The Incredible Hulk #172
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThe Incredible Hulk #172 is a pivotal Bronze Age crossover that brought two of Marvel's most physically unstoppable characters — the Hulk and the Juggernaut — into direct conflict for the first time, a pairing that had never been attempted in a regular title. It is also notable as a rare in-continuity showcase for the original X-Men lineup (Professor X, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl) at a moment when the X-Men's own series was publishing only reprints of earlier issues, making the Hulk title one of the few places where new stories featuring those characters were appearing at all. The issue's retelling of the Juggernaut's origin — drawing a continuous thread back to X-Men #12–13 and #33 — functioned as essential connective tissue for readers who had no access to the out-of-print originals. Its three-way conclusion, in which the Hulk's moral disgust at the Juggernaut's cruelty sparks the battle that ultimately allows Professor X and Marvel Girl to mentally subdue Cain Marko, demonstrates the character-driven plotting that defined Steve Englehart's early Marvel work.
In The Incredible Hulk #172, the Hulk is locked in a high-security cell at Hulkbuster base when a desperate attempt to teleport him to another dimension goes awry—releasing the unstoppable Juggernaut in his place. With both titans on the loose, the Hulkbusters find themselves outmatched as the two collide in a clash of raw power, setting off a chain of events that leaves even the X-Men scrambling to intervene. Written by Tony Isabella and Steve Englehart, with dynamic art by Herb Trimpe and cover by Trimpe, this 1974 classic delivers a pulse-pounding showdown between two of Marvel’s most powerful beings.
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The issue carries a cover date of February 1974 and was edited by Roy Thomas, then Marvel's Editor-in-Chief. The plot was developed by Steve Englehart, who was simultaneously running The Avengers and other major Marvel titles, with the full script handed off to Tony Isabella — a division of labor that was left uncredited correctly in print: the comic itself listed Roy Thomas as plotter, an error that Steve Englehart's own website later corrected, and which the Grand Comics Database also flags citing Englehart's site as its source. Pencils, inks, and the cover were all handled by Herb Trimpe, the definitive Hulk artist of the era, with Jack Abel on inks, Alan Kupperberg lettering, and Petra Goldberg (Scotese) on colors. The issue ties directly into Englehart's concurrent Avengers run, with the X-Men's appearance here noted as a crossover with Avengers #111.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Title of story: 'And Canst Thou Slay... the Juggernaut?' (February 1974, Marvel Comics)
- Plot by Steve Englehart, script by Tony Isabella, pencils and cover by Herb Trimpe, inks by Jack Abel — the print credit incorrectly listed Roy Thomas as plotter, a discrepancy flagged by Englehart's own website and noted in the Grand Comics Database
- First team-up of the Hulk and Juggernaut: Dr. Peter Corbeau's space-time ray accidentally pulls Cain Marko out of his interstellar exile and deposits him in the Hulk's holding cell at Hulkbuster Base, forcing a brief and uneasy alliance before the two turn on each other
- The Juggernaut's origin is recapped in flashback, covering his discovery of the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak and his battles with Charles Xavier and the original X-Men, referencing events originally depicted in X-Men #12–13 and #33
- Active X-Men appearances: Professor X, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl appear in both flashback and the main story; Angel, Beast, Iceman, Doctor Strange, and Eternity appear in flashback only — notably, the X-Men book itself was publishing reprints at this time, making appearances in other titles the primary source of new X-Men stories
- Cyclops and Marvel Girl wear their original costumes in this issue, consistent with the reprints then running in the X-Men title, an intentional editorial decision to avoid confusing readers
- Supporting cast includes General 'Thunderbolt' Ross, Colonel John D. Armbruster, Betty Talbot, Jim Wilson, Talia Green, and Peter Corbeau — a full Hulkbuster Base ensemble that grounds the issue in the ongoing military-pursuit subplot of the era
- The issue has been reprinted multiple times: in Essential Hulk Vol. 5 (2008, black and white), Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men Vol. 8 (March 2010), and Incredible Hulk Epic Collection Vol. 6 — Crisis on Counter-Earth (2021), as well as in the UK in The Mighty World of Marvel #180 (1976) and in France and Sweden
Cast · 16 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in The Comic Reader #100 (1973), L'incroyable Hulk #31 (1974), The Mighty World of Marvel #180 (1976), Gamma la bombe qui a créé Hulk #8 (1980), Hulk #4/1980 (1980), Hulk #4/1980 (1980), Essential Hulk #5 (2008), Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men #8 (2010), Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk #10 (2016), X-Men: Children of the Atom #[5] (2019), X-Men Epic Collection #4 (2019), Incredible Hulk Epic Collection #6 (2021), Χούλκ [Hulk] #13, Hulk E I Difensori #42
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