In the ’70s, Marvel teamed up with Magazine Management Company to produce stories that were not covered by the comic book code authority, and which appeared in oversized, black and white magazines that could be sold for a buck. Or more.
I’m not sure if the stories are canon, but there’s no obvious reason to assume they aren’t. And many of them were pretty good.
The first one was written by an up-and-coming artist who was making his bones over at DC on the Manhunter series. Walt Simonson. From here, Walt would do his first (and lesser-known) run on Thor.
These first issues a long-form story where Hulk fights aliens, and teams up with Rick Jones a female Kylorian named Bereet. She will appear in The Incredible Hulk comic book–but her story there will be slightly different. Again, it’s not clear whether (or how much of) this book is intended as canon. It takes place soon after the Gamma Bomb explosion, and re-tells his origin, including an appearance by Gargoyle.
He also meets the X-Men. The original X-Men.
Issue #4 has a done-in-one that combines aliens and mysticism. Probably, these aren’t strictly canon stories. But they’re fun.
Second, John Warner and John Buscema (and other artists) give us a story about Ulysses Bloodstone. He’s fighting “The Conspiracy” (with a capital C), a group that controls monsters and has Killer Shrike in its employ.
At the end of the issue, he learns that many famous scientists are missing. Suspecting The Conspiracy, he goes looking for Tony Stark. That means Iron Man…
…And Nick Fury…
…What the heck does “dad-burned” mean?
The Bloodstone story ends with the kidnapped scientists rescued, but a strange man showing up.
He’s Dominic Dusinane. He’s a member of The Conspiracy and will reappear in the 1993 series USAgent.
Hulk: B-. Bloodstone: C+.