Just replaced this issue during the week having spilled beer or coffee on the last copy I owned many moons ago. It's from 1985 and occurs during the aftermath of Asgard's battle with Surtur, Thor #353 (I think) . Simonson provides the striking cover, left.
The story itself involves Mephisto trying to destroy Thor, who is in deep mourning following the loss of his father Odin during the aforementioned Surtur saga. His spirit is broken. Mephisto sees this and secures the services of Ulik, the mightiest of trolls to battle him. He kidnaps Ulik's brother to force Ulik to seek out Thor. Thor and Ulik battle, and it's a pretty good fight sequence, with Thor as broken in spirit as he is, pummeling Ulik in the end. Ulik tells Thor about Mephisto's machinations and Thor journeys to Mephisto's realm to confront him. A pretty mediocre and unimaginative premise. A plot that looks like a straight lift from Lee/Buscema's Silver Surfer comics of the late 60's. Actually, the whole thing reads like a love letter to those stories from writer Alan Zelentz. So Sparky, you may ask, why is this issue a classic?. In a nutshell, the artwork by John Buscema (who also inks) is absolutely mind-blowing, that's why!!!!
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| 'No sooner bid than done Master!' |
Buscema's depiction of Mephisto's realm is so beautifully rendered, eerie strange creatures (see left) and scenes of torment and human anguish.
As a purely visual experience this is as good as anything I've seen Big John ever illustrate. It is a far cry from his wonderfully slick Joe Sinnott inked pages on Fantastic Four and more akin to the amazing work he was doing in Savage Sword of Conan. It's no secret that Buscema was sick of Superheroes at this stage of his career.As it is plain to see from the workaday look of his pencils on Fantastic Four in 1987.(Still good, but 'twas clear Big John's heart wasn't in it) But, the scene of Mephisto's domain must have got his creative juices flowing again, and how.
Writer Alan Zelentz appeared to turn in a journeyman job until the last couple of pages when he redeems himself with a wonderfully wicked and clever twist, that I don't want to spoil if you haven't read this mag. It leaves the reader with a wonderfully satisfied feeling that you've in fact contrary to what you've thought during the book that you've read an absolute epic. Quality rating 8 out of 10. Check out the greatest depiction of Mephisto in History!
This might just be my favorite Hulk comic. Not without good reason. Everything about this issue is flawless. The pacing of the story is amazing. Everything flows along perfectly. Every movement and action in the issue has purpose and meaning. There are no cackhanded attempts at shoehorning plot elements in. Betty Ross' story is removed from the main action in a 1 page interlude. The central narrative is very simple - the near mindless Hulk is drawn by some subconscious impulse to return to New Mexico, his birthplace, of sorts. Doc Samson follows him and Hulk dukes it out with hallucinations of his main antagonists, all depicted in the amazing cover above. While the Hulk is distracted with these figments of his tortured subconscious the good Doctor Samson scores that elusive KO victory over the behemoth in one of the greatest and most remembered splash pages of the 1980's. This really is an example of John Byrne flexing his artistic muscles as large over sized panels and splashes dominate the issue. Byrne once claimed that he could not depict a punch possessed off the same power that Jack Kirby could but the punch Samson lands at the end of this issue is awesome. Banner's subconscious still exists as is clear from the manifestations of all of Hulk's main antagonists. This was Banner's attempt to distract the Hulk so Samson could defeat him. Samson cottons on to this on the last page as relates the events of the encounter into a Dictaphone. It is this ingenuity on the part of Byrne that grounds a fanciful plot in a semblance of reality. I'm not a huge Hulk fan, I like the character but in the last decade I've moved away from him. This is one special issue that I always remember as being one of the best Hulk stories ever. It is sad that Byrne's run had to be aborted due to editorial differences,that in itself is one of the greatest 'what-if' stories Marvel has ever seen.
