Well, we’re back for more of this. Spider-Man and Doc Samson spend 3 pages dodging Hulk and recapping that ends with Samson trying to put Hulk in a chokehold and being thrown quite a long way for his trouble, and then Hulk tries to squash him.
Spider-Man starts attacking Hulk, even flipping him in midair into the ground just to really upset him, then tries to swing away, but Hulk leaps so fast he doesn’t get much of a headstart. We turn our scene elsewhere from there, however…
This is a pretty dramatic turn for just getting May’s anniversary wrong. I’ll take this over doddering fool aunt May any day, tho. Samson finds his way back to the wrecked demonstration hall and explains his plight, and is told the researchers hadn’t gotten around to coming up with a way to reverse their process yet. Good stuff, guys! Elsewhere, Spider-Man successfully keeps ahead of Hulk long enough to make it to his destination. I didn’t actually read the FF where Johnny blew this place up, only that issue covered here from the aftermath, 374. Whatever happened, it’s left a big area with nothing but the foundation and some crumbling buildings scheduled for demolition, so Spidey feels ok fighting there. Not that it goes very well, as he’s stunned and almost killed pretty quickly. But then Samson tags back in. We cut from that to MJ filming her soap opera, where she botched a scene becaaaaause… she’s smoking. And her character doesn’t smoke. Which seems wildly unlikely, but I guess it’s a step in getting rid of this dumb subplot, so sure. It was her only scene on the show this week, tho, and it’s being scrapped because they’re running late and she blew it. She worried her career is coming apart. All the better to reduce you to a non-character who sits around the house worrying, my dear! I do not understand why they did that, but they sure did it. Anyway…
Spidey and Samson do their best to corral Hulk for several pages, but they both know it’s basically impossible. It’s Hulk’s whole deal even when he isn’t juiced by a rage virus. Soon, Spider-Man is on the ground and barely able to think and Samson is out cold with Hulk towering over him, and Spidey thinks the only person who can stop Hulk now is himself.
Why you crushin’ that folder, dum dum? Not very smart. I feel like there was a thing where Smart Hulk slowly became more ruthless, but I wasn’t exactly following closely. Early on, he was sort of a mix of the 2 Hulks and Banner, smart, strong, a bit sassy. I dunno, whatever. It’s hard to believe, after all these years, I only have 7 more Michelinie ASMs left. And just as hard to believe that that equals 43 more comics in this period. 43!! At this moment, TAC and Spider-Man are both 2 months behind ASM, and Web is one month ahead. So it’s not quite, but more or less 43 more comics in the next 7 months of Spider-Man. Insane. And some explanation of why begins next post.