I greatly look forward to this as I'm a big fan of the Joe Fixit Hulk. I haven't read these issues in a good while so maybe I'll try and track some of the more noteworthy issues down as you read them.

Incredible Hulk #324
Oct. 1986   
Story & Layouts -- Al Milgrom
Finishes -- Dennis Janke
Letters -- Rick Parker
Colors -- George Roussos

In this issue we find Doc Samson, Betty and Rick observing the manacled Bruce.  Samson explains to Betty and Rick that Bruce has to be shackled as he has the chance of still changing to the Hulk despite their merger thanks to the Vision in the last issue. 

Samson recounts his encounter with the Avengers and, as he sees it, his own misguided attempt to protect Bruce by battling the Avengers so that they cannot kill the Hulk for the damage and destruction that he had caused.  He had hoped to save Bruce by stopping the death of the Hulk, as their molecular instability would kill the other.  Despite Bruce wanting the Avengers to Hulk, even though it would mean his life, Betty came in between the Avengers and Hulk and was able to stop them.

Meanwhile, we find that Ross, despite loosing his commission in the air force, is still determined to kill the Hulk.  We find him in the company of Shield agents who are trying to help him achieve that goal.  But Shield is hesitant now, finding out that killing the Hulk would kill an innocent person.  That's not good publicity.

We return again to Betty, Samson and Rick observing the shackled Hulk, who is now rapidly changing between himself and the Hulk, both conscious of the change and interacting with one another in conversation.  As the fight each other over control the Hulk becomes enraged and breaks free from his bounds.  Immediately, Bruce is physically emerging from the Hulk, trying to gain dominance, so that Shield can kill him, being the one weak spot that would kill the Hulk too.  So now the Hulk is trying to contain and protect Bruce, at the same time avoiding Shield's gunfire.  What Hulk doesn't know is that Shield is actually herding him back to the nutrient bath that Samson had originally prepared for Bruce before the Hulk broke free, hoping this would reunite them on a molecular level, maybe even keep Bruce the dominate personality.

Ross however, seeks into the scene and slips by the commotion undetected, until Rick sees him.  When Rick reaches him, he's messing with a control panel at the tank of the nutrient bath where Shield has finally herded the Hulk to.  Not knowing what Ross is doing, but knowing he has no benevolent motive, Rick tackles Ross from the panel and falls into the bath the same time the Hulk does.  The chemical bath become cloudy and no one can see inside it.  Then, from the chemical reaction the housing of the bath starts to crack and eventually falls apart.  And what emerges is not the Hulk we know.  He's grey.

The Hulks walks forward as everyone watches and in front of their eyes as the Hulk curses Banner, he changes back to Banner.  Bruce claims that the Hulk is gone and that he feels he cannot gain control again.

While Betty and Bruce embrace, we see Rick crawling out of the bath soaked in the chemical apparently unharmed.

-----

Rather than a grade or a critique (which seemed to be the part I didn't like with my Warlock reviews) I'd just like to post some observations and whatnot.

Edit: I'll give a few thoughts I had on it, without being too meticulous. I didn't care for the Hulk visually in this issue (nor any that draw him in the same manner) where he seems like a bulky little person. I dunno there's some artists that in drawing Hulk to be strong they make him short like a troll or something. Dale Keown is a good example of a Hulk I like. He seems more of a giant than Milgrom's. Course if I were reviewing his issues, while I don't DISLIKE his art, I would have made the initial complaint I did in my head when I bought #307 ... why isn't the cover artist doing the interior art? ... but overall an average issue. Not stellar, but not Spiderman clone saga

The cover says "The return of the GREY-skinned goliath.  While the caption box says "slate-gray skin" at the scene where the Hulk emerges from the chemical bath.  I also did some research at it seems that while both gray and grey are acceptable spellings of the color, grey is leaned more towards in European countries, and the original emergence of the word, whereas gray is an American spelling.

Another thing to add to my first post, about the grey Hulk.  I think the grey makes him look more menacing and monstrous, as oppose to bright green.  Obviously in comics, coloring techniques and technology have varied the tones of green, but it seems more .... comical than the grey.  Like for some dubious reason I would take a towering, lumbering, hulk less seriously if he were green over grey.  Silly me.

And, I think I've asked this, but with Milgrom being the "layouts", does that mean he did the pencils and then Janke did the inks?

Next: The New Hulk!

Cool! Be fun to read these to see if I want to get the pre-PAD ones

I've always understood that if the credits are 'layouts' and 'breakdowns' rather than 'penciller' and 'inker' it meant the inker did alot more work, and thus deserved more credit... I picture layouts as panels frames and characters, and the 'breakdowns' are adding the background and details, rather than just hilighting stuff.

