Great Moments In Comic Book History #39: LBJ Stands Up For The Hulk

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Say what you will about Lyndon B. Johnson, he was one of the few presidents to understand that the Hulk was not the menace that the media made him out to be.  In 1967, he even issued full amnesty to the Hulk in recognition for the number of times that Hulk had saved the planet.  Gil Kane captured the moment in Tales To Astonish #88.

Guilty of only being feared and misunderstood!  That was something that LBJ could probably relate to in 1967.  Unfortunately, after a fight with the masked criminal known as the Boomerang, Hulk was once again viewed as being a menace and General Ross threw the amnesty order away.  I guess that’s what they mean when they talk about the Deep State.

LBJ wasn’t popular with young readers and he didn’t make many appearances in the world of comics.  It’s a pleasant surprise that, one of the few times that he did appear, it was to do the right thing and offer some temporary hope to the Incredible Hulk.

Previous Great Moments In Comic Book History:

  1. Winchester Before Winchester: Swamp Thing Vol. 2 #45 “Ghost Dance” 
  2. The Avengers Appear on David Letterman
  3. Crisis on Campus
  4. “Even in Death”
  5. The Debut of Man-Wolf in Amazing Spider-Man
  6. Spider-Man Meets The Monster Maker
  7. Conan The Barbarian Visits Times Square
  8. Dracula Joins The Marvel Universe
  9. The Death of Dr. Druid
  10. To All A Good Night
  11. Zombie!
  12. The First Appearance of Ghost Rider
  13. The First Appearance of Werewolf By Night
  14. Captain America Punches Hitler
  15. Spider-Man No More!
  16. Alex Ross Captures Galactus
  17. Spider-Man And The Dallas Cowboys Battle The Circus of Crime
  18. Goliath Towers Over New York
  19. NFL SuperPro is Here!
  20. Kickers Inc. Comes To The World Outside Your Window
  21. Captain America For President
  22. Alex Ross Captures Spider-Man
  23. J. Jonah Jameson Is Elected Mayor of New York City
  24. Captain America Quits
  25. Spider-Man Meets The Fantastic Four
  26. Spider-Man Teams Up With Batman For The Last Time
  27. The Skrulls Are Here
  28. Iron Man Meets Thanos and Drax The Destroyer
  29. A Vampire Stalks The Night
  30. Swamp Thing Makes His First Cover Appearance
  31. Tomb of Dracula #43
  32. The Hulk Makes His Debut
  33. Iron Man #182
  34. Tawky Tawny Makes His First Appearance
  35. Tomb of Dracula #49
  36. Marvel Publishes Star Wars #1
  37. MAD Magazine Plays Both Sides
  38. The Cover of Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85