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| Images copyright MARVEL COMICS. Cover art by JACK KIRBY |
One of the drawbacks of the much-vaunted 'Marvel Method' was that, occasionally, the words didn't always match what was going on in the pics - or vice versa, if you prefer. Writer STAN LEE usually tailored his script to the art, and on the odd instance when he diverged (for whatever reason), he would have a panel or page redrawn to fit the direction in which he wanted the story to go. It has to be admitted though, that sometimes things didn't quite gel and that glaring inconsistencies managed to sneak past the proofreading process. Such an example is the one below from The INCREDIBLE HULK #5 - take a look.
Okay, got that? According to RICK JONES (the inevitable teenage sidekick), TYRANNUS and BETTY have already passed through the opening which the boulder now blocks, this being the route by which the villain first reached the surface. However, peruse the following panels and see if you can spot the 'loopy lapse in logic' which Stan, as both writer and editor, failed to see.
It's obvious from the first panel that Tyrannus and Betty are still making their way up the mountain (from the other side, presumably), not descending into the bowels of the earth. And, when The HULK and Rick return, the boulder has been moved. However, if Tyrannus was already on the other side of it, who moved it and why? The scene as dialogued just doesn't make sense. It's clear that JACK KIRBY intended Bruce and Rick to detect tracks leading from the boulder, not to it; and while they made their way back to the lab, Tyrannus arrived and moved the rock, which is why it wasn't in place when ol' Greenskin and his teenage chum returned.
Here's how certain dialogue and captions should read:
CAPTION: A SHORT WHILE LATER...
Bruce: IT DOESN'T SIT RIGHT WITH ME, RICK! WHY
WOULD AN ARCHAEOLOGIST NEED A LOCAL GIRL TO
SHOW HIM THESE CAVES? WE'D BETTER INVESTIGATE!
Rick: AW, THIS IS FOR THE BIRDS, PAL! WHO
WANTS TO LOOK AT SOME OLD CAVES?
Bruce: ANOTHER THING - - WHY DIDN'T TYRANNUS
HAVE ANY ARCHAEOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT WITH HIM?
RICK - - LOOK AT THAT!
Rick: TRACKS - - LEADING FROM
BEHIND THIS GIANT BOULDER!
Rick: WE CAN'T BUDGE IT - - YET IT'S CLEARLY
BEEN MOVED RECENTLY! BUT HOW?
(Etc., etc.)
Caption: NOT LONG AFTER, AS TYRANNUS TAKES HIS
BEWILDERED PRISONER TO HIS SUB-SURFACE ESCAPE
CRAFT, THE MOST POWERFUL CREATURE OF ALL LEAPS
TOWARDS THE CAVE ENTRANCE...
Obvious when you apply a little logic, isn't it? Still a classic story though, and one of my all-time favourites.
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(In case there's anybody out there unfamiliar with the 'Marvel Method', this was when the writer would supply the penciller with a brief synopsis (or both of them would work out a basic plot), which the artist would then illustrate, perhaps adding some ideas of his own to 'flesh things out'. Then the writer, usually following explanatory margin notes by the artist, would script the dialogue and captions, before sending the pages to be lettered and inked.)
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