Incredible Hulk #5

January 1963
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby

"Beauty and the Beast"

Our story begins with General Thunderbolt Ross requesting help from Dr. Bruce Banner to end the thread of the Incredible Hulk. Banner agrees to help.  After he and Rick leave the Ross household, the General and his daughter Betty discuss Dr. Banner. Ross doesn't trust him one bit, while Betty has strong feelings for him. Of course, Betty fears that Banner doesn't even know she exists.

I should mention that the Betty/Bruce romance subplot has been very minor in this series.  More so than the Jane Foster/Don Blake subplot in Journey Into Mystery.  It has been touched on very briefly in a couple places.

In this issue however, Betty's unrequited love has drawn the attention of Tyrannus, a centuries-old despot who lives far beneath the surface of the Earth (with his very own fountain of youth).  We learn that Tyrannus was banished by Merlin many many centuries ago.  After his banishment, Tyrannus discovered a race of creatures who learned to obey his every command.  Over time, together they created many weapons and it is now time to unleash them upon the surface.

The only thing that Tyrannus fears is the atomic might of the United States - a threat which he intends to mitigate by capturing the lovely Miss Ross.  Under the guise of an archaeologist, Tyrannus tricks Betty and captures her.  Rick and Bruce grow suspicious after seeing Betty with Tyrannus and they track them to the underworld.

The Hulk engages Tyrannus and his slaves in combat.  Unfortunately, the battle does not go the way that he would like; he is defeated and captured.  Luckily, Rick went undetected.  He manages to free both the Hulk and Betty.  Together, the three of them escape and bring the roof down upon our villain.  And our first story comes to a close.

"The Hordes of General Fang"

I won't spend too much time on the second story in this issue, which isn't an indictment on the story itself.  There's nothing wrong with the story.  It's aptly written and tremendously drawn.

The plot of the tale is the Hulk vs. a Chinese general.  The best part of the story is the Hulk dressed as a yeti. The most interesting part of the story is the growing subplot of Banner growing weaker every time he uses his ray to change into and back from the Hulk.