0132: Defenders #19
Cover Date: January 1974 On-Sale Date: October 17, 1974
Despite the title, Doctor Doom does not appear in this story. What a disappointment! We conclude our trilogy of Defenders vs. Wrecking Crew with Hulk in a forgiving mood joining his teammates and adding some needed muscle. (No offense Luke, but he is the HULK.) Len Wein may have been short of time as Chris Claremont handles scripting duties based on Len's plot. Let's see if there's any improvement to the dialogue.
We pick up right where we left off last issue with Thunderball having opened his adorable metal egg. Sadly it's not something from Faberge, rather he now tells us what was supposed to be in there, a gamma bomb! Doc demands Thunderball explain himself which leads us to a flashback of pre-Thunderball Thunderball.
Thunderball claims he as a physicist. (This really doesn't jive. If he used to be a physicist capable of doing what he's about to say, he should be a much more capable villain.) Thundy created a gamma bomb that was ten times the power of the one which created the Hulk and could be held in your hand.
Thundy moved from Caltech to Richmond Enterprise (Nighthawk's ATM) and told Kyle's number two, Pennysworth about it. The bomb and notes disappear and get patented under the company. Effectively, Richmond Enterprise has stolen the invention. Thundy attempts to steal the bomb back and drops it into a vat of molten steel that will be used in the construction of skyscrapers for Richmond Enterprise. AHA! Now we know why they were attacking the buildings. The bomb was encased in one of the girders.
Doc asks Thundy if he can build a sensor to discern the bomb's whereabouts. He says yes he can and the rest of the Crew attack the Defenders. The Crew tramples the Defenders and leaves their unconscious bodies in the building wreckage. I guess there's something to be said for the element of surprise if you can knock out the Hulk!
The Hulk wakes up first and tends to his teammates. The jolly green giant can be a nice guy when he wants to. Police arrive and attempt to arrest our heroes. Doc, realizing the gravity of the current situation, ain't having none of it and casts a spell that freezes the officers.
The spell also performs a non-consensual mind wipe on the frozen officers. (Wasn't there a whole DC story where non-consensual mind alteration leads to very bad results?) The Defenders go on their way and Doc explains that he will track the unique magic signature of Wrecker's crowbar much like Thundy is tracking the bomb.
Along the way, a poor unhoused individual accosts Doc with a request for a quarter. Hulk thinks he is attack Doc and grabs him. Doc stops the Hulk and makes a statement about hunger in the world's wealthiest nation. Then he conjures about a luxury meal for the poor guy. Did he conjure a pile of cash out of thin air like way back in Strange Tales #151? Nope, he STOLE it from the Plaza Hotel!
Right after the theft of a gourmet feast, a boy comes running to Luke Cage saying four roughs are bustin' up their club. One was a "brother" talking like he was on TV and 'lectric gizmo. Yes, the Crew are nearby looking for the bomb. The boy escaped and we see that he has the gamma bomb in his hand.
The heroes find the club building. Hulk doesn't like the bad guys ganging up on children. He goes inside and is immediately tossed out.
Naturally all hell breaks loose inside the club. Doc realizes that this much power being flung around inside is a bad idea. The Hulk flings Thunderball outside moving the battlefield into the street. Thundy pops the Hulk with his ball which angers the Hulk. The madder Hulk gets the stronger he gets and this made him mad enough to pulverize Thundy's trusty ball. Thundy is heartbroken at the loss of his prized possession. Next, Nighthawk comically uses his jetpack to launch Bulldozer into the air. Nighthawk set the automatic cut off sending Bulldozed back to the ground 9.8 meters per second squared. Luke Cage handles Piledriver in a more conventional fashion leaving Doc to handle the Wrecker.
Doc grasps the magic crowbar as the Wrecker attacks Doc and is able to stand his ground! Wrecker is eventually forced back leaving Doc holding the bag crowbar.
Doc's a clever one! For his next trick, Doc sends the crowbar to another dimension. Doc the realizes that they still need to find the darn bomb! Next he realizes that the boy didn't have a softball as they thought, it was the bomb! Doc grabs the ball from the boy and it starts ticking! Oops!
Thundy is uh, unavailable to disarm his device. The next best thing is standing in front of them, but looking a bit too green for the task. Doc hypnotizes Hulk and he turns back into Dr. Bruce Banner. Doc conjures up a toolkit for Dr. Banner and this was apparently stolen from the Hulkbuster Base. The pressure of disarming the device that he didn't invent stresses the poor guy, but he manages to hold off changing into the Hulk long enough to complete the task.
The Hulk has returned and wants to know what happened. Doc explains the he put the Hulk to sleep to save New York City. This throws the big guy off enough so he doesn't clobber everyone in sight.
Luke Cage is a bit disheartened. Since the building was wrecked he ain't gettin' paid! Kyle Richmond, who owns the whole damn company says nothing even though he could solve the whole situation with a phone call. Luke does his best "more subdued Namor walk off."
So this was fun! The Defenders vs. four magically enhanced bruisers is kind of interesting. Only Luke Cage and the Hulk really have the raw strength to counter these guys leaving Nighthawk and Doc to be clever about the whole thing. While Nighthawk is no Tony Stark, he's not a blithering idiot either. Doc is powerful in other ways, able to counter Karnilla bestowed magic. I don't think Doc and Karnilla ever faced-off. That could be an interesting battle.
The story itself is well-done and well-paced. The battles don't last too long and they are resolved with cleverness and not with who can throw the most powerful punches. Joey, the boy with the bomb, recognizing Luke Cage is a touching moment. it shows how much he cares about the neighborhood. This is what a street-level hero should be.
Doc recognizing that Bruce Banner is their only hope is another nice touch. If the US Army was aware that Doc could banish the Hulk, even temporarily, they would try to weaponize it!
Overall, good job!
