032: Incredible Hulk v1 #144 - The Monster and the Madman!
- Location
- Netherlands
032: Incredible Hulk v1 #144 (October 1971)
Cover
That's what I'm talking about! This is what one expects from a Doom vs. Hulk confrontation! Crushing grips, powerful punches, scorching finger lasers, and a... tasteful array of candles to light the entire tableau? I don't even care, it's a great cover! Now let's hope it reflects the contents within...
Now that it's in my face like this, by the way, I have to acknowledge the price of this book. As a relatively modern person - only partially caught up in things that happened a solid forty to fifty years ago, evidenced by this thread - I'm not sure if I can even remember the last time fifteen cents was enough to buy literally anything, much less a solid twenty pages of entertainment. Granted, I assume income was drastically lower at the time, but at least cents were useful for an actual thing! (These were my two cents on the topic of fifteen cents!)
Story Overview
The Monster and the Madman!
We start this issue with… the invincible Iron Man?! Yes, we get a glimpse of the shelled Avenger, though it's unfortunately just a bit of archive footage of his brawl with Hulk in Incredible Hulk v1 #131, not an actual appearance. In the next shot we see General Ross stating to a room filled with the rest of the Hulk's supporting cast that this is some of the latest military footage on record before artillery supposedly blasted the green menace into atoms. Not sure why he's showing it, but I guess he was feeling nostalgic?
Betty Ross, unsurprisingly, holds out hope that Bruce isn't really dead, and Ross acknowledges that Betty loved the man within the monster and is entitled to mourn in her own way - she'll come around eventually. Green-haired creep Doc Samson isn't too happy about her dithering, though, and tries to convince her to move on - surely for entirely selfless motives. Betty just says that her heart is convinced Bruce is alive, and in trouble. Amusingly, the narrator of the issue contends that the question of Bruce's survival is a moot point - he's been brainwashed by Doctor Doom anyway!
During the recap of last issue's events, we actually get a third version of that panel the artist swiped last week - really getting some mileage out of this one, huh?
Doom's brainwashing appears to have taken well, as we see Doctor Banner working with Latverian scientists on a new incarnation of the infamous Gamma Bomb that spawned the Hulk in the first place. Banner is quite the slave driver, pushing the others to complete work ahead of schedule, so that Latveria may be safe from the enemies that threaten it on every border. Indeed, when one of the men says they could slow down some, he threatens to out the man for treason - and when Doom approaches from off-screen he enthusiastically hails the Master like an obedient little pseudo-Nazi.
Doom enters the laboratory, but surprisingly he is not alone. With him is a returning character from Marvel Super-Heroes #20 - it's Doom's childhood girlfriend Valeria! We last saw her reject Doom, her final words to him a declaration of her intent: she would never see Victor again!
Yeah, about that… It turns out her dear Victor did not agree with that statement and kidnapped her. He wants another go at convincing her of his virtues, and he's not afraid to use force to do it! Valeria dismisses the loud hails from Doom's servants as mere theatre to appease their overlord, and wonders aloud whether they'd still be so magnanimous if all the weapons and murder drones were taken away. Doom gets angry, announcing that he's done all this for her, can't she acknowledge that much? Valeria inquires if that's the reason he's keeping her prisoner, and Doom turns the phrase around, telling her that she's the one keeping Doom a prisoner - of his love for her. Well, damn - Totalitarian and smooth!
Doom follows it up by rejecting the label of prisoner - she's his guest. Naturally. Valeria inquires whether or not this label of 'guest' applies to all of Doom's servants, and gestures to Bruce, who is dutifully working away in the foreground. Doom is disappointed she doesn't recognize the famous Bruce Banner, and notes that he may be an expatriate, but he's also one of the most loyal Latverians around. He demands his brainwashed servant agree with this description, and Bruce explains that he came here to perfect the ultimate defense that will protect Latveria: the Gamma Bomb! Valeria is horrified at this, recalling that it's been described as a weapon that could destroy the world - and that it turned its creator into a monstrous Hulk!
"You should not have said that hated name," Doom says dryly.
