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Tales to Astonish #88: Review

Feb 1967
Stan Lee, Gil Kane

Story Name:

Boomerang and The Brute

Review & Comments

Rating:
3 stars

Tales to Astonish #88 Review by (July 3, 2024)

Review: Hooray! Hulk’s a hero! Even the President thinks so! Then Boomerang, the guy with the silly red and white costume, throws a firecracker at Hulk’s rear end and bang! Hulk’s a menace again! And the President’s amnesty goes in the trash. So we’re back to the status quo. Then Boomy tries to lure him into a trap and there’s a cool fight scene, a drugged Hulk versus a guy with a bunch of annoying little weapons which escalates quickly. And it ends with one of those cool comic book bits of irony: Boomerang would have survived had he not drugged Hulk! Not to worry, he’ll be back…eventually (See the Comments). Meanwhile, Hulk isn’t going anywhere….

On the first page, Stan promises an action-filled tale reminiscent of the Golden Age of Comics and they deliver! A lot of fighting along with some dumb sci-fi (so how does Attuma, who has apparently never seen a robot before, manage to reprogram it to serve him?) with pretty basic writing and art, for pure entertainment value. That’s what was promised and that’s what they delivered. Imperious Rex!

Comments: Hulk story: Last appearance of Boomerang for ten years; he returns in IRON FIST #11.

Subby story: Part one of two parts. Attuma was most recently seen in AVENGERS #26-27, following up on Wasp’s departure in issue #78. The race of the Servo-Robot’s creators is never revealed but they’re a snooty lot.






 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Tales to Astonish #88 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Hailed as a hero for his victory over the Hulk-Killer Android, Hulk is granted a full amnesty by President Lyndon Johnson.

Boomerang
, hiding in the shadows, hurls an explosive disc that provokes the Hulk who starts running amok in a rampage through the streets of New York city.

Thunderbolt Ross, believing the Hulk is still a menace, destroys the amnesty order, and resumes his pursuit of the monster. 

Meanwhile, Boomerang intercepts the Hulk in the mountains and pelts him with explosives, and tranquilizer gas. Even drugged, Hulk is stronger than his foe, so Boomerang destroys a nearby dam, flooding the canyon where the Hulk is waiting. Hulk creates a sonic boom, knocking his enemy out of the air.

Gas causes Hulk to transform into Bruce Banner who tries to rescue his foe but without the Hulk's strength, is unable to hold onto Boomerang who plummets into the flood waters.

“A Stranger Strikes from Space!” 3.5/5
Writer: Stan Lee. Pencils: Bill Everett. Inks: Bill Everett. Colors: ? Letters: Sam Rosen.

Synopsis: Attuma is leading his hordes once again to conquer Atlantis and once again, Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, is leading the defense of the realm. In single combat, Namor clobbers Attuma, causing his army to panic and flee, Attuma leading the way....

Back on his throne, Attuma vows to kill Namor and seize Atlantis. Then an alien ship passing over Earth on its way to its interstellar destination, loses a Servo-Robot, one of their deadliest weapons, overboard and it sinks into the sea. It sets off an alarm in Attuma’s neck of the woods so he goes out to investigate personally. He orders his men to fight it and they fail to make a dent in the robot….

Meanwhile, Namor is watching all this on his Observa-Scope and wonders where the robot came from. Lord Vashti warns Namor not to involve his weary people in another war so soon and Lady Dorma warns him of a feeling of impending doom. Namor dismisses them and continues to watch….

Attuma’s men blast the Servo-Robot with the Nutro-Ray but it causes no damage to the robot. Attuma has it hauled back to his kingdom where he figures out how to get the Servo-Robot to obey his commands. Once done, he orders the giant machine of destruction to destroy the Sub-Mariner….




Preview Pages
Click sample interior pages to enlarge them:




Gil Kane
Gil Kane
Gene Colan (Cover Penciler)
Bill Everett (Cover Inker)
Stan Goldberg (Cover Colorist)
Letterer: Sam Rosen.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

> Tales to Astonish: Book info and issue index

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