The Mansion of Miss Venus, HQ of the JSA.
Human Torch was happy. The happiest he'd been in many months. He'd brooded over Black Canary for so long that he thought he'd never get over it. But something had changed recently. He made a friend.
Toro had come into his life by a strange set of circumstances. The teenage Toro had all the same powers as the Human Torch. Being a normal human, he couldn't quite reach the levels of power that the android Human Torch could, but he was powerful and getting better and better though training.
The Torch and Toro had been training for almost a month since Toro came along. He was allowed to stay in the JSA mansion only on a provisional basis at first, but in the last week he had become a full-fledged member of the JSA.
At first this was a source of annoyance to Bucky Barnes, who had to work months to become the Star-Spangled Kid and be officially inducted into the Justice Society. He resented the fact that Toro was allowed in after only three weeks. But the resentment was short lived. Bucky found that he liked having someone his own age on the team. And he found that he and Toro both had a lot in common. They were both orphans who had lived difficult lives until they happened into their super heroic existence.
The Torch and Toro were in the back yard of the Mansion. They flew through the air, zigzagging around each other, trying to improve their maneuverability. Captain America and the Star-Spangled Kid watched from the ground. Cap nodded in approval of the progress that both of the flaming heroes were making. Bucky shouted inspiration to his new pal.
"Doing great, Toro!" Bucky shouted. "You guys are like a ballet in the air."
Inside, the Black Canary watched the scene and smiled. Dr. Mid-Nite had just arrived and joined her by the window.
"Jim seems happy, doesn't he?" Dr. Mid-Nite commented.
"Yes, he does," Canary replied. "I'm glad. He's been so morose since the day he told me he loved me and I had to tell him that I didn't feel the same way. I was starting to worry about him. But since Toro came along, he's a new man. I'm very relieved. I'm glad he has a friend."
"So am I," Dr. Fate said.
In the library, Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner and Queen Hippolyta, Wonder Woman were discussing matters of state. Hippolyta was reading a scroll that Namor had given her.
"My mother has agreed to all the proposals you suggested," Namor said. "Despite her reluctance to deal with surface dwellers, she must admit that this treaty will benefit both our kingdoms."
"I couldn't agree more, Namor. And I'm glad everything has gone so smoothly. Very soon now, the Atlantean/Amazon treaty will be official."
"I wish there could be more than a treaty uniting our two peoples," Namor said. "Like a royal wedding."
"Namor, please. Don't do this. We've discussed this already."
"But we've never come to the result I want, oh lovely queen."
"You don't give up easily, do you Namor?"
"A warrior never gives up."
"Whatever shall I do with you, you Atlantean rogue?"
"Marry me."
"You're a stubborn man."
"Not stubborn. Passionate!"
Namor leaned over and kissed the Amazon queen. She offered no resistance.
In New York City, the super hero known as Hourman was in a battle. His foe was called the Sportsmaster, a second rate super villain who used sporting equipment and his athletic prowess to commit minor crimes. He used his bat to launch a bomb - hidden in a baseball - at Hourman. Hourman dodged the ball. It struck a parked truck, which exploded. Hourman moved in on the Sportsmaster.
Why do I get the bargain basement villains? Hourman mused silently. I'd better rap this up and get back to the office.
Nearby, in the crowd, was Thomas Halloway, also known as the Angel. He was a secret agent and the government liaison to the Justice Society. He was in New York on a secret matter, but as usual, he seemed to be a magnet for trouble. The Sportsmaster robbed the bank in broad daylight. Angel was debating on whether or not he should intervene but he was luckily spared the decision when Hourman showed up. He should have just gone on his way and left Hourman to deal with the Sportsmaster, but some part of Thomas Halloway's mind just wouldn't allow him to walk away until he knew that everyone was safe.
I'm being stupid! I should just go! If I get too excited and the change happens here, I could injure a lot more people than the Sportsmaster ever would.
The Sportsmaster sent another bomb-ball flying. But this one went off course and headed for the crowd.
