What do you think?
Rate this book
Marvel Novel Series #2
The Incredible Hulk: Stalker from the Stars
"FAR OUT! Who's this creature Sh'mballah who controls the minds and lives of the people in Crater Falls, North Dakota?
SHOCKING! He's not a who--he's a what. He's a tentacle-waving, electrified weirdo exiled from his own planet.
BRUTAL! The Hulk thinks Sh'mballah is cruising for a bruising. But can the green goliath marvelman beat the interplanetary baddie?
COLOSSAL! General Ross of the Army is doubtful. The Hulk's faithful sidekick is doubtful. But the Incredible Hulk is sure--he won't let Sh'mballah control him. No matter what ol' fettucine-feelers thinks!"
The origin of how Bruce Banner became the Hulk is given its own chapter early in the novel. Rick Jones wanders into the town of Crater Falls looking for Dr. Rudolph Stein, a contemporary of Bruce Banner who is also known for his research into gamma radiation. Rick learns Dr. Stein is missing – he wanders the woods and finds the crater from which the town founded its name.
While searching the woods Rick finds a murder victim bathed in green gamma radiation (the identity of the body is a SPOILER and won’t be revealed here). He calls the local sheriff but the body disappears before anyone else can see it.
Also, at night the entire citizenship of Crater Falls walk zombie-like from the town into the woods. Rick’s attempts to find out what is going on is rewarded with a thump on the head (at first) and then by his disappearing – just like Dr. Stein!
Meanwhile, Bruce Banner is hunted by General Thunderbolt Ross – who finally manages to capture the Hulk! Banner escapes Gamma Base when he hears of Rick’s troubles. Rick’s phone went dead during a conversation with Ross and Rick has not been seen nor heard since. Banner goes to Crater Falls, meets the same citizens Rick did, learns of Stein’s disappearance and investigates.
As the title suggests, our green goliath comes in contact with an alien menace that can control the minds of puny humans. The Hulk and his friends must find a way to stop the evil alien Sh-mballah while also fighting off the hypnotized citizens of Crater Falls!
This is the second book in the Pocket Marvel series, and is the first Hulk novel ever to appear. It is credited to Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and Joseph Silva.
SHOCKING! He's not a who--he's a what. He's a tentacle-waving, electrified weirdo exiled from his own planet.
BRUTAL! The Hulk thinks Sh'mballah is cruising for a bruising. But can the green goliath marvelman beat the interplanetary baddie?
COLOSSAL! General Ross of the Army is doubtful. The Hulk's faithful sidekick is doubtful. But the Incredible Hulk is sure--he won't let Sh'mballah control him. No matter what ol' fettucine-feelers thinks!"
The origin of how Bruce Banner became the Hulk is given its own chapter early in the novel. Rick Jones wanders into the town of Crater Falls looking for Dr. Rudolph Stein, a contemporary of Bruce Banner who is also known for his research into gamma radiation. Rick learns Dr. Stein is missing – he wanders the woods and finds the crater from which the town founded its name.
While searching the woods Rick finds a murder victim bathed in green gamma radiation (the identity of the body is a SPOILER and won’t be revealed here). He calls the local sheriff but the body disappears before anyone else can see it.
Also, at night the entire citizenship of Crater Falls walk zombie-like from the town into the woods. Rick’s attempts to find out what is going on is rewarded with a thump on the head (at first) and then by his disappearing – just like Dr. Stein!
Meanwhile, Bruce Banner is hunted by General Thunderbolt Ross – who finally manages to capture the Hulk! Banner escapes Gamma Base when he hears of Rick’s troubles. Rick’s phone went dead during a conversation with Ross and Rick has not been seen nor heard since. Banner goes to Crater Falls, meets the same citizens Rick did, learns of Stein’s disappearance and investigates.
As the title suggests, our green goliath comes in contact with an alien menace that can control the minds of puny humans. The Hulk and his friends must find a way to stop the evil alien Sh-mballah while also fighting off the hypnotized citizens of Crater Falls!
This is the second book in the Pocket Marvel series, and is the first Hulk novel ever to appear. It is credited to Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and Joseph Silva.
