Mongu, Redux!

 

It's November of 1962, and the first Incredible Hulk series is just two issues away from cancellation in March of 1963.* Following the format of the previous issue, writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby have the story pulling double duty--the first half making a concerted effort to engage the reader more with the Hulk, Bruce Banner, and the book's limited cast of characters (Rick Jones, Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross, and his daughter and Banner's love interest, Betty), leaving the second half to introduce the book's threat to the title character.

*Though the beleaguered Hulk would receive an encore, as the date coincides with his first appearance in the pages of Fantastic Four.

By all indications, we're in for another alien menace, the book's second thus far; yet we'll also be witness to yet another change in the makeup of the Hulk, who at this point still remains under the mental control of Rick following an attempt to exile the Hulk in space and his subsequent exposure to unexpected radiation. And as if Bruce Banner and Rick Jones didn't have enough to worry about, there is one person under everyone's radar who is beginning to put the pieces together on the mystery of the Hulk, someone who unfortunately has the ear of the general who commands the New Mexico military base which has turned its resources toward finding and destroying him.

And now, the arrival of a figure who descends from the stars, whose challenge will decide the fate of the entire planet!

Whew, that's a relief--just about any industrial complex on Earth can "weld" a two-ton ax for this alien in no time! We're saved!

I don't suppose Mongu is the type to be amused at being tripped up by having misspoken.

Meanwhile, Rick is called in to face the music, which ends up putting him between a rock and a hard place. In desperation, he decides to do his best to change the Hulk back into Banner--but afterward, when it's evident the procedure has weakened the scientist to such a degree that he can't function, it's Banner himself who takes the gamble of going a bit further with this new "treatment" involving his gamma ray machine.

Yet what this brilliant scientist has failed to consider is that his ideal scenario of being able to exist as the Hulk or himself comes with the caveat of repeated gamma radiation exposure. In addition, both he and Rick see that while the man is now in "control" of the Hulk, his personality isn't as constraining as he'd like to believe.

But such concerns are put aside when word arrives of Mongu's challenge--compelling Banner to take his first steps toward his dual existence as the Hulk. Upon his arrival at the Grand Canyon, however, he discovers "Mongu" to be nothing more than a ruse by the Russians to facilitate his capture (mirroring the goal of their former compatriot, the Gargoyle).

And if you're finding that Boris "Mongu"ski's little hoax is jogging your memory a bit, it turns out later that the Gargoyle's son, the Gremlin, took a leaf from Monguski's book in his later guise as the new Titanium Man:

Also, if you still feel that something else is jogging your memory but you can't quite put your finger on it, you may be recalling an issue of Adventure Into Fear (headlining the Man-Thing at the time) which takes place over ten years later, where we find writer Steve Gerber (with artists Val Mayerik and Chic Stone) introducing their own gladiator named Mongu on the other-dimensional world of Sandt, who happens to be the spitting image of Monguski's fake alien--right down to the costume detailing and the ax. Come on.

As for the circumstances at the Grand Canyon, here's a pertinent question: How many Russians does it take to capture the Hulk? The short answer: A lot more than Monguski brought with him.

And with the Hulk's victory, you know what that means: another refreshing dose of radiation for a scientist whose tradeoff existence as the Hulk results in fatigue which he doesn't seem to equate with continued and potentially fatal gamma ray exposure. But who am I to advise a man on his way to guest-star in a Fantastic Four mag.