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| Image copyright MARVEL COMICS |
I first read this tale in an issue of SMASH! back in the 1960s. Re-read it (and saw the above cover for the first time) in MARVEL COLLECTORS' ITEM CLASSICS #6 not long after. It was reprinted in an early ish of The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL in the early '70s, as well as appearing in the comic's Annual around the same time. One of my favourite HULK stories - one glance and I'm a kid again. How about you?
I first read this one in MCIC #6. It was probably the first Hulk solo story I ever read, and the second that had the Hulk in it. IIRC, the first Marvel comic I ever read was Marvel Super Heroes Special #1, which reprinted Avengers #2.
ReplyDeleteBoth were from the original "thug Hulk" era, when he was still talking like Ben Grimm or Nick Fury. Before he evolved (or devolved) into the "Hulk no like Air Force dropping bombs on him" version.
I preferred the 'nasty' Hulk, TC. The dumb Hulk never much appealed to me, apart from the Trimpe/Severin art of later tales.
ReplyDeleteI used to get Pow, Wham and Smash pretty regularly (I got Smash from IPC as well - one of my all-time favourite UK comics) as a kid, but I don’t really recall reading the Hulk stories for some reason (or the FF) in the Odhams books. I do remember him being in the comic but that’s it I’m afraid. I do however have a vivid memory of the Spider-man story in Pow where he fights the Terrible Tinker and the Chameleon (the latter from a POW annual) and every time I see those strips elsewhere it takes be right back to being 7 years old again.
ReplyDeleteI probably should know this but what is "MCIC" ?
MCIC? Marvel Collectors' Item Classics, McS - I even referred to it by its full name in the post. Your brain must be tired after a hard day at work, eh? Amazingly, None of the Wham! or Smash Annuals reprinted any Marvel stories, but Pow! did for some reason. Unfortunately, they butchered some of the tales by re-sizing two U.S. pages to fit one U.K. Annual page, and re-sizing others that had already appeared in the comic (in a cut-up state) back to their U.S. dimensions - but they did so in an extremely clumsy and inept fashion. Ditko's art deserved better.
ReplyDeleteWhatever happened to old Tyrannus? I vaguely remember he made a comeback in the 70s/80s.
ReplyDeleteI recall him appearing in another Hulk tale (1966), an X-Men tale (1967), and an FF story (1972), but I can't remember what happened to him after that, Phil. I do have a vague inking that he appeared again 'though.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! The best of Marvel..Lee story, Kirby art, and Ayers inker. The art was so great you did not worry if it made a lot of sense either.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, LG - your first comment to this blog, I believe. Yeah, comics back then were brilliant, weren't they? Stan and Jack firing on all cylinders.
ReplyDeleteTyrannus made occasional appearances at least as late as the 1980's. The 1966 Hulk story may have been Tales to Astonish #80-81. That 1972 Fantastic Four story sounds like FF #127, which tried to cram in all of the subterranean villains (including Kala and the Mole Man).
ReplyDeleteTyrannus was also in Hulk #127(1970) and #240-243(1979-80). Also Daredevil Annual #4 (1989), which was part of the "Atlantis Attacks" line-wide crossover.
In Hulk #127, Tyrannus tried to enlist the Hulk's aid in a turf war against the Mole Man (who had annexed the Fountain of Youth). Steve Does Comics pointed out that it was a pretty pathetic character who would need help against the Mole Man.
I know I've got DD Annual #4, but I don't recall much about it. I sort of lost interest in these crossover events around that time. As for he Mole Man, he's given the FF a pretty hard time on several occasions in the past, TC, and Tyrannus and Moley are probably pretty evenly matched with all the Subterraneans they have at their disposal.
ReplyDeletePhew you guys know your Marvel comics... and that is a compliment.
ReplyDeleteAll compliments gratefully and greedily accepted, LG. More, more!
ReplyDelete