174 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
1 person is currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
Len Wein
1,585 books154 followersLen Wein was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men (including the co-creation of Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus). Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen.
Wein was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.
Wein was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 12, 2020
This is the second book in the Pocket Marvel series, and is the first Hulk novel ever to appear. It is credited to Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and Joseph Silva; Wein and Wolfman were classic comics writers and Silva is a pseudonym of the well known and very prolific writer Ron Goulart, who I suspect did most of the actual prose writing of this book. It has the kind of slick and sly humorous tone of most of Goulart's prose, a feeling of we're-all-here-for-entertainment-and-fun-and-laughs. It was published in 1978, so features the original Hulk vision: Banner turns into Hulk when he gets mad, Betty Ross is his girl and the daughter of the general, and Rick Brant is his pal. He's the only Hulk, and it's kind of a neat and simple time (and story), before we had a dozen Hulks of different colors littering the landscape. It's a fun story, and there's an introduction by Stan Lee... which is how it should be, True Believers.
April 17, 2015
Prose novel that takes elements from the Hulk comic, give it a little of the feel of the TV show and then throws the whole thing into a 50's sci-fi film.
Fun stuff, as professional sidekick Rick Jones discovers there's something wrong with the small town he's staying in. So, of course he calls his good friend Bruce Banner and things get crazier from there.
Wish they had played up the creepy vibe of the small town with a secret, but otherwise, this is a fun read.
Nothing too in depth, but everyone has decent characterization.
Though, a little of General Ross goes a long way and when did Clay Quartermain start talking like Hugh Laurie?
These novels are fun and I'm hoping to track down the rest of them.
Fun stuff, as professional sidekick Rick Jones discovers there's something wrong with the small town he's staying in. So, of course he calls his good friend Bruce Banner and things get crazier from there.
Wish they had played up the creepy vibe of the small town with a secret, but otherwise, this is a fun read.
Nothing too in depth, but everyone has decent characterization.
Though, a little of General Ross goes a long way and when did Clay Quartermain start talking like Hugh Laurie?
These novels are fun and I'm hoping to track down the rest of them.
October 15, 2021
Here is my review to the novel https://dailypop.wordpress.com/2014/0...
March 11, 2012
Fantastic! A well crafted Hulk story that makes me want to dive right into some comics. I liked the inclusion of Rick Jones in the story as well as it added a bit of a mystery story angle to the tale.
March 2, 2017
Hulk Awesome!
August 19, 2018
A decent book, and pretty well written. My main problems are with some of the characterizations (General Ross is made out to be especially dumb and stubborn sometimes, while Quatermain is just annoying). Chapters are too short and cause some pacing issues, and the ending is about 20 pages too long.
April 10, 2024
El Hulk nunca ha sido un personaje que me guste mucho, pero se me antojó la idea de esta novela, que por cierto, es la primera novela del Hulk (y la segunda de las novelas Marvel) porque la portada la hace ver como película de los 80s: ¡Hulk contra la mancha voraz! y aunque no es precisamente así, la novela si cumple pues es entretenida y logra una especie de atmósfera de terror que no me esperaba para una historia de este personaje.
Rick Jones, el joven amigo de Bruce Banner, busca por su lado al Dr. Stern, un antiguo profesor de Banner que también hace experimentos con rayos gamma, esperando encontrar una cura para las transformaciones violentas de Bruce. Por su lado, Banner huye de los militares que lo siguen cazando para estudiarlo. Jones llega pues, a el pueblo de Crater Falls buscando a Stern solo para notar algo espeluznante: en la noche, todos los habitantes del pueblo, como si fueran zombies, salen de sus casas para dirigirse al antiguo cráter cercano al pueblo. Y es que en el interior, una criatura de otro mundo, con poderes telepáticos y atrapada entre las rocas, busca liberarse para controlar al mundo.
Hulk y la bestia se verán las caras en un enfrentamiento que pondrá a nuestra criatura verde al borde del fin.
Me gustó, pero la verborrea irónica y sarcástica de muchos de sus personajes llega a molestar hasta decir basta.
