Spider-Man vs. The Hulk: The Battle of the Century!
Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 8:29 pm
This is a promo issue that was given out with the Columbus Dispatch in 1979. If you don't count such things as canon, feel free to ignore this. If you are interested, read on...
Chaos on Campus!
Originally published: 1979
Characters: Peter Parker (Spider-Man), Dr. Robert Bruce Banner (Hulk)
A little girl named Lucy, a cop named Jerry, ESU Professor Warner, Cindy Sayers, unnamed dock workers, cops, students and military
Page 1: Flashbacks to Pete getting bitten by the spider (no new info) and Spidey hanging out on the exterior of a building. Floating-head bit of Banner changing to the Hulk (not a real scene). Exterior shot of ESU.
Page 2: Banner is at the New York docks, looking for directions to ESU. A school girl (Lucy) slips off the dock and falls towards the water.
Page 3: As the girl struggles in the water, Banner hulks out and rips a lamppost out of the ground
Page 4: Hulk saves the girl, but her dad freaks out at his monstrosity. Hulks knocks him flying. Some cops drive by and call for reinforcements, but the Hulk leaps away.
Page 5: Spider-Man beats up some crooks, refuses to pay a shop owner for the damages. Later, Peter arrives 10 minutes late for Professor Warner's class at ESU. Cindy Sayers, "E.S.U.'s sexiest dish", talks to Pete.
Page 6: After class, Pete asks Cindy out and she agrees. The Hulk watches from the bushes. Pete's spider-sense goes off and he takes off, pissing off Cindy. After changing into Spidey, he spots the Hulk and moves in for an attack
Page 7: Spider-Man and the Hulk fight. Meanwhile, elsewhere, a student protest is going on. It is interrupted by the Hulk crashing through a wall. Somebody that might be Flash Thompson is there, but it could just as easily not be him.
Page 8: Spider-Man and Hulk fight. A dorm starts to crash down.
Page 9: Spidey is crushed by the falling debris, but is still alive.
Page 10: Spidey frees himself. He fights the Hulk, then notices Cindy Sayers trapped under some rubble. Stupidly, he calls out her name, possibly risking his secret identity.
Page 11: Spider-Man and the Hulk lift the debris off Cindy and leave her with some cops. The military shows up.
Page 12: Spider-Man stops the military and cops long enough for the Hulk to escape. Spider-Man tries to convince the cops and military that the Hulk is an alright guy.
Placement Clues:
- Peter's in university
- It's the first day of school for Peter Parker. Also, a dock worker tells his daughter that he'll walk her to school, so we know it's during the school year.
- Pete "wanted to get a date with [Cindy Sayers] all last semester but...always chickened out". Is there ever a full semester during which Pete isn't dating anyone?
- A student comments that Spidey is wanted by the police.
- Banner doesn't know where ESU is and needs to ask for directions, so must be his first (or one of his first) visit(s) there.
- The Hulk seems to be wanted by the cops and military.
- Spidey thinks of the Hulk as a "monster", so I'm guessing he doesn't know that Hulk is Bruce Banner.
Problems:
- Bruce Banner is referred to in the narration as "Dr. R.B. 'David' Banner", and later "Dr. David Banner"
- The whole Cindy Sayers thing is weird and seems like it would be hard to fit in anywhere
- The Hulk doesn't talk, only grunts and growls, like in the TV show
Clearly the David Banner stuff is meant to remind people of the TV show. However, on the show Banner's name was David Bruce Banner. Here, his name is clearly given as "R.B. Banner", with David as a nickname. It's easy to treat this as topical, IMO. Same with the lack of dialogue -- perhaps the Hulk was just having a quiet day.
Any ideas on how to work in Cindy Sayers? Any placement suggestions?
Chaos on Campus!
Originally published: 1979
Characters: Peter Parker (Spider-Man), Dr. Robert Bruce Banner (Hulk)
A little girl named Lucy, a cop named Jerry, ESU Professor Warner, Cindy Sayers, unnamed dock workers, cops, students and military
Page 1: Flashbacks to Pete getting bitten by the spider (no new info) and Spidey hanging out on the exterior of a building. Floating-head bit of Banner changing to the Hulk (not a real scene). Exterior shot of ESU.
Page 2: Banner is at the New York docks, looking for directions to ESU. A school girl (Lucy) slips off the dock and falls towards the water.
Page 3: As the girl struggles in the water, Banner hulks out and rips a lamppost out of the ground
Page 4: Hulk saves the girl, but her dad freaks out at his monstrosity. Hulks knocks him flying. Some cops drive by and call for reinforcements, but the Hulk leaps away.
Page 5: Spider-Man beats up some crooks, refuses to pay a shop owner for the damages. Later, Peter arrives 10 minutes late for Professor Warner's class at ESU. Cindy Sayers, "E.S.U.'s sexiest dish", talks to Pete.
Page 6: After class, Pete asks Cindy out and she agrees. The Hulk watches from the bushes. Pete's spider-sense goes off and he takes off, pissing off Cindy. After changing into Spidey, he spots the Hulk and moves in for an attack
Page 7: Spider-Man and the Hulk fight. Meanwhile, elsewhere, a student protest is going on. It is interrupted by the Hulk crashing through a wall. Somebody that might be Flash Thompson is there, but it could just as easily not be him.
Page 8: Spider-Man and Hulk fight. A dorm starts to crash down.
Page 9: Spidey is crushed by the falling debris, but is still alive.
Page 10: Spidey frees himself. He fights the Hulk, then notices Cindy Sayers trapped under some rubble. Stupidly, he calls out her name, possibly risking his secret identity.
Page 11: Spider-Man and the Hulk lift the debris off Cindy and leave her with some cops. The military shows up.
Page 12: Spider-Man stops the military and cops long enough for the Hulk to escape. Spider-Man tries to convince the cops and military that the Hulk is an alright guy.
Placement Clues:
- Peter's in university
- It's the first day of school for Peter Parker. Also, a dock worker tells his daughter that he'll walk her to school, so we know it's during the school year.
- Pete "wanted to get a date with [Cindy Sayers] all last semester but...always chickened out". Is there ever a full semester during which Pete isn't dating anyone?
- A student comments that Spidey is wanted by the police.
- Banner doesn't know where ESU is and needs to ask for directions, so must be his first (or one of his first) visit(s) there.
- The Hulk seems to be wanted by the cops and military.
- Spidey thinks of the Hulk as a "monster", so I'm guessing he doesn't know that Hulk is Bruce Banner.
Problems:
- Bruce Banner is referred to in the narration as "Dr. R.B. 'David' Banner", and later "Dr. David Banner"
- The whole Cindy Sayers thing is weird and seems like it would be hard to fit in anywhere
- The Hulk doesn't talk, only grunts and growls, like in the TV show
Clearly the David Banner stuff is meant to remind people of the TV show. However, on the show Banner's name was David Bruce Banner. Here, his name is clearly given as "R.B. Banner", with David as a nickname. It's easy to treat this as topical, IMO. Same with the lack of dialogue -- perhaps the Hulk was just having a quiet day.
Any ideas on how to work in Cindy Sayers? Any placement suggestions?