Marvel Years 02.05 - May 1962

This is the fourth post in my Marvel Years series. Stan Lee has added another super-hero to Marvel, if you can call the Hulk a hero. He's part anti-hero, part monster. He's a crossover from the monsters featured in Marvel's anthology comics every month.

We see the continuing pathos for Stan Lee's creations. The Hulk is the strongest being on Earth, stronger than the Thing, as will be proved in future comics, but he's a tragic figure. Bruce Banner hates the Hulk for all the damage he causes, while the Hulk hates Bruce Banner as a weakling.

The Incredible Hulk #1

Title(s): The Coming of the Hulk
The Hulk Strikes
The Search for the Hulk
Enter the Gargoyle
The Hulk Triumphant

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby

Villain: Gargoyle

Regulars: General Ross, Betty Ross, Rick Jones

This is a single story split into five parts that have been given individual titles.

Here's a trivia question for pub quizzes: What colour was the Hulk in his first comic? As you can see on the cover of Incredible Hulk #1, he was grey. In the following issue he turned green. Why? There's no in-story explanation. Stan Lee says that when he saw the finished comic he said, "I don't like the way he looks. Let's make him green". This is one of the small inconsistencies typical for Marvel in the early years. Maybe one day someone will reprint this comic with the Hulk coloured green. Then everyone will be happy.

In the early days of the Hulk Stan was still experimenting with him, trying to find the ideal way to portray his new monster. In the first issue Bruce Banner was human in the daytime and became the Hulk at night. As I remember from previous reading there were usually in-story explanations for changes in the frequency of him becoming the Hulk, but I'll discuss it as I go along.

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Fantastic Four #4

Title(s): The Coming of Sub-Mariner
Enter the Sub-Mariner
Let the World Beware
Sub-Mariner's Revenge
Return to the Deep

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby

Villain: Sub-Mariner, Miracle Man (flashback)

This is a single story split into five parts that have been given individual titles. This is the first time Stan Lee brought back a character from the Golden Age. Sub-Mariner was Marvel's very first hero, since he was featured in the first comic published by Timely Publications (the previous name of Marvel) in October 1939. The last time Sub-Mariner appeared in a Golden Age comic was Sub-Mariner #42, published by Atlas Comics in 1955.

Susan Storm (Invisible Girl) is increasingly becoming an object of attention. She's Reed Richards' fiancee, but we found out last issue that Benjamin Grimm (The Thing) also wants her. In this issue Sub-Mariner proposes to her. Love at first sight? The Thing's attraction is no longer mentioned in the comics, but Sub-Mariner's obsession with her remains a subplot for the next few years.

As you can see from the titles, Marvel is inconsistent about whether the word Sub-Mariner is a name (no article) or a title (with an article). I prefer the former.

Beginning this month the words "The world's greatest comic magazine" are printed at the top of every cover. Don't call it empty boasting. The Fantastic Four comics really were far greater than anything written before then.