The mere mention of Bruce's alter ego stirs suppressed memories, and the internal conflict unleashes the green behemoth. Bruce briefly tries to prevent the transformation, but then he's too far gone - and Hulk doesn't mind the change, for he is Strongest There Is! (Bonus points for the magical color-changing pants that consistently switch between blue and purple whenever there's a transformation.) Hulk doesn't recognize the place he's woken up in - but he knows he doesn't like it, and what he doesn't like, he destroys! It's high time for some mindless destruction!
Doom tries to talk Hulk down by describing himself as a friend, which shows and honestly commendable level of restraint on his part - presumably induced by Valeria's presence. The green monster rejects the very concept of having friends or allies. Doom switches to his backup strategy - tranquilizer rays! He blasts the beast in the face, and within seconds the Hulk transforms back into the gangly form of Bruce Banner. That was awfully effective, Doom! Maybe you should keep this tech around! Valeria is revolted at the way Doom toys with the man, and asks to be taken back to her room - she's had enough of her deranged admirer for the moment.
Some hours later, we see Doctor Doom ordering around some stupid-looking minions with pink superman undies and red caps. (These guards are the latest incarnation of what were once menacing killer robots. I should give this issue 0.1 bonus points for replacing the ridiculous Mickey Mouse helmets with marginally less ridiculous pink-and-red helmets - but honestly it's not much of an improvement. Oh Doombots, where art thou?
Doom has decided it's time to strike out at Latveria's neighbours, even though tests on the Gamma Bomb are not yet complete. His plan, it turns out, involves harnessing the explosives to Banner's back, and then shocking the man into transformation so that the Hulk can carry out the second half of the plan, already programmed into the creature's brain.
Doom swiftly returns to Valeria's side, musing to himself that his performance from here on must be flawless - he intends to deceive her into changing her opinion of him. He must appear entirely innocent, he decides, or she will see his ruse for what it is! He enters her rooms and announces that he has grave news: Latveria's neighbours have approached the border, and intend to make war! It's a creative reversal of the truth, shall we say? Valeria begs Doom not to strike the first blow, and Doom immediately agrees to this demand - he's no savage!
Elsewhere in the castle, Doom's scientists and some of his redcaps psych each other up over the success of this mission, and then unleash the Hulk. The green behemoth smashes through a wall, compelled by his brainwashing to seek out specific enemies of the state. He jumps across the buildings of Doomstadt with the Gamma Bomb strapped to his back, narrating to himself that he's not sure who the enemies are - but he's going to destroy them!
A redcap storms into Valeria's chambers with dreadful news - the Hulk has escaped and stolen the Gamma Bomb! Doom dramatically demands to know who's responsible for this travesty, while Valeria butts in to ask what can be done about the bomb, the most immediate threat. Doom says that he's got only one choice - he must detonate the device while it's still over uninhabited terrain, for fear that it would destroy a densely populated place! Soon, a titanic explosion gleams on the horizon, and Doom gloats to himself: he's sent the bomb to blow up a neighbouring country, but convinced Latveria that it was detonated in no man's land where nobody got hurt!
Another redcap arrives to deliver more news - there's been a mistake! The Gamma Bomb exploded too soon, while it was still in uninhabited lands, and nobody got hurt! The trick has become the reality. This is when Valeria speaks up: it turns out she's known about Doom's entire plot for hours, and while she was impressed by Victor's melodramatic theatrics, she wasn't convinced by them. Shortly after learning about the Gamma Bomb, Valeria tricked one of the redcaps into letting her inspect the brainwashing machinery. She shut it down long enough that Bruce Banner could regain some of his faculties - and the man promptly reprogrammed himself so that Hulk would carry the Gamma Bomb far into the wilderness where it would harm nobody...
Doom is baffled by Valeria's betrayal, demanding to know why she would go against the man who loves her, who would give her the world. It's because he would give her the world, she says - she's never wanted all that. She just wanted her Victor. Doom complains that she speaks in riddles, clearly a stranger to the ways of romance, and then decides that he's spent his last sleepless night longing for her - from now on Doom will seek to please only himself! (Um, phrasing!?) He commands her to be locked up in the dungeons, and some redcaps arrive to drag her away.
It's right about here that the Hulk does a Kool-Aid Man to the nearest wall.