"My God!" Hourman gasped. He tried his best to catch the ball before it killed people in the crowd. But even as he leaped, he knew that not even his enhanced speed would be enough to catch the ball.
Angel pushed his way through the crowd. He leaped and caught the ball. He ran to get clear of innocent people before it exploded. He found a clear space and threw it into a vacant lot. The ball exploded perilously close to the Angel. The force of the explosion sent him hurtling backward and crashing into the wall. He fell to the ground, moaning in pain. His heartbeat increased in conjunction with the pain. His adrenaline was still surging.
The change started to come upon him and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Hourman managed to close in on the Sportsmaster. The Sportsmaster swung his bat at Hourman, who ducked and then kicked the bat from his opponent's hands. The Sportsmaster grabbed a rapier and thrust it toward Hourman. Hourman grabbed the fallen bat and used it to knock the rapier from the Sportsmaster's grasp. The he felled the criminal with his own bat.
A small truck pulled up. Men with equipment climbed out. Cameras and sound equipment. Television had been in its infancy when the war started. Then, government regulation of the airwaves caused television to be put on hiatus for the duration of the war. However, occasionally, local TV stations were permitted to air a half-hour of news once a week. One such station was ABC News in New York. Although very few people even had TV sets in 1943, ABC was still determined to air its weekly news. And the battle between Hourman and the Sportsmaster in midtown Manhattan was definitely a good story.
The reporters were very upset to see that the fighting was over by the time they got there.
"Aww crud!" one of them said. "We're too late. The chief ain't gonna be happy."
Just when they thought they'd lost their story, a bigger one fell right into their laps.
A savage roar came from the vacant lot. Everyone turned — and recoiled in fear! Fear of a monster.
The rampaging Hulk had appeared.
Hulk stomped out of the lot, looking around, trying to get his bearings. The monster didn't know where he was. But there were too many people around to suit him. As he walked, people ran in panic . . .
"Run, puny human!" Hulk roared. "Run or Hulk will smash!"
. . . except the reporters. "Get the antenna ready for a live broadcast!" one of them shouted. "We just got our lead story!"
Miles away, in a hidden lair, sat a man with sinister designs, who will have a large impact on the lives of the Justice Society. He went by several names. Just now, he was calling himself the Answer. One of his other names was well known to the JSA. And well trusted. It was a trust that the Answer was going to betray. But not today. Today was a time for study. It was time to observe and collect data.
He turned on his unusually large, specially designed TV set and pirated the signal of the ABC news team. He observed the scene with satisfaction. The Answer had hired the Sportsmaster to cause a commotion in New York. He had hoped to draw out the JSA member called the Sentinel and study him as he detained the Sportsmaster. The intervention of Hourman was an unfortunate monkey wrench in the works. He thought that he would have to hire a new underling. But now fortune had delivered the perfect agent to him.
The JSA had been hunting the Hulk for months. Now that he was loose in New York, at least one of the JSA, perhaps all of them, would show up to contain the beast. This would give the Answer a chance to see how the JSA handled themselves against a powerful opponent. The Answer couldn't have planned it better himself.
Human Torch and Toro took a break from their training. Toro and Bucky stayed outside and roughhoused. The Torch went inside to his room to write in the diary he had taken to keeping.
Captain America was just sitting down to discus team business with his main advisor Dr. Mid-Nite when the Flash came running in.
"Cap! I guess you haven't heard the new yet!"
"No. What's the trouble, Flash?"
"It's the Hulk!"
Cap jumped to his feet. "This is what we've been waiting for! The Justice Society is finally going to nail that monster! Call in Sentinel. We're going to need him!"
Sentinel was in the stratosphere. He looked down on the big blue marble called Earth. This was where he went when he needed to get his head together. In the last few months he had experienced a number of emotionally draining experiences, not the least of which was learning that he may live a hundred and fifty years. He needed to get away from things for a while. A nice cruise above the Pacific Rim would do him a world of good right now.
It never occurred to him that he was out of range of the JSA emergency beacon. He also didn't think that his teammates would be needing him just now.
