80-Page Thursday: Marvel Treasury Edition #24!

Our biggest 80-pager ever, since it's a giant treasury edition! From 1979, Marvel Treasury Edition #24, featuring the Rampaging Hulk! Guest-starring the Inhumans and Adam Warlock! Art for all four issues by Herb Trimpe and Jack Abel.

These were reprints from 1974, leading off with Incredible Hulk #175, "Man-Brute in the Hidden Land!" Written by Roy Thomas, this opens with the Hulk re-entering earth's atmosphere after being blown sky-high by the Cobalt Man. Although "Ol' Greenskin" shows up on Chinese radar, they aren't overly concerned, since he's going to crash in an isolated, desolate section of the Himalayas...namely, smack into Attilan, home of the Inhumans! Black Bolt deflects the flying Hulk, who reverts to Bruce Banner shortly thereafter. The Inhumans are hospitable and friendly (at least the royal family are...) but aren't planning on hanging about, since they've discovered another earth, in the same orbit as their own, but the opposite side of the sun! (They've also noticed the other earth doesn't seem to have many, if any, super-powered types, and think it may be a better home for them. Uncharitably, that would probably seem like an invasion...) Still, when some rank-and-file, no-name Inhumans pick a fight with Banner, they get immediate comeupance, as he Hulks out and wallops them. Although Black Bolt is able to knock out the Hulk, he knows he will be enraged and destroy Attilan when he wakes up, and opts to launch the Hulk into space--not to that other earth, they plan for him to "hurtle through empty space--forever." So, you're murdering him, then...

By the way, the GCD entry includes an excerpt of the USPS Statement of Ownership for that issue: "Statement of September 25, 1973. Average number of copies sold during preceding 12 months (total paid circulation): 187,318. Actual number sold for issue nearest filing date (total paid circulation): 209,124."

The next issue, "Crisis on Counter-Earth!" (Incredible Hulk #176, per the GCD written by Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway.) Hulk, unreasonably pounding on the rocket he finds himself in, inadvertently sets it on course for the sun, but crashes on Counter-Earth. Found by the Feds, Banner is questioned--they recognize him, but think he's an impostor--and when shown a picture of Adam Warlock, Bruce realizes he's been there before, and Hulks out. The President is given a report, though--President Man-Beast, that is! His approval ratings are a bit down, as the people may be rallying behind the new messiah Adam Warlock; but he's getting a nuclear war ready to take care of those dirty hippies...

Manny's New Men soldiers have captured the Hulk at the start of "Peril of the Plural Planet!" (Written by Thomas and Conway) and he plans to use the Hulk as his weapon against Warlock. The Hulk "escapes" and in short order catches up to Warlock and his group, which includes a few good New Men and a Recorder. Together, they plan their Counter-Earth counter-attack, but the Man-Beast's implant in the Hulk sets him off, turning Hulk into an unwitting green Judas. The revolution is seemingly over before it can begin, with Banner and Warlock captured. Man-Beast, past wanting to control Warlock, begins a smear campaign that leads to Warlock's "crucifixion." Questioning if the High Evolutionary abandoned him, Warlock dies, reverting back into a cocoon.

In the final chapter, "Triumph on Terra-Two!" (Written by Thomas, Conway, and Tony Isabella.) the Hulk, enraged over the death of his friend, grabs Warlock's cocoon and splits with him. Warlock's revolutionaries (or apostles, or whatever) comfort the Hulk, who mourns the loss of one of his few friends, while the Man-Beast steps up his march to war...to mix a metaphor. The Hulk throws down with Man-Beast, but is stopped from killing him by Warlock's inexplicable-yet-not-entirely-surprising return. Claiming to now be "far more than a man," Warlock de-evolves Manny back into a wolf (although he escapes!) and then returns to his home planet leaves for space.

These last three issues (and #158, Hulk's prior visit to Counter-Earth) wrap up Adam Warlock's stint as messiah figure there, and the Christ-allegory is pretty thick. Warlock seems far more friendly and approachable than he would be his next appearances: under Jim Starlin, Warlock was broody and tortured, like saving Counter-Earth wasn't as rewarding as he might've hoped.

Also this issue: for good measure, a new Hercules story, with Herc vs. Wonder Woman's mom, Hippolyta! OK, probably not the same Hippolyta, but there you go. This isn't even the first oddball Hercules fill-in I've seen, although it might be in order of publication: there was another short one in Marvel Treasury Edition #26, that I saw reprinted in 1986's Incredible Hulk and Wolverine #1. I wouldn't have thought four comics would fit in an 80-pager, with a two-page pin-up, and still need a filler back-up, yet here we are. ("Welcome to the Hotel Macedonia" Written by Mary Jo Duffy, art by Ricardo Villamonte.)

