The monster
hides behind a large rock as soldiers search for him. One of the
soldiers says, “Fan out, men! We’ve got to find
that… that hulk.” Another says, “Look sharp there!
Don’t let the hulk get his hands on you!” The monster
is then named Hulk. Incredible Hulk #1- continued
Part Two- “The Hulk Strikes”
The monster
hides behind a large rock as soldiers search for him. One of the
soldiers says, “Fan out, men! We’ve got to find
that… that hulk.” Another says, “Look sharp there!
Don’t let the hulk get his hands on you!” The monster
is then named Hulk.
Back at the hospital soldiers look over the two-foot thick concrete wall that the Hulk plowed through. An officer wonders what became of Bruce Banner and the boy.
Rick Jones follows as the Hulk is mumbling to himself that he has to get home to the formulas. Instinct drives the Hulk to Bruce Banner’s small cottage as he smashes everything in his path. When the Hulk gets close he starts to move with unbelievable stealth. Hulk spots Banner’s cottage and knows that is where he must go. Inside Igor is tearing through Banner’s possessions looking for the gamma ray formula. The Hulk enters and Igor shoots him. Hulk doesn’t even feel the shot. Hulk grabs Igor’s gun and says that he isn’t going to shoot him anymore. Hulk crushes Igor’s gun in his hand. Igor says that Hulk isn’t human. Hulk lifts Igor into the air and asks, “Human? Why should I want to be human?” Rick tells the Hulk to put him down or he will kill him. Hulk throws Igor onto a table and knocks over a beaker that has the top secret report on the gamma ray bomb. Rick grabs it and says that they had better get this to the army. Rick says that Hulk must have written when he was Bruce Banner. Hulk says, “Bruce Banner! Why do those words stay in my head? What is that name to me?” Hulk spots a picture of Bruce Banner and recoils in revulsion. He says that he hates that face because it is weak and soft. Rick says that Hulk can’t hate it because that was his face before he changed.
Hulk suddenly remembers and says that it was
the gamma bomb that did this to him. He says that he was changed
when darkness fell. Rick says that it might have happened to him
if it hadn’t been for Banner, and that is why he is sticking
with him. Hulk tosses Rick aside and says that he is glad that it
happened. He says that he would rather be him than that puny
weakling in the picture. Hulk says that he doesn’t want Rick
with him, and that he doesn’t need anybody. Hulk says that
with his strength that the world is his. Hulk turns to Rick and
says, 
“As for
you… you are the only one who knows who I really am!”
Rick asks what he means by that. Hulk starts to advance on Rick,
but then the sun comes up over the horizon. Hulk says that his
brain is on fire as he transforms back into Bruce Banner. Bruce
says that it feels as though a veil has been lifted and that he
can think again. Rick hands Bruce his glasses, but then suddenly
the police are outside Banner’s cottage demanding to be let
in.
Part Three- “The Search for the Hulk”
Betty Ross and a bunch of MP’s enter the room. They ask where the Hulk went. Bruce wonders who the Hulk is, and Rick mumbles that they must be talking about him. The MP’s say that they followed the Hulk there, but now the place is empty. The MP’s find Igor unconscious. The officer says to take Igor to the hospital and concludes that he was in league with the Hulk. The officer asks Bruce what happened to him and how do they know that he isn’t mixed up in this. Rick asks the officer if he actually thinks that Bruce is the Hulk. Two MP’s say that they saw the Hulk and that he doesn’t look anything like Bruce Banner. They compare Hulk to a gorilla or a bear. The officer takes Banner’s gamma ray formula for safekeeping.
Betty comes up to Banner and says that she came to apologize for her father’s treatment, but she didn’t expect to find… Bruce breaks in to say, “to find me in the middle of a search for a… monster?” Bruce starts to sob. Betty says that he needs medical care, but Rick interrupts and says that all Bruce needs is a little piece and quiet. Bruce apologizes and says that he has been under a great strain. He says that Rick will show her out. Bruce walks Betty to the door and says that he will call her later. Betty says that she feels Bruce is in some great danger and she wants to help. Once alone Rick asks Bruce what it felt like to be the Hulk. Bruce is brooding and Rick says that he should cheer up since it’s over now. Bruce reminds Rick that he became the Hulk when the sun went down and that he became Bruce again at dusk. He asks how he knows he won’t change into the Hulk again.
Part Four- “Enter… The Gargoyle!”
Igor broods in his cell. He thinks about how the Americans’ think that he is helpless, but he is not. Igor uses a miniture transistor short wave sending set that he had pasted to his thumbnail to send a message behind the iron curtain. Thousands of miles away in the USSR, Igor’s message is received. The commander gets it and discovers that it is high priority. He thinks that the Gargoyle must see this, but he is afraid to face him. The commander gives the message to his superior to pass it on, but that man also passes it on to another as he is afraid too. That man stands outside the Gargoyle’s door shivering. When Gargoyle yells at him the man sends the message through the bottom of the door.
Gargoyle picks the message up, and says that he is glad that everyone is afraid of him, and that the whole world will tremble before him. Gargoyle reads the message and is stunned to learn of a creature called the Hulk whose power “almost matches mine”. Gargoyle says that he has to find the Hulk and kill him or take him prisoner as a symbol of his might. Gargoyle uses the radio to tell his underlings to prepare the rocket- firing sub for immediate departure.
