The Incredible Hulk #246
Issue #246 is the emotional pivot of a tightly constructed two-part arc (beginning in #245) that finally addresses the death of Jarella — the Hulk's most significant romantic partner — more than three years after she was killed in issue #205. Writer Bill Mantlo, only his second issue on the title, immediately demonstrated his intent to wrestle with the book's unresolved emotional debts: a grieving Hulk reduced to tears over his dead queen is a striking character moment that helped set the tone for Mantlo's five-year, psychologically richer run. The issue also makes pointed use of Mar-Vell's Cosmic Consciousness and his own history of loss to create a rare bridge of genuine pathos between two very different Marvel heroes. Talbot's sabotage of the Microverse mission — deliberately stranding the Hulk — escalates his arc from antagonist to active villain and closes a chapter that Peter David and later writers acknowledged as formative to their own approaches to Banner's trauma.
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Bill Mantlo succeeded Roger Stern on the title with issue #245 (on sale January 1980), and #246 was literally his second script for the series. Mantlo inherited a long-simmering plot problem: Jarella's corpse had been held in cryogenic storage at Gamma Base since her death in issue #205 (November 1976), with Stern's brief tenure leaving that thread untouched. Mantlo resolved it immediately, choosing to pair the Hulk with Mar-Vell — a hero then starring in Jim Starlin's celebrated Captain Marvel run — as a foil who could reach the Hulk through shared grief rather than raw power. Sal Buscema, already deeply established as the title's definitive Bronze Age artist, both penciled and inked the issue, and Al Milgrom edited under editor-in-chief Jim Shooter.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Story title: 'The Hero and the Hulk!' — part two of a two-part story that opened in Incredible Hulk #245.
- Credits: Written by Bill Mantlo (only his second issue on the series, having taken over with #245); pencils and inks by Sal Buscema; colors by Ben Sean; letters by Diana Albers; edited by Al Milgrom; cover art by Rich Buckler and Jack Abel.
- Core plot: The Hulk storms Gamma Base to reclaim Jarella's body (held in cryogenic storage since her death in #205); Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) intervenes, defeats Colonel Talbot in Mandroid armor, and uses his Cosmic Consciousness to operate the base's sub-molecular shrinking device so the Hulk can return Jarella's body to her home world of K'ai.
- Talbot's sabotage: Talbot redirects a Beta-Borer weapon to destroy the shrinking device mid-operation, apparently trapping the Hulk in the Microverse — a plot thread resolved in issues #247–248.
- Mar-Vell's empathy: The narrative explicitly links Mar-Vell's willingness to help the Hulk to his own grief over the death of his first love, Una (killed in Captain Marvel #11), making this a rare moment of emotional resonance between two otherwise very different heroes.
- Recap appearances: Psyklop, Crypto-Man, and Fialan appear only in flashback/recap sequences summarizing Jarella's history (drawn from Incredible Hulk #140, #148, #202–203, and #205), not in new story material.
- Doc Samson subplot: A parallel thread follows Samson attempting to treat General Thunderbolt Ross's mental breakdown (which occurred in Incredible Hulk #234) at a secluded cabin in the Colorado Rockies.
- Reprint history: 'The Hero and the Hulk!' was reprinted in the UK anthology Hulk Comic (UK) #62 and #63 (both May 1980), indicating near-simultaneous transatlantic publication.
Cast · 12 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
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Captain Marvel uses the micro-cannon to shrink the Hulk and Jarella's body to return him to Jarella's world but a hate-crazed Colonel Talbot destroys the micro-cannon, effectively stranding Hulk in outer space.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