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So, Counter-Earth.

We've got a lot to unpack from its debut issue before we get to it, namely a cult-favorite character's second major writer and artist, who gave him a new look, a new direction, and a new name--yet are almost a footnote in the character's history! From 1972, Marvel Premiere #1, "And Men Shall Call Him...Warlock!" Written by Roy Thomas, pencils by Gil Kane, inks by Dan Adkins. (Reprinted in Annihilation Classic, which won't fit in the scanner!)

Leading off this issue, we jump with both feet into the backstory of the High Evolutionary. For some readers, H.E. is probably best known as the antagonist of Marvel's 1988 crossover annuals, the Evolutionary War, and maybe the first issue of the second run of What If? spinning off from that. Here, we're up to maybe his second big experiment, after the creation of his super-evolved animals the New Men, the creation of Counter-Earth. But before he can set that into motion, in orbit near earth, his ship discovers a mysterious cocoon: the cocoon of Him.

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Him was a genetically perfect man, created by the mad scientists of the Enclave, but he turned on them almost immediately and split. Later, he would try to pick up Jane Foster as his mate, which led to a beating by Thor, and realizing he was not yet ready, Him formed a cocoon and went into space. The High Evolutionary is intrigued by Him, since that sort of genetic work was his bread-and-butter; and although he's not ready to leave his cocoon, Him is curious about H.E.'s big project. H.E. had been super-evolved to godhood before (in fact, he had had to dial it back a bit and subsist in his armor) and planned on creating his own "world to be my shrine."

Him as much as asks if that's such a great idea, since he's seen humans and...enh, they're not great. H.E. doesn't disagree, but thinks his world will be one without man's worst impulses, where all will walk as gods like him. Using a lump of old earth almost like a cell for cloning...that doesn't work like that, but moving on...the Evolutionary starts his process on the far side of the sun, in the same orbit as earth, but hidden from it. Over the space of about three pages and seemingly twenty minutes, H.E. creates his new, Counter-Earth and the life on it. Still, the process drains him, and he passes out before his next step: purging his nascent mankind of its killer nature.

Which is cue for the serpent in the garden to appear--or rather a wolf in the fold, almost literally: the worst of the High Evolutionary's New Men returns, the evil evolved wolf and our old pal, the Man-Beast! Manny is out for revenge against his "parent," but a more subtle one: he and his forces invade the Evolutionary's ship, and as Him, still in his cocoon, watches from a viewscreen; Manny introduces violence and killing to the mankind of Counter-Earth. History appears to play on again afterwards, seemingly repeating exactly that of earth's, from the crucifixation of Christ to the evils of the present day.

H.E. wakes up and battles the Man-Beast: the more evolved than human Evolutionary is a better match for Manny now, but the Man-Beast has mental blasts as well. Deciding to emerge from his cocoon, Him gets in on that, but the Man-Beast and his troops teleport away to Counter-Earth, intent on taking it for themselves. A disraught H.E. is on the verge of scrubbing the whole project, washing away his earth like cleaning a petri dish, when Him offers to try and save it, if the mankind there has a spark of goodness. A teary High Evolutionary, feeling like Him could have been the son he wanted, agrees and teleports him to Counter-Earth as well--oh, and gives him a certain green gem, that he'll figure out later, and a new name: Warlock.

That's how things were set up, back in the day: told today, these events probably would've taken at least a full trade paperback, not a single issue. (Granted, some set-up was done in the characters' previous appearances, but still.) The story would continue in another issue of Marvel Premiere (which sight unseen, I would guess sets up Warlock's human supporting cast and a fight with one of Man-Beast's New Men) before settling into his own title. Per Wikipedia, this was basically Roy Thomas's comic cover of Jesus Christ Superstar, and as such had to be set outside the traditional Marvel earth so this new messiah wasn't tripping over the usual superheroes. In practice, the book was standard superhero fare with some biblical allegory for garnish; and would run about eight issues over the course of 1972-1973. (We'll get to check out where those stories wrapped up though, next week!)

It wasn't until 1975 that the creator still most associated with Warlock would take the character: Jim Starlin. The stories would be more cosmic and the character more fatalistic, his idealism and naiveté seemingly ground off by his time on Counter-Earth. And if Warlock's adventures got weird, the fate of that second earth is only slightly less so, but we'll have to save that for another time...
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Today, Lord Abyss checks the status of his evil plan...