He is immediately faced by a half a dozen redcaps armed with stun rifles - who he proceeds to flatten with precisely zero effort. Hulk's not here for them, though - he's there to deal with Doom! He's frozen in his tracks by Doom's force-field projector, one that Doom proclaims nothing in the universe can shatter, but this turns out to be a slight overstatement. Oops. The remaining redcaps get understandably nervous as the battle develops - if they stick around they'll get killed by the Hulk - but if they run, they'll get killed by Doom!
Doom actually seems to recognize their predicament and tells them all to stay back - he's faced deadlier foes than this and emerged victorious! He lures the Hulk outside through the giant hole in the wall and fights him above the streets of the capital city, mocking him all the while. Blasting beams of fire at Hulk, Doom does a pretty good job setting his own country ablaze, and he also ricochets his enemy into buildings with force blasts, which smashes yet more of his own property. It's a pretty epic fight scene, even if it only covers a few panels!
Before the fight can be decided, however, the Hulk crashes into a steeple - and the entire building comes down, threatening to squash poor Valeria who is looking on in horror from far below. Doom forgets the fight the instant she's in danger, immediately coming to her aid - he projects an umbrella of force to deflect the rubble, lamenting to himself that he's caught some form of insanity. One moment she betrays him, the next he risks his life for hers! The insanity, the captions tell us, is love. Gag me with a spoon.
Hulk arrives to break up the sappy nonsense, smashing right through the force umbrella on his way down. He tells Doom off for turning his back, and acknowledges that the monarch may have more tricks, but Hulk has bigger fists! He grabs the tyrant in a deadly bearhug and squeezes. Doom tried to use him, Hulk says, and then chose to mock him - but now they'll see who has the last laugh. Valeria tries to intercede, attempting to save Doom even after all he's done - but she's powerless. Hulk has Doom dead to rights, and he demands surrender. Give up! Doom rejects the very notion - he may die, but he may never surrender!
Hulk finally decides that Doom can believe what he likes - he has been beaten by him fair and square. He releases Doom from the deadly hug, and the man crumples to the ground in defeat. Still, Doom declares that he only needs a moment of respite to start again - but Hulk just tells Doom to go. Valeria rushes in to tend to her childhood friend, even as Doom keeps declaring that the fight's not over, he just needs a minute…!
Hulk looks on with a weird expression on his face as Valeria fusses over Doom, acknowledging that she reminds him of Betty Ross - and that this entire moment reminds him of a man Hulk hurt. We see a single snapshot of Doc Samson in a previous issue. Hulk can't remember much of what happened then - just that he felt sad.
Doom has finally staggered to his feet, and demands a continuation of the fight - no one walks away from a fight with Doctor Doom! (Except Thor, just a few issues ago.) Hulk dismisses the fight entirely, taking off towards the horizon while Doom's desperate cries of 'Come back!' echo after him...
Rating & Comments
Remember last time, when I commented on the paucity of Bruce Banner (or, indeed, the Hulk) in a comic ostensibly about the character? This time it's actually worse for Bruce, since the only line he gets is in a brainwashed state! At least Hulk gets a few panels to himself, which is nice after his conspicuous absence in #143! Another worry of mine - that this would be another derivative copy of the recent Thor two-parter - did not come to pass. Aside from an echo at the very end, the stories are quite distinct. Thank goodness.
This issue is much more about Doctor Doom than it is about anything related to the Hulk, and that's made extra obvious by the inclusion of Valeria, Doom's childhood crush. Far from influencing Doom to better his ways, however, her presence in this comic seems to draw out worse aspects of his personality - his first instinct is to trick her into loving him! Doom does appear to have some actual feelings for her, as he immediately comes to her aid when she is threatened, but it's also clear that his is a selfish type of love.
Valeria is rather more confused. On the one hand she's been kidnapped by Doom and is openly resentful of her status as 'guest' of Latveria - she undermines Doom's plans in this very issue, actively working with his enemies and subverting his underlings. Even so, she can't seem to stop herself from defending her dear Victor, claiming that he didn't mean any of the things he said, as well as throwing herself into harm's way when he gets hurt. She can't decide on the nature of their relationship any more than Doom can, which is peculiar given her rather final declaration at the close of her first issue. Make up your mind, would you?
