Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
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Marvel Comics Presents #52 (Rick Jones & Hulk)
Issue(s): Marvel Comics Presents #52 (Rick Jones & Hulk stories only)
Cover Date: Jun 90
Rick Jones
Title:
Credits:
Richard Howell - Writer
Richard Howell - Penciler
Richard Howell - Inker
Hulk
Title:
Credits:
Ron Wilson - Writer
Ron Wilson - Penciler
Tom Morgan - Inker
Kelly Corvese - Assistant Editor
Terry Kavanagh - Editor
Review/plot:
Since the two stories covered in this entry are about Rick Jones and the Hulk, let me just clarify immediately that they are separate stories that have nothing to do with each other. But they can take place at the same time, so it's vaguely interesting to see what each character was up to around the same time. And the two stories are also noteworthy for being written and drawn by creators that, on Marvel universe books anyway, are primary known as pencilers.
Rick Jones is on a beach in Puerto Rico, dealing with groupies.
He runs away and comes across some thugs in animal masks leaning on the owner of the inn he's staying at.
So Rick goes after the gang, who call themselves the 'Vores. He's knocked out.
But he does better in the rematch.
The theme of the story is about how you don't have to have super-powers to stand up for what is right, but the ending has the innkeeper not buying it and instead thinking that Rick does have super-powers.
The Hulk story has a group of space alien kids that play with planets and asteroids like it's a video game.
They set their sights on Earth.
This may sound a bit out of the Hulk's league, especially since he's in his current grey state. But the asteroid that the aliens have pushed towards the Earth are detected at a space observatory, and they contact another scientist that Las Vegas gangster Michael Berengetti happens to be investing in.
So Berengetti has his Joe Fixit hooked up to the scientist's super-spring jumping contraption.
Hulk smashes the asteroid, and then gets beamed into the aliens' spaceship. He fights their security droid...
....and then scolds the alien kids, who agree to end their game.
Both stories are cute. Still unnecessary filler, but that pretty much goes without saying at this point.
Quality Rating: C-
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP have this in the same gap for the Hulk as Marvel Comics Presents #38 and #45, between Hulk #354-355. And since Rick Jones is not with the Hulk (or any other hero) at that point, it can fit there for him as well.
References: N/A
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
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Comments
Denim vest and speedos...interesting fashion choice Rick!
Wait a minute isn't one of Hulk's sidekicks gay? Is it Rick Jones? Seeing that outfit makes me think it's him.
Don't be so quick to stereotype. Jim Wilson wouldn't be caught dead in that outfit whereas i didn't even blink when i saw Rick wearing it.
Hoo boy, it was Jim Wilson I was thinking of...wel he did die from AIDS in the 90s but was he confirmed to be gay? I'm assuimg yes since 90's+AIDS+not super long history means gay.
I don't think Jim Wilson was ever confirmed to be gay or bisexual (at least not as far as I ever heard). He did die from AIDS-related illness, and they never said how he was infected. Hulk's opinion on the subject was that he didn't care how it happened; all that mattered was that his friend was sick.
I have heard lots of speculation that Jim was gay though, but aside from him getting AIDS, I'm not sure what has prompted it. In the issue where we find out Jim has AIDS, it was mentioned that he had a girlfriend at the time (and she bailed because she couldn't deal with it).
As for Rick Jones...he's straight as far as we know (and apparently rather skilled in the sack, based on comments made from various of his lovers over the years), but there have also been lots of innuendos and jokes made over the years about his history of intense relationships with male partners...first Hulk, Captain America, Mar-Vell, Hulk again, Genis, etc.
Even Rick himself has commented on it, including calling his period as Bucky acting out a 'necrophillic fantasy' for Cap.
So Rick may not be gay, but he's been assumed to be gay a few times. And yeah, his outfits here probably aren't helping with that. Check out that last page--a *yellow* banana hammock?? Oh dear.
I should probably wait until i get to the Jim Wilson issues in PAD's Hulk, but i found this article today:
http://lonermagazine.com/im-still-here-a-letter-from-1995/
Wow.
Thanks for sharing that. Very moving.
fnord -- I'm glad you didn't wait. Very moving article.
Dermie...
What? What piece of shit writer scripted Rick to say Captain America was living out a "necrophiliac fantasy"?
I'm sure that line sounded "sophisticated" to some people, but it's jaded fanboy nonsense.
It was Peter David. Trust me, it doesn't come across that badly in context--Rick can be a bit of a smart-mouth at the best of times, and he was going through a rough patch then. So its more Rick venting his own frustrations than anything else (and in the issue he is face-to-face with a time-travelling version of himself-as-Bucky, which is why he was lashing out on that particular subject).
Dermie, regarding it being mentioned that Jim had a girlfriend at the time- for many years it was believed that AIDS in the black community was spread by men "on the down low". WE now know it's not true but it's understandable that readers think PAD might have intended Jim to be on the down low.(I don't think he did, myself- I think he intended to leave it up to reader interpretation- but I can see why other readers do.)
A good point. On the other hand, looking back at some scans of Jim from that issue, I do wonder if the art team was trying to provide some visual clues--dressing Jim in pink t-shirts, and having him wearing a single earring, etc. Not that any of that is definitive 'proof' of anything...but it could have been intended as a hint.
OK, I found this article where PAD discusses his reasoning while writing that story:
http://www.peterdavid.net/2013/08/02/looking-back-on-the-hulk-2/
"As that story developed, I realized I was in a no-win situation when it came to explaining just how Jim had contracted the disease. If I said he was gay, I’d be accused of feeding into the gay-equals-AIDS mindset. If I said he got it through straight sex or a blood transfusion, I’d be accused of being too weasly to reveal that a mainstream Marvel character was gay. Ultimately, as I waffled, I realized that I had inadvertently backed into the point of the story: It didn’t matter how he had contracted the disease. What mattered was that he had it and needed help and support. I wound up giving that exact exchange to Bruce and Betty."
