Issue:
Tales
to Astonish
#94
Title:
“...To the Beckoning Stars!”
Credits:
Written by Stan Lee, Penciled
by Marie Severin, Inked by Herb Trimpe, Lettered by Sam Rosen
Supporting
Cast: N/A
Villain:
New Men
Guest-Stars:
High Evolutionary, Sir Ram,
Thor (cameo)
Plot:
We find the Hulk still in the wilderness, still convinced that he
needs to get to another planet in order to find peace, and throwing a
tantrum about it. Calming down briefly, the Hulk notices the
sunrise... and then hears a shot. Investigating, the Hulk finds two
men in hunting clothes, who indicate that they're looking for someone
called “the New Man.” The Hulk picks up a boulder to throw at the
hunters, but then run away, so the Hulk just crushes the boulder.
Then, the Hulk starts drawing a line in the soil with his finger,
indicating the boundaries of what he considers to be his land.
Meanwhile, the hunters return to their camp, where they report in
to... the High Evolutionary, who is in space and dealing with a war
against the New Men. The Evolutionary realizes that with the power of
the Hulk, he can repel the attackers, so he tells the hunters to use
the special ammunition he's provided to get the Hulk. As the hunters
approach Greenskin, the Evolutionary recalls that he used his own
evolutionary equipment to evolve animals to humanoids, establishing
them as a knighthood in Wundagore, and then later (with Thor's help),
re-establishing themselves on a new world, where they lived in peace
until the New Men began going bestial again and battling with
themselves. The Evolutionary tried using new specimens to evolve more
peaceful beings who could deal with the New Men, but to no avail.
Back on Earth, the hunters shoot the Hulk, who turns and starts to
attack in response, but then Greenskin collapses. Quickly, the
hunters get the Hulk loaded into a spacecraft, and then send the
craft into space. Later, the Hulk awakens in the ship to the sound of
footsteps as a figure in armor approaches him. It is Sir Ram, the
last knight of Wundagore still on the side of the High Evolutionary.
The Hulk, who'd been chained, breaks free from his chains and figures
that Sir Ram was the one who imprisoned him, so he knocks out Sir
Ram, and then he looks through a porthole and sees that his wish has
been granted... he's going to a new world at last.
Invention
Exchange: All of the
Evolutionary's advanced equipment, including the gas bullets used to
knock the Hulk out.
Reprinted
In: Marvel Super-Heroes
#49, Essential Hulk #2,
Incredible Hulk (Pocket
Books)
Notes:
Was Stan thinking about keeping the Hulk in space for some time? It's
possible, and it's a theme that's been explored at least twice since
then, although in those cases it was the Hulk exiled into space due
to the threat he was perceived to be on earth.
