Starting with Hydra in 1965, by 1966 Marvel Comics was all-in with villainous secret agencies. Combined with the interwoven plots of the time, things could get a little confusing. Here is the tale of the defeat of the Secret Empire. Note: in the 60s, Marvel continued titles from old monster comics and split them between characters. Tales to Astonish at this time was Submariner and Hulk, Strange Tales was Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD and Doctor Strange, Tales of Suspense was Iron Man and Captain America.
4/5/66
Tales to Astonish 81
Meet the Secret Emipe!
The international conspiracy hires Boomerang for the mission, who starts off as a cool, James Bond type
I always thought Boomerang was underrated as a villain. Basically a more reliable Bullseye with better gear. Boomerang kidnaps Betsy Ross to exchange for the plans of the Orion Missile.
5/3/66
Tales to Astonish 82
Someone double crosses Number Five, Number Nine being the suspect
Hulk happens to jump past Boomerang and Betty, they fight, Boomerang throws Betty at him to get away. This is the closest Hulk comes to having intentionality.
6/2/66
Tales to Astonish 83:
Submariner: After fighting Krang, Namor get amnesia again and falls into the water right in front of Number One of the Secret Empire.
Hulk: Boomerang goes back to the Secret Empire after Hulk rescues Betty. He promises to make up for his failure by capturing the Orion missile itself. We see the beginning of his raid before cutting back to Hulk, who does nothing this issue except interact with Betty and fight with the military.
Number Two of the Secret Empire is accused of treason and throws a stun grenade at the six others, declaring his intention of taking on Number One.
We end with Hulk bouncing away without knowing what happened to Boomerang's mission.
6/30/66
Tales to Astonish 84
Submariner: The Secret Empire is described as destroyed, all save Number One. Not sure how destroyed it really is, seeing as it's leader and entire network is still intact. Number One is vengeful, but presumably at the Hulk, rather than at Number 2? At this point we don't know what happened to Boomerang's mission.
Number One controls Submariner and has him wander around New York looking for the Hulk (we have to wait to find out why Ol' Green Skin is in town). Namor steals some clothes, watches a newsreel about the Hulk, flies off, gets zapped by Krang again and regains his memory and self-control.
Hulk: Hulk goes to the military base looking for Betty and finds it deserted. He seeks the Avengers for help, which is a good enough reason to get him New York as any.
Always environmentally conscious, Marvel recycles the story from the first half of the issue - Hulk steals some clothes and sneaks into the same theater to see the same newsreel, sitting down as Namor flies off. The newsreel wraps up the Boomerang story, with Talbot out-bluffing Boomerang. I wonder if the art was drawn for a more linear story and then re-edited for this recap - the narration even tries (in vain) to justify the camera angles.
Not much happening on either side of the issue, and what was there was repeated almost verbatim.
7/6/66
Strange Tales 149
We become aware that AIM and the Secret Empire are both branches of Them.
Only it turns out to be Gabe Jones, Agent of SHIELD
8/2/66
Tales to Astonish 85
Submariner: Number One tries to regain control of Namor to attack the Hulk.
Hulk hasn't had a whole lot to do with any of this, just had Betty thrown at him by Boomerang, figured he'd want revenge on Number Two or SHIELD, depending on how much he's figured out. But looks like he's fixated on the Hulk as some kind of Breaking Bad deal.
Number One has a backup plan, to send sound waves to Namor's ear to control him. Namor fights a rollercoaster, gets rid of the disc, and his story ends. Meanwhile, Hulk seems drawn to Number One's position. #1 blows up his apartment, but gets killed in the blast while Hulk survives.
And that's the end of the Secret Empire...for now
I figured the subsequent Hulk story would explain why he was climbing the building like King Kong, but nope, he moves on to another story. Hulk and Namor don't even run into each other, much less fight.
This just covers the Secret Empire elements - the story intertwines with Submariner versus Krang and Iron Man, SHIELD vs AIM and Hydra, which in turn intersect with Iron Man vs Titanium Man and Cap vs Red Skull. Tale of Suspense, Tales to Astonish, and Strange Tales (aside from Doctor Strange) were all woven together in 1966.
A harbinger for things to come for Marvel crossovers, the story itself is not so seamlessly plotted. A casual reading implies that the Hulk destroyed the Secret Empire, but at best he foiled one of Boomerang's plots. It reads like there was supposed to be Boomerang/Hulk showdown, but they cut that short to get Hulk in New York to fight Subby, and then that didn't happen. So how is the Secret Empire destroyed? Readers want to know:
It ultimately gets destroyed when Number One blows himself up, but even after 3 through 9 get defeated, we've got 1 and 2, plus their international network and vast resources. Tales to Astonish implies the Hulk destroyed it, but if you read Strange Tales you'd know Howling Commando Gabriel Jones took them down. But how?
I had the same question Doug did until the obvious hit me - Gabe was undercover as Number Two! Had to read his megalomaniac speech to himself again about taking over the Secret Empire and it was consistent with a SHIELD agent destroying them from within. Marvel was neither shy nor subtle, so I'm assuming it was an oversight that they didn't spell it out more clearly in alliterative editor's notes. Also strange that they completely dodged the question in the fan mail - Marvel tended to explain away their plot holes or give sarcastic answers. I checked the letters' page for the next year and no no-prize was awarded.
Even once you put the pieces together, not much actually happened. Boomerang and the Secret Empire were defeated, almost off page, by Glenn Talbot and Gabriel Jones respectively, while Hulk and Namor mainly wander around avoiding cops and the military, but then again that's Hulkie's jam.
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