The Incredible Hulk #325
Story -- Al Milgrom
Pencils - Steve Geiger
Colors -- Petra Scotese
Letters -- Rick Parker

"The New Hulk"

Now we get a bit General Gamma Hospital in this issue, with the death of Carolyn Parmenter, (who must have died in a previous issue to 324 that I don't have) angry mourners, Betty and Bruce's relationship is on the ropes, and to top it all off Ross is crazy out of his gourd for the Hulk. (Not that it is much of a change for him, but the irrationality seems to be worse.)

Everybody is on edge, everyone feeling guilty about Carolyn for what happened, especially Bruce and Doc Samson. After leaving the funeral, Betty faces Bruce about his guilt over Carolyn and how it wasn't his fault and that the Hulk's actions are not his responsibility. But of course Bruce counters that it is his emotions and lack of control of them that triggers the Hulk's transformation, so they are his actions and responsibility. This is where I find the Hulk and Bruce's symbiotic relationship interesting. Because we all have some part of us we don't act on. We have as a species "evolved" (for the lack of a better term) beyond actions that at some time in our history were perfectly acceptable or pertinent to our survival, but no longer necessary or acceptable. Our emotions are given a level of stifling so as to not act outside of socially acceptable situations. Some of these are good changes and things that shouldn't be acted on. Some aren't per say bad, but outside the realm of society. But the Hulk is don't barred my these fences of humanity. He is the product of the retarded emotions of one man afraid to let anything out in order to just keep down the bad. So yes, despite the gamma radiation, Bruce might still have been a monster at some point down the road, from this, just a human monster.

So Betty, Bruce and Doc Samson return to the gamma base for Bruce to undergo some more testing to make sure that the Hulk is indeed sealed inside of him. After emerging from the nutrient bath in the last issue, he almost immediatly regressed back to Bruce, and at the start of this issue, four days later, still has never changed to the Hulk again. So SHIELD still has Bruce sleeping in a secure vault at night in case the change comes about. Right before dark, as Betty and Bruce are saying their good nights, Bruce asks Betty to check on Rick because he seemed ill or something on their ride back from the funeral.

Bruce sleeps but with nightmares of the Hulk.

The next day Doc Samson has a visitor. A gal from the university, Polly, informing him that his tenure at the university is over due to his absence trying to deal with the Hulk. Next Quatermain offers Doc a job with SHIELD helping them do more testing on the Hulk, and he accepts the deal. He then takes the Doc to a secured area where they are doing some top secret testing ... as he finds a SHIELD agent giving Bruce a work over. Of course Doc doesn't know that Bruce agreed to this type of stress testing to insure that the Hulk is forever locked inside of him. With the testing, and the absence of the Hulk appearing or unknown damage being done, SHIELD is ready to give Bruce a clean bill of health. One more night in the secured vault and he's a free man.

As agent patrol the gamma base, a surprise attack comes from nowhere! A wall is ripped out and both of the agents are knocked of their feet. They slowly look up to see, what to them appears to be the Hulk. Radioing the guards of the secured prison we find that the vault is still locked.

So SHIELD sends out agents to pursue the Hulk, but can never manage to catch up with him. They follow the path of destruction, but every time they get close the Hulk leaps away. Finally, they see the Hulk land but never leap away again. As they approach the spot they see the distressed and disoriented Bruce, but no Hulk. Upon questioning Banner it, appears he knows no more than they do about how he got here or if he did indeed turn into the Hulk. Then from the sky ... CRASH!!! .... a monstrous figure smashes on top of the nearby SHIELD vehicle. Is it the Hulk? It kind of looks like the Hulk, but a hippie Hulk with long hair. And he's taller and leaner, and most of all green, which when we last saw Hulk he was grey. What the heck is going on? Before anyone can react, this Hulk snags Bruce and leaps away! Betty notices the differences in that Hulk from Bruce, and the Doc surmises that this is a different Hulk.

Next: The Other Hulk!

-----

The drama is a bit thick in this and I really didn't relay all that happened in great detail. But the Hulk has always been that in the Bruce side of the two. Like Spiderman, a lot of what happens to Peter and Bruce over the years is almost a drag to the Spiderman and Hulk side of the stories. I am not sure what it is about these two characters that seems thicker or heavier than some other comics.

First reading this story I was kind of pumped to get to the next issues, if I had to find and buy them, if there was any delay in between. But I really didn't like the end result, and that's more prejudice than it is a stab at the construction of the story itself. I don't want to spoil those that may not have read it and would like to. But I will say that despite knowing the ending of this other Hulk story doesn't detract from the events leading up to it, outside of the personal drama of who the other Hulk is. But as I said above sometimes I feel that way with Bruce. I think that's why despite liking Fixit the best, I too enjoy the Hulk that followed this event. The always green, always Hulk, Hulk.

