Dr. K's Waiting Room

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Since his explosive debut in May 1962, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s gamma-irradiated Jade Giant has been one of their most recognisable and successful characters.

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Quick Facts:
Inspired by a story of a hysterical mother summoning superhuman strength to rescue her child and classic screen monsters, Doctor Robert Bruce Banner’s monstrous alter ego quickly crossed paths with one of his most notable rivals, Benjamin “Ben” Grimm/The Thing, about six months after his debut. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Thing echoed the Hulk’s position as a misunderstood, often feared creature and they have butted heads numerous times over the years.

The Review:
The story of the ever-lovin’, blue-eyed Thing’s first encounter with the Incredible Hulk begins outside the New York City symphony auditorium, of all places. Disguised by a long trenchcoat, fetching hat, and shades, the Thing exits the auditorium with his girlfriend, blind sculptor Alicia Masters, after sharing (begrudgingly, on Grimm’s part) a romantic evening at the orchestra. When a patron suddenly gets all excited and patriotic at spotting a passing company of infantrymen, the Thing is annoyed and insulted to have his disguise knocked off and be branded a monster. When the Thing accosts the blustering civilian, the soldiers spot him and assume he’s the super strong target they’ve been deployed to find and surround Ben, apparently not recognising him. Aggravated by the brazen attack, the Thing douses them with a nearby fire hydrant and easily snaps their “special flexible steel bands”. His patience at an all-time low, the Thing moves to up his attack and is pacified by gas shells, only for the commander to step halt the attack. Although he apologises, the commander riles Ben up further when he reveals the soldiers have been deployed to find the Hulk. Insulted to be mistaken for such a mindless beast, the Thing returns to the Fantastic Four’s headquarters at the Baxter Building and impatiently rips the elevator doors off and climbs thirty-five floors to the living quarters when he misplaces his key card. When the Thing shares the incident with the team, he’s angered to learn that General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross is popping over to discuss the Hulk’s threat with the Fantastic Four.

Sure enough, ol’ T-Bolt shows up, also apologises to the Thing, and reveals that the Hulk is suspected of sabotaging the military’s desert missile installations. During the presentation, Sue Storm/The Invisible Girl is so unnerved by the monstrous Hulk that she briefly loses control of her powers, much to the concern of the fascinated Doctor Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic. The Thing, however, is unimpressed by the brute and boasts that he could easily overpower the Hulk. Hot-headed Johnny Storm/The Human Torch mocks the Thing and gloats that he would stand a better chance against the Hulk, suggesting he could trap the beast in a maze of flames. Mr. Fantastic suggests a simpler approach: simply baiting the Hulk into a trap so Reed can envelop him with his malleable body. Oddly, Sue downplays her usefulness and, annoyingly, Ross reduces her to a simple cheerleader with a statement that even Reed backs up. Mr. Fantastic then shows off the team’s new Fantasi-Car and Ross joins them in flying over to meet Dr. Banner, his assistant (Doctor Karl Kort), and his “young helper” (perennial sidekick Rick Jones). While Dr. Kort is all for catching the Hulk, Dr. Banner insists that the damage doesn’t align with the Hulk’s most logical form of attack, earning him the ire of General Ross. After being insulted by Dr. Kort’s double take and annoyed by the Human Torch, the Thing decides to crash the meeting, angering both Reed and General Ross, who blows a gasket when the Thing proves his strength by tearing apart a stash of Ross’s bound telephone books. Cooler heads prevail and Dr. Banner offers to help Mr. Fantastic locate the true saboteur (dubbed “The Wrecker”), though he and Rick secretly lament that they can’t share the knowledge of Dr. Banner’s dual identity with the dysfunctional team. Dr. Banner and Rick’s wish to find the man behind the sabotage of an experimental nuclear deterrent instantly comes true when Rick glances at Dr. Kort’s wallet and finds he’s a card-carrying member of a “subversive communist-front organisation”, leading to the Commie bastard taking him hostage.