Hulk was eating out of a hot dog cart. Hourman took a running start and gave a drop kick to the gray monster. With the enhanced strength he got from his Miraglow drug, the kick was a powerful one. But the Hulk hardly even seemed to feel it. He turned slowly toward Hourman and growled menacingly. Hourman backed off. The Hulk was satisfied with Hourman's retreat and kept eating.
"Puny humans," he said, disdainfully.
A fireball hit the cart. The Hulk stepped back, startled. He roared and looked to see where the fireball came from. He saw nine figures coming down from the sky. Some he recognized, some he didn't. But the fireball told him that they were not friends.
Captain America, Star-Spangled Kid, Wonder Woman, Sub-Mariner, Dr. Mid-Nite, Black Canary, Flash, Human Torch, and Toro. They were the Justice Society of America and they were here to fight.
The Hulk raised his fists and roared a warning. Everyone took it seriously. Hourman ran over to Cap. "Good to see you guys," Hourman said. "I know when I'm outclassed."
"You've done an amazing job lasting this long. We'll take it from here."
"No sir, Cap," Hourman said. "I'm with you all the way on this one."
Namor stared at the Hulk. He was having a flashback to his last disastrous encounter with the Hulk. An encounter that left him near to death. The Human Torch and the Black Canary were also feeling the chill of intimidation. They had also felt the power of the Hulk, back when he flattened the Creature Commandos.
"Puny humans should stay away from Hulk or Hulk will smash you all!" he bellowed.
"Hulk, listen to me!" Captain America ordered. "We are the Justice Society of America. We protect the . . . the puny humans. We can't let you hurt anyone. You have to come with us or we will take you by force."
"Force?" Hulk asked, taking a few moments to understand Cap's meaning. "You want to make Hulk go with you? You think you are strong enough to make Hulk go with you? No one is strong enough for that! No one can make Hulk do anything! Hulk is strongest one there is!"
Before Cap could continue his negotiations, Namor suddenly launched himself forward. "For the honor of Atlantis! Imperius Rex!"
"Namor, stop!" Cap ordered. But it was too late. Namor was already upon his foe. Unfortunately, Namor was reckless due to his anger at the Hulk, and he hadn't taken into account the fact that the Hulk had improved his reflexes through combat in the recent months. Hulk caught Namor with a powerful blow to the face. Namor was knocked backwards with incredible velocity. Wonder Woman jumped up to catch him, but the force that Namor was traveling at caused him to hit her like a projectile. They both hit the floor, stunned. Cap threw his shield at the Hulk, but it bounced off harmlessly.
"Flag man throws round thing at Hulk, but it will do no good!" Hulk said. "Little round thing can't hurt Hulk. But Hulk can hurt you!"
"I believe you can," Cap said. "All right, you've left me no choice! JSA members . . . Break and attack!"
Human Torch and Toro combined their flame to create a wall of fire around the monster. But he clapped his hands together and the concussion force that resulted put out the flames. They threw fireballs at him but it only got him angry.
Black Canary and Flash combined their powers into one, massive sonic boom. The Hulk roared, his ears ringing. He was momentarily dizzy, but his ability to recover was astounding. He slammed his fist into the ground, and Flash, Black Canary, Hourman, Cap, and the Star-Spangled Kid were thrown into the air by the shockwave.
Torch and Toro blasted the Hulk with heat rays. The Hulk noticed water leaking up from the ground. His previous attack had busted a water main. The Hulk reached into the ground and pulled out the water pipe. He aimed it at the two flaming attackers. They were dosed in water and their flame went out. They fell to the ground. The Hulk was going to crush them as they lay there, but Dr. Mid-Nite used a blackout bomb to confuse him.
In the moments that the Hulk hesitated, confused by the darkness that quickly faded, Namor and Wonder Woman recovered. Namor took a few moments to dose himself in the water spraying from the water main. While he did that, Wonder Woman attacked the Hulk. She dodged the Hulk's massive fists and retaliated with kicks and punches. The Hulk raged at his inability to connect a blow to her. While he was distracted, Namor, again at full strength, rammed into the Hulk. Together, he and Wonder Woman seemed to be a match for the brute.
