Comic Browser:

#114
#115
#116
#117
#118
#119
#120
#121
#122
#123
#124
#125
#126
#127
#128
#129
#130
#131
#132
#133
#134
#135
#136
#137
Selector

Incredible Hulk #119: Review

Sep 1969
Stan Lee, Herb Trimpe

Story Name:

At The Mercy Of Maximus The Mad

Review & Comments

Rating:
3 stars


 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Incredible Hulk #119 Synopsis by Richie Wevill
Bruce Banner wakes up after his recent battle with the Sub-Mariner (as the Hulk). After getting his head together, he walks up a hill to see a farmer. Desperate to find out were he is, Bruce walks up to speak to the farmer, but he appears to be under some hypnotic trance.

Bruce walks off feeling a weird throbbing in his head that appears to be getting worse. He manages to find a town in the distance with a huge beacon in the centre. Very confused, Bruce decides to proceed into the town. He takes the clothes of a nearby scarecrow, and enters the town. He soon realizes that he is in Costa Salvador, Central America.

Just like the farmer, everyone looks like they are in some kind of trance. Bruce finds were the beacon's light was coming from before; a giant statue. The throbbing continues in Bruce's head, but soon a strange man comes up to him and starts to talk. The man tells Bruce the pain will stop soon, and introduces himself as the servant of 'The Great One'. Apparantly, the Great One has the power to turn people into mindless slaves which would explain how everyone became under the trance.

The man also tells Bruce that the Great One lives atop a hill just overlooking the village. The Great One did not put this man in a trance because he was trustworthy enough to be his slave, anyway. The man tells Bruce to stop resisting the pain in his head and accept the fate of becoming a slave to the Great One. Bruce refuses and resists, but eventually the pressure gets to him and he transforms into the Hulk.

The man runs away from the Hulk; scared out of his wits. The Hulk decides he doesn't like the light or the statue so he tries to destroy it by throwing a truck at it. The statue stands there unphased, so Hulk, instead, wants to go and see the Great One. Hulk arrives at the foot of the castle in one leap.

Meanwhile, back in America, the Pentagon give General Thunderbolt Ross a priority message, telling him about the Costa Salvador incident. Thunderbolt Ross has to rush a force of soldiers over to Costa Salvador at once. Betty has a feeling the Hulk is involved.

Afterwards, we find out that the Great One inside the castle is actually Maximus the Mad who plans to build more statues all over America in order for him and his fellow Inhumans to rule over the continent.

Just as he spoke his plan to his Inhuman servants, the man Bruce Banner was speaking to earlier arrives to inform Maximus of the Hulk's appearance in Costa Salvador. However the man makes the mistake of asking for a reward; the reward is one Inhuman, Falcona, sending a load of birds to kill the man.

Hulk tries to jump over the castle walls only to find that there is a force-field around the castle. As the Hulk is getting stronger, the angrier he gets, Maximus thinks the Hulk may succeed in breaking the force-field, so he sends his gang of evil Inhumans to kill the Hulk.

Meanwhile, the Hulk does manage to break through the wall and access Maximus' castle. That is when the Inhumans attack. The first to strike at the Hulk is Stallior, a Centaur with a ball and chain. The Hulk gets a little tangled up with the chain, but manages to swing Stallior into a tree before biting his way out of the chain.

After that, Leonus, who has a yellow beard and metal claws instead of hands, grabs the Hulk around the neck. The Hulk manages to flip him into the castle walls, however. Suddenly, Timberius, Inhuman that resembles a tree, attacks the Hulk with vines coming from the ground. Whilst the Hulk is tied up, Aireo, an Inhuman with the power of flight, picks him up and drops him from a great height. In mid-air, the Hulk breaks free from the vines. Just as the Hulk lands, Falcona sends a load of birds to attack the Hulk. Hulk gets rid of them with one of his powerful claps. The other Inhumans make way for another to attack: Nebulo. We find out that Nebulo is an invisible inhuman. Whilst Nebulo confuses the Hulk, the rest of the Inhumans are about to attack, when suddenly General Ross and his army attack.

The Hulk does not know who to fight, the army or Maximus and the Evil Inhumans. Maximus tells Hulk to make a decision, fight the army and join with Maximus or fight both the army and Maximus. Hulk is torn between what decision to make, but what will he decide to do?

Also in this story: Betty Ross.

Preview Pages
Click sample interior pages to enlarge them:




Herb Trimpe
Herb Trimpe
Herb Trimpe (Cover Penciler)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Betty Ross
Betty Ross

(Elizabeth Ross)
Bruce Banner
Bruce Banner

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Hulk
Hulk

(Bruce Banner)
Maximus
Maximus

(Maximus the Mad)
Thunderbolt Ross
Thunderbolt Ross

(Thaddeus Ross)

Plus: Aireo, Falcona, Leonus, Nebulo, Stallior, Timberius.

> Incredible Hulk: Book info and issue index

Share This Page


Elektra