...and instead finds Adam Warlock "battling a giant warthog!" in today's book: from 1994, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #28, "Chaos at the U.N.!" Written by Jim Starlin, pencils by Jeff Moore, inks by Tim Dzon. (And I just noticed "awsome" is misspelled on the cover!)

The Avengers had been sent to Monster Island to fight the Infinity Watch, at the behest of U.S. Senator Munson, because the Watch had formed an alliance with the Mole Man to help him protect his sovereignty. After the prerequisite scuffle, the Avengers had come to agree; although Abyss's agent Lady Maya had accidentally been knocked out by Hercules. (She, and Abyss's plan, would continue next issue; but I find it hard to believe Herc knocked her out...not very gentlemanly.) As Munson speaks at the United Nations, declaring the Avengers murdered by Warlock; he, Captain America, and the Vision show up. Warlock makes a brief speech as much as threatening the U.N. to leave the Mole Man be, and then points out that Munson...

...is really his old foe the Man-Beast! Go, Man-Beast! Manny and his henchman, warthog-man Triax, immediately attack. Not because they were caught in a lie, but because the Man-Beast hates him some Adam Warlock. He had pretty much ruled the High Evolutionary's Counter-Earth, until a young Adam wrecked that for him--with some help from the Hulk!

Warlock beats Triax down handily, even laying some smack talk on him, and then he and Man-Beast punch it out for three solid (and not especially well-illustrated...) pages. Adam considers killing his old foe, but Cap convinces him to have poor Manny thrown in the Vault or something. (Worryingly, Man-Beast is an alien, evolved animal: I'm not sure he'd have a ton of civil rights...) Taking his leave of the Avengers and the U.N., Adam returns to Monster Island, where Pip the Troll tells him he has "other fish to fry," since Maya has regained consciousness...sadly, Moore may not have gotten the reference material from previous issues, and doesn't draw that great-looking bottle of wine seen prior.
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More Man-Beast? I'm not sure Thor spent that much time on Galactus...

We looked at Thor #316 some years back, featuring Thor and Iron Man against the Bi-Beast and Man-Beast, guest-starring the Man-Thing for good measure. That was the second of two parts, but I didn't realize the Man-Beast--who looked either dead or in bad shape after a crash at the end of #316--would return to give Thor the hassle again. Or at least, I didn't think he would the very next issue. From 1982, Thor #317, "Chaos at Canaveral" Written by Doug Moench; layouts by Keith Pollard; inks by Brett Breeding, Chic Stone, Pablo Marcos, and Joe Rubinstein.

Iron Man has a brief appearance here: having finished his business at Cape Canaveral for a satellite launch, he had to split; but Thor was enjoying checking it out. IM offers him a tour, and as Donald Blake Thor accepts. Iron Man introduces Donald to Diane LaMarr, an astronaut trainee. She was more than happy to give him the tour, but was sad that it might be one of her last official duties: with budget cuts looming, latest hired meant first fired. Diane does find a kindred spirit in Donald, who had recently lost his job at a New York clinic and wasn't sure what he was going to do next. (As Thor, though, he sounds a little homesick for Asgard.)

Meanwhile, the Man-Thing, having witnessed the Man-Beast's crash landing, pulls the hateful monster out of the wreck out of mere curiosity. The mindless muck-monster drags the Man-Beast to the Cape, then forgets what it was doing and wanders off. (Remember, in Marvel's Florida, it's like 95% swamp...) The Man-Beast awakens, right where he wanted to be, somehow: he's convinced he crash-landed and stumbled there himself. He uses his hate-blasts to turn the staff and onlookers at the Cape against each other, then recaps his origin for them while they riot. He planned on hijacking the weather satellite launch, so he could return to his homeworld, Counter-Earth. You may remember Counter-Earth from old, pre-Jim Starlin Warlock stories; but as an editorial footnote points out, MB was unaware that it had been moved from its orbit opposite Earth's. Man, Man-Beast can not catch a break; but I don't know how he intended to ride there in a weather satellite, either.

