While there would be much meddling in the exact direction of the Hulk over the years, a surprisingly large amount of the most essential stuff is laid out in this story.
The sequence below has been repeated, referenced, traced and referred to countless times in the comics since, but never gets old for me. The transition from panel 1 to 2 is great, with Banner racing towards Jones and then dragging him behind. Panel 4 with Banner just at the edge of the trench when the bomb goes off, a true classic. The hours long scream from panel 6 to 7. That's some storytelling going on here.
This issue also has an ad for FANTASTIC FOUR with an original early image of the team in their uniforms by Kirby.
Paul Reinman inked the 24 page story. There seems to be some disagreement on the cover, as various sources list Reinman, Roussos and Ayers. Hard for me to tell at the best of times, moreso with just a reprint, but I'm leaning to Reinman.
Published 1991
3 comments:
I don't think the cover is inked by Reinman. It doesn't look very much like Roussous either, who has a thicker ink line. Ayers is possible, but It really doesn't look like his style either. He has kept records of his jobs, so I'll check with him. This may be one of those covers that Kirby inked himself; it has a very thin line and resembles a number of other "mystery inked" covers that I've pegged as possible Kirby inks.
Nick Caputo
This is one of the most fun comics ever. I always think of those old science fiction movies of the fifties whenever I see this comic. And, one of the world's best sidekicks in introduced in this issue. At least Rick Jones has a plausible reason to hang out with the Hulk/Bruce Banner, the man who saved his life.
the above sequence looks very similar to a scene from the 1950s sci-fi movie "The Amazing Colossal Man" , so I wouldn't be surprised if it was a film that Kirby saw and translated into the comic. I just saw another low-budget film (Hand of Death) that has a character that looks like the early Thing, down to a scene with him walking the streets in a hat and coat. The only thing is, this movie appeared in 1962, after FF 1, so it might be a case of Kirby inspiring the movie folks instead of the other way around!
Nick Caputo
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