Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Comic Conversations: the Troyjan War

 

The Troyjan War, not to be confused the the Greek Trojan War, is a 4 part storyline that takes place in issues #413-416 of the Incredible Hulk series from the nineties.  [1993-1994 to be exact]

Our story begins in deep space, as the Troyjan known as Trauma meets with his father, the dreaded Armageddon to ask his permission to return to Earth and take the woman known as Atalanta to be his bride. The ruler of the Troyjans allows his son, but warns him not to fail.  How could he possibly fail?  Well, his heart's desire happens to be on Earth training with a certain GREEN Avenger.  Trauma and his army grabs the girl, forcing Bruce and his team to go to space and get her back.  

After Atalanta was kidnapped by Trauma and the Troyjans, the Hulk returns to the Mount where he has the Pantheon construct a ship to follow their foes into space, the Argo IV.   After final checks with Prometheus, the countdown begins and soon the Argo IV takes off into space. Achilles is confident that Atalanta is probably giving them all sorts of trouble to slow them down. As it turns out, Achilles prediction is correct as aboard the Troyjan ship, Atalanta is giving the warriors a run for their money while incapacitating their ship as well. Trauma orders his men to capture her but not to harm her as he intends to make her his bride.


While this is happening, one of the Troyjans reports back to Trauma's father, the dread Armageddon. When learning that the Pantheon is closing in on his son, Armageddon orders his warriors to stand back and watch to see how his son handles the situation.  Soon,  the Pantheon arrived and Hector, Ulysses, Cassiopeia and the Hulk try to force their way into the ship. However, they are confronted by Trauma who refuses to let them foil his plans. 


While the Hulk battles Trauma, he orders the rest of the Pantheon to break into the ship. They accomplish this thanks to Cassie's energy blasts. Meanwhile, the Hulk is prepared for most of Trauma's weapons, but when his space suit is damaged he is blasted off the ship by one of its onboard weapons only to be saved by the Silver Surfer.  Seeing the battle as lost, Trauma jumps back into his ship and orders his crew to activate the warp drive. When the ship goes into warp, the Hulk and the Silver Surfer get pulled into the warp field and dragged along for the ride, leaving Achilles and Prometheus alone in the middle of space.


The Starjammers are surprised to find the Hulk drifting in space. As they debate on if they should bring him aboard their ship, the Silver Surfer catches up and insists that they let them come aboard. Meanwhile, aboard Trauma's ship, Atalanta is still on the run from her captors but has paused because traveling through hyperspace makes her sick. While she has stopped to throw up, Trauma manages to catch up and incapacitate her. Elsewhere on the ship, Ulysses, Cassiopeia, and Hector battle it out with the Troyjan warriors. Trauma arrives with Atalanta in his arms and orders the Pantheon to stand down or she will mutilate his captive. With no other choice, Ulysses, and the others surrender.

Elsewhere in space, Lord Armageddon learns that his son Trauma has succeeded in capturing Atalanta and is now on his way back home. However, they soon detect the Starjammer and the Silver Surfer invading Troyjan space and fighting through their defenses. Intrigued to hear that the Silver Surfer is coming, Armageddon arms himself and orders his minions to prepare for a fitting welcome. As the Starjammer and the Surfer fight their way to the Troyjan star port, they are ordered by High Lord Vitto to surrender. The Hulk convinces Corsair that pretending to surrender is their best bet. It is at this time they are horrified to discover that their leader Agamemmnon made a deal with the Troyjans for the technology that had prolonged his life. In exchange, the Troyjans could then claim a tithe by means of any member of Agamemnon's family they desire.


The Hulk refuses to honor the deal and tries to attack Trauma, but is incapacitated by Armageddon's weapons. When the Silver Surfer tries to come to the Hulk's aid, Armageddon blasts the former herald of Galactus with powerful eye beams which overloaded the Silver Surfer by channeling and redirecting the Surfer's own Power Cosmic.

The Hulk then plays to Trauma's pride, mocking him for having his father intervene in all of his battles. This enrages Trauma who demands his father to free Hulk so they can fight to the finish. Armageddon concedes to his son's wishes and lets the Hulk free and the two are soon trading blows. While his son fights the Hulk, Armageddon continues to bombard the Silver Surfer with his own Power Cosmic. Cassie steps in the way, absorbing the Surfer's tremendous energies and shooting them towards Armageddon in the form of an incredibly powerful blast (whose power output is multiplied by the factor of two). As the Surfer recovers, the Hulk continues his fight with Trauma. During the fight, one of Trauma's spiked shoulder pieces gets embedded into a wall. As the two powerhouses struggle with each other, the Hulk shoves him into the wall again, impaling Trauma on his own armor. Mortally wounded, Trauma falls over and begins to bleed out.


The fight suddenly ends when Trauma cries out for his father. When everyone gathers around the dying Trauma, he asks Atalanta if he should die for his love of her. When she says he shouldn't, he releases her from her bond to him. As he dies, Trauma is cradled by his father who orders everyone to get out. When the Hulk offers his own grief, Armageddon tells Banner to save his grief for himself.


Until next time, get your READ on!

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