Home of the Great ol' Green Skin, The Incredible Hulk!
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Home of the Great ol' Green Skin, The Incredible Hulk!

Superhuman Abilities Unlike some of the heroes in the Marvel Universe, the Hulk does not rely upon elaborate devices or draw his abilities from an armor or magical sources. Instead, he relies totally upon himself to get the job done. Superhuman Strength "The madder the Hulk gets, the stronger he gets." This is the Hulk's 'bread and butter' and makes him one of the most powerful beings on Earth. Most of the Hulk's incarnations initially lift near 100 tons. The notable exception is the Gray Hulk, who initially lifts around 75 tons. However, unlike most of the other heroes, the Hulk has the ability to increase his strength level without any artificial or mystical aids since his strength level increases in relationship to increased levels of adrenaline in his system. The exact relationship between the increased adrenaline level in his system and the Hulk’s increased strength level is not known. Although many wonder how strong IS the Hulk, the real question is how strong CAN the Hulk get? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Durability The Hulk could not have survived for over 30 years in Marvel Comics if he could not take a punch. In addition to being resistant to conventional weapons, he is among the relatively few heroes who can survive in space and re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere unprotected. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Healing Even though the Hulk is one of the strongest and toughest beings on the Earth, he can still be hurt or injured. Fortunately, he has one of the fastest healing rates in the Marvel Universe. The same injury that would require another hero to call upon magic or scientific equipment is handled in mere moments for the Hulk. For instance, during an intensive fight with Vector of the U-Foes, Vector repelled over 900 lbs. of tissue from the Hulk’s body. After knocking him senseless, the Hulk (as seen in the image above) regenerated the lost mass within seconds. In addition to rapid recovery from injuries, this ability has other advantages. For instance, it contributes to his incredible stamina since it prevents fatigue poisons from accumulating in his body. It also has also reversed the Gray Gargoyle's ‘stone transformation touch’ in mere moments. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leaping Among the parts of his body that have been augmented by his exposure to gamma radiation, the Hulk's legs are arguably the most advanced. This enhancement allows him to travel many miles in a single leap. The Hulk has been observed overtaking a jet in Incredible Hulk #409, catching up with an ICBM in the upper part of the Earth’s atmosphere in Incredible Hulk Annual #10 and nearly leaping off of the planet in Incredible Hulk #254. With leg power like that, it is a wonder that he does not kick people more often! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See astral forms This ability is one of the two abilities that are not linked to the Hulk's augmented physical form. As a result of Bruce's accidental killing of his father, Bruce repressed his memories of the event but retained an intense subconscious fear that his father would return from the dead to get revenge. Presumably, this became part of Bruce's subconscious image, and the Hulk developed this ability upon being exposed to gamma radiation. (This results from the fact that individuals who survive exposure to gamma radiation are mutated based upon their subconscious image.) To date, it is unclear exactly how many incarnations of the Hulk can utilize this ability. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homing ability Although the Hulk typically uses this subconscious ability to locate the area in New Mexico where he became the Hulk, he has occasionally used it to locate a specific place or person that he diligently wants to find. For instance, he used this ability in Hulk # 275 and #445 to locate Rick Jones and Onslaught, respectively. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thunderous hand clap Although the Hulk does not have any force beams or psychokinetic abilities, he can render serious harm to opponents without laying a finger upon them. By clapping his hands together, the Hulk can generate a shock wave that plays havoc with the target's ear drum as well as level a building. