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 ...

Thickening the Plot: Amazing Spider-Man with Len Wein (ASM #156, ASM #179) Writers need somewhere to stow away ideas, and if they wish to develop them, they have to let the artist depict them. Once they’re on display, development’s in play. Whether we’re talking Len Wein or X-writer successor, Chris Claremont, in the last half of his run on Uncanny X-Men, writers attempt to make space for interesting ideas. An idea on display too soon might seem half-baked; a plot opened too soon might languish in the background without space for development. Writers have to work between the poles of inspiration and creative spontaneity, and seeing concepts through that have begun dramatic play. The more space you make to keep up with ongoing subplots, the more elements you must balance while not losing the individual issue’s dramatic concision: is it a coherent episode on its own? Does the pace of the single episode suffer while moving a main storyline forward? How far apart can these circum...