The Fixer tries to steal tech from one of Bruce Banner’s labs.
Beast is reunited with his pals.
John Byrne inks Steve Ditko. I like the way Ditko draws Beast.
Arnim Zola launches an army of Hulk clones.
Lots of fun fights.
And Zola also releases his goo.
Zola goes gooey himself.
Fun, mindless story.
Gosh- who knew that the Fixer was such a badass-?? I thought he was just a super techno-geek, but, here he is, stomping soldier butt, all over the place! I read this Annual, once, in the Summer of 1984, over forty years ago, filed it away-and promptly forgot it! And with good reason- even though the prospect of a hundred cloned Hulks is pretty frightening, ( “Hulk Times A Hundred Spells Holocaust!!”- I always remembered that catchy banner- “banner”- see what I did with that-?? it was pretty catchy, and memorable! ) this little outing from the otherwise-awesome Roger Stern was rather pedestrian- maybe it was the sub-par “Sturdy” Steve Ditko artwork- I will be the first to acknowledge Ditko’s contributions to the field, as the co-creator of ‘Spider-Man’, and ‘Dr, Strange’- but, ya know- for every Spidey and Doc, he gave us twenty-five “Shade, the Changing Man”, “Firestorm, the Nuclear Man”, “The Question”, etc., etc., etc.,- his artwork is very moody, and only suitable to a certain type of ‘genre’ character- like Spidey and Doc! Certainly not to a grandiose concept like the Avengers! The inclusion of the idiotic Arnim Zola also left me not wanting to read this comic again for forty years!! Arnim Zola is a poor man’s version of MODOK- and we’ve already GOT a MODOK!! We don’t need two MODOKs! Arnim Zola, as a character, is “Kirby-residue”- and Kirby’s Koncepts are stale, dated, and at-times, childish! ( “Devil Dinosaur”, anyone-?? ) This story was weak and forgettable at best, and purile, at worst! The artwork, even with John Byrne’s involvement, was best-left to ‘Brand-Echh’! Annuals, regardless of whose titles, should be MEMORABLE- like 1977’s Annual#7, ( “The Final Threat” ) and 1981’s ( “By Friends…..Betrayed!”- whatever in the hell THAT means ) and the FF Annuals from 1963, 1964, 1965, and 1966- “Sub-Mariner Conquers the Human Race”, or the Annual #8’s reprint of it- “The Final Defeat of the Human Race”- an infinitely-superior title- “The Final Victory of Dr. Doom”, “Bedlam At the Baxter Building!” and. lastly, but certainly not leastly, “The Torch That Was!”, and the 1978 ‘Incredible Hulk’ Annual- “The Evil That is Cast…….” which was an example of Roger Stern’s genius, as opposed to this sub-mediocrity he authored here. A Marvel Annual should be an affair to be remembered forever, not filed away after only one arduous read, and forgotten for over forty years! Ten-four!!