Issue(s): Hulk #202, Hulk #203
Cover Date: Aug-Sep 76
Title: "Havoc at the heart of the atom" / "Assault on Psyklop!"
Credits:
Len Wein - Writer
Sal Buscema - Penciler
Joe Staton - Inker

Review/plot:
The Hulk returns to Jarella's world for the second time, and kicks things off as usual by fighting the awesome Warthos (or "pig-dogs", if you prefer).

Unlike last time, he remains in his Hulk persona, because the wizards removed the spell that gave him Bruce Banner's brain at the end of the previous visit.

He then finds that Jarella is about to be sacrificed to a God of the Mountain. It turns out that the world (which we learn is called K'ai) has been experiencing devastating earthquakes, since the Hulk left.

After Jarella convinces the Hulk to not smash all of her subjects for trying to sacrifice her, the Hulk heads to the mountain to see this so-called God. Jarella elects to go with him and there's a nice sequence about how any other man would have told her to stay behind but the Hulk isn't like that.

The God turns out to be a giant...

...that is really a robot...

...that is really controlled by Psyklop.

Psyklop, it turns out, had been banished here after failing his Gods in his previous appearance. It turns out that the reason for the earthquakes was initially the kick that the Hulk gave K'ai as he was growing away from the world last time, but Psyklop has subsequently kept them going to power his scheme, which involves stealing the lifeforce of the people who die in the earthquakes to something, something.

I'm more interested in how K'ai survived getting kicked out of orbit by the Hulk, but that's not explained.

Psyklop mesmerizes the Hulk, sending him after Jarella's people, and making him think they are all Psyklopses. Jarella's wizards cast a counter-spell, not to restore the Hulk's real vision, but to make everyone look like Jarella.

It works and the Hulk returns to fight Psyklop, who is ultimately killed by the souls of the people in his earthquake jar. This surprisingly really is the end of Psyklop; he'll never appear again.

While all of this is going on, i guess Doc Samson decides it doesn't make sense to have a microscopic Hulk still running around in Glenn Talbot's brain, so he performs surgery to remove him from the little bits that the Hulk is on.

Then he restores the Hulk to normal size. Jarella happened to be standing near him, so they are both brought to regular size. And unfortunately, the Hulk causes a ruckus when he first survives, and winds up smashing Jarella's world.

There's obviously some iffy science going on here, even by super-science standards. Obviously the Hulk wasn't in Talbot's head the last two times he went to K'ai. And what does it mean for the world if it is moved from Talbot's head to a microscope slide? Nothing? There doesn't seem to be any ill effect, but you'd think if someone grabbed a big chunk of our... galaxy? solar system? universe? and moved it somewhere else it might disrupt the natural order of things.

Eventually Marvel will reveal that the various micro-verses are actually a separate dimension that isn't really a sub-atomic world inside our own, but while that may resolve some issues it raises others (like, then how come it was possible to extract the bit that the Hulk was on and restore him to the real world?).

A big effort is made to re-establish the love between the Hulk and Jarella, which is interesting because the Hulk was really Bruce Banner in his previous appearances here. Maybe both Banner and the Hulk share a love for Jarella, but can she really love both personalities?

In any event, while the love scene is sweet, this is all a set up for a pretty major reversal in a few issues. It's a fun set of issues, in any event.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The Hulk shouldn't appear anywhere but his own series between Hulk #200-203, since he is in various alternate dimensions during that time.

References:

• The Hulk was on K'ai previously in Hulk #140 and Hulk #156.
  
• Glenn Talbot regained consciousness after Hulk #200.
  
• Psyklop first appeared in Avengers #88.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

I'm not gonna lie: the various sub-atomic worlds/planets/cities make my head spin...but I love the idea. Never mind the mathematical impossibility of a shrink ray shrinking a character and the world just happens to be floating around just at that moment.

This is similar to what DC did with the Atom being in love with Laethwyn in the jungles of South America in the 80's.

Psyklop actually returns in INCREDIBLE HULKS: ENIGMA FORCE #1-3 as a part of the Enigma Force team. And Jarella's niece, Jentorra, is also a member.