But Namor was too anxious to defeat the monster that had injured him months ago. Namor activated his seldom used, eel-like power to generate electricity. Namor threw an electrical bolt at the Hulk. The Hulk bellowed, more in rage than in pain. Namor tried another stream of electrical energy, but just as he did, Hippolyta tried to lock up with the Hulk. She got caught up in the electrical attack. She jerked spasmodically as thousands of volts ran through her.
"Hippolyta!" Namor yelled in alarm.
Hippolyta dropped to her knees, stunned. The Hulk backhand slapped her and sent her sailing through the air and crashing into a wall.
"No!" Namor cried out in anger. He dived at the Hulk with reckless abandon. For a few moments he had the Hulk on the defensive, forcing the monster back, but soon the Hulk turned the tables and started to batter Namor. He grabbed Namor's head in his huge hand and lifted him from the ground, slamming him into the street. As he did once before, he started to stamp Namor into the ground.
Flash recovered and hopped to his feet. He decided to use an attack he had used effectively several times before against powerful opponents. Flash ran around the entire world, gaining momentum. He circled the world in less than a second, reaching speeds of up to near light-speed. When approaching light speed, his body started to reach infinite mass. With that limitless weight behind him, he rammed straight into the Hulk.
The Hulk was knocked backwards nearly a quarter of a mile. He flew over Broadway, finally crashing into the billboard at Times Square. The billboard, and a ton of debris, fell onto the Hulk. Some people were almost hit by falling debris, but the Flash raced over at super-speed and yanked the innocent people out of the way. People started to run away in fear, but some others stood in fascination, waiting to see what would happen next. The Flash stopped in front of the pile of wreckage that the Hulk was buried under. The Flash breathed a sigh of relief, glad that this menace was defeated.
He was wrong. The Hulk suddenly burst out of the pile of debris, roaring in primal fury. Flash was knocked off balance but the vibration of the Hulk's show of force. The Hulk swung his mighty fist at the fallen speedster. But the Flash was fast even when he was off his feet. He rolled out of the path of the punch, hopped to his feet and got some distance between himself and the monstrous beast. The Hulk's fist hit the ground, rocking the area. The Flash almost tripped but he managed to keep his balance. He threw some bits of broken concrete at the Hulk. Running ahead into the path of the rocks, the Flash vibrated through them. He turned them into accelerated molecule bombs. The projectiles hit the Hulk and exploded with amazing force. The Hulk was shaken. He roared and growled but he did not fall.
"This is crazy!" Flash muttered to himself. "Nothing can be this powerful! It defies science!"
Captain America, Dr. Mid-Nite, the Black Canary, Hourman, and the Star-Spangled Kid came running up Broadway, breathlessly reaching the scene. Flash ran to Cap's side.
"I'm running out of ideas, Cap," Flash said. "This thing just won't fall!"
"I can't believe it!" Cap stated, with concern. "I never thought that this beast would be able to stand up to the combine power of the Justice Society!"
"Unfortunately, our power hitters are not with us," Dr. Mid-Nite said. "Dr. Fate and the Sentinel could possibly turn the tide in our favor."
"Anybody got Thor's phone number?" Star-Spangled Kid asked.
Hulk stood defiantly in the middle of Time Square, fists clenched and muscles tensed. "Puny humans thought they could beat Hulk! Stupid humans didn't think Hulk was so strong. Stupid humans didn't think at all to attack Hulk! Hulk beats everyone! Anyone who says Hulk can't is crazy! Hulk is strongest one there is!"
"Confident, isn't he?" Dr. Mid-Nite observed.
"We've given him very little reason not to be," Hourman replied somberly.
"As long as one member of the Justice Society is standing, the battle isn't over!" Cap stated.
Star-Spangled Kid was worried for the first time since becoming Cap's partner. "Namor, Polly, Toro and the Torch are down and out. Flash is the only one of us left with any power. If you got any brilliant ideas, Cap, I'd love to hear them."
"I'm thinking."
