Incredible Hulk #189
None Are So Blind...!
In the rubble that once was Bitterfrost, the Hulk pulls himself free, having survived the blast. His memories of his battle against the Gremlin and Droog fleeting, he begins to wonder where he is and begins making a trek back home. Of course, the Hulk has no idea where he is and easily gets lost in the Russian wilderness. He stops when he hears beautiful singing, drawn to the voice the Hulk comes across a little girl named Katrina who is startled at the sound of his arrival at first, but makes to be friendly toward him. The Hulk soon realizes that she cannot see what he looks like because she is actually blind.
When some of the nearby villagers spot the Hulk, they initially attack him until Katerina convinces them to stop. Sergi, Katerina's doctor invites the Hulk into their town and asks them to help him stop the "dark ones", creatures that come and raid their village in the night. The Hulk agrees to go and learns that Sergi was attempting to create a cure for Katerina's blindness when the serum he was working on was stolen by the raiders. The Hulk agrees to help them, and that night spoits an army of the Mole Man's Molids and attacks them. Sending them fleeing the village. Following their foot prints the Hulk follows them to a cave where he is ambushed by a greater number of Moloids.
Knocked out, the Hulk awakens sometime later to find himself bound in a body harness. The Mole Man, standing before him gloats at how he survived his seeming demise battling Spider-Man and Mr. Fantastic, when his Moloids sacrificed themselves to create a living bridge for him to escape a flow of lava. When the Mole Man reveals that he has stolen Sergi's sight restoring formula to use to cure his own lost vision, the Hulk becomes furious that his friend Katrina is going to have the gift of sight robber from her and breaks free from his restrains. Easily over-powering the Mole Man, the Hulk takes the serum and fights his way through the Moloids. The Hulk succeeds in escaping, bringing the Mole Man's head quarters crashing down around them.
He reaches the surface just as Sergi and a team of hunters have reached the mouth of the cave to attack the Moloids themselves. They are happy to find the Hulk alive and well and with the antidote. Taking him back to the village they give it to Katrina, who's sight is restored. Insecure about how Katerina would see him, the Hulk is surprised when she doesn't see him as a monster, but as a kindly giant man. She hugs him and calls him beautiful and tells him that he is loved.
When Sergi and Katerina invite the Hulk to stay and live in their village, the Hulk, not believing Katerina's kind words declines. As he walks away from the village, the Hulk considers himself a monster and bursts into tears.
Recurring Characters
Hulk, Mole Man, Moloids
Continuity Notes
The events of the second story of Incredible Hulks #621 takes place between panels 3 and 4 on page 2 of this story.
The Mole Man recounts his last encounter with the Hulk in Incredible Hulk #127, as well as provides an explanation as to how he escaped apparent death during his battle against Spider-Man and Mister Fantastic in Marvel Team-Up #17.
