Issue(s): Hulk #355
Cover Date: May 89
Title: "Now you see it..."
Credits:
Peter David - Writer
Jeff Purves - Penciler
Herb Trimpe - Inker
James DiGiovanna - Assistant Editor
Bobbie Chase - Editor

Review/plot:
Last issue featured inks by Marie Severin. This one has inks by another veteran, Herb Trimpe, who was the regular and longtime penciler on this book in the late 60s and early 70s. Unfortunately, unlike Severin, Trimpe's inks do not mesh well at all with Jeff Purves' pencils.

The setting for the above scene is a video convention in Vegas. I guess the X-Men are represented there thanks to the Pryde of the X-Men cartoon pilot that didn't go anywhere.

And here's Siskel and Ebert arguing about whether or not Micheal Keaton is tall enough to play Batman.

Meanwhile, Bruce can't quite bring himself to explain to Marlo that he is Mr. Fixit, aka the Hulk, causing him to just get cranky.

Part of the reason that Bruce doesn't want to blow the Hulk's cover is because he realizes that as long as the Hulk is happy in Las Vegas, he isn't going on berserk rampages across the country.

The rest of this issue is Glorian, who has been lurking in the background for the past couple of issues, finally making his move. If you're not familiar with Glorian, he's the reality warping assistant to the Shaper of Worlds. Both Glorian and Shaper try to grant people their fondest wishes, but they always turn out to be made of ashes, and that's the scenario that plays out here.

The Hulk's own subconsciousness won't let him accept his fantasy, and it's interesting to see, like last issue, the grey, supposedly nasty and intelligent, Hulk being compared to a child.

With the illusion broken, Hulk attacks Glorian.

We learn that this time Glorian is acting on his own, but with the Shaper's knowledge.

The fight eventually takes them back to the video convention...

...where Marlo is not happy to see Fixit's brutal actions.

It turns out Bruce's words were having an effect on Marlo after all.

It's kind of a "typical" Glorian plot, except his actions are used to explore the psychological aspects of the Hulk and reveal the nasty side of himself to Marlo. Even that isn't so unusual except that we're dealing with an unusual incarnation of the Hulk; what's really interesting is that this "typical" Glorian plot is just the first part of a storyline that will run through issue #359.

Quality Rating: B-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: It's said that Mr. Fixit's fight with the Maggia hoods happened "the other day". At this point it seems like Bruce Banner has settled into a new life in Vegas and has been hanging out regularly with Marlo. To allow this book to catch up to publication date, i'm interpreting "the other day" broadly enough to push things way forward. That means Glorian has been lurking around Vegas for a while now, but i don't think that's a problem.

References:

• Bruce is still devastated by the news of the gamma bomb detonation in Hulk #345.
  
• Hulk doesn't recognize Glorian, but Glorian tells him that they have met before. There were actually two occasions: Hulk #190-191 (drawn by Trimpe) and Hulk #267.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A