Rather than search for the Hulk, Mr. Fantastic fixes the base’s rocket sled for the Thing to take a jet-powered ride, only to be scuppered by bent tracks. Though rescued by Johnny and Reed, the incident convinces Ben that the Hulk is behind the sabotage. Thus, the team dismiss Dr. Banner’s protests to the contrary, so he slinks back to his laboratory to activate a special gamma-inducing machine and transform into the Hulk. Uncharacteristically retaining much of his intelligence and reason, the Hulk traverses the base using a network of underground tunnels, soon bumping into the Fantastic Four when they follow the Thing’s hunch that the Hulk is hiding underground. The Hulk eagerly clobbers the Thing, only to immediately regret it due to Ben’s stone hide and attempt to leave, dousing the Human Torch with sand and clawing his way to the surface in search of Rick. The team regroup in an abandoned town, so the Hulk upends a house and tries to crush them with it, only for the Thing to swat it aside. The Hulk easily overpowers Reed’s attempts to subdue him and again makes short work of Johnny, leading to a brief fist fight with the Thing. However, just as they’re getting into it, the Hulk is zapped by a “strange, atom-powered ray” from underground and knocked unconscious. Annoyed at being cheated out of his victory, the Thing burrows underground and destroys the Wrecker’s machine, realising that Dr. Banner was right all along. The Thing then busts down an iron door and discovers Dr. Kort armed with a ray gun, with Rick tied up as a hostage. Luckily, the Invisible Girl swats the device away and Dr. Kort is easily apprehended by the incensed Thing. In the confusion, the Hulk slips away to revert to Dr. Banner and thank Mr. Fantastic for all his help, watching from afar (as the Hulk) as the team are celebrated by the military and race off to their next adventure.

Final Thoughts: 
Obviously, this is very early in the Hulk’s Marvel career (the same year as his debut, no less!) so you have to cut it some slack and realise that a lot of his now-recognisable tropes were still being developed. For example, the Hulk isn’t a mindless, rampaging beast or even a child-like creature. In fact, he’s barely that angry at all and Dr. Banner can freely control his transformations using a special machine, retaining some control as the Hulk (though appearing noticeably more aggressive and confident when transformed). This story is also about a year after the Fantastic Four’s debut, so there are still some kinks being worked out there (the military doesn’t recognise the Thing, for example). This may also be one of the first, if not the first, crossovers between Marvel Comics characters as the Fantastic Four are specifically sought out by General Ross to combat the Hulk’s apparent sabotage. This issue is also set in the less-than-progressive sixties, meaning Sue is depicted as a fragile, useless woman only good for bolstering the men’s morale (though I did like that she played a pivotal role in apprehending the Wrecker). The story is a bit inconsistent at times, too. General Ross initially says that the “only way” to recognise the Hulk is by his superhuman strength, then immediately hands the Thing a photograph of the Hulk and treats the Fantastic Four to a slideshow of the Green Goliath, making me question why the hell those soldiers mistook the Thing for the Hulk! I can only assume they weren’t properly briefed, being mere infantrymen, and it seems the goal was to show that the Thing is as feared and judged by others as the Hulk. This also emphasises the Thing’s prideful nature and his incredible strength, both qualities continually highlighted throughout the issue to present him as being at least equal to the Hulk in these regards.

This was actually one of the first Hulk and Fantastic Four stories I read as a kid (I think it was included in a generic Marvel annual I had), so I have some nostalgia for it. However, the much-anticipated clash between the Hulk and the Thing is disappointingly lacklustre. Despite the Thing’s boasting, the Hulk proves far more formidable than he thought and even the Hulk is surprised by how painful it is to strike Ben’s rocky hide. One punch is enough to have the Hulk rethink his strategy, though he easily bests the Human Torch and shrugs off Mr. Fantastic’s attempts to wrap him up. I enjoyed the irony of this, as Johnny and Reed were very confident of their chances against the Hulk, but it turns out the Thing stands the best chance of subduing the Green Goliath, only for the two to be depicted as equally matched and for the Wrecker’s atom ray bullshit to end the fight just as it’s about to get interesting. Considering the story is squarely on the Thing, it would’ve been far better to have him and the Hulk tear through that “ghost town” knocking the stuffing out of each other while Reed and the others deal with the Wrecker and his machine. There’s not much to Dr. Banner and Rick here; it’s just the same thing of them protesting the Hulk’s innocence and being judged for it. I did like that he and Reed seem to hit it off, but we don’t get to see them working together in any meaningful way. Hell, we get more of a rivalry between Rick and Johnny than a science bromance between Dr. Banner and Reed, which was a shame. The Wrecker was also a lame villain, but I liked that Dr. Kort was smart enough to frame the Hulk and how easy it was for him to do thanks to Thunderbolt’s prejudices. Ultimately, this is a decent and note-worthy story but probably best read in a collection of other, more dramatic and exciting confrontations between the Hulk and the Thing.

Could Be Better

Did you enjoy the first encounter between the Hulk and the Thing? Were you also annoyed that the military mistook the Thing for the Hulk? Did you enjoy seeing the Thing’s pride and strength take the spotlight? Were you disappointed that their fights were barely worth mentioning? What are some of your favourite fights or moments between the Hulk and the Thing? How are you celebrating the Hulk today? Whatever you thoughts on the Hulk, share them below and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other Hulk content for the site.