The Gods Must Be Crazy

We've come to the end of our roundup of the last of Marvel's large-format books from November of 1971 to be reviewed at the PPC--and of all of Marvel's characters who would be suited to such a format, few would arguably be more visually impressive than this gentle, inoffensive green behemoth who evokes serenity and happiness wherever he sets foot.

And if you're buying that malarkey, I have a gamma bomb I'd like to sell you.

All right, it's made of legos, but still.

With a large page count to accommodate, artists Herb Trimpe and John Severin (the definitive penciller/inker team for the incredible Hulk, in my humble opinion) more than fulfill their obligation in this issue, covering enough bases to give a new Hulk reader a decent amount of background on the character while also demonstrating what makes the Hulk so unique in Marvel's stable. Yet Hulk #145 isn't all smooth sailing, inserting as it does a story within a story of the Hulk being conscripted into appearing in, of all things, a Hollywood film being shot in the Sahara Desert. There's nothing new about a Hulk tale being a little offbeat on occasion; try picturing the Hulk being fawned over and holding his temper while attending a party thrown by the cream of Manhattan society, for instance. Yet you may find that "Godspawn," this issue's central story, is virtually dealt into everything else that's taking place, rather than the other way around--which may be intentional on the part of first-time Hulk scripter Len Wein, given how it only offers a glimpse of itself before disappearing for nearly half the issue.

This story is a one-shot for Mr. Wein, at least for the time being; nearly three years later, of course, he would formally come aboard the title as its regular scripter, in what would turn out to be a distinguished run of just over three years (while co-creating a character called the Wolverine along the way). With the story's early pages which focus on a very frustrated Hulk indiscriminately making his way across Europe following his encounter with Dr. Doom, Wein adapts well to Trimpe's style of handling the character--and while what we read is a most unflattering depiction of this man-monster who gives no regard to the havoc he wreaks with lives and property, it perhaps takes a certain flair on Wein's part to be able to maintain the Hulk as a sympathetic character, even as the brute's careless, destructive nature plays out before our eyes.

Eventually, the Hulk reaches land, and, from there, the desert where filming is underway for our future Hollywood blockbuster (or so its enthusiastic director hopes). Unfortunately for the cast and crew, the scene they're shooting involves violence, peril, and a young woman beset by attackers, all of which are misinterpreted by the approaching Hulk.

Once nervous introductions are made as to the nature of their visitor, the girl called Rachael has just enough time to put aside her anger at the Hulk's interference in favor of soothing words that luckily save all of their lives; and with the Hulk's change of heart comes an idea that "only in Hollywood" could be made into reality.

Meanwhile, what of those in the States who are connected to the fate of the Hulk, and of Bruce Banner? It turns out they have a much different approach to take in dealing with both man and monster.

The scene unveils what would be the first "Hulkbuster" base, designed, as Ross notes, to capture and imprison the Hulk, and, failing to find a resolution to his situation, to end his life--a last resort that has never sat well with Betty Ross, who is in love with the man inside the monster, nor does it now. What's somewhat mystifying about this scene is how it conveys the impression that those involved in plotting the book haven't been keeping each other in the loop, considering that, in the prior issue, Ross had precluded any need for such an expenditure of taxpayer money, now or in the future.

At the time, the military had unknowingly destroyed only a robot designed by Doom to make them give up the hunt for the Hulk, thus clearing the way for Doom's use for Banner--a deception which obviously worked perfectly. We're left to assume that news of the Hulk's activities in Europe and Egypt had inevitably reached Washington, where "the boys" that Ross mentions no doubt felt they had cause to give Ross the green light for Project Greenskin.

As for the Hulk, a wrench is thrown into the plans of our director when the Hulk unexpectedly reverts to Bruce Banner, whose presence (or, more accurately, the Hulk's absence) throws the entire production and its frazzled director into chaos--none of which interests Banner (or, frankly, us), but does open the door to an abrupt discovery that comes as some surprise to even one who shares an existence with a being such as the Hulk.

Perhaps also for the benefit of the new reader, the procedure performed on Banner allows an opportunity for Trimpe to provide a three-page retelling of the Hulk's origin--and though it might be irrelevant here, given the aliens' plans, it remains unclear why our aliens need any information... any "secrets" ... from anyone, much less someone who has no connection to the other humans currently occupying the site. That becomes even more apparent as they explain to Banner their origin and purpose, particularly how well they've planned for this moment and that their only concern is the "game," the seeds of which were put into place centuries ago. What sort of secrets from a random human could they have been after, at this point?

Realizing that this "game" may decimate half of the planet, Banner manages to overcome the alien who wears the destruct-mechanism, reasoning that it can somehow abort what's to come--but with the appearance of the two champions "planted" on the Earth long ago, is he too late?

To the aliens' surprise, the Hulk begins lashing out, destroying everything around him. Accordingly, and hurriedly, they act to transport him off the ship--and with the "Colossus" waiting impatiently for the one who will challenge him, the Hulk's sudden appearance can only be interpreted one way.

The battle that follows is made to order for Trimpe's usage of available space in proportion to the smashing which the Hulk indulges in as a matter of course. Yet that style may have eventually proven to be a distraction should this new book format have become permanent, since it would have presumably required artists to make use of larger panels whenever feasible--one example here being a reaction shot between two relatively unimportant bystanders (our Hulk-calming actress, "Rachael," and "Brad," a man who appeared to be the production's assistant director), a minor panel which is awarded over half a page of space.

(The first we've seen of any acknowledgement Rachael has shown of Banner, by the way.)

As for the Colossus, his bark turns out to be far more than his stone bite when it comes to battling the Hulk.

By the time the Colossus had engaged the Hulk, the aliens--these gods, as the story infers--who had brought him to animation had already left orbit, apparently having no choice but to consider this particular "game" null and void for the purposes of whatever dispute had spawned it. Yet the nature of its champions bears some scrutiny, given what we've seen of the fate of the Colossus. With the Sphinx also made of stone, these two champions could only pummel each other to rubble--which would mean the victor would likely be the champion that still retained a measure of animation (i.e., the one still "moving" if only in the slightest, rather than what we would consider "the one left standing"). That being the case, the conditions of the match relied more on chance than any prowess that either champion brought to the game--a curious basis on which to decide a dispute which required space travel and centuries of preparation to resolve. They might as well have just flipped a coin, a game which even the Grandmaster has been known to agree to.

Incredible Hulk #145 Script: Len Wein Pencils: Herb Trimpe Inks: John Severin Letterer: Jean Izzo