We've checked out a couple of these before: in 1998, Marvel did a batch of team-up annuals, often with odd pairings. Deadpool/Death. Machine Man/Bastion. Alpha Flight/Inhumans. Generation X/Dracula. We looked at X-Men/Doctor Doom and Hulk/Sub-Mariner, and today we've got X-Man/Hulk '98, "Call of the Wild" Written by Terry Kavanagh, pencils by Chriscross, inks by Caesar Antomattei, Keith Williams, and Hector Collazo.
I don't think I had this issue back in 1998, and looking back I don't think I was reading X-Man or Hulk at the time. Maybe on Hulk: this might've been right around Peter David's last issue but before Joe Casey's last issue of the series. Bruce Banner was on the run from the military for the millionth time, while carrying the guilt of his wife's death and the recent spinal injury of Rick Jones. Meanwhile, Nate Grey was struggling to make a living deforesting the woods in France. Something had happened, in some other X-book, that affected Nate's telepathy, so he couldn't understand the language now, which is mostly played for laughs; except now he couldn't Jedi-mind-trick his way across borders...
A mysterious voice reaches out to the Hulk from the "dark dimension," enraging him to smash up a chunk of the Grand Canyon (Hey, it only makes it Grander.) and reveal a Stonehenge-like circle. Meanwhile, Nate checks out something weird happening at the real Stonehenge; both events are Thanos! The Mad Titan is trying to get an anchor in the real world to pull him out of wherever he's stuck, and Nate is afraid the Hulk may be tempted by "that demon," but the Hulk is nowhere near that dumb. Nate does appear to get a telepathic glimpse of Thanos's consciousness, and is terrified of him.
When Thanos turns on the Hulk and tries to squeeze Nate out of his "psi-armor," the Hulk inadvertently destroys the stone ring, freeing Thanos. Nate then armors up the Hulk, to keep Thanos in the ring while he rebuilds it, and Thanos is sucked back into whatever. Not his best showing, here. While the Hulk is not greatly affected by the experience, Nate begins to realize the earth may need him, as much as he needs it.
Wonder if this is one of those Thanos clones Jim Starlin claims exists in stories he himself hasn't written about Thanos.
ReplyDeleteDidn't care for Nate all that much back then, except for that soft Warren Ellis reboot he got back in 1999. Now that was a good series. Short, but good.