While the Man-Thing seemingly realizes that he's let Man-Beast cause a lot of havoc, it tries to make amends by leading Thor to the rocket. (Which Thor probably could've figured out himself; the Man-Beast probably wasn't there to raid the commissary.) Diane's already there, suited up as well: she realizes she can't stop the launch, but fears if it doesn't go well, the space program could lose even more funding. (Yes, because a congressional appropriations committee isn't going to buy your little story about a space wolfman fouling things up.) Thor and Man-Beast punch it out a bit on the gantry to the rocket--which apparently could've been manned, since there's an open hatch Diane gets in, and then Mjolnir falls into. As the countdown ends and the rocket launches, "now begins a different kind of countdown--a countdown in reverse..." since Thor has sixty seconds to get Mjolnir back, or he'll turn into Donald Blake!


That sixty-second countdown was woefully overused in Thor--I think Walt Simonson used it once, in his first issue, before getting rid of it and the Donald Blake identity--but this isn't bad. Thor grabs the rocket, straining to climb his way in; while the Man-Beast is apparently unfazed by the gravitational pressure of the launch and instead busies himself trying and failing to pick up Mjolnir. Meanwhile, almost forgotten, Diane blows the hatch, throwing herself, Man-Beast, and Mjolnir into space. (She had set a lifeline for herself, but of course it snapped.) Mjolnir in hand, Thor is saved, and the Man-Beast throws himself into trying to kill him, even though he should be more concerned with how he's surviving in hard vacuum, with no oxygen. Man-Beast seems fine, until a punch from Thor knocks him off the rocket, and he drifts helplessly into space. Aww...I don't know why I have a soft spot for Man-Beast, but every time he seemingly dies makes me sad.

Thor casts his hammer to the drifting Diane, saving her easily (way faster than Gravity!) then they return to earth, where the Man-Beast's hate-rays have worn off, and everyone's a little surprised their satellite launch apparently went off flawlessly. Diane's bosses are pretty damn impressed with her, and assure her they'll find something else to cut rather than their astronauts. She wants to tell Donald thanks, to see if her luck might rub off on him; while outside the Cape, the Man-Thing has once again forgotten why he was there, and shambled back into the swamp...

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"Of Beasts, and Things..." Featuring neither Hank McCoy nor Ben Grimm. Sorry.

Before Walt Simonson took over Thor with issue #337, sales for that book were by all accounts in the doldrums, verging on cancellation. At the time, I personally hadn't read the pre-Simonson stuff; but I've read some in the years since. It wasn't great, even not compared to what was to come, but I do remember one bright spot I enjoyed as a kid and just finally got a replacement copy.

For years in their own books and in Avengers, Iron Man and Thor had a strong working relationship: they were the only teammates to know each other's secret identities for a long time, and respected each other greatly. Thor always spoke highly of his comrade's valor; while Iron Man was always impressed by the majesty of Asgard and the gods. Eventually, they would get into a tiff that lasts to this day; involving some oppressed pseudo-European country, the Odinpower, and Thorbuster armor. Recently in the conclusion of Secret Invasion, I believe Thor called out Iron Man as an example of everything that is wrong with everything, ever; but they were still at least work buddies back in Thor #316, "Of Beasts and Things" Written by Doug Moench, layouts by Keith Pollard, embellishments by Simons, Stone, and Marcos.

If like me, you didn't catch the prior issue, neither did Iron Man, so as he flies into the scene, the recap is for him and the new reader. Neat. Last time, a giant sea monster, actually a disguised ship, swallows a Stark Industries freighter and takes it to a domed undersea city. The city was run by the Bi-Beast, a cranky double-brained android that had been causing trouble for the Hulk and others for years. Using the jet engines stolen from the freighter, he launches his city and attacks Florida, before being stopped by Thor and the city crash-landing.

Thor had been on-board as Dr. Donald Blake, serving as ship's doctor, which seems both inconvenient (tougher for him to duck out and change into Thor) and convenient (twenty minutes after setting sail, the ship gets attacked?) and also indicative of the lack of direction for the book. Thor still had a secret identity, but Jane Foster had been out of the picture for some time; so he didn't have the usual complications that would come with maintaining it. It was a vestigial organ, that didn't really add a lot to the book; except occasionally to get Thor into jams when he lost his hammer for sixty seconds and turned into Blake. And for his medical knowledge, for years Blake may have been more useful in Avengers than in his own book. Tellingly, Simonson would take Dr. Blake out of the picture shortly after taking over.

As the Bi-Beast is hauled off by the cops, a noisy thing on the dome's ceiling pops off and zaps the Beast and his guards with a weird ray. (In context on the first page it appears, it's not clear how big the thing is: it could be the size of a breadbox, but turns out to be at least as big as a motor home.) The ray wakes up the Bi-Beast, who smashes out of his restraints; but also enrages the guards, who attack each other in blind rage.

