Circus of Lost Souls: the Incredible Hulk teaches me Romanticism
I only had a single issue of Hulk - #217- for a long while. "The Circus Of Lost Souls" was similar in theme to the epic where he finally loses Jarella- an echo, through a one-shot character. I came into the Jarella stories later. Jarella's passing and the epilogue with the Defenders are just heartfelt enough to move you beyond the usual Triumph and Tragedy in the Marvel Manner. 
I wrote that Marvel marketing cliche before seeing the cover again, editing- it left a strong impression, as slogans are meant to do!
Welcome back to the legendary twilight land of the Bronze Age, a.k.a. the affordable old comics, growing up. This one ran my folks no more than cover price- they may've cut a deal for the three dozen they picked off the racks at D & L Salvage Supply, for my single most memorable Christmas present, in 1981.
We get to know Rex, Stilts, Blossom, and the Major a little by the fire. There's many ways the Hulk finds happiness for a time, and he enjoys their companionship. After facing Bi-Beast and falling to Earth, Bruce is back in the middle-of-nowhere, when he finds our freak contingent. My sympathies, and Hulk's, were drawn effortlessly to the fragile Miriam. Hulk and the gang stick it to the Circus of Crime, before the melancholic ending. Marvels loved ending on either a cliffhanger or a real bummer. They fed my budding maturity in a way cartoons of the time couldn't.
As for "Souls,"even then, I knew it was an inconsequential story. The Hulk had the Circus outclassed, so I was aware that was less thrilling, through no fault of the artists. I was maybe a bit disappointed not to meet some new colorful costume menace with a track record. That only mattered because I still had very few comics, and I kept getting The Gibbon, the downtime Mad Bomb issue of Cap, the wedding of Doc Ock and Aunt May, the Ringer...you feel me? The one issue of Hulk my sister chose had Bruce strung up on a big cross in mid-transformation the entire issue while the villain ranted! (Maybe more fun if you had track of the secret oves of They, mostly years before, but other than the cool chess board of characters...geez!)
Where was the really really good stuff?
But the art has some subtle surface textures, and it's well-depicted by Ernie Chan. I think this is the sort of story Len Wein did very well.
What was a four-color story that particularly moved you as a child?
NEXT: Discovering the original Deathlok!!
I wrote that Marvel marketing cliche before seeing the cover again, editing- it left a strong impression, as slogans are meant to do!Welcome back to the legendary twilight land of the Bronze Age, a.k.a. the affordable old comics, growing up. This one ran my folks no more than cover price- they may've cut a deal for the three dozen they picked off the racks at D & L Salvage Supply, for my single most memorable Christmas present, in 1981.
We get to know Rex, Stilts, Blossom, and the Major a little by the fire. There's many ways the Hulk finds happiness for a time, and he enjoys their companionship. After facing Bi-Beast and falling to Earth, Bruce is back in the middle-of-nowhere, when he finds our freak contingent. My sympathies, and Hulk's, were drawn effortlessly to the fragile Miriam. Hulk and the gang stick it to the Circus of Crime, before the melancholic ending. Marvels loved ending on either a cliffhanger or a real bummer. They fed my budding maturity in a way cartoons of the time couldn't.
As for "Souls,"even then, I knew it was an inconsequential story. The Hulk had the Circus outclassed, so I was aware that was less thrilling, through no fault of the artists. I was maybe a bit disappointed not to meet some new colorful costume menace with a track record. That only mattered because I still had very few comics, and I kept getting The Gibbon, the downtime Mad Bomb issue of Cap, the wedding of Doc Ock and Aunt May, the Ringer...you feel me? The one issue of Hulk my sister chose had Bruce strung up on a big cross in mid-transformation the entire issue while the villain ranted! (Maybe more fun if you had track of the secret oves of They, mostly years before, but other than the cool chess board of characters...geez!)
Where was the really really good stuff?
But the art has some subtle surface textures, and it's well-depicted by Ernie Chan. I think this is the sort of story Len Wein did very well.
What was a four-color story that particularly moved you as a child?
NEXT: Discovering the original Deathlok!!
A very good issue by Wein. He understand the Child Hulk very well. And did some really touching stories.
ReplyDeleteI agree! That's the strength of his run. This one helped introduce me to some level of emotional depth in Marvel Comics, with the story of Meriam and her friends.
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