Later when the submarine is in the correct position it fires a rocket into the air. Hunter missile destroy the missile, but the head escapes destruction. The head lands and the Gargoyle emerges. He says that it is time for the Gargoyle to meet the Hulk.
It is almost evening and Rick asks Bruce if he shouldn’t be at home waiting to see if he is going to change intot he Hulk. Bruce says that if he is going to change that he wants it to be out in the open this time. Bruce is driving a Jeep to an isolated location. As Bruce drives the changes intot he Hulk. Hulk lets go of the steering wheel as he looks at his hands morphing, Rick tells him to keep his hands on the wheel, but Hulk says that he doesn’t care about the wheel or anything else. The Jeep crashes. Hulk gets up and wonders where he is. Hulk realizes that he is close to where General Ross and Betty live. Hulk starts to go to Betty. Rick is trying to stop him but can’t stop the Hulk. Gargoyle spots Hulk and follows him.
Inside the Ross hosehold, Betty is sitting around thinking about Bruce. Ross asks her what is the matter. Betty says that she just feels like with all the strange supernatural forces around them that they are about to go on a unimaginable adventure. Ross suggests that Betty needs to go get some fresh air. Betty decides that she is right and says that maybe she can pretend that it was all a dream and that there is no Hulk. Hulk says, “But there is a Hulk! And don’t you ever forget it!” Betty faints and Hulk catches her. Rick tells Hulk to put Betty down and that they have to get away from there. Hulk says, “Shut up! Nobody tells the Hulk!” Gargoyle appears out o fthe shadows and says that Hulk is wrong there. He tells Hulk to turn and face the Gargoyle.
Part Five- “The Hulk Triumphant!”
Rick hides behind the Hulk as the Gargoyle has a gun. Hulk says that no puny pistol can kill him. Gargoyle says that he didn’t come there to kill him, and that this isn’t an ordinary gun. Gargoyle says that the gun fires a pellet that saps the will making them his slaves. Hulk charges Gargoyle, but Gargoyle fires at Hulk. Hulk drops to his knees before Gargoyle. Gargoyle shoots Rick and then orders them to follow him.
Moments later, Betty wakes up from her faint. General Ross is there. She runs to him and says that it was the Hulk. She says that he came out of the darkness, and that he was terrifying. Ross swears to find and destroy the Hulk. Betty says that it was strange, but that there was something almost sad about the Hulk. Ross says that he will find him if it takes an eternity.
Gargoyle, Hulk, and Rick ride along in the truck of a mind controlled man. Gargoyle ponders studying the Hulk and making an entire army like him. They reach the rendezvous place and row out to a ship. From the ship Gargoyle flies Hulk and Rick into Russia, however as they do so daybreak occurs and the Hulk is transformed into Bruce Banner. Once in the USSR, Gargoyle recognizes Bruce Banner and realizes that he and the Hulk are the same being. Gargoyle has Bruce and Rick taken to his secret stronghold. Gargoyle asks Bruce why he would possibly want to be a monster. Gargoyle starts to cry. He says that he would give anything to be normal. Bruce says that he would too, but he is as helpless as him. Suddenly Bruce Banner realizes that he has seen cases like the Gargoyle’s, and that he can be cured by radiation. Bruce says that his features would become normal, but that his advanced brain would also return to normal. Gargoyle says that he doesn’t care if he dies if he can do it as a man. Bruce cures the Gargoyle. Gargoyle gets up normal. He walks over to a potrait and curses it. He says that it was because of the man in the picture that he became a freak while working on his secret bomb tests. Gargoyle says that it took an American to cure him, and that now he defies him like a man.
An officer is speaking to the Premier about the capture of Bruce Banner when one of the soldiers burst in and says that a disaster has occurrred. He shows them that the prisoners have escaped. Suddenly they see the Gargoyle’s escape rocket has launched. The officers rush to Gargoyle’s office to find the former Gargoyle waiting for them. He expalins who he is and that he shall die now as a man. Gargoyle triggers a switch and blows the building up.
Bruce and Rick hear the explosion somehow as they fly towards America.
No Excuses rating: 10 out of 10
How can you say anything bad about the great issue that started it all? You can’t. Sure the evil red commies might seem a little silly today, but you have to remember that in the 1960’s that the threat of the USSR was very real to America.
Also notable is the now famous coloring error that made the Hulk gray instead of green. A little bit of a false start on the now universal understanding that gamma rays make things green.
But we meet Bruce Banner, the Hulk, Betty, Rick, and General Ross. It’s somewhat awe-inspiring to think how this issue created these charcters that have endured for so long and meant so much to the history of the Hulk and to the entire Marvel universe. God bless Stan Lee and the late great Jack Kirby.
To me the Hulk is the most unique book of the Marvel universe. The Hulk is not a hero… he is a monster. It’s strange to wonder what might have happened if Stan had remained true to his original vision of the Hulk and a monster with a bad attitude. Over time and tweaking of the character we got what people ironically refer to as the “real” Hulk.
The history and stories are rich and varied. Enjoy as I attempt to bring the flavor of the Hulk to you issue by issue. Enjoy.
Man I love the Hulk.