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Tales to Astonish #99

Jan 1968
Stan Lee, Marie Severin

Tales to Astonish #99 cover

Story Name:

When The Monster Wakes


Synopsis

Tales to Astonish #99 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars
The Hulk awakens in the prison cell and sees Betty Ross who assures him that she is his friend.

When the Lord of the Living Lightning tries to convince him otherwise, Hulk sides with Betty and clobbers his former ally.

Living Lightning guards open fire with their lightning blasts, triggering Hulk's transformation into Bruce Banner!

Meanwhile, Glenn Talbot has escaped from his captors and leads a counterattack with a captured lighting weapon just as Air Force reinforcements arrive to battle the invaders.

The Lightning Lord and a few minions manage to escape to their hideout. Bruce tells Thunderbolt Ross that the Hulk is the only hope of stopping the enemy from blowing up the base with missiles. Reluctantly, Ross agrees so Bruce uses his old gamma ray device to turn back into the Hulk, and destroys the Living Lightning base, triggering a nuclear explosion, which buries everyone, including the Hulk, under a mountain!

“When Falls the Holocaust!” 4.5/5
Writer: Archie Goodwin. Pencils: Dan Adkins. Inks: Dan Adkins. Colors: ? Letters: Gaspar Saladino.

Synopsis: As Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, watches, the Atlantean fleet heads for the surface world to wage war. Last comes the one modified to carry the Hurricane Inducer, their dreaded but untested superweapon. Namor pursues it….

The US Navy submarine detects the fleet pursuing it so the commander orders them through a narrow underwater chasm. The pursuing Atlanteans balk at such a maneuver but Warlord Seth orders his flagship and followers to pursue and they get safely through the chasm. By this time, Namor has reached the last ship and breaks in via a hatch in order to stop the Hurricane Inducer which threatens Atlantis as well as their enemies. Two guards come to investigate the broken hatch and Namor waylays and subdues them. He then sees that the big weapon has been activated and once begun, the device cannot be stopped. As the cycle builds, Namor tries to destroy the machine but he is caught by more guards, to whom this only confirms reports of Namor’s treachery. He is shot with a stun gun but his actions have not halted the machine’s activity. As the crew evacuates the ship, Namor seizes the controls to sail the craft far from the rest of the fleet. Observing its progress from the flagship, Warlord Seth realizes that Namor must be steering it. As the ship explodes, Namor is thrown clear….

Seth wonders at Namor’s treachery in sabotaging the Hurricane Inducer and his heroism in sailing the ship away from the others….

The US Navy sub sees the Atlantean armada retreating and the commander wonders what was going on….

Namor decides that he can only redeem himself by attacking the surface dwellers….





Story #2

When Falls the Holocaust!

Writer: Archie Goodwin. Penciler/Inker: Dan Adkins

Synopsis

By Peter Silvestro
Rating: 0 stars

As Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, watches, the Atlantean fleet heads for the surface world to wage war. Last comes the one modified to carry the Hurricane Inducer, their dreaded but untested superweapon. Namor pursues it….

The US Navy submarine detects the fleet pursuing it so the commander orders them through a narrow underwater chasm. The pursuing Atlanteans balk at such a maneuver but Warlord Seth orders his flagship and followers to pursue and they get safely through the chasm. By this time, Namor has reached the last ship and breaks in via a hatch in order to stop the Hurricane Inducer which threatens Atlantis as well as their enemies. Two guards come to investigate the broken hatch and Namor waylays and subdues them. He then sees that the big weapon has been activated and once begun, the device cannot be stopped. As the cycle builds, Namor tries to destroy the machine but he is caught by more guards, to whom this only confirms reports of Namor’s treachery. He is shot with a stun gun but his actions have not halted the machine’s activity. As the crew evacuates the ship, Namor seizes the controls to sail the craft far from the rest of the fleet. Observing its progress from the flagship, Warlord Seth realizes that Namor must be steering it. As the ship explodes, Namor is thrown clear….

Seth wonders at Namor’s treachery in sabotaging the Hurricane Inducer and his heroism in sailing the ship away from the others….

The US Navy sub sees the Atlantean armada retreating and the commander wonders what was going on….

Namor decides that he can only redeem himself by attacking the surface dwellers….



 

Review / Commentaries


Tales to Astonish #99 Review by (November 6, 2024)

Review: This story contains one of the most ironic scenes in Marvel history: Betty Ross pleading with the bad guys not to hurt the Hulk. But the surprising thing is…they can hurt the Hulk. This generic band of world conquerors knocks Ol’ Greenskin flat on his back with their electrical guns, forcing a change to Bruce Banner while in the baddies’ clutches. After some “human drama” (people yelling at each other) they contrive a problem with making Bruce turn into Hulk so that Hulk can come down on the bad guys like an atomic bomb. Literally. Wooo.

And Subby takes the gold medal for this epic adrenaline rush of excitement; 60s Marvel at its best.

Comments: Hulk story: Part three of three parts. Hulk's is the first story in the book; previously, it was the second story to the Ant/Giant Man run first and later to the Sub-Mariner run). The Lords of the Living Lightning return in NICK FURY’S HOWLING COMMANDOS (2005) #1-4. On the other hand, Lightning Lord’s only subsequent appearance is in WEST COAST AVENGERS ANNUAL #7.

Subby story: Part five of five parts. First appearance of Namor’s cousin Warlord Seth.

The letters page includes one by Steve Finkelstein, comedy ‘zine publisher.




> Tales to Astonish comic book info and issue index

Elektra

This comic is in the following collection:
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Collecting INCREDIBLE HULK (1962) #1-6, TALES TO ASTONISH (1959) #100, INCREDIBLE HULK (1968) #102, and material from TALES TO ASTONISH (1959) #59-99 and #101.

Excelsioring your collection:
Statue Hulk (Battle of New York) 1/10 - Infinity Saga - BDS Art Scale - Iron Studios
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)
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Marie Severin
John Tartaglione
Marie Severin
Marie Severin (Cover Penciler)
Dan Adkins (Cover Inker)
Marie Severin (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Sam Rosen.

Characters

Listed in alphabetical order. All stories.

Betty Ross
Betty Ross

(Elizabeth Ross)
Bruce Banner
Bruce Banner

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Hulk
Hulk

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Sub-Mariner
Sub-Mariner

(Namor McKenzie)
Thunderbolt Ross
Thunderbolt Ross

(Thaddeus Ross)
Plus: Warlord Seth.

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