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bruce Banner The good doctor himself. First Appearance: Incredible Hulk # 1 Height: 5' 9 1/2" Weight: 128 lb. Intelligence Level: Genius Strength Level: Normal Transformation Pattern: It depends upon which other persona(s) are dominant. If the Savage Hulk is dominant, Bruce typically transforms into the Savage Hulk when he becomes excited or angry. If the Gray Hulk is dominant, then Bruce typically transforms into the Gray Hulk when the Gray Hulk is able to usurp control from him. Vital Information: Banner is the intellectual persona. He is a world renown physicists, has an almost overwhelming sense of morality and prefers to shun the expression of his emotions. The persona provides the intellectual foundation and language base with which the other personas may or may not choose to draw upon. Moreover, this persona generally influences the other personas to be benevolent. The Gray Hulk This incarnation will never win a Humanitarian of the Year Award. He is very cunning, hostile, and has no problems with literally punching out your lights. First Appearance: Incredible Hulk # 1 Height: 6'6" Weight: 900 lb. Intelligence Level: Normal Strength Level: Initially lifts around 75 tons, but can potentially increase strength output to well over 100 tons Transformation Pattern: If the Savage Hulk is repressed, then he reverts to Bruce when Bruce's persona becomes dominant, which was usually at sunrise. Eventually, it was revealed in Incredible Hulk #368 that Bruce's shame of his dark feelings that the Gray Hulk represented was the real reason why the Gray Hulk was dominant only at nightfall. Vital Information: The gray Hulk represents Banner's aggressive nature and feelings as an adult. It is characterized by devising clever strategies despite its brutish behavior. Although the gray Hulk has the potential to draw upon all of Banner’s knowledge base, it usually draws upon just enough to have a normal intelligence level. It should be noted that this persona was the first to appear after Banner was first exposed to gamma radiation. Savage Hulk The incarnation that made "Hulk Smash" a household word. First Appearance: Since this persona gradually became dominant over the Gray Hulk, it's very difficult to cite the Savage Hulk's first appearance Height: 7" Weight: 1,040 lb. Intelligence Level: Learning Impaired Strength Level: Initially lifts around 90 tons, but can potentially increase strength output to well over 100 tons Transformation Pattern: If the Gray Hulk is repressed, then he usually reverts back to Bruce when he becomes calm or unconscious. (* Note: There have been a several cases when the reversion did not spontaneously occur). Vital Information: The Savage Hulk represents Banner's feelings as an abused child. As previously stated, Banner’s childhood was anything but pleasant. Hence, it is hardly surprising that this persona is trusting, yet very suspicious others. Moreover, it is quick to lash out at others yet seeks companionship and love. Also, the Savage Hulk only utilizes Banner’s intellect or language skills on the level of a small child. Although he refuses to make use of Banner’s intellect, the Savage Hulk subconsciously uses some of Bruce's special skills or knowledge. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Of course, just because the Hulk has three personas, there's no reason not to use them as ingredients for creating other incarnations. Bruce in control of the Hulk's form This is what you get if Bruce's mind becomes dominant in the Savage Hulk's form. First Appearance: Incredible Hulk # 123 Height: 7" Weight: 1,040 lb. Intelligence: Level: Genius Strength Level: Initially lifts around 90 tons, but can potentially increase strength output to well over 100 tons Transformation Pattern: Since Bruce maintains his dominance throughout the transformation, he only reverts back to his Bruce Banner form when he wills it, becomes exhausted or unconscious. Vital Information: At various points in the past Banner’s persona has been able to usurp control of the Savage Hulk’s form. However, this control was not without a price. For instance, his healing ability did not function as it would normally. For instance, in the Incredible Hulk #281, he collapsed from exhaustion. Moreover, in the Secret War # 12, he was forced to use a specialized crutch and brace after his leg was broken by Ultron. However, once the Savage Hulk's persona became dominate in issue the Incredible Hulk #296, the injury seemed to have fully healed instantly. Also, Banner