Incredible Hulk in the 70s
The Incredible Hulk in the 70s was a title that tried to evolve with the times with mixed results. Herb Trimpe continued as a regular artist until issue #193 only taking a brief break between issue #142 and 145. Trimpe worked with writer Roy Thomas on the title through to Incredible Hulk #145. A lot of these stories followed a similar format, the Hulk would fight some other power-house or impossibly powerful creature spawned either from science or sorcery ultimately coming up the victor.
However, there are some milestones, such as issue #124, which featured the first but ultimately failed wedding between Bruce Banner and Betty Ross. Issue #126 had the Hulk teaming up with Doctor Strange to save a woman named Barbara Norris from the so-called Nameless One. This story serves as a prelude to the eventual formation of the Defenders in Marvel Feature #1. Issue #130-131 was also the first time Bruce Banner was separated from the Hulk. Ultimately, the two had to be merged back together because the Hulk proved too dangerous on his own. The story is also noteworthy for introducing Jim Wilson as the Hulk’s new “sidekick” to replace Rick Jones who, at the time, was paired with Captain Marvel. Jim Wilson was one of Marvel’s attempts of adding diversity to their universe, however Wilson was victim to the stereotypes attributed to African-Americans during the 1970s. Issue #135 also had a unique plot, in which Kang the Conqueror sends the Hulk back in time to first World War to kill an ancestor. The rationale was that if Kang could prevent the Hulk from being born, he could conquer the modern age. A convoluted plot which gave writers an excuse to have the Phantom Eagle, a World War I fighter pilot, guest star.
Issue #140 was an issue that Roy Thomas co-wrote with notable science fiction author Harlan Ellison. This story saw the Hulk get shrunk down to size and enter the Microverse. There, on the micro-world of K’ai, the Hulk had the mind of Bruce Banner and became a hero to the kingdom that resided there defending it from the evil Psyklop. It’s during this issue that the Hulk first meets Jarella, a green skinned beauty that would be his love interest for quite some time. However, the Hulk would find himself brought back to Earth that very same issue. The following issue introduced the character Doc Samson the gamma powered psychologist who tired to cure Bruce Banner of being the Hulk. However, when Samson uses his new found looks and strength to try to get into Betty Ross’ pants, Banner intentionally exposes himself to another dose of gamma radiation to beat the living shit out of Samson, because this was written in an era where Betty was nothing more than a possession that multiple men fought over. Conversely, issue #122 introduced the Valkyrie for the first time. It’s an odd story that involved the Hulk being taken in by the Parringtons, a wealthy New York family that takes on “pet causes”. Things go sour wen Amora the Enchantress turns the Parrington’s daughter into Valkyrie to battle the Hulk. With issue #146, the title exchanged hands with Gerry Conway for two issues. The only thing notable to point out is that he de-powered Doc Samson, although that wouldn’t last.
Archie Goodwin took over as writer next from issues #148-157 with a brief break for issues #152-153 which were written by Gary Friedrich, Steve Englehart, and Roy Thomas. Other than bouncing the Hulk too and from the Microverse the only notable story on display here was the trial of the Hulk which, as you can already guess, involved the Hulk being captured and put on trial for all the destruction he had caused, it goes about as well as you would expect. Issue #158 was written by Thomas and Steve Gerber. Other than an excuse to visit Counter-Earth (then home of Adam Warlock) it also saw the startling wedding between Betty Ross and Glenn Talbot, a marriage that was doomed from the start. Steve Englehart took on regular writing duties until issue #171. Issues of note are issue #161 which guest starred the Beast. It was a story to wrap up the plot threads left in Amazing Adventures (Vol 2) when the title dropped the Beast as the feature character was replaced with Killraven. Issue #162 introduced the Wendigo, while issue #166 introduced Zzax. Issue #167 began a plotline that would be the first lurch in the marriage between Betty Ross and Glenn Talbot wherein Talbot becomes a prisoner on a mission to Russia in order to save Betty’s father. Issue #168 is also notable for Betty Ross being briefly transformed by gamma rays into the Harpy. Issue #172 featured three writers: Roy Thomas, Tony Isabella, and Steve Englehart, which featured the return of both the Juggernaut and the X-Men, the latter being on a hiatus due to their title publishing reprints.
