Reprints Incredible Hulk #140, 148, 156, 202-203, 205-207, 246-248 and What If #23
Written by Harlan Ellison, Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin, Len Wein, Bill Mantlo and Peter Gillis.
Penciled by Herb Trimpe and Sal Buscema.
Inked by John Severin, Joe Staton, Mike Esposito, Sal Trapani, Sam Grainger.
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| Variant cover. |
Note from J.A. Morris:
I was in the process of reading Hulk: Heart Of The Atom when I learned of the death of longtime Marvel artist Herb Trimpe earlier this month. His artwork has meant a lot to me since I discovered it in Godzilla # 12. Shortly thereafter, I began buying back issues of Incredible Hulk, the series that most comic fans think of when they hear Trimpe's name. The book that's reviewed here today features some of Trimpe's finest work. This post is dedicated to the life and work of Herb Trimpe. I send my condolences to his family and friends.
The Hulk has been shrunk down to a microscopic height by the villain Psyklop! He finds himself in a subatomic world called K'ai.
Hulk stumbles on a city that's is being attacked by giant pig-dogs called warthos and intervenes and saves the city. The people are grateful to Hulk and praise his heroics. Hulk is fascinated to see that this world is populated by people who are "green like hulk."
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| Warthos attack Hulk and pay the price! |
A woman named Jarella is monarch of this realm and is immediately attracted to Hulk when she meets him. Jarella's sorcerers cast a spell on the Hulk that allows him retain Bruce Banner's intellect. Hulk and Jarella quickly fall in love. For the first time in quite a while, Bruce and the Hulk are happy.
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| Hulk smiles when he realizes the crowd is cheering for him and is made up of greenskinned people. |
Jarella's kingdom is threatened by a member of the royal family named Visis. He and his followers attempt a coup, but the Hulk foils their plans. Visis is put on trial for his actions. The Hulk spares his life but Visis is forced into permanent exile. After the trial, Hulk announces that he and Jarella will marry the next day.
But this bliss is short-lived when Psyklop arrives, turns Hulk back to his normal size and captures him back into our world. Hulk battles Psyklop and is enraged that he was ripped away from Jarella. Hulk easily beats Psyklop and the villain is punished by the dark gods he works for. Hulk quickly forgets about his adventures in K'ai.
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| Psyklop frisks Hulk away from K'ai. |
Some time after that, Physicist Dr. Peter Corbeau, an old friend of Bruce Banner, invents a device called the Starcore. It orbits the sun and Corbeau believes it can cure Banner of the Hulk through solar energy. The military captures Hulk and Corbeau successfully cures him with Starcore.
At the same time, Jarella is having trouble in K'ai. Visis has returned and is once again seeking to overthrow Jarella. She wishes Bruce Banner was there to protect her kingdom. So Jarella asks her sorcerers to send her to Earth so that she may contact Hulk. Visis is aware of this and sends an assassin named Fialan after Jarella. Fialan kills Jarella, which prompts Hulk to summarily execute Fialan.
Thankfully, Fialan killed a Life Model Decoy of Jarella, not the real one. But Jarella's entry into our world has caused solar flares which threaten to destroy Earth. Jarella selflessly returns to K'ai, knowing that it is the only way to save the planet.
Hulk later returns to Jarella's world and is shocked at what he discovers. Jarella has been overthrown and imprisoned by Visis, who tells Jarella he will spare the lives of her people if she agrees to marry him. Jarella reluctantly caves to his demands.
The Hulk arrives just in time to break up the ceremony. But Visis has a secret weapon. His chief assassin Krylar has a device that makes anyone's greatest fear materialize in front of them. Krylar turns this device on the Hulk and Ol' Greenskin is forced to confront his greatest fear...himself!
Hulk realizes that it's a hoax and defeats Krylar and Visis. Jarella regains her throne, but once again, Hulk grows back to his proper height and leaves K'ai.
