Marvel Comics Presents #26 (August 1989) (Hulk's story)

Since Thanksgiving was this week, I haven't really had an opportunity to write a comic review. Luckily, I was able to scrape together this little review of a short story. It's not one for the holidays, but I work with what I got. Before we begin, I have to talk a little bit about the crossover storyline Atlantis Attacks.

Atlantis Attacks was a crossover storyline that unfolded over various Marvel titles' Annuals in 1989. This was a format started last year with the Evolutionary War crossover. However, unlike the previous crossover, Atlantis Attacks was a more serialized crossover. You want to read what happens next? You have to get all the Annuals to read the whole thing. Well, in 1989, anyway. It was a format that Marvel would use over the next few years, but the format would undergo modification. Later, storylines would involve smaller numbers of Annuals. For example, The Punisher Annual #4 (1991) was part of a crossover called "The Von Strucker Gambit" that also involved Captain America and Daredevil's Annuals from that year. 

Atlantis Attacks was a crossover that focused on the return of the evil Elder God known as Set after the events of Marvel Team-Up Annual #5 (1982). The title itself is a bit misleading, but that's a tale for another time. At this point, the Hulk (who was back to his original gray appearance) was working in Las Vegas as a legbreaker named Joe Fixit. As a result, he was not really involved in the crossover. This short tale here was his entire involvement in it. This is Hulk's story in Marvel Comics Presents #26!

The cover is a Paul Gulacy piece. It's...alright. In the tradition of the series, the cover just shows the main characters of the stories contained within. Hulk is looming in the back cover. Coldblood looks cool, though. Not much to say about this cover, really. 

"Splashdown"
Writer: Peter David
Penciler: Jeff Purves
Inker: Mike DeCarlo
Colorist: Tom Fine
Letterer: Agustin Mas
Editors: Mike Rockwitz, Terry Kavanagh 
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with a scared sailor. And he has reasons to be frightened.

"This anchor sucks! You need to get a refund."

Yup, Joe Fixit is here, and as his job at the time, he's here to collect on some debts that the sailor incurred in Sin City. Good news, the man has some of the money. Bad news, he only has some of the money.

The sailor offers Joe's boss a stake in his theme park's profits, but the big angry gray guy isn't biting that bait. Captain Morgan shows Joe around the park. The two head to a show starring an orca named Shandu (likely a parody of Shamu). Shandu seemingly performs as normal but then decides to do a bit of improvising.

"OM NOM NOM Hey, human doesn't taste like chicken! YOU LIED TO ME, BENNY!"

Oooh, that's going to hurt.

Joe refuses to step in to stop it, until Shandu leaps at some kids. Joe then decides to step in. After all, even that big gray legbreaker has standards. The sailor begs Joe to get rid of the whale...and offers money. He just spoke the legbreaker's language. Joe goes to send the whale back to the sea, when he spots a strange submarine. The occupants are Atlantean, and they're testing out a device to make sea animals go berserk. So far, it seems to be working. Joe slams the whale into the sub, wrecking it and making it sink. The Atlanteans flee, the story ending with a very confused Joe Fixit wondering what that was all about. 

This was a nice short little story. It was nice seeing Joe Fixit save those kids from the rampaging Shandu. Yes, the Hulk has a rather...complicated relationship with humanity, and the Joe Fixit/Gray Hulk was more unscrupulous and arguably more heartless than the classic "Savage"/Green Hulk, this is a good way of showing that there are lines that even Fixit would not cross. The art is decent. It does its job. Although it didn't really show the clothing damage Joe suffered thanks to Shandu.

This was supposed to be Hulk's entire involvement in Atlantis Attacks. Yes. It was. At the time, the Hulk was believed to be dead. However, he would go on to appear in Avengers Annual #18 (1989), helping the Avengers. Whoops.

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2021 trade paperback Atlantis Attacks: The Original Epic. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!