The Incredible Hulk: Crossroads (A Classics Review)
The Incredible Hulk: Crossroads from Marvel Comics Epic Collection #13
by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema
Why is the Hulk my favorite marvel character? How could this possibly be the case for such a repetitive, boring, limited character? I mean, is he even a superhero? Half the time we see him he’s leveling a city to the ground! Also, if he’s such a great character, then where should I start as a reader in order to understand the essence of the character?
All of these are questions I am hoping to address in this review of the infamous “Crossroads” arc of Hulk comics.
First- let me give a disclaimer and some context. the “Crossroads” comics and just Bill Mantlo’s work in general it seems- are notoriously hard to come by. Marvel has not made them available online, the single issues are collector’s items and are valued appropriately, and we didn’t get a collected edition until very recently. So if you want to read it, your best bet is to get this Marvel Essentials Edition Issue 13, which I’m so happy finally exists to spread the love of this definitive chapter of Hulk’s story. My intention with a review like this is to sincerely contribute to the eternal discussion of a narrative that I love and want to introduce to new audiences. So to that aim, if there is something in this review that you want more clarification on, leave a comment. If there is something you disagree with in this review- stil let me know, I would like to contribute to the discussion. Without further ado-
This all starts with Hulk Issue 300, which was released in 1984, written by Bill Mantlo, art by Sal Buscema. The only way I can describe this is to ask you to picture a dam bursting- narratively. Issue 300 sees the full, brutish monster that the Hulk has always threatened to become since his inception- unleashed upon the world. But how did we get here, you might be asking? After decades of asking, “Can I ever be free of the Hulk?” Banner is given the opportunity to act when he is imprisoned within his own subconscious by the entity known as Nightmare who intends to use the wanton strength of Hulk in order to destroy his nemesis, Doctor Strange.
While trapped in the Nightmare zone, Bruce learns the truth of his predicament from the Sorcerer Supreme, and he realizes that this could be the out he’s been sorely looking for. So he descends into dreamland, ceding consciousness to the Hulk, a profound existential suicide 300 issues in the making.
So in Issue #300, we find the Hulk untethered from any pesky “humanity” that once tempered him rampaging through New York City like he never has before- Doctor Strange reeling from seeing his friend and ally for years, descend into eternal sleep- and a host of Marvel heroes who are woefully unprepared for what’s to come. THIS is one of my favorite Marvel pages of all time- the simple, cinematic advance of the smoke rising from the collapsed building in the distance that Hulk brought down in one motion- as Doctor Strange watches in fear, reflecting on the best course of action.
That’s what I mean about the gravity of this inciting incident- it is the culmination of decades of ebb and flow of control for Bruce and the Hulk, but it’s also a poignant moment where the Hulk’s peers are confronted with the terrible reality of the total destruction the Hulk is capable of. We see everybody, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage (who is punched through 4 skyscrapers), Human Torch (who gets snuffed out in one clap) before the arrival of the Avengers- Thor, Vision, Starfox, Scarlet Witch, and Captain Marvel who all prove useless. Meanwhile Doctor Strange communicates astrally with a whole universe of aliens and demons, trying to find a place in which Hulk could do the least destruction. So what action does Doctor Strange take? Well, with the whole mystical pantheon to his disposal, Doctor Strange makes a unique, discerning gambit- and sends Hulk to the dimension known as “The Crossroads.”
We learn from Doctor Strange in a later issue, as he gives a speech to a congressional hearing- which I just love the idea of by the way- that the Crossroads is an impossibly distant nexus of many realities, many worlds for the creature known as the Hulk to explore. What’s more- part of the magic imbued to transport the Hulk to this place ensures for his safety, magically transporting him back to the Crossroads if he finds himself dissatisfied in the world he has discovered. It was Doctor Strange’s wish that the Hulk find a place in the universe where even a monster such as himself can exist happily.
Thus begins our true saga of Hulk comics observing the behavior of a beastial, savage Hulk at the edge of the universe, trying to make sense of his new, absurd surroundings. Hulk’s only companion at the titular Crossroads is a strange puffball collective consciousness that attempts to re-form into various people from the Hulk’s psyche in order to communicate with him- all of which enrage the Hulk though he cannot remember why.
What follows from here are a series of the most innovative, unique science fiction and fantasy blended short stories in all of Marvel comics, rivaling anything from the Fantastic Four with the incommunicable, monstrous, inhuman Hulk as our protagonist, encountering strange, complex peoples and situations that a brute is ill equipped to understand.
Some of the highlights include:
-Hulk being enslaved by a barbarian race that view his strength as infantile as he inadvertently frees a captured princess who awakens her latent magical ability to bring nature and life back to the world.