Throughout this issue the interactions between Doom and Valeria are the definition of melodrama. Aside from a few amusing lines, however, it doesn't end up going anywhere - Valeria isn't going to stick around after this issue. So... what was the point of her presence? It's not like their relationship actually changed, no matter their hyperbolic statements towards each other. All that Valeria represents here has been established before, and better, in her debut issue. It was written by the same author - perhaps he should have left things where they were.
The saving grace of this comic, then, is the concluding half, discounting those few panels of Valeria weeping. Doom and Hulk get caught up in an epic aerial brawl that sets half a town on fire, and to top it off we get to see our tyrant conclusively defeated. There's no question about it - the Hulk's brute strength overpowers Doom, and he's dealt a blow as severe as that time the Thing crushed his arms to pulp. The entire finale, especially Doom's increasingly desperate cries for Hulk to acknowledge him, is just a great bit of storytelling. It displays the sheer egocentrism of Doom well, since he'd rather die than surrender or acknowledge his defeat at the hands of a brute!
Best Panel(s) of the Issue
Have to give this one to the panels featuring Doom and Hulk battling over Doomstadt -
- but I also quite like the shot of him blasting Hulk with his tranquilizer lasers. Decisions, decisions!
Most Gloriously Villainous Doom Quotes
"Never! Doctor Doom - may die - but he - may never surrender! ...Fool! A moment's respite is all I need, and then - ...No! It is not ended while you still live! I can never be all right - never rest - till the battle is decided! Don't turn your back on me, you green grotesquerie! No one walks away from a battle with Victor von Doom! The fighting must go on! Come back! COME BACK!"
Doom's Bad Hair Day
Doom's guards are as silly as ever - if slightly less so than they were just recently. In this case, however, one of them quite spontaneously loses all the color in his costume from one panel to the next - quite the feat! (Can he keep the color scheme forever? He looks less ridiculous this way.)
Doom-Tech of the Week
Arguably the Tranquilizer Rays are new, but similar technology was already used in the form of gas in recent issues - and visually the two might just be the same thing drawn by different artists. The text draws a distinction, I suppose, so I should too. I guess technically Doom briefly got his hands on a Gamma Bomb too, by proxy.
Cover
That's what I'm talking about! This is what one expects from a Doom vs. Hulk confrontation! Crushing grips, powerful punches, scorching finger lasers, and a... tasteful array of candles to light the entire tableau? I don't even care, it's a great cover! Now let's hope it reflects the contents within...
Now that it's in my face like this, by the way, I have to acknowledge the price of this book. As a relatively modern person - only partially caught up in things that happened a solid forty to fifty years ago, evidenced by this thread - I'm not sure if I can even remember the last time fifteen cents was enough to buy literally anything, much less a solid twenty pages of entertainment. Granted, I assume income was drastically lower at the time, but at least cents were useful for an actual thing! (These were my two cents on the topic of fifteen cents!)
Story Overview
The Monster and the Madman!
We start this issue with… the invincible Iron Man?! Yes, we get a glimpse of the shelled Avenger, though it's unfortunately just a bit of archive footage of his brawl with Hulk in Incredible Hulk v1 #131, not an actual appearance. In the next shot we see General Ross stating to a room filled with the rest of the Hulk's supporting cast that this is some of the latest military footage on record before artillery supposedly blasted the green menace into atoms. Not sure why he's showing it, but I guess he was feeling nostalgic?
Betty Ross, unsurprisingly, holds out hope that Bruce isn't really dead, and Ross acknowledges that Betty loved the man within the monster and is entitled to mourn in her own way - she'll come around eventually. Green-haired creep Doc Samson isn't too happy about her dithering, though, and tries to convince her to move on - surely for entirely selfless motives. Betty just says that her heart is convinced Bruce is alive, and in trouble. Amusingly, the narrator of the issue contends that the question of Bruce's survival is a moot point - he's been brainwashed by Doctor Doom anyway!
During the recap of last issue's events, we actually get a third version of that panel the artist swiped last week - really getting some mileage out of this one, huh?
