Invincible Iron Man #132: Review

Mar 1980

David Michelinie, Jerry Bingham

Story Name:

The Man Who Would Be Hulk

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #132 Review by T Vernon (April 27, 2015)

Comments: Part two of three parts. First appearance of Stark security chief Vic Martinelli, though his first name is given as “Dick” here. Dr Edwin Maxwell appeared off and on in INCREDIBLE HULK #239-258; this is his only appearance outside of that title. The mystery villain who first showed up in issue #113 is still obviously Titanium Man; pretend not to notice until #134.

Review: The Hulk always makes a good antagonist for Marvel heroes: while the hero has to restrain himself not to hurt Hulk too badly (how’s that working for you, guys?) the Hulk is free to be every bit as angry and powerful as the writer wants. Here’s a battle marked by the unpredictability of the new pacemaker but it turns into another nifty “How can I stop the Hulk?” We’ve seen this before but it never gets tired.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #132 Synopsis by T Vernon

An angry Bruce Banner with the mind of the Hulk is under restraint at the Stark labs (he was easier to subdue than usual). Tony Stark places a call to Gamma Base but Dr. Edwin Maxwell is unable to help with this new situation. Dr. Erica Sondheim rigs a set of headphones to blast a calming sound directly into Bruce’s mind and he soon returns to normal. Tony, Dr Sondheim, and Scott Lang ponder what to do next….
Interlude: The mystery villain from issue #113 is still plotting revenge against Iron Man and Tony Stark….
As the smart people wonder why the pulse regulator went beyond the limits set for it, trouble is brewing elsewhere. The police have a warrant to check up on Bruce Banner and Stark security guards are denying them entry. A sudden scream sends them all into the lab: Bruce is slowly turning into the Hulk and he soon breaks free. Upstairs, Tony realizes that Banner’s radioactive qualities are affecting the pulse regulator, increasing its danger threshold so that he will never calm down. An alarm sounds and everyone heads to the lab, Tony detouring to don his armor and so Iron Man confronts the raging Hulk. He tries to calm the Green Giant but Hulk only punches him across a parking lot. Shellhead orders the guards to get everyone to safety while he lures Hulk out to the Stark shipping areas. Iron Man destroys a pier that drops Hulk into the river where he hopes the sudden dunking will enable him to hold the Hulk under until he passes out. No such luck: the Hulk clobbers him and leaps to the top of a giant metal arch. Tony calls Rhodey and orders him to evacuate the airfield as he topples the arch dropping Hulk into the center of the field. Iron Man hurls a small truck at Hulk who bats it out of the air—by swinging Tony’s Lear jet. Tony realizes he must exert all of the reserve power of his armor to defeat the Hulk and focuses everything into a single blow that knocks Hulk unconscious—and then Iron Man topples over, immobile….