Hulk gains the power of flight! Seriously he can. No joke. But just on the final page of this issue. Because in the very nexet issue, the narrator advises that he “only seems to fly.”
Across these issues, there are four stories. In the first one, Bruce Banner’s plan to lock himself in a bunker at night works, but General Ross tricks Rick into setting Hulk free and leading him to a rocket, so Hulk can be launched into space.
Yes, you read that right. This is the first time he gets banished to outer space. And we’re only on issue #3–there’s so much mayhem to come. And there will be many, many other times he gets sent away.
Anyway, Rick Jones figures out how to work the missile control panel so he can return Hulk to Earth. But as he does, space radiation travels through the radio waves connecting the remote control to Hulk’s missle, and hits Rick.
Okay, lots of belief to suspend here. This is contrived, even by Stan Lee standards.
When he turns to Earth…
He is subject to Rick Jones’ commands.
In the second story in issue #3, Hulk takes on Ringmaster and his circus of crime.
And for the second time in one issue, Hulk is mind-controlled. But when Rick shows up and Hulk hears his voice, he breaks free.
And that’s when he seems to “fly” out of the tent, with Rick.
Note the curved motion lines. He is definitely flying.
Note: Ringmaster won’t appear again for two years, when he’d host the first Spider-Man/Daredevil team up.
In issue #4, we also get a split comic with two stories. It’s not a great issue, but it offers a few things.
Betty Ross is starting to figure out that there’s a connection between Hulk and Bruce Banner.
Hulk stumbles upon a movie set and raids the craft services table. This is the first of many “munchies” (I’m tagging it–see the tags at the bottom of this post). In later years, he expresses a preference for beans.
And perhaps most important of all…
We get the first example of Hulk with Banner’s brain. This will also be a much-used plot device, sometimes for dozens (or more) issues on end.
Finally, issue #3 debuts Hulk’s letter page, “Let’s Talk About the Hulk.”
I’ve graded this as a B-. Lots of seeds for future stories. The execution of them, in these issues, leaves a lot to be desired so I can’t grade it higher. But so many great ideas!