Doom's brainwashing appears to have taken well, as we see Doctor Banner working with Latverian scientists on a new incarnation of the infamous Gamma Bomb that spawned the Hulk in the first place. Banner is quite the slave driver, pushing the others to complete work ahead of schedule, so that Latveria may be safe from the enemies that threaten it on every border. Indeed, when one of the men says they could slow down some, he threatens to out the man for treason - and when Doom approaches from off-screen he enthusiastically hails the Master like an obedient little pseudo-Nazi.
Doom enters the laboratory, but surprisingly he is not alone. With him is a returning character from Marvel Super-Heroes #20 - it's Doom's childhood girlfriend Valeria! We last saw her reject Doom, her final words to him a declaration of her intent: she would never see Victor again!
Yeah, about that… It turns out her dear Victor did not agree with that statement and kidnapped her. He wants another go at convincing her of his virtues, and he's not afraid to use force to do it! Valeria dismisses the loud hails from Doom's servants as mere theatre to appease their overlord, and wonders aloud whether they'd still be so magnanimous if all the weapons and murder drones were taken away. Doom gets angry, announcing that he's done all this for her, can't she acknowledge that much? Valeria inquires if that's the reason he's keeping her prisoner, and Doom turns the phrase around, telling her that she's the one keeping Doom a prisoner - of his love for her. Well, damn - Totalitarian and smooth!
Doom follows it up by rejecting the label of prisoner - she's his guest. Naturally. Valeria inquires whether or not this label of 'guest' applies to all of Doom's servants, and gestures to Bruce, who is dutifully working away in the foreground. Doom is disappointed she doesn't recognize the famous Bruce Banner, and notes that he may be an expatriate, but he's also one of the most loyal Latverians around. He demands his brainwashed servant agree with this description, and Bruce explains that he came here to perfect the ultimate defense that will protect Latveria: the Gamma Bomb! Valeria is horrified at this, recalling that it's been described as a weapon that could destroy the world - and that it turned its creator into a monstrous Hulk!
"You should not have said that hated name," Doom says dryly.
The mere mention of Bruce's alter ego stirs suppressed memories, and the internal conflict unleashes the green behemoth. Bruce briefly tries to prevent the transformation, but then he's too far gone - and Hulk doesn't mind the change, for he is Strongest There Is! (Bonus points for the magical color-changing pants that consistently switch between blue and purple whenever there's a transformation.) Hulk doesn't recognize the place he's woken up in - but he knows he doesn't like it, and what he doesn't like, he destroys! It's high time for some mindless destruction!
Doom tries to talk Hulk down by describing himself as a friend, which shows and honestly commendable level of restraint on his part - presumably induced by Valeria's presence. The green monster rejects the very concept of having friends or allies. Doom switches to his backup strategy - tranquilizer rays! He blasts the beast in the face, and within seconds the Hulk transforms back into the gangly form of Bruce Banner. That was awfully effective, Doom! Maybe you should keep this tech around! Valeria is revolted at the way Doom toys with the man, and asks to be taken back to her room - she's had enough of her deranged admirer for the moment.
Some hours later, we see Doctor Doom ordering around some stupid-looking minions with pink superman undies and red caps. (These guards are the latest incarnation of what were once menacing killer robots. I should give this issue 0.1 bonus points for replacing the ridiculous Mickey Mouse helmets with marginally less ridiculous pink-and-red helmets - but honestly it's not much of an improvement. Oh Doombots, where art thou?
Doom has decided it's time to strike out at Latveria's neighbours, even though tests on the Gamma Bomb are not yet complete. His plan, it turns out, involves harnessing the explosives to Banner's back, and then shocking the man into transformation so that the Hulk can carry out the second half of the plan, already programmed into the creature's brain.
Doom swiftly returns to Valeria's side, musing to himself that his performance from here on must be flawless - he intends to deceive her into changing her opinion of him. He must appear entirely innocent, he decides, or she will see his ruse for what it is! He enters her rooms and announces that he has grave news: Latveria's neighbours have approached the border, and intend to make war! It's a creative reversal of the truth, shall we say? Valeria begs Doom not to strike the first blow, and Doom immediately agrees to this demand - he's no savage!
