Comic Browser:

#72
#73
#74
#75
#76
#77
#78
#79
#80
#81
#82
#83
#84
#85
#86
#87
#88
#89
#90
#91
#92
#93
#94
#95
Selector

Tales to Astonish #77

Mar 1966
Stan Lee, John Romita

Tales to Astonish #77 cover

Story Name:

Bruce Banner Is The Hulk


Synopsis

Tales to Astonish #77 synopsis by Julio Molina-Muscara
Rating: 5 stars

The Hulk fights the immortal Executioner while his army attacks the city. After trading heavy blows, Hulk defeats his foe and destroys his combat ships.

Instead of thanking the Hulk, King Arrkam sends forces to attack him! Suddenly, the Hulk vanishes in mid air, returning to the 20th century.

Believing Banner was dead, Rick Jones reveals Banner's secret identity to Glenn Talbot ("Banner is the Hulk") to clear Banner's name, thought to be a traitor.

--


 

Review / Commentaries


Tales to Astonish #77 Review by (March 20, 2024)

Reviews by Peter Silvestro: Wahooo! Hulk battles a Norse god for the bulk of the issue and, after that warm-up, he takes on Skurge’s army! Only the T-Ray saves the rest of the future world from Hulk. But the biggest, most world-changing event is quietly kept hidden and is only revealed on the last page—assuming you didn’t see the cover. [Smiley face] Bruce Banner’s secret is announced to the world (actually only to Glenn Talbot but he’ll spread the word quickly), giving him a public identity. It had to happen, Stan Lee couldn’t keep writing these stories and pretending everyone was too dumb to figure it out. And now Bruce has a new class of headaches to deal with so it’s a good thing everyone thinks he’s dead. For now….

Meanwhile, the new Subby arc gets off to a nice start, having introduced us to Earth tremors last time. Namor decides to travel alone to the surface world for unclear reasons, as well as not making it clear where he would be going (it’s usually New York, perhaps for the United Nations). He finds the massive drill right away and messes with it, bringing him to the attention of Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne a/k/a Ant-Man and Wasp. His plans may be a bit vague so he relies on arrogance and attitude to achieve his goals. It may be reckless but it’s his modus operandi, part of why Namor makes such an offbeat—and popular—hero.

Comments: Hulk story by Julio Molina-Muscara: First Tales to Astonish cover depicting just the Hulk. First Hulk comic by John Romita as inker. He also participated as a penciler in the cover. And Hulk is knocked down for the first time.

Subby story by Peter Silvestro: Part one of four parts. This is Hank and Janet’s first appearance since their own series ended in issue #69 though Hank had a cameo in AVENGERS #22. First (brief) appearance of the Behemoth. Penciler Gene Colan credited under his real name for the first time, though he would go back to Adam Austin for two more issues.




> Tales to Astonish comic book info and issue index

Elektra

This comic is in the following collection:
ad
Collecting INCREDIBLE HULK (1962) #1-6, TALES TO ASTONISH (1959) #100, INCREDIBLE HULK (1968) #102, and material from TALES TO ASTONISH (1959) #59-99 and #101.

Excelsioring your collection:
Statue Hulk (Battle of New York) 1/10 - Infinity Saga - BDS Art Scale - Iron Studios
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)
sign in to view this special content

John Romita
John Romita
Unknown
Jack Kirby (Cover Penciler)
John Romita (Cover Inker)
Stan Goldberg (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Layouts: Jack Kirby. Letterer: Sam Rosen.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Betty Ross
Betty Ross

(Elizabeth Ross)
Executioner
Executioner

(Skurge)
Hulk
Hulk

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Sub-Mariner
Sub-Mariner

(Namor McKenzie)
Thunderbolt Ross
Thunderbolt Ross

(Thaddeus Ross)
Wasp
Wasp

(Janet Van Dyne)



The Marvel Heroes Library is a fan Marvel Comics site
Version 14.8.18 (Nov 3, 2024) - VS2022

Copyright © 1997-2024 Julio Molina-Muscara (creator, webmaster)
Site content is a collective effort by the MHL team and Marvel aficionados

Characters are copyright © Marvel or their respective owners. All portions of this Marvel fansite that are subject to copyright are licensed under a creative commons attribution 3.0 unported license All rights reserved