The next time Hulk visits K'ai, he finds Jarella and her kingdom attacked by a new foe. K'ai has been hit by a series of earthquakes, caused by "the god of the mountain." Jarella's people are sacrificing her to the god in hopes that he will cease the earthquakes. Hulk saves her and decides to confront the god of the mountain.
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| Jarella & Hulk meet the "god of the mountain." |
It turns out the god is a green giant. But the giant is no match for Hulk, who pummels it and discovers the god is actually a robot. It was all part of a scheme of Psyklop who has returned to K'ai for revenge. Psyklop hypnotizes Hulk and makes him his slave. All of K'ai is endangered when the hypnosis makes Hulk believe everyone around him is Psyklop and attacks them. Thankfully, Jarella's wizards intervene with a spell that combats this effect, which saves K'ai.
After Psyklop is defeated, Hulk reverts back to his normal size, but this time Jarella travels to Earth with him. The portal back to K'ai is broken and Jarella finds herself trapped in Hulk's world, but Banner and Jarella are happy to be together.
Subsequently, Banner and Jarella are spending a pleasant day walking around Santa Fe, New Mexico. But their happiness is short-lived. A mysterious scientist reactivates the robot known as Crypto-Man, who previously battled Thor, and sends it to rob a bank. Crypto-Man sees Jarella and attacks her, prompting Banner to Hulk-up. When Crypto-Man hurls a car into a building, it sends rubble flying in the direction of a little boy. Jarella pushes the boy out of the way but is buried under rubble.
Hulk finishes off Crypto-Man but is overcome with grief when he finds Jarella. He takes her to the Gamma Base to get medical attention from Doc Samson, but Jarella dies.
A grieving Hulk believes that if anyone can save Jarella, it's his friend Doctor Strange. He sets out for New York City, only to be attacked by jet fighters. This sets Hulk raging like never before. Every step he makes towards New York, he is attacked by planes or police. Finally, Strange arrives with Hulk's Defenders teammates in tow. This leads to a direct confrontation between Hulk and the Defenders.
Thankfully, the Defenders convince Hulk they want to help him and the Hulk calms down. But he is heartbroken when Doctor Strange says his mystic powers cannot restore Jarella's life.
After he accepts Jarella's death, Hulk takes her back to K'ai to give her a proper burial. But this brings him into conflict with two very powerful beings:
Mar-Vell, the Kree warrior better known as Captain Marvel!
And the god-like Gardener, one of the Elders of the Universe!
Plus, a tale from an alternate reality where Jarella survived and married Hulk!
Review:
Hulk: Heart of the Atom contains some of the most memorable Hulk stories of the Bronze Age penciled by the two greatest Hulk artists of all time.
Story:
The major problem I have with this book is that it begins with a reprint of Incredible Hulk #140. This issue was the second part of a two-parter that began in Avengers #88. Why was this Avengers story not included? But what's in the book is very good.
Hulk's first journey to K'ai, plotted by Roy Thomas and scripted by Harlan Ellison is excellent. I don't know which writer deserves more credit, but it's a great story. I've read it many times now and I still hope for it to end happily for the Hulk.
The follow-up is credited to Archie Goodwin and Chris Claremont. It's a solid sequel to the first Jarella story, with the Hulk and his love once again being separated at the end. I was surprised to see Hulk kill Fialan in this story. It's worth noting that this story (cover dated February 1972) is Claremont's first writing credit at Marvel. It introduces Dr. Peter Corbeau, a character Claremont would bring back while writing Uncanny X-Men.
Len Wein wrote the next part of the book and his stories are also good. He gives us several nice scenes that show how much Hulk and Jarella love each other. Jarella's death is sad and well-written by Wein. I think her death is more sad because she's killed by a by a Z-list villain like Crypto-Man. If she was killed by one of the Hulk's top foes like Abomination or the Leader out for revenge, it would not have been as tragically random. We never even learn the identity of the scientist who controls Crypto-Man behind the scenes. Jarella selflessly gives her life to protect a child from flying rubble.