had usually had difficulties in tapping into the Hulk’s rage-enhanced strength. Mindless Hulk Take the Savage Hulk and make Bruce Banner and the Gray Hulk inactive ingredients. First Appearance: Incredible Hulk # 299 Height: 7" Weight: 1,040 lb. Intelligence Level: Non-sentient Strength Level: Initially lifts around 90 tons, but can potentially increase strength output to well over 100 tons Transformation Pattern: Since this incarnation is virtually devoid of Bruce's intellect and the Gray Hulk's persona is repressed, he doesn't not transform periodically. Historically, this incarnation remains in this abnormal state until Bruce's persona becomes dominant again. Vital Information: The mindless Hulk has appeared when the Savage Hulk was almost completely deprived of the intellectual, moral and language base that the Banner persona provides. Consequently, this incarnation merely reacts to its environment and like a small child, it looses interest in what it cannot see. Merged Hulk Take Bruce, throw in the Savage Hulk and add the Gray Hulk. Presto, you come out with a strong and ill tempered physicist. First Appearance: Although the Savage and Gray Hulk's personas were merged into Bruce Banner in Incredible Hulk # 377, Doc Samson's research, which was presented in Incredible Hulk #393, suggests that a spell used on the Hulk to make him intellegent in Incredible Hulk #140 was simular to the merger of the personas in Incredible Hulk #377 Height: 7" 6 Weight: 1,150 lb. Intelligence Level: Genius Strength Level: Lifts well over 100 tons Transformation Pattern: For the most part, this incarnation did not transform periodically. The key exception is when he transformed into 'Savage' Banner during times of extreme rage Vital Information: This form represents the merger of the gray and Savage Hulk personas into the Banner persona. As a result, the Merged Hulk has the intellect of a genius, the ability to tap increase his strength level and the attitude of the gray Hulk to back it all up. Maestro (futuristic version) Well, take the Merged Hulk, add a dash of hostility, a pinch of hatred, smidgen of cruelty, and mix in an apocalyptic world in which almost all of the superpowered beings are dead. Viola! You have an evil dictator. First Appearance: Future Imperfect #1. Technically, since he was killed when the Hulk sent him back in time to the detonation of the gamma bomb that created the Hulk, the Maestro made his first appearance in Hulk #1. If you look closely at the mushroom cloud, one of those specks was the Maestro. Height: (at least )7" 6 Weight: (at least) 1,150 lb. Intelligence Level: Genius Strength Level: Lifts well over 100 tons. Transformation Pattern: No known reversions. (However, in at least one alternate time line depicted in "What Savage Beast", he could revert to his Bruce Banner form at will without losing his dominance) Vital Information: Approximately 90 years in the future in an alternate time line, the Earth was ravaged by the radiation and destruction resulting from World War III and subsequent war which killed a vast majority of the population, including apparently all of the super-powered beings. Among the survivors was the Hulk who somehow avoided being at ground zero of the nuclear bombs. Afterwards, he used his strength, which was augmented by the ambient radiation, and intellect to build a city that became known as Dystopia. However, he began calling himself the Maestro and established himself as the absolute ruler where his subjects either bend to his wishes or he bent them. Apparently, decades of constantly being hounded, hated, and betrayed made the Hulk despise humanity. Eventually, he was defeated by a time-traveling Merged Hulk from our time line. Whether the events in this alternate time line occurs within our own time line remains to be seen. Savage Banner This is what you get if the Savage Hulk is dominant in Bruce's form. First Appearance: Iron Man #131 Height: 5' 9 1/2" Weight: 128 lb. Intelligence Level: Learning impaired Strength Level: Normal Transformation Pattern: It depends upon which other persona(s) are dominant. If the Gray Hulk is suppressed, then he has reverted back to Bruce Banner when he cames calm. However, if the Gray Hulk and Bruce's persona are merged, then he transforms into the Merged Hulk persona when he become calm (which is usually when he thinks of Betty) Vital Information: At various points in time, the balance between the Savage Hulk's persona and the form he inhabits has become unstable. For instance, in