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7: Incredible Hulk #2 (v1)

"The Terror of the Toad Men!"
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 (2.24)
      18 comments
 
 
 
Editor-in-Chief:
Stan Lee
Cover Artists:
Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko
Writers:
Stan Lee
Pencilers:
Jack Kirby
Inkers:
Steve Ditko
Colourists:
Letterers: Artie Simek
Editors: Stan Lee
Cover Date: July 1962
Release Date: May 1962
Story Arc: -
Pages: 24
Cover Price: $0.12
Times Read: 487
Times Rated: 258
 
 Issue #1

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 Issue #3
 
   
 
Incredible Hulk #2 (v1)
Buy Incredible Hulk Online   Buy Marvel Masterworks: Incredible Hulk, Volume 1 Online
 
FULL ORDER

Incredible Hulk #1 (v1)
Fantastic Four #4 (v1)
Incredible Hulk #2 (v1)
Fantastic Four #5 (v1)
Journey into Mystery #83
5: Incredible Hulk
#1 (v1)
6: Fantastic Four
#4 (v1)
 
8: Fantastic Four
#5 (v1)
9: Journey into My...
#83
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ISSUE BLURB

The Toad Men wish to invade Earth but first must capture the Earth's most intelligent mind in order to determine Earth's weaknesses. Little do they realize that by capturing Bruce Banner they also captured the Incredible Hulk!

 
ISSUE NOTES
 
  • The story is split into 5 chapters:
    • Enter... The Toad Men
    • Prisoners of the Toad Men!
    • Bruce Banner, Wanted for Treason!
    • Hulk Runs Amok!
    • The End of the Hulk?
 
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CHARACTER APPEARANCES 
 
Main Characters
  The Hulk
The Hulk last appeared in Incredible Hulk #1 (v1). The Hulk next appears in Incredible Hulk #3 (v1).
     
  Rick Jones
Rick Jones last appeared in Incredible Hulk #1 (v1). Rick Jones next appears in Incredible Hulk #3 (v1).
     
Supporting Characters
  Betty Ross
Betty Ross last appeared in Incredible Hulk #1 (v1). Betty Ross next appears in Incredible Hulk #4 (v1).
     
  General Ross
General Ross last appeared in Incredible Hulk #1 (v1). General Ross next appears in Incredible Hulk #3 (v1).
     
 
GROUP APPEARANCES
Toad Men
This is the first appearance by Toad Men in the mainstream continuity. Toad Men next appear in Incredible Hulk #190 (v1).
   
     
ISSUE REVIEW
 
by TStarnes: I hope everyone is ready for some hate, cause for this issue I have very little of anything else. Although many have problems with the "space-men" type stories, I am not holding that against the issue. The general premius of little green men and their visits to earth can be, and have been, done very well. Not just comics, but movies, books, you name it. While not original, this plot is a fairly good place to build a story off of, if you do it right.

This issue however doesn't do it right, not even close. Normally I start with story, but the art may be bugging me more then the story for once. Kirby definitely took the idea of "little green men" to a way literal place with the design and introduction of the frog men. These are some of the dumbest looking villains I have ever seen. Also at issue is the Hulk himself. After establishing the look of the character in the previous introductory issue, the Hulk changes colors from a gray .
 
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ISSUE SYNOPSIS
 
The issue opens with the Hulk emerging from a swamp and being spotted by troopers who run to warn the nearest town of his presence. The police attempt to subdue the Hulk who easily overpowers them. Rick Jones shows up to calm the Hulk enough to lead him away from the town while we are treated to flashback of how Dr. Banner became the Hulk.

The Toad Men are then shown advancing towards Earth using a magnetic source far beyond what the Earth is capable of. The Toad Men then use a magnetic grappler to land on Earth and track down the smartest man on the planet so that they can know what technologies the planet has to defend itself from invaders.

Bruce Banner and Rick Jones are now on their way to a secret hideout where Bruce has set up a chamber, with 10-feet thick concrete walls that extends slightly under a lake, in order to hold the Hulk during his night-time transformations. Before Dr. Banner can get into the chamber, the Toad Men shoot both Banner and Rick with a magnetic gun to immobilize them and transport them back to their ship.

The Toad Men then tell their prisoners what they are after and tell them what would happen if they don't, such as making cities float off into space, draining the oceans, or making the people unable to move. Rick Jones mouths off and since he wasn't the one they wanted sent him back to Earth. The ship then orbits to the dark side of the Earth, making Banner transform into the Hulk.

With the Toad Men unaware of Banner's ability, they are caught off guard when the Hulk escapes his confinement and taking one of the guards’ magnetic weapons locking them into a room. With the ship now under the Hulks control, he decides that he will use it to wipe out mankind. The ship is picked up on radar and General Ross order the ship shot down, which they are able to accomplish.

When the troops approach the ship, the only person they find is Banner who is taken into custody being labeled a traitor. The Toad Men use their magnetic weapons to escape underground away from the wreckage and send an invasion signal for the remainder of their fleet. The Toad King then jams all broadcasts around the world to send a message that they are planning to cause the moon to collide with the Earth, destroying it.

As night falls onto the cell holding Bruce Banner, he transforms in the Hulk, breaking out of the cell and destroys everything in his path towards General Ross' house since he blames him for imprisoning him. The General has troops surround the house and attempts to storm in to take the Hulk. They rush the Hulk and attempt to tackle him, but he throws them off.

The Hulk takes Betty hostage, escaping into the darkness towards his secret lab with Rick following close behind. Rick confronts the Hulk so that he doesn't hurt Betty as the moon gets ever closer; causing an earthquake that knocks the Hulk out until the morning when Bruce regains control. Bruce and Rick make their way to a Gamma Ray Gun so that they can reverse the attraction of their magnetic rays.