The book then passed hands between writers for a period, the only notable run being issues #176-178 that wrapped up remaining plot threads when Adam Warlock’s title was cancelled. Len Wein took over as writer between issues #179-220. His run saw Glenn Talbot be replaced by a Russian spy who attempted to assassinate the president, ultimately failing in Hulk #185. Wein’s run is best known for issues #180-181 which introduced readers to Wolverine for the first time. Other than the return of the real Glenn Talbot in issue #188 there’s not a whole lot that can be said about Wein’s run as it wasn’t any more or less remarkable than the usual “Hulk fights a seemingly more powerful enemy” stories that had become a trope of the series at this point. Issue #193 saw the return of Doc Samson, and that’s the only real interesting thing to note.
Issue #194 saw Sal Buscema who pencilled the title almost consistently until issue #309. Up until this point, Incredible Hulk annuals were reserved for reprints of older Hulk stories. However, Annual #5 saw the return of original stories. The first, co-written by Len Wein and Chris Claremont had the Hulk battle Xemnu the Titan, a Atlas era monster that was seeing a bit of a revival in the mainstream Marvel Universe. Xemnu went after the Hulk to reclaim the right to call himself the Hulk (as Xemnu was referred to as the Hulk in is appearances in Journey into Mystery #62 and 66). Issue #200 of the title featured a story where the Hulk literally goes into the mind of Glenn Talbot (who was now in a catatonic state following his ordeals in Russia) to snap him back to reality. This led to Hulk’s eventual return to the Microverse and a reunion with Jarella by issue 202. Jarella would join the Hulk when he returned to Earth, but their happy romance would prove short-lived as Len Wein later fridged Jarella in issue #205. The story is highly criticised for doing away wit Jarella much in the same way that George Stacy was killed off in Amazing Spider-Man #90, by pushing a child out of the way of falling rubble. Obviously, the Hulk didn’t take to Jarella’s death too well and the next two issues saw the brute battling his sometime teammates in the Defenders.
By this time, the Incredible Hulk TV show was becoming popular, and Wein tried to balance between the type of stories that were a staple in the comics with the more human drama stories of the show. Not only was the Hulk battling the mysterious They Who Wield Power, but Bruce Banner also got an apartment and was slumming it in New York City. This introduced another pack of supporting characters to an already crowded title including Bruce’s landlord April Sommers, the magician Kroptotkin the Great. Other notable stories during this run was the introduction of the Constrictor in Hulk #212.
Roger Stern took over following issue #220. He wrote a story titled “Feeing Billy” in issue #222 and it stands, in my opinion, as one of the most fucked up Hulk stories ever written. It involves the Hulk finding some children in a cave and discovering that they lure people into the cavern to feed their baby brother Billy, who was transformed into a massive cannibal by toxic waste. What makes this more fucked up is that after Hulk seemingly kills Billy in a cave in, he leaves the two children to fend for themselves in the desert. They are never seen again. Stern also found himself doing the balancing act between the comics and the TV show. Although his first major arc (running from issue #223-225) saw the Hulk save Gammabase from the Leader, Stern still tried to cram in the characters that were part of Banner’s housing complex. Annual #7 was a decent story however, co-written with and drawn by John Byrne that saw the Hulk team-up with Iceman and Angel to stop Master Mold from wiping out mutants.
Issue #228 saw an organization called the Corporation try to infiltrate Gammabase and take control of the Hulk. This saw the Hulk going on the road with a hippie named Fred Sloan while the Corporation chased after them. They literally drive across America in a VW microbus because it was the 70s after all. This lead to all sorts of team-ups and cross-overs, notably with the Hulk meeting Machine Man in issues #235-236. When it came to do the next annual, Roger Sterm paired up with John Byrne again to do a story where the Hulk fights Alpha Flight’s Sasquatch, a character who (at the time) believed he got his power from gamma radiation as well (it wasn’t, but that’s a headache to talk about another time) Then in issue #238, Betty Ross and Glenn Talbot get divorced because by this point, their marriage was going absolutely nowhere and nobody liked writing about them as a couple. 1979 ended tying up the whole They Who Wield Power storyline, revealing that this was all a plot by Tyrannus to regain his lost youth, a whole lot of build up for a pretty lame ass premise. But that’s what the Hulk was like in the 70s, a lot of grand ideas that crumbled due to changing writers who didn’t really have any clear idea of what to do with the Hulk, or is supporting cast.
This stagnation would follow the Hulk until midway into the next decade….