Hulk charged the JSA members. The heroes scattered, trying to evade him. The Black Canary was the closet to the Hulk. He reached out and grabbed her leg. She yelped in pain as the vice-like grip closed around her leg.
"Canary!" Flash yelled, running toward the Hulk, battering him with a million blows in a few seconds. There were like mosquito stings to the Hulk. The Hulk was about to crush the Black Canary . . . But then he got a look at her face. He tilted his head and studied her, curiously. The creature tried to work out the reason for these feelings he was having. He dropped her and she crawled to safety. The Hulk just looked at her, confused. Why did she make him feel so strange?
"Well, I'll be!" Dr. Mid-Nite muttered.
Suddenly, a green light covered the area. Everyone, including the Hulk, looked up. Sentinel had arrived.
"Yes!" Star-Spangled Kid shouted.
"We've still got a chance!" Cap said, with a slight smile.
Sentinel drifted downward. "Sorry I'm late, Cap."
"I'm just glad you're here now."
Sentinel unleashed an awesome blast of Starheart energy from his ring. The Hulk was engulfed in the powerful energy and let out an animalistic roar. But he still didn't fall! His indestructible body shrugged off the pain and still he stood.
"Incredible!" Sentinel said. "I didn't think anyone could stand up to that!"
The rampaging gray creature refused to retreat. "Your strongest attack can't hurt Hulk. But now Hulk will hurt you!"
The Hulk leaped up and tried to grab the Sentinel out of the air. The Sentinel evaded the attack. The Hulk arced through the air and started to descend. As he dropped, the Sentinel battered him with energy blasts. The Hulk couldn't do anything except roar in pain. The Hulk crashed to the ground, creating a crater in the ground. But he immediately popped up again, ready to fight. The Sentinel surrounded the Hulk in a force field. The Hulk started to pound on the field with all his mammoth muscles. The impact was so intense that the backlash affected the Sentinel.
"My God!" Sentinel said. "What power! It's unbelievable! I don't think I can hold him for long!"
"I have an idea!" Flash exclaimed.
Flash began to run in circles around the trapped Hulk. He created a suction vortex around him and sucked the oxygen out of the area inside the circle. The Hulk started to gasp. He desperately pounded on Sentinel's force field, trying to get free and get some air.
The monster failed. His blows quickly got weaker and weaker. He started to get dizzy. He gasped but there was no air to breathe. The rampaging Hulk, the strongest creature on Earth, fell!
The JSA members gathered around him, half expecting him to get up again. They watched and waited. He didn't move.
"I think we did it!" Flash said.
"I hope so!" Hourman said.
Black Canary approached the fallen monster. She wondered why he had let her go.
"What do we do with him now?" Dr. Mid-Nite asked.
"No cage will hold him," Flash said.
"So what do we do?" Star-Spangled Kid asked. "Kill him?"
"We can't do that!" Black Canary said, sharply.
"That should be our last option," Cap said.
"I'll take him off the planet," Sentinel said. "I'll find him a world where . . . "
"Look!" Dr. Mid-Nite cried.
The Hulk started to change. He got smaller and smaller. His gray skin turned Caucasian. His gray hair turned black. He reverted to his natural form of a normal human . . .
. . . of Thomas Halloway, the Angel.
"Thomas!" Black Canary yelled. She ran to the unconscious Angel and cradled his head.
"I don't believe it!" the Star-Spangled Kid said.
"That explains why he let the Canary go," Dr. Mid-Nite said. "And it also clears up his recent erratic behavior."
"It explains it very well," Cap said. "I wonder how this happened to him."
"I guess the idea of dropping him off on another planet is out," Hourman said.
"So the question still stands," Captain America said. "What do we do with him?"
No one had an answer.
Next issue: What will happen to the Hulk? Baron Zemo returns and he has some ideas of his own on the matter. The Atlantean/Amazon treaty is about to be signed but Attuma, Tiger Shark, and King Shark arrive to throw a monkey wrench in the works. And the Answer is still watching and planning. All this, plus a guest appearance by Uncle Sam, next month in Justice Society of America #23.