Sunday Nights Are Right For Fighting!

Comic books' main appeal is the cycle of the forces of light clashing with darkness.  Every hero tends to have a custom-fit arch nemesis to engage strength and mental prowess against.  (Well... Unless you were part of the 90's Image Universe.  Outside of Spawn and Savage Dragon, many of that company's creations had threats that RARELY appeared more than once.)  But sometimes we crave a different type of conflict.  Sometimes we're interested in battles between two characters that are technically both on the side of the "angels".  Because let's face it; even in our regular lives, we can butt heads with people that are either closely associated with us, or are working towards the same goal.  And in my reckoning, there is a duo of characters that have not lost ANY appeal for any period where they spar.  I've already written about one half of this equation, the rocky idol 'o millions, Ben Grimm AKA The Thing.  But this is the first time I find myself writing about the irresistible force to his immovable object: Jade jaws, Rampaging, Incredible, sometimes Robert... Bruce Banner AKA The Hulk.

 

This won't be a complete "tale of the tape" for their conflicts, but I'll touch on a few select highlights from my reading experiences.  In "Fantastic Four #12", the Hulk first clashed with the Fantastic Four... and by proxy, Ben Grimm.  Though truth be told, this first bout was more historical for its general HAPPENING, not because of its impact.  If memory serves me right, the actual "fight" only lasts two to three pages, with a majority of the issue dealing with the FF being briefed on the threat-level of the Hulk, and with both forces running into conflict with a generic giant robot called "The Tunneler"... who was REALLY the threat of the story that was being pinned on the hounded Hulk.  Also, I feel that the impact of the Thing VS Hulk conflict was understated in this issue, since I believe they only grapple for a grand total of... ONE PANEL.

But the next time the Hulk met up with the Thing, the story was SO huge, it had to be divided between two issues, and the Avengers had to contribute to the conflict.  But THIS two-parter should be considered the official first fisticuffs between Ben and Bruce.  In the first issue of the storyline, Reed Richards works himself to illness... and to think I work at finding WORK until I feel sick..., Susan Storm plays nursemaid, and that leaves Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm to hold the fort against a Hulk that has made his way to New York to layeth the smackdown on his former buddy, Rick Jones.  (And can I say that while I do dislike Jimmy Olsen for a majority of the Silver and Bronze Ages of comics, Rick Jones I have NEVER liked in any period of comics he was involved in?  At least Jimmy was a groupie for only one character; Rick hung off the heels of ANYONE he could be "friends" with.)  Johnny gets knocked out of the game fairly early, leaving the Thing to engage the Hulk for an extended battle.  Now THIS was the fight we were itching for!  It takes up about half of issue 25, and another half of issue 26 before the Avengers show up to lend their assistance... but this being the Marvel Universe, the Avengers have to have a little tussle with the FF BEFORE they combine their efforts to tackle the Hulk.

Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong in that this two-parter took place between either "Fantastic Four #166-167" or "Fantastic Four #167-168".  All I know is it was another battle that took place between two issues, featured predominantly slobber knockers between The Thing and The Hulk... and also was brought to life by the INCREDIBLE George Perez as the artist.  Because if there's an artist that lives to create scenes of mass-destruction with gleeful joy, it has to be George.  And I remember that this battle ends with the FF realizing the Hulk was involved in a misunderstanding, and when all hostilities are forgotten, they go their separate ways with mutual feelings of guilt.

The rivalry between the two powerhouses of the Marvel Universe even helped give birth to Ben Grimm's team-up title "Marvel Two-In-One", when they were both kidnapped to partake in a one-on-one battle game engineered by Hulk's massive craniumed foe, The Leader... and I can't remember the other party involved in recruiting The Thing.  (And thanks to Wikipedia, I did find out it was Kurrgo.  ... Which STILL is no help to me.  Ugh...)  An abandoned ghost town is the victim of their brawling, until... in the tried and true Marvel method, they both realize they're being jerked around, and pool their resources to take on the Leader and goofy-named schmoe, Kurrgo.

Now I KNOW Bruce and Ben battled a few times in the 1980's, but I never actively read those particular stories.  I can say with certainty, researching this subject, the clashes took place both in the "Fantastic Four" title and the "Incredible Hulk" title.  And both fights took place while The Hulk was dominated by the "Joe Fixit" personality, making things more difficult for The Thing, since up until this point, Ben Grimm had the edge in the "smarts" department, whereas The Hulk specialized in getting madder... and thus stronger.

One last bout visit I want to talk about comes in a rather... unusual time for both our battlers.

I'll illustrate to you some of the unusual traits of this fight in a bullet-point spread:

• The Hulk was in his "Banner Brain" phase of his career, where the personality of Bruce Banner had fully merged with the body of The Hulk.  Bruce was also the leader of a team of demi-gods called the Parthenon. 
• The Thing was horrendously scarred in a battle against Wolverine, requiring him to wear a rather silly helmet to hide the fresh scars.  (Yes... a rocky hide is APPARENTLY subject to grotesque body scars...)  This was also during the time where the FF had the worst costume designs of all time.  Just do a search of 90's Sue Richards to see what I mean, because while Sue ain't ugly in any regards... seeing her "tarted" up for the 90's was... uncomfortable.
• Herb Trimpe was an iconic artist for "Incredible Hulk" for a vast majority of the 70's, and his art style was pleasing and impactful.  But for some strange reason in the 90's, Herb's artwork became almost... Rob Liefeld-ized in tone.  Meaning you just throw away any notions of proper anatomy, sport ridiculous costumes, and FORGET the fact you ever had feet as part of your body.

But what's interesting about this particular issue of "Fantastic Four Unlimited #4", is that you get TWO fights in one issue!  One being a charity virtual reality conflict, but the other... due to emotional manipulation from the Puppet Master... being a genuine tussle.  So if you can overlook some of the bulleted elements I illustrated, you can at least treat yourself to one comic that offers you a rematch in the same pages!

So what makes this rivalry so appealing, in the end?   I think it comes down to the strength VS strength angle, because while Ben is technically "more weak" than Bruce, they are both tremendously powerful beings in the Marvel Universe.  But whereas The Hulk specializes in brute, spontaneous battle, The Thing specializes in having an agility and strategic advantage.  And both factors, when they collide, mean we readers get to win out on another chapter of comicdom's most enduring war of attrition!