Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1980-01-01 01:02:10 |
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Hulk annual #9
Issue(s): Hulk annual #9
Cover Date: 1980
Title: "A game of monsters and kings"
Credits:
Doug Moench - Writer
Steve Ditko - Penciler
Al Milgrom - Inker
Jim Salicrup & Al Milgrom - Editor
Review/plot:
This is a poorly thought out story about a group of bored businessmen who are all former adventurers, and at least one of them is an ex-Nazi. They decide to play a game of "chess" against the Hulk.
After deciding to play their game, they have to wait a month before Bruce Banner actually goes to New York and gets frustrated and Hulks out.
From there, when we say that the businessmen are playing chess, well, that means shooting at the Hulk with helicopters...
...and tanks...
...and other such things.
What does any of that have to do with chess? Hell if i know, so lucky that the police figure it out.
It ends with Banner tracking down the leader, the CEO of King Bakery, and then having to turn into the Hulk and fight a bunch of robots.
Which, again, you can say it's got something to do with chess, and name the robots after chess pieces, but that doesn't make it chess.
And that's basically it. There's also a budding relationship going on between the police detective and a reporter.
But there's no story here.
Quality Rating: D
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP place this in the same gap as Bruce Banner's appearance in She-Hulk #1. It's context free.
References: N/A
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
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Comments
The Marvel Wiki lists the writer as Doug Moench, not Bill Mantlo:
http://marvel.wikia.com/Incredible_Hulk_Annual_Vol_1_9
Maybe these losers heard rumors about Obediah Stane and decided to jump on it before he made his move. (bad joke to connect things, I know)
It is Moench, thanks. Was it the mangled chess motif that gave it away? Between this and Marvel Spotlight #29, it seems like Moench had maybe heard of chess but wasn't sure how it worked.
It's interesting because, as Ataru points out, Stane's chessmen were cool. But it's not like they adhered to the rules of chess either.
DC had a Mister E of its own at close to the same time, and I think Ditko had at least one story in an issue he was in.
According to the Comics Journal(3/80) this story was originally supposed to be a Coca-Cola giveaway comic, and Walt Simonson was announced as being involved in some way(the cover?)
I now see how i got the credits wrong, and i'm leaving this comment to also explain Mark's comment about Mister E now that i've updated things. I must have been looking at the UHBMCC's page for Marvel Spotlight since i was thinking about Ditko's Marvel works circa 1980. And then i guess i forgot where i was and entered the credits and title for Spotlight #9. Same issue number, but obviously a different series.
Anyway, credits and title have been updated. "The mystery of Mister E!" is actually the title of Marvel Spotlight #9. I figured all this out when i started the review on that issue and said, "Wait, is Mister E a recurring character?!". And, sadly, he's not.
Is there a word missing in the first sentence of the review? They're all "former members" of what?
Somehow i wrote "members" instead of "adventurers". ?!? Thanks for pointing it out.