-Hulk forming a symbiotic relationship with an alien creature that he leads on a journey to the stars.
-Hulk becoming press-ganged into an intergalactic pirate vessel that is piloted by a cyborg captain infused into the mast of the ship as they collect the strongest warriors from across the universe to hunt Klaatu the energy absorbing titan from the beginning of the universe.
All of these tales are filled with diverse, imaginative, complex, otherworldly characters that collectively build a fanciful weave of the life that exists on the fringe edge of the universe. Mantlo takes the reader on a slow, deliberate journey through a chaotic series of worlds and people’s, creating an unconscious, looming sense of hopelessness that manifests itself in the Hulk. As we learn, intimately, who the Hulk is and could be if allowed to live in peace- we learn that such a reality is impossible, and it’s truly heartbreaking. Even the Hulk, a creature manifested from the very heart of human rage and fear and animalistic behavior- simply yearns for quiet and understanding and yet life itself, foils this pursuit. Time and time again, Hulk returns to the Crossroads- uncontent with the world he has encountered- and the merciful spell that allows the Hulk to travel back to the safety of the Crossroads, begins to feel like a curse.
Thus enters Mantlo’s most poignant addition to the Hulk narrative, with the sudden appearance of the Triad, “Glow, Guardian, and Goblin,” who are seemingly waiting for Hulk in the Crossroads and able to travel between the different planes along with Hulk, when the puffball collective failed so many times before.
In an aside, we see the triad discuss their true intentions, each of them trying to reawaken the latent mind of Bruce Banner who still lurks in the recesses of the Hulk’s psyche, as each of them appeal to some aspect of humanity- be it abandon and chaos from Goblin, hope from glow, or morality from the Guardian. They are creatures that feel like they might as well exist in this fantasy and sci-fi universe so there arrival feels like a fluid enough introduction.
Issue 310 (my favorite Hulk Cover of all time btws) sees Bruce Banner finally brought back from the forsaken depths of his own consciousness as the Hulk encounters a formidable group of cultists on a distant, barbarous planet who damage the Hulk so badly that he reverts into Banner who is THE MOST CONFUSED ANYONE HAS EVER BEEN. This leads to a familiar scenario in which Banner learns of the sinister intentions of the cultists and has to make the choice to transform back into the Hulk after being inhuman for so long. This two part tale also introduces another wayward human traveler at the edge of the universe, a human scientist who inadvertently transported himself across the stars to this horrifying place, and learned that he could become immortal if he just, you know, drank people’s blood- and he acts as a great mirror for Bruce as another victim of the absurdity and cruelty of circumstances beyond their control. But in Bruce’s case, at least he is actively trying to strive for good.
The finale issue of Crossroads in #312 is initially disorienting, as we find ourselves journeying through the early life of Bruce Banner, where see a star mobile above his crib that looks strikingly like the entity we have come to know as glow- and then we see a toddler Bruce and his favorite stuffed animal, a creature that looks strikingly like he Guardian- and then the picture starts to become clearer. Through Bruce’s fraught childhood, with a physically and mentally abusive father who viewed him as an abomination and the tragic death of his mother- Bruce had already begun the process of repressing and manifesting his emotions. Then came the fateful day, where all of Bruce’s pent up frustrations and rage, like some hideous goblin, finally were awakened in a new form- The Hulk.
And as Bruce awakens, and the creatures known as the Triad fade back into his psyche- the reader is struck with a sublime realization. The story of the Hulk is the story of humanity, of life. The constant struggle to choose between our best intentions and our impulsive nature. The daily battle, conscious or not, to live with hope rather than give into despair. The comic book representation of the aggravating, ever changing nature of life and time that we struggle to hold even a moment of but yearn to time and time again without question. The Hulk’s destructive display of force might as well be the eternal human shout of, “If only, if only!” That hopeless resigned missive, “I would change the world if I could but I just can’t…”
It is precisely this contextualization, this frame of reference for the character of the Hulk, that Mantlo so wonderfully relays in the pages of Crossroads that makes me so emotionally tied to the character of the Hulk. It spelled out so succinctly what I loved about the Hulk that I wasn’t quite able to interpret into words. It is a tremendous, brain chemistry altering notion that pervades across the entirety of the Hulk canon and makes me look at the story of the Hulk as one continuous series rather than the single issue or reboot title in front of me, and it is the only superhero character whose story I feel so intrinsically tied to because it is the story of humanity- the story of myself.
I hope that this video has resonated in some way for my fellow Hulk fans, legitimizing our passion for the legacy comic character- or more importantly, that I have imparted some curiosity for those unfamiliar with this story arc and that you will be inspired to seek it out.
-Nicholas Aaron Hodge