Wein makes a point of showing that the Hulk just wants to be left alone, especially when he's seeking help from Doctor Strange. But the Hulk responds to the police and fighter planes that hound him with perhaps his greatest rampage of all time.
Bill Mantlo takes over as writer for the stories that deal with the burial of Jarella. I enjoyed Hulk's duels with Captain Marvel and Gardener. It's fun to watch Hulk pit his savage strength against cosmically powered beings and come out on top.
The final story in the book from What If #23 was written by Peter Gillis. We get to see what would've happened if Hulk and Jarella married and settled down in K'ai. More often than not "What If" stories in the Bronze Age had sad endings, but this one ends the book on a happy note (even if it's just an "imaginary" story).
Art:
The art in Hulk: Heart Of The Atom is excellent from beginning to end.
Herb Trimpe pencils the first part and does a great job visualizing Jarella's world. When I think of Trimpe, the first thing that comes to mind is how great he was at drawing military vehicles and weapons. But Trimpe's depiction of K'ai shows he was just as good when it came to drawing "fantasy and sorcery" environs.
Trimpe's pencils are embellished by several different inkers. They're all good, but I thought Sam Grainger's complimented Trimpe's work a bit more than the others.
Trimpe also penciled the What If? story that closes out the book.
Sal Buscema was synonymous with the Hulk from 1975 to '85 and this book shows why. This is some of his best work on the series, especially the portion that deals with Jarella's death and the Hulk's reaction to her passing. Joe Staton, a great penciler in his own right, serves as inker for Buscema and they make a great art team.
This scene below is one of the saddest and most powerful moments you'll ever see in a comic book.
The first four panels are absolutely heartbreaking. But Buscema and Staton are also great at depicting the Hulk during the one the greatest rages of his long history. This scene, where the Hulk tries to rest on top of the Statue of Liberty is a good example:
After Psyklop is defeated, Hulk reverts back to his normal size, but this time Jarella travels to Earth with him. The portal back to K'ai is broken and Jarella finds herself trapped in Hulk's world, but Banner and Jarella are happy to be together.
Subsequently, Banner and Jarella are spending a pleasant day walking around Santa Fe, New Mexico. But their happiness is short-lived. A mysterious scientist reactivates the robot known as Crypto-Man, who previously battled Thor, and sends it to rob a bank. Crypto-Man sees Jarella and attacks her, prompting Banner to Hulk-up. When Crypto-Man hurls a car into a building, it sends rubble flying in the direction of a little boy. Jarella pushes the boy out of the way but is buried under rubble.
Hulk finishes off Crypto-Man but is overcome with grief when he finds Jarella. He takes her to the Gamma Base to get medical attention from Doc Samson, but Jarella dies.
A grieving Hulk believes that if anyone can save Jarella, it's his friend Doctor Strange. He sets out for New York City, only to be attacked by jet fighters. This sets Hulk raging like never before. Every step he makes towards New York, he is attacked by planes or police. Finally, Strange arrives with Hulk's Defenders teammates in tow. This leads to a direct confrontation between Hulk and the Defenders.
Thankfully, the Defenders convince Hulk they want to help him and the Hulk calms down. But he is heartbroken when Doctor Strange says his mystic powers cannot restore Jarella's life.
After he accepts Jarella's death, Hulk takes her back to K'ai to give her a proper burial. But this brings him into conflict with two very powerful beings:
Mar-Vell, the Kree warrior better known as Captain Marvel!
And the god-like Gardener, one of the Elders of the Universe!
Plus, a tale from an alternate reality where Jarella survived and married Hulk!
Review:
Hulk: Heart of the Atom contains some of the most memorable Hulk stories of the Bronze Age penciled by the two greatest Hulk artists of all time.
Story:
The major problem I have with this book is that it begins with a reprint of Incredible Hulk #140. This issue was the second part of a two-parter that began in Avengers #88. Why was this Avengers story not included? But what's in the book is very good.