Bruce fires the gun just as the soldiers break in and are held back by Rick spraying them with a powerful fire hose. Since Bruce was able to save the world, the charges against him are dropped and he heads back to his secret lab with Rick, where the Hulk tries his best to break out of his temporary cell.
 
 
RECOMMENDING READING
 
  • There is no recommended reading for this issue.
 
COMMENTS
 
Marvel Comments
  thomassp74 Says:  
  2011-11-16 01:21:01  
  And the award for "Most Uses of the word 'Magnetic' in one issue goes to....."

Also: Kirby made Hulk look very Frankensteinesque in this issue. It's a good thing that gamma rays reverse magnetic polarity.
 
 
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  Canuck Says:  
  2012-04-18 23:12:56  
  It's unfortunate that the Hulk originally didn't succeed, but reading these early issues the reason is obvious. Poor writing, incoherent story lines and just some really bad moments.  
 
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  Psikonetic Says:  
  2012-06-16 00:31:12  
  Most people already said it, but I'll add my hat to the pile. The Hulk had issues out of the gate in terms of direction and this shows it. By Issue 2, there are many inconsistencies with the first, a real sense that even Marvel didn't know what to do with the character, and even more over the top "pseudo-science" and alien invasion garbage than other Silver Age tales. Hulk needs better direction and we'll see if he gets it next time he shows up in the Order.  
 
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  Dark_Knight93 Says:  
  2012-06-22 22:40:15  
  This issue was a step down from the previous Hulk installment. The strong points of issue one were downgraded here, also the terrible science is distracting. The poor quality of this issue makes you question even trivial things like, "When does Rick ever have time to sleep?" I don't remember much about the remaining four issues from when I read them a while back, but I don't doubt that they are just as bad as this one seeing as the series initially fails.  
 
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  aramina Says:  
  2012-06-25 12:28:06  
  Maybe it's because I've been reading them in order, but compared to the Fantastic Four comics; where atomic bombs go off with no side-effects and the FF themselves casually destroy stuff all the time with no repurcussions, I found the "science" in this much better in comparison.  
 
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  Dinak Says:  
  2012-07-17 21:47:35  
  Toad men? With incalculable power? Gamma rays send them spinning out of control forever? Groan. I have to agree with the others... it's obvious why this failed.  
 
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  jfpj1991 Says:  
  2012-07-23 18:16:11  
  Far too many aliens attacking Earth all at once. They just so happen to find super heroes to fight.  
 
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  Borealis Says:  
  2012-09-08 23:35:29  
  Yeah...this one isn't exactly on the Essentials list, is it? My son hasn't read this one yet, but I hopped ahead just a wee bit to keep moving. I don't know if he'll even read this one; he's more interested in the Fantastic Four. Easily the weakest issue in the order so far.  
 
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  specialque Says:  
  2012-09-13 10:22:42  
  I can't entirely hate the Toad Men since I love old time sci fi. Pretty decent.  
 
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  Borealis Says:  
  2012-09-15 22:32:26  
  Well, my son finally got to read this one with me. He enjoyed it, but the Hulk is confusing him; is he a hero, or a bad guy? And that makes two issues in a row where Dr. Banner and not the Hulk saves the day. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of being a superhero in the first place?  
 
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  gonzo Says:  
  2012-09-20 15:56:02  
  You would think that someone who leads an all powerful race like the Toad Men could afford to get himself a pair of pants.  
 
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  Phantasmagoria Says:  
  2012-10-14 17:48:44  
  Ugh. This is the first issue that I HATED in The Order. The Toad Men are pretty much the opposite of what I think a good Hulk villain should be. Plus, MAGNETISM ISN'T F@#$ING MAGIC, STAN!!  
 
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  allenryals Says:  
  2013-01-11 17:32:53  
  Ugh. Toad men. They say that Bruce is the smartest human on the planet? Is that just because they haven't fully established the MU yet, cause I'd argue Reed is smarter.  
 
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  Spider-Borg Says:  
  2013-01-13 14:45:44  
  Once upon a time i made a comment on this page but it is no longer here. Not sure if i just didn't submit it or what and i can't remember what i said, but it was basically this:

This is a horrible issue. If i was to read the order again from scratch then i would probably just read the Hulk origin and skip the rest of this volume. I wasn't too impressed by any of the Hulk issues, but the origin is pretty important so i would read it again.
 
 
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  Trebek Says:  
  2013-02-23 17:27:59  
  I already am beginning to wonder if Stan even knows what magnetism is.  
 
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  minicheddaz Says:  
  2013-03-02 18:30:17  
  the first hulk issue was superb and i loved it. this follow up is one of the worst comics i've ever read. i can't think of any part of it that i thought was any good. apart from perhaps that the hulk is more green! i seems that it was cobbled together in 5 minutes. absolute rubbish i'm afraid. i never want to see it again!  
 
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  skabeaters Says:  
  2013-05-02 13:59:23  
  Quick, to the Gamma Ray Gun!!!! Oh yeah, I totally should have thought of that! I love how the Hulk's side-kick is such a smart-ass. He could be played by Seth Green.  
 
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  FoxyShoxzy Says:  
  2013-06-06 23:14:23  
  The only redeeming quality of this issue is the growing dynamic between Bruce Banner and Rick Jones. Unfortunately, that's still not enough to award the book more than 1 star.  
 
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COLLECTIONS/REPRINTS
 
Buy Marvel Masterworks: Incredible Hulk, Volume 1 Online
Buy Marvel Masterworks: Incredible Hulk, Volume 1 Online
Buy Essential Incredible Hulk, Volume 1 Online
Buy Essential Incredible Hulk, Volume 1 Online
 
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