BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #232

This issue of INCREDIBLE HULK was the conclusion of the two-part Corporation saga that had begun in CAPTAIN AMERICA #230 a couple of weeks earlier. Though the roots of this saga had been developing for years, all the way back to a number of Jack Kirby’s final stories for Marvel, in which he introduced the criminal conglomerate. I’d encountered cross-title crossovers before this, but they still seemed special to me, and this two-parter was no different. INCREDIBLE HULK was a book that I tended to drift on. I liked it well enough, but usually only just enough to keep me picking up each issue. it wasn’t a particular favorite, it was more akin to GHOST RIDER and DEFENDERS though maybe a half-step up from them: a series that I bought because it was there as much as anything else.

This chapter had been plotted by regular INCREDIBLE HULK writer Roger Stern, but as Stern wound up having to sub in for CAPTAIN AMERICA writer Roger McKenzie on the first half of this crossover, so did David Michelinie step into the breech here to dialogue the book. David had recently come over to Marvel from DC after his books were all wiped out in the DC Explosion, and he was starting to build a reputation for himself on IRON MAN aside artist John Romita Jr and inker/co-plotter Bob Layton. Like the CAPTAIN AMERICA issue that preceded it, the artwork in this book was produced by Sal Buscema and Mike Esposito, which created a strong sense of consistency between the two chapters.

This being an issue of INCREDIBLE HULK, events swiftly move into a sprawling multi-player fight. But to begin at the beginning; Captain America and his allies Marvel Man and the Vamp have tracked the missing Falcon to the Corporation’s base in Alcatraz Prison, headed by West Coast Corporation leader Curtiss Jackson. Also present are East coast Corporation leader Kligger and his minion, Moonstone. And it turns out that the Vamp is working for teh Corporation as well, in her alternate identity as the monstrous Animus. Finally, the Hulk and Jim Wilson have been drawn into events as well, as Jim has been a long-sought-after prize of the Corporation. As the prior issue ended, Jackson was flooding the bay in which the Falcon was strapped to the bow of a ship. As things get started here, Captain America maneuvers Moonstone into blasting him into the same bay, so that he can rescue his partner.

Meanwhile, the Hulk has only one objective in his simple mind: rescue his friend Jim Wilson and smash anybody who hurts him. This includes Animus, who gives the Hulk a good fight, ultimately sealing the green goliath up in a prison of rock. This only works for a short time, though, as in a spectacular splash page, the Hulk shatters his way free, his rage driving him to even greater feats of strength. At this point, Moonstone realizes that she’s on the losing side of this conflict and skedaddles for freedom.

The liberated Hulk turns his rage on Animus, eventually smashing the creature’s stonelike club. Turns out that the club is the source of her ability to transform into Animus, and so the Vamp resumes her normal form, rendered insensate by the feedback. Kligger realizes that with his two operatives down and in the wind, he’s in real trouble here, and he calls to his West Coast counterpart Jackson for assistance. Jackson complies by activating some machine guns secreted in the walls and blowing Kligger away, quoting the Corporation’s slogan that it takes care of its own.

This leaves only Jackson to face the power of a whole slew of super heroes and one kid from the wrong side of the tracks. And the Hulk isn’t one to let bygones be bygones. Recognizing Jackson as the person who tried to do Jim Wilson harm, the Hulk leaps at his control room, almost smashing his way inside it before Jackson can even react. But the Corporation always has an escape plan, and Jackson jettisons an escape tube into a tunnel that will convey him far away to safety. But the Hulk is undaunted, and crashed through right behind Jackson, ending his part in the story in his single minded pursuit of his quarry.

In the aftermath, Marvel Man wraps up the stray Corporation goons, while Jim Wilson delights to learn that his uncle Sam Wilson is secretly the Falcon–see, they have the same last name, so they have to be related, right? Captain America, meanwhile, surveys the wreckage, experiencing a recurring melancholy. Kligger had been senator Eugene Stivak, and cap is disturbed by the fact that the man used his position and authority to line his own pockets. And that’s the issue! There really isn’t all that much to this story apart from a brawl, but it’s paced pretty well and has enough exciting moments to divert a reader for ten minutes or so.

The Green Skin’s Grab-Bag letters page includes a section explaining why Stern wound up writing CAPTAIN AMERICA that month, and why Michelinie wound up scripting INCREDIBLE HULK> I don’t know that such an explanation was especially warranted, but this manner of casual interaction and behind-the-scenes transparency to the fans was part of what made Marvel so appealing as an entity back then.