Side note on the creation of this post .... after reading the issue I decided to have a cigar and so I am typing this post outside on the porch without the light on to keep the bugs away. But there is one moth that is seriously trying to reading this post as he moves all over my screen. So if the moth seemed to like it, I hope you do.

Loved the gray Mr Fixit Hulk.

Incredible Hulk #327
January 1987
Story -- Al Milgrom
Artist -- Steve Geiger & Sam Delerosa
Letters -- Workman & Parker
Colors -- Petra Scotese

"As Others See Us!"

To me, there's not much to this issue, and it seems as dragged out as a soap opera. (I use to watch them with my wife in the first few years of our marriage.) You know you watch 45 minutes of the program and is seems the story didn't progress for the time allotted. Like it's progress was intentionally retarded to fill in the time. That's how this issue seemed. And it could be that Ross' who persona, everything he is, of what I've read of Hulk is basically, hate Banner for being the Hulk and marrying Betty. It gets old. But here's a short synopsis.

With Bruce knocked out and not the Hulk Rick/Hulk has to fight Zzzax/Ross. In the battle Rick/Hulk is knocked into the water nearby. As Zzzax/Ross approaches Bruce tells Rick/Hulk to get him wet when he comes into attack. This is where I got kind of confused. And this isn't the first time it happens. Before Rick/Hulk rampaged around and destroyed everything in his path like Bruce/Hulk. That's what made everyone including SHIELD that the initial attacks by Reick/Hulk were Bruce, because he acted in the same manner. Only when Doc Samson laid eyes on Rick/Hulk did he see a visual difference, suspecting that it might be someone else. Anyway, Rick/Hulk splashes Zzzax/Ross and the inevitable happens when water meets electricity. Rick/Hulk then grabs Bruce and leaps away. But Zzzax/Ross quickly recovers and is on their trail. In Zzzax/Ross' desire to kill both Rick/Hulk and Bruce, he destroys half the town in which they end up fighting. Another example of Rick/Hulk's willingness to help, he throws hundreds of pounds of sand on a building on fire at Bruce's suggestion.

Interlude: A in house maid/nurse is welcomed into the home of an old man by the name of Reardon who lives in a mansion in South Carolina that has been a family home for generations. He tells the nurse, Miss Gellar, that he is concerned that she needed to be qualified to care for the young master, asking if she had worked with children of deformities. She assures him she had worked with them a lot and was prepared for anything. So he takes her to the door of the young master and hurries her in and closes the door. As he walks down the steps of the mansion you here Miss Geller screaming through the door.

Zzzax has now tried to defeat Hulk by going inside him and controlling him through his central nervous system. But as the sun begins to rise, a harbinger to a change for the Hulk, Zzzax is no longer able to keep his hold on him. ZZZax and Ross seem to be lost in a mind meld almost, being unable to control either. From the destruction there is a woman whose leg is pinned under debris and her two sons are unable to move it. As Zzzax approaches them in a rage screaming to kill them one of the boys says the "monster" is going to kill us. This snaps Ross back to the forefront giving Bruce a chance to interlude on their behalf. (Though this is the last you see of the woman still pinned down and unable to move and her two boys with her. I guess I have to hope off panel Bruce and Rick weren't feeling to sorry for themselves that they helped or got help for the woman.) Of course, Ross is enraged at being compared to a monster since that his is whole reasoning for going after the Hulk. Zzzax/Ross flies away in shame and Hulk is back to Rick.

Whew. I don't remember that issue being such a drag. And I read this two/three days ago, just letting it sink in to see if I was just missing something or waiting to see if my first impression was indeed how I felt about the issue. And it was. I think the slow pacing was part of it. Besides the interesting interlude (which I have completely forgot what part of the story that's leading into.) this events of this issue should have been half the book leaving room for something else. Also Ross' whole persona gets so old for me. Holding on to hate and jealousy for the whole life of the book leading straight to being a monster himself, the Red Hulk, just has no room to grow. So it's tedious and sometimes can bring down the interest in a particular storyline if his hate/motivation is the gears that turn the story. Well hope for a better issue next time, with ....

"Piece of Mind"

This entire run you're reviewing is my favorite run of one of my favorite Marvel characters.

Nothing else PAD has done has been as good as this run IMO.

Nice artistic line up as well.

I personally can't stand Todd McFarlane, but his Hulk run was pretty decent.