The Bi-Beast then commences stomping ass on local law-enforcement, while Iron Man hustles Dr. Blake to cover; ostensibly because he's a lame non-combatant (as in, with a limp) but actually so he can turn back into Thor. While Thor uses Mjolnir to stop the angry cops, Bi-Beast is tractor-beamed away by the ship. Iron Man gives chase, but is shot down, and the craft escapes. Thor and IM begin searching, since Iron Man figures he must've damaged that ship; and they pass over beach, city, and swamp inside like six panels. I've only been there like once, but has anyone at Marvel ever been to Florida? I'm pretty sure the state isn't entirely swampland. And if you go to Marvel-Florida, you know who you're always going to run into there...no, not at the Islands of Adventure, either.

Iron Man was right about the ship being crippled: it crashed into the vast expanses of swamp, and the Bi-Beast dips his feet in the water while bitching to himself--himselves--about their useless ally. The Bi-Beast seems a little down on himself as well, lamenting his numerous defeats. His ally finally tells him to cram it, and reveals himself to be the Man-Beast, from Counter-Earth.



Long story short: Man-Beast is a super-evolved and very pissed off wolf, created by the High Evolutionary, and the Satan or maybe Cain figure to Warlock's Jesus allegory in his pre-Starlin stories. So, he's a wolf-man in cape and short pants; and has been stringing Bi-Beast along in his plans to destroy Earth, since Man-Beast only cares about destroying Counter-Earth. Well, glad that's cleared up. M.B. also experimented with the Bi-Beast (ew!) and absorbed some of his knowledge, while Bi-Beast got shorter and maybe gained hate. Really?

M.B. sends Bi-Beast off into the swamp to try and find materials to repair their ship; so keep in mind neither one of them is from earth and probably don't realize there's not much help there. As the Bi-Beast sulks along, blowing up an alligator along the way, he is watched by...the Man-Thing. If your eyes are sharp, he appeared on the cover!

I have to confess...I used to really not like Man-Thing. His terrible movie didn't help, even though I regret not buying it cheap...It was partly because he depresses me more than Swamp Thing (Swampie can at least talk, and think, and score...) and partly because every time a Marvel character is anywhere near Florida, Man-Thing shows up. His guest appearances here and in Micronauts come to mind as being from about the same time; and I get the feeling writers wanted to use him but couldn't really advance Man-Thing's story along in those issues. Maybe Man-Thing's story isn't supposed to advance, which is also depressing. Bottom line, though: in Marvel-Florida, you are more likely to run into Man-Thing, then you are an old person or anything.

Anyway. Even though Bi-Beast is supposed to be newly chock full of hate, Man-Thing can't sense any emotions from this bright orange thing stomping through his swamp. All together now: "Whoever knows fear...burns at Man-Thing's touch," so he tries it, and nothing. Bi-Beast casually tosses Manny away, probably not realizing there's anything out of the ordinary about him, but Manny follows. Bi-Beast then finds a trailer-campsite, and conscripts the campers to work on the ship.

Next, we get possibly the biggest asshole line from Iron Man, ever:

Dick...

Thor calls down the lightning, to create a ring of fire around the area, and calls out the Super-Beast: that was the name he knew Man-Beast by, way back in Thor #134. Man-Beast gives his new, not as good name, and calls in his tag-team partner; then Iron Man calls in as well; and the locals set up chairs and crack open some brews.

The brawl accelerates rapidly, forcing the locals to flee as the fighters change opponents; but they don't get far before running into the Man-Thing, who in his mindless way notes the onlookers have fear, but the heroes and villains don't.

The Bi-Beast probably shouldn't have kept announcing he was an android, as Thor finally decides in that case, he can unload on him, and knocks him out. Man-Beast breaks for his ship, and takes off; but somewhat coldly, Thor and Iron Man shoot him down. The ship crashes into quicksand, and while Thor and Iron Man can't seem to find it, the Man-Thing placidly watches as the Man-Beast's hate goes out. Aw, that made me a little sad, but he comes back.

The Bi-Beast is hauled off, and would go on to menace both She-Hulk and Squirrel Girl, as well as recently appearing in the Hulk videogame and getting an action figure for it. He's also occasionally been a punchline, albeit one you probably see coming, in Hulk appearances in Twisted Toyfare Theatre. Man-Beast and Bi-Beast aren't as close as they used to be, but they still email each other and get in touch over the holidays; which is a damn sight more than you can say about Iron Man and Thor. Probably because of the light comment.


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