Hulk's first journey to K'ai, plotted by Roy Thomas and scripted by Harlan Ellison is excellent. I don't know which writer deserves more credit, but it's a great story. I've read it many times now and I still hope for it to end happily for the Hulk.
The follow-up is credited to Archie Goodwin and Chris Claremont. It's a solid sequel to the first Jarella story, with the Hulk and his love once again being separated at the end. I was surprised to see Hulk kill Fialan in this story. It's worth noting that this story (cover dated February 1972) is Claremont's first writing credit at Marvel. It introduces Dr. Peter Corbeau, a character Claremont would bring back while writing Uncanny X-Men.
Len Wein wrote the next part of the book and his stories are also good. He gives us several nice scenes that show how much Hulk and Jarella love each other. Jarella's death is sad and well-written by Wein. I think her death is more sad because she's killed by a by a Z-list villain like Crypto-Man. If she was killed by one of the Hulk's top foes like Abomination or the Leader out for revenge, it would not have been as tragically random. We never even learn the identity of the scientist who controls Crypto-Man behind the scenes. Jarella selflessly gives her life to protect a child from flying rubble.
Wein makes a point of showing that the Hulk just wants to be left alone, especially when he's seeking help from Doctor Strange. But the Hulk responds to the police and fighter planes that hound him with perhaps his greatest rampage of all time.
Bill Mantlo takes over as writer for the stories that deal with the burial of Jarella. I enjoyed Hulk's duels with Captain Marvel and Gardener. It's fun to watch Hulk pit his savage strength against cosmically powered beings and come out on top.
The final story in the book from What If #23 was written by Peter Gillis. We get to see what would've happened if Hulk and Jarella married and settled down in K'ai. More often than not "What If" stories in the Bronze Age had sad endings, but this one ends the book on a happy note (even if it's just an "imaginary" story).
Art:
The art in Hulk: Heart Of The Atom is excellent from beginning to end.
Herb Trimpe pencils the first part and does a great job visualizing Jarella's world. When I think of Trimpe, the first thing that comes to mind is how great he was at drawing military vehicles and weapons. But Trimpe's depiction of K'ai shows he was just as good when it came to drawing "fantasy and sorcery" environs.
Trimpe's pencils are embellished by several different inkers. They're all good, but I thought Sam Grainger's complimented Trimpe's work a bit more than the others.
Trimpe also penciled the What If? story that closes out the book.
Sal Buscema was synonymous with the Hulk from 1975 to '85 and this book shows why. This is some of his best work on the series, especially the portion that deals with Jarella's death and the Hulk's reaction to her passing. Joe Staton, a great penciler in his own right, serves as inker for Buscema and they make a great art team.
This scene below is one of the saddest and most powerful moments you'll ever see in a comic book.
The first four panels are absolutely heartbreaking. But Buscema and Staton are also great at depicting the Hulk during the one the greatest rages of his long history. This scene, where the Hulk tries to rest on top of the Statue of Liberty is a good example:
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| Hulk hurls the Liberty Torch at fighter planes! |
Great work by Buscema and Staton.
Buscema and Trimpe also do a nice job drawing warthos and other monstrous creatures that inhabit K'ai.
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| An unfortunate dragon learns (the hard way) that "Hulk is the strongest one there is!" |
Extras:
The book contains entries for Jarella and the Gardener from the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.
Hulk: Heart Of The Atom is a very good collection of stories that features some great art from Trimpe and Buscema. But the exclusion of Avengers #88 prevents it from getting a higher rating.
J.A. Morris' rating:
.5
3.5 Sals.
The book contains entries for Jarella and the Gardener from the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.
Hulk: Heart Of The Atom is a very good collection of stories that features some great art from Trimpe and Buscema. But the exclusion of Avengers #88 prevents it from getting a higher rating.
.5
3.5 Sals.
