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November 2, 2006
Favorite Thing vs. The Hulk Stories
Comics Should Be Good is quickly becoming one of my top blogs to read everyday. Yesterday they wrote an article about Top 5 Thing/Hulk Fights. Unfortunately, they didn't list my top picks, so here they are...
Marvel Feature #11 (1973), written by Len Wein, drawn by Jim Starlin and Joe Sinnott. Wein's dialogue coupled with Starlin's powerful layouts made this fight memorable. The Leader and Kurrgo (Master of Planet X) transport the Thing to the desert and force him to fight the Hulk. To give Ben Grimm extra incentive, he must defeat the Hulk to deactivate a planet-destroying bomb. Try explaining that to dumb Hulk! "Huh? You beat up Hulk for Hulk's own good? Hulk may be slow! It may be hard for Hulk to think, but not even Hulk believes that!"
I'm not the only one who loves this story, Art Adams does as well. He re-created the cover to Marvel Feature 11 for a collector. Too bad this wasn't sold as a poster, I would buy it in a second. I wonder how much time it took for Adams to recreate this, versus the original cover artists (Kane and Romita?) back in 1973?
Jim Starlin loved both of these characters so much that he wrote and drew a Hulk/Thing rematch in Marvel Fanfare #21 (1985). He later revisited both monsters in Marvel Graphic Novel #29 (1987), The Big Change. Starlin wrote the story and Berni Wrightson did the full artwork. While there was no big fight scene between them, the Thing and the Hulk are teamed up like two characters in a buddy movie. After defeating a monster for an alien race, at the end they are rewarded with two wishes. While Ben Grimm sees there's a chance for both of them to become human again, the Hulk makes a quick, Kramer-like decision that spoils the whole deal.
In 1974, Marvel decided to start their own series of bigger comics with Giant-Size Superstars #1, featuring the Fantastic Four. What better way to start than by having "The Wildest Thing vs. Hulk Battle of All". Written by Gerry Conway, it had a unique twist. When Bruce Banner arrives in New York and visits the Baxter Building, he notices a device built by Reed Richards. Banner decides to use this device to cure both himself and Ben Grimm at the same time. Something goes snafu (as usual) and a mind-swap occurs between the Thing and the Hulk. Rich Buckler draws this tale in a style very similiar to Jack Kirby, and the fight between them rages from skyscrapers to the subway to Madison Square Garden. Throw in the Amazonian babe called Thundra (looking to mate with Mr. Grimm) and you've got a comedy of errors. Huh, Joss Whedon and the Buffy writing staff were Conway fans, and Buffy/Faith swapped bodies and fought, do you think this could have been an inspiration? Nuff said.
