The Incredible Hulk #162
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThe Incredible Hulk #162 (April 1973) is the debut of the Wendigo, Marvel's interpretation of Algonquian folklore about a cannibalism-triggered curse that transforms its victim into a superhumanly powerful, fur-covered monster haunting the Canadian wilderness. The character proved durable enough to anchor two separate storylines: the Wendigo returned just eighteen issues later in #180–181, and that follow-up story required the Canadian government to deploy its own super-agent — a mutant named Wolverine — to handle the threat, making issue #162 the narrative root of one of the most consequential character introductions in Marvel history. By grounding its monster in actual Indigenous legend rather than pure science-fiction, the issue pushed the Hulk's Bronze Age run toward the kind of mythologically resonant horror storytelling that distinguished the era from the Silver Age that preceded it.
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The story, titled 'Spawn of the Flesh-Eater!', was written by Steve Englehart and drawn by series regular Herb Trimpe, with inks by Sal Trapani, colors by David Hunt, lettering by Artie Simek, and editorial oversight by Roy Thomas. Englehart has recalled that he was drawn to the Wendigo legend precisely because it offered both physical menace and genuine tragic pathos — qualities that made it a natural fit for the Hulk, a character defined by his own monstrous transformation and the sorrow underneath it. The issue arrived during Englehart's prolific early-1970s period at Marvel, during which Roy Thomas ran an editorially permissive office that, as Englehart later described it, encouraged writers to be 'as creative as possible' without micromanagement. The story grew directly out of a serialized Canadian sequence that had begun in #161, with the Hulk already north of the border searching for the honeymooning Betty Ross Talbot.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of the Wendigo (Paul Cartier), a monster born of a curse placed on anyone who commits cannibalism in the Canadian north woods, rooted in Algonquian folklore.
- First appearance of supporting characters Marie Cartier and Georges Baptiste, both of whom return in Incredible Hulk #180–181 — and Baptiste himself becomes the second Wendigo in #181.
- Written by Steve Englehart, penciled and covered by Herb Trimpe, inked by Sal Trapani, colored by David Hunt, lettered by Artie Simek, and edited by Roy Thomas.
- Cover-dated April 1973; carries a cover price of 20 cents.
- The story's title is 'Spawn of the Flesh-Eater!' and is the direct narrative continuation of Incredible Hulk #161, with the Hulk rambling through Canada searching for Betty Ross Talbot.
- The Wendigo's second appearance, in Incredible Hulk #180–181 (October–November 1974), served as the setup that brought Wolverine into the Marvel Universe for the first time.
- The issue has been reprinted in black-and-white in the Essential Hulk, Volume 4 trade paperback and in remastered color in the Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk, Volume 9 hardcover; it was also partially reprinted in the British publication Mighty World of Marvel #160.
- The Wendigo has since appeared in animated adaptations including an episode of the 1990s Incredible Hulk animated series and in the Wolverine and the X-Men animated series.
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