The Triumph of the Toad!

The Hulk was taken to a fantasy world created by the Shaper of Worlds where he was seemingly reunited with Crackerjack Jackson and Jarella. However, they were captured by the Toad Man, who sought to make them slaves, taking them back to their home planet Toadworld. They are brought before the Toad Men's king, the gigantic King Torkon II. Torkon remembers the Hulk from their failed attempt at conquering the Earth[1]. Torkon explains to the Hulk that the Toad Men live on a completely mechanized world comprised of various stolen alien technology that requires slaves to run and operate. Noticing the Hulk's fantasy world suddenly appear out of nowhere, the Toad Men decided to investigate it, and he demands that the Hulk tell him what he knows. The Hulk, having no clue how he ended up on that world has no information to provide and demands that he and his friend be set free or he will smash them all.

The Hulk and his allies are taken before Queen Froja, who finds their new slaves amusing. Just then one of the scientists bursts into the room with new findings regarding the Hulk's fantasy world: It is the work of the Shaper of Worlds. Wanting to enslave the Shaper and use his powers to the Toad Men's own ends, Torkon decides to use the Hulk as a tool to capture and enslave the Shaper. The Hulk initially fights back, breaking free from his shackles and begins to fight off the Toad Men rushing into the room to defend their monarchs. The Hulk fights them off until Torkon has Crackerjack and Jarella surrounded by men and threatens to kill them if the Hulk does not surrender and do his bidding. When Jarella convinces the Hulk to comply with them he is strapped with an adapted Skrull Nullatron Bomb and taken to the paradise planet to seek out the Shaper.

As the Hulk hunts for him, the illusion of a paradise world fades away revealing a barren and dead world. The Hulk finds the Shaper and confronts him, the Shaper is insulted that the Hulk would turn away his gift and attempt to attack him. When the Shaper realizes that the Hulk has a Nullatron Bomb strapped to his back, he reacts too late to stop it from detonating. The blast knocks them both out, and the Toad Men soon arrive on the planet to recover the unconscious Shaper and leave the Hulk behind. The Hulk awakens to find the Glorian waiting for him, and the Hulk explains the situation best he can.

The Hulk and Glorian then travel to Toadworld where Glorian confronts Torkon and demands that he set his master free. The leader of the Toad Men simply blasts the Glorian, knocking him out. Witnessing this, the Shaper is confused by the sensation of grief at his herald being injured, and this causes his illusions to fade revealing that Crackerjack and Jarella were simply slug like creatures that were made to look like the Hulk's friends. Realizing he had been party to an elaborate illusion, the Hulk goes on a rampage on Toadworld, causing massive damage and fighting off Torkon and his Toad Men minions.

Freed in the chaos, the Shaper of Worlds recovers the unconscious Glorian and stops the fight, offering to restore the Hulk's paradise. Realizing now that he was living an illusion, the Hulk refuses and demands to be returned home. Torkon begs the Shaper to grant them his gifts, but the Shaper refuses. He then sends the Hulk back to Earth and teleports away leaving Torkon and his minions to their fate on a dead world spinning helplessly throughout the reaches of space.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, Shaper of Worlds, Glorian, Toad Men

Continuity Notes

• The Toad Men are acutally members of the Tribbitite race and their planet is Tribbit as revealed in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #11

• The ruler of the Toad Men recounts their failed attempt to conquer the Earth, ruined by the Hulk in Incredible Hulk #2.

• In this story the ruler of the Toad Men is Torkon II, who replaced Toadius V who was depicted as the leader in Incredible Hulk #2. Toadius is seen rulign the Toad Men again in Black Knight (vol 4) #2. What caused Torkon to become ruler in this story is, as yet, unexplained.

• One explanation as to how a Skrull nulltron was able to knock out the Shaper of Worlds is likely because the Shaper started its existence as a Cosmic Cube created by the Skrulls as revealed in Captain America Annual #7.