Elsewhere in the castle, Doom's scientists and some of his redcaps psych each other up over the success of this mission, and then unleash the Hulk. The green behemoth smashes through a wall, compelled by his brainwashing to seek out specific enemies of the state. He jumps across the buildings of Doomstadt with the Gamma Bomb strapped to his back, narrating to himself that he's not sure who the enemies are - but he's going to destroy them!
A redcap storms into Valeria's chambers with dreadful news - the Hulk has escaped and stolen the Gamma Bomb! Doom dramatically demands to know who's responsible for this travesty, while Valeria butts in to ask what can be done about the bomb, the most immediate threat. Doom says that he's got only one choice - he must detonate the device while it's still over uninhabited terrain, for fear that it would destroy a densely populated place! Soon, a titanic explosion gleams on the horizon, and Doom gloats to himself: he's sent the bomb to blow up a neighbouring country, but convinced Latveria that it was detonated in no man's land where nobody got hurt!
Another redcap arrives to deliver more news - there's been a mistake! The Gamma Bomb exploded too soon, while it was still in uninhabited lands, and nobody got hurt! The trick has become the reality. This is when Valeria speaks up: it turns out she's known about Doom's entire plot for hours, and while she was impressed by Victor's melodramatic theatrics, she wasn't convinced by them. Shortly after learning about the Gamma Bomb, Valeria tricked one of the redcaps into letting her inspect the brainwashing machinery. She shut it down long enough that Bruce Banner could regain some of his faculties - and the man promptly reprogrammed himself so that Hulk would carry the Gamma Bomb far into the wilderness where it would harm nobody...
Doom is baffled by Valeria's betrayal, demanding to know why she would go against the man who loves her, who would give her the world. It's because he would give her the world, she says - she's never wanted all that. She just wanted her Victor. Doom complains that she speaks in riddles, clearly a stranger to the ways of romance, and then decides that he's spent his last sleepless night longing for her - from now on Doom will seek to please only himself! (Um, phrasing!?) He commands her to be locked up in the dungeons, and some redcaps arrive to drag her away.
It's right about here that the Hulk does a Kool-Aid Man to the nearest wall.
He is immediately faced by a half a dozen redcaps armed with stun rifles - who he proceeds to flatten with precisely zero effort. Hulk's not here for them, though - he's there to deal with Doom! He's frozen in his tracks by Doom's force-field projector, one that Doom proclaims nothing in the universe can shatter, but this turns out to be a slight overstatement. Oops. The remaining redcaps get understandably nervous as the battle develops - if they stick around they'll get killed by the Hulk - but if they run, they'll get killed by Doom!
Doom actually seems to recognize their predicament and tells them all to stay back - he's faced deadlier foes than this and emerged victorious! He lures the Hulk outside through the giant hole in the wall and fights him above the streets of the capital city, mocking him all the while. Blasting beams of fire at Hulk, Doom does a pretty good job setting his own country ablaze, and he also ricochets his enemy into buildings with force blasts, which smashes yet more of his own property. It's a pretty epic fight scene, even if it only covers a few panels!
Before the fight can be decided, however, the Hulk crashes into a steeple - and the entire building comes down, threatening to squash poor Valeria who is looking on in horror from far below. Doom forgets the fight the instant she's in danger, immediately coming to her aid - he projects an umbrella of force to deflect the rubble, lamenting to himself that he's caught some form of insanity. One moment she betrays him, the next he risks his life for hers! The insanity, the captions tell us, is love. Gag me with a spoon.
Hulk arrives to break up the sappy nonsense, smashing right through the force umbrella on his way down. He tells Doom off for turning his back, and acknowledges that the monarch may have more tricks, but Hulk has bigger fists! He grabs the tyrant in a deadly bearhug and squeezes. Doom tried to use him, Hulk says, and then chose to mock him - but now they'll see who has the last laugh. Valeria tries to intercede, attempting to save Doom even after all he's done - but she's powerless. Hulk has Doom dead to rights, and he demands surrender. Give up! Doom rejects the very notion - he may die, but he may never surrender!
Hulk finally decides that Doom can believe what he likes - he has been beaten by him fair and square. He releases Doom from the deadly hug, and the man crumples to the ground in defeat. Still, Doom declares that he only needs a moment of respite to start again - but Hulk just tells Doom to go. Valeria rushes in to tend to her childhood friend, even as Doom keeps declaring that the fight's not over, he just needs a minute…!
