Incredible Hulk #248

Issue Details

Synopsis

"How Green My Garden Grows!" Script by Bill Mantlo, art by Sal Buscema; Hulk brings Jarella's body back to her sub-atomic home world of K'ai to be buried; With most of the planet barren, he takes her to the only fertile valley left but finds it is tended by the cosmic being known as the Gardner who tells him to leave; After a lot of talking and a few fights, Hulk hits the Gardener so hard it knocks the Soul Gem off of his head; Hulk throws the gem into the center of the planet, miraculously restoring the entire world back to vibrant health; After Jarella is buried and Hulk has been returned to Earth, a beautiful green flower grows upon her grave. Continuity Notes This story makes multiple references how the Microverse exists within the atoms of the Hulk's world. This is not correct as revealed in Fantastic Four #282, the Microverse actually exists in another dimension that is accessed by shrinking small enough to breach the dimensional gulf. The Gardener mentions a number of past events: His battle against the Stranger on the moon occurred in Marvel Team-Up #55. Thanos' attempts to collect the Infinity Gems as well as his plan to use them to extinguish stars, and the subsequent deaths of both Thanos and Adam Warlock were chronicled in Avengers Annual #7 and Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2. Although they are all referred to as Soul Gems here, these are actually the Infinity Gems which are not called by that name until Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #44. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #5 clarifies that the Infinity Gem that the Gardner had in his possession on the moon was actually the Time Gem. It also confirms that the Gem used by Adam Warlock was specifically the Soul Gem. Although Thanos and Adam Warlock are stated as having died during the events of Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2, they both come back to life in Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #34 and Infinity Gauntlet #1 respectively. The dates on Adam Warlock's tombstone read 1967-1977. The years on this tombstone should be considered a Topical Reference relative to the date of publication per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. Although the dates state that Warlock had been alive for 10 years, this is more reflective of the numbers of years of publications between his birth in Fantastic Four #66 (published in 1967) and his "death" in Avengers Annual #7 (published in 1977). As the Timescale is measured the actual period of time that has passed is two years of Marvel time. Publications released in 1967 fall under "year two" of the modern age and those published in 1977 fall under "year four". Betty Ross called Glenn Talbot her ex-husband. The two got married in Incredible Hulk #158. After a troubled marriage, they got divorced in Incredible Hulk #238. Jarella is finally laid to rest here, however she is briefly resurrected during the Chaos War years later in Incredible Hulks #619–620 before being laid back to rest. Although the Soul Gem revitalizes K'ai, it doesn't remain the planet's core for long. As explained further in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 5, the Soul Gem was later recovered by the Gardener and is back on his brow when he is seen again in Secret Wars II #6. Gardener's second appearance.