Rick Jones, el joven amigo de Bruce Banner, busca por su lado al Dr. Stern, un antiguo profesor de Banner que también hace experimentos con rayos gamma, esperando encontrar una cura para las transformaciones violentas de Bruce. Por su lado, Banner huye de los militares que lo siguen cazando para estudiarlo. Jones llega pues, a el pueblo de Crater Falls buscando a Stern solo para notar algo espeluznante: en la noche, todos los habitantes del pueblo, como si fueran zombies, salen de sus casas para dirigirse al antiguo cráter cercano al pueblo. Y es que en el interior, una criatura de otro mundo, con poderes telepáticos y atrapada entre las rocas, busca liberarse para controlar al mundo.
Hulk y la bestia se verán las caras en un enfrentamiento que pondrá a nuestra criatura verde al borde del fin.
Me gustó, pero la verborrea irónica y sarcástica de muchos de sus personajes llega a molestar hasta decir basta.
September 15, 2024
Published in 1978, this is the second in the Marvel Novel series--faithful prose interpretations of the Marvel Universe written mostly by comic book professionals.
For instance, Len Wein had a long run as writer on the Hulk comic and brings that experience to this novel. It's set mostly in a small town named Crater Falls--so named because of an ancient meteor crater located nearby. What no one knows is that crater was formed when the space ship flown by a Lovecraftian alien crashed there millenia ago. Now the alien is awake and mind-controlling the people of Crater Falls, bringing them to the crater each night to dig him free.
But first Rick Jones and then Bruce Banner show up, looking for a scientist who might help cure Banner of being the Hulk. Soon, they are hip-deep in a mystery. General Thunderbolt Ross and SHIELD agent Clay Quartermain are also soon on hand--hoping to capture the Hulk but soon realizing they might have to work with the Green Behemoth to save the world.
It's a fun novel, with plot elements that really could have been lifted out of a Lovecraft story. There are themes involving self-sacrifice and making difficult moral decisions running throughout the story. Also, Hulk vs. the giant octopus-like alien makes for an awesome fight scene.
For instance, Len Wein had a long run as writer on the Hulk comic and brings that experience to this novel. It's set mostly in a small town named Crater Falls--so named because of an ancient meteor crater located nearby. What no one knows is that crater was formed when the space ship flown by a Lovecraftian alien crashed there millenia ago. Now the alien is awake and mind-controlling the people of Crater Falls, bringing them to the crater each night to dig him free.
But first Rick Jones and then Bruce Banner show up, looking for a scientist who might help cure Banner of being the Hulk. Soon, they are hip-deep in a mystery. General Thunderbolt Ross and SHIELD agent Clay Quartermain are also soon on hand--hoping to capture the Hulk but soon realizing they might have to work with the Green Behemoth to save the world.
It's a fun novel, with plot elements that really could have been lifted out of a Lovecraft story. There are themes involving self-sacrifice and making difficult moral decisions running throughout the story. Also, Hulk vs. the giant octopus-like alien makes for an awesome fight scene.
July 18, 2022
The first novel I have read In way to long. Granted it was only 174 pages but it’s still something. I do a lot of reading but it’s all comic books so of course my first book in a long time was of my favorite character, Hulk. And this is the Hulk that I love seeing as how the book is from 1978. The savage cave man like speaking brute. Banner on the run from the military, his teenage best friend trying to help him out, and Hulk saving the world from an alien creature despite the how much said world hates him. Not gonna make any lists of Americas great novels but it’s the kind of fun that I live for.
February 23, 2022
Very good besides the random bouts of needless sexual tension toward the end.
July 6, 2011
5 out of 5 stars only because it was so much fun and NOT because it's incredible literature. Reading this book makes me want to find the other Marvel books from the series. My full review is online at battlegrip.com.
April 19, 2012
Ron Goulart has too much skill to write a bad book. While STALKER FROM THE STARS is not actually good and there is inconsistency in just how brutish the Hulk is, the story is more entertaining than a comic book character in a novel deserves to be.
January 5, 2018
Read April 1979.
February 10, 2016
Very good novel adaptation of the comics. if you are a comic super hero fan these are Very recommended.
November 3, 2024
You could do worse with a pulpy tale like this, Tongue firmly in 50's sci fi cheek. Author is great with dialogue, Wild with story. For 50 sci fi lovers and Hulk fanatics
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews