

As for the Hulk, he's slowly coming to the conclusion that he can't afford to give the Glob the benefit of the doubt any longer, since his enemy is giving no indication that he's inclined to be anything less than aggressive and fatal in his assault.

So when the Glob again catches up to him (thanks to the Leader, whose beam has given the Glob the ability to track his foe), the Hulk makes his stand--or, rather, his climb, where a fatal discharge of voltage finally puts an end to the Glob's existence as the Leader's pawn.

How the Glob--a mass of swamp material--comes to weigh as much as a ton is anyone's guess... but a catastrophic explosion certainly amounts to more drama than the Glob simply splattering into a kazillion muck fragments against the ground. And since the Leader is nursing one beauty of a headache, it doesn't look like he cares either way.

The Glob would eventually reassemble and go on to meet the Man-Thing in that character's Giant-Size mag, but would later reappear in Incredible Hulk when both the Hulk and the Man-Thing went up against the Collector. Reportedly, he's also had some involvement as a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative, though you can't help but be curious about where he would pin his badge.

Incredible Hulk #129 Script: Roy Thomas Pencils and Inks: Herb Trimpe Letterer: Sam Rosen