Hulk looks on with a weird expression on his face as Valeria fusses over Doom, acknowledging that she reminds him of Betty Ross - and that this entire moment reminds him of a man Hulk hurt. We see a single snapshot of Doc Samson in a previous issue. Hulk can't remember much of what happened then - just that he felt sad.
Doom has finally staggered to his feet, and demands a continuation of the fight - no one walks away from a fight with Doctor Doom! (Except Thor, just a few issues ago.) Hulk dismisses the fight entirely, taking off towards the horizon while Doom's desperate cries of 'Come back!' echo after him...
Rating & Comments
Remember last time, when I commented on the paucity of Bruce Banner (or, indeed, the Hulk) in a comic ostensibly about the character? This time it's actually worse for Bruce, since the only line he gets is in a brainwashed state! At least Hulk gets a few panels to himself, which is nice after his conspicuous absence in #143! Another worry of mine - that this would be another derivative copy of the recent Thor two-parter - did not come to pass. Aside from an echo at the very end, the stories are quite distinct. Thank goodness.
This issue is much more about Doctor Doom than it is about anything related to the Hulk, and that's made extra obvious by the inclusion of Valeria, Doom's childhood crush. Far from influencing Doom to better his ways, however, her presence in this comic seems to draw out worse aspects of his personality - his first instinct is to trick her into loving him! Doom does appear to have some actual feelings for her, as he immediately comes to her aid when she is threatened, but it's also clear that his is a selfish type of love.
Valeria is rather more confused. On the one hand she's been kidnapped by Doom and is openly resentful of her status as 'guest' of Latveria - she undermines Doom's plans in this very issue, actively working with his enemies and subverting his underlings. Even so, she can't seem to stop herself from defending her dear Victor, claiming that he didn't mean any of the things he said, as well as throwing herself into harm's way when he gets hurt. She can't decide on the nature of their relationship any more than Doom can, which is peculiar given her rather final declaration at the close of her first issue. Make up your mind, would you?
Throughout this issue the interactions between Doom and Valeria are the definition of melodrama. Aside from a few amusing lines, however, it doesn't end up going anywhere - Valeria isn't going to stick around after this issue. So... what was the point of her presence? It's not like their relationship actually changed, no matter their hyperbolic statements towards each other. All that Valeria represents here has been established before, and better, in her debut issue. It was written by the same author - perhaps he should have left things where they were.
The saving grace of this comic, then, is the concluding half, discounting those few panels of Valeria weeping. Doom and Hulk get caught up in an epic aerial brawl that sets half a town on fire, and to top it off we get to see our tyrant conclusively defeated. There's no question about it - the Hulk's brute strength overpowers Doom, and he's dealt a blow as severe as that time the Thing crushed his arms to pulp. The entire finale, especially Doom's increasingly desperate cries for Hulk to acknowledge him, is just a great bit of storytelling. It displays the sheer egocentrism of Doom well, since he'd rather die than surrender or acknowledge his defeat at the hands of a brute!
Best Panel(s) of the Issue
Have to give this one to the panels featuring Doom and Hulk battling over Doomstadt -
- but I also quite like the shot of him blasting Hulk with his tranquilizer lasers. Decisions, decisions!
Most Gloriously Villainous Doom Quotes
"Never! Doctor Doom - may die - but he - may never surrender! ...Fool! A moment's respite is all I need, and then - ...No! It is not ended while you still live! I can never be all right - never rest - till the battle is decided! Don't turn your back on me, you green grotesquerie! No one walks away from a battle with Victor von Doom! The fighting must go on! Come back! COME BACK!"
Doom's Bad Hair Day
Doom's guards are as silly as ever - if slightly less so than they were just recently. In this case, however, one of them quite spontaneously loses all the color in his costume from one panel to the next - quite the feat! (Can he keep the color scheme forever? He looks less ridiculous this way.)
Doom-Tech of the Week
Arguably the Tranquilizer Rays are new, but similar technology was already used in the form of gas in recent issues - and visually the two might just be the same thing drawn by different artists. The text draws a distinction, I suppose, so I should too. I guess technically Doom briefly got his hands on a Gamma Bomb too, by proxy.