Iron Man # 131, Bruce was prevented by artificial means from physically transforming into the Hulk. However, the Savage Hulk's persona became dominant in Bruce's form. More recently, the merged personas in the Merged Hulk became unstable during times of extreme rage. During this period of instability, the Savage Hulk’s persona broke free of the meld and sought dominance. Fearing the destruction the enraged Savage Hulk persona would cause, the other persona subconsciously triggered a transformation into the form of Bruce Banner. Maestro (as seen in our timeline) This is a tricky recipe. Here goes. Take the Merged Hulk, corrupt his mind slightly by letting him meet Maestro in the future, further distort his mind by lodging many pieces of shrapnel in it and add a global emergency that only a scapegoat can prevent. First Appearance: Incredible Hulk # 439 Height: (at least )7" 6 Weight: (at least) 1,150 lb. Intelligence Level: Genius Strength Level: Lifts well over 100 tons Transformation Pattern: No known reversions. Vital Information: Not too long ago, we have seen the Merged Hulk from our time line become the Maestro. The Hulk became the Maestro for two reasons. First, his mind became unbalanced as a result of grenade fragments that became lodged in his skull while he was the 'Savage' Bruce Banner. Secondly, he permitted himself to become even more unbalanced since he feared that the global terrorist actions of the "Alliance" would lead to the dismal world he saw when he encountered the Maestro. The Merged Hulk believed that the impending disaster could be avoided by giving governments of the world a single target instead of each other: the Maestro Unleashed Hulk Well, I'm still learning the recipe for this incarnation. But, currently it looks like if you take the Merged Hulk with shrapnel lodge in his brain and extract Bruce and the Savage Hulk, you'll get this incarnation. First Appearance: Onslaught: Marvel Universe Height: Unconfirmed, but rumored to be 6' 7" Weight: Unconfirmed, but rumored to be 1000 lb. Intelligence Level: Presumably normal Strength Level: He lifts well over 100 tons. Although his strength level doesn't increase with rage, it does increase as his physical condition worsens as a result of becoming a nexus to the Heroes Reborn Universe. Transformation Pattern: Presumably, he doesn't transform. Vital Information: During his fight with Onslaught, Bruce's persona was separated from the Merged Hulk, was placed into a form that resembled his own and was transported to the "Heroes Reborn" alternate universe. Presumably, most, if not all, of the Savage Hulk's persona was removed in the process as well. As a result, the Unleashed Hulk resembles the Gray Hulk in his mannerisms. Moreover, the separation (and possibly some other unconfirmed factor) has resulted in him becoming a nexus to the Heroes Reborn Universe and his deteriorating physical condition. In addition to the tremendous amount of energy that surges through as a result of being linked to the Heroes Reborn Universe, his power level was recently further enhanced by Apocalypse. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Hulk's Main Friends And Allies Although he is feared, hated and misunderstood by millions of people, the Hulk has a handful of individuals whom he has been able to count on over the years. (Please bear with me as I continue to develop each bio ) Betty Banner The Hulk's Wife. She is also the daughter of General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, who swore he'd capture the Hulk, and was married to the late Major Glenn Talbot, who wanted to destroy the Hulk. Hmmm... I wonder how often she and the Hulk talk about "old times"? Dr. Strange Earth's Mightiest Sorcerer has helped the Hulk through a few tough moments. Hey, what else are former teammates for?! Janis Rick Jones' great, great granddaughter who helped the Hulk overthrow the Maestro Jarella She was the lean, green, warrior queen of an extradiminsional world. Had it not been for her unfortunate demise, she, not Betty, might have been Mrs. Banner Rick Jones The Hulk's first sidekick who has also served as a sidekick of other heroes like Captain America, Captain Marvel, and Rom Marlo Jones An ex-girlfriend of the Hulk who later became Rick Jones' wife Doc Samson The Hulk's green haired, gamma irradiated psychiatrist. Although he has tried to cure the Hulk over the years, Doc Samson has tried to apply some psychology to the Hulk as well She-Hulk Although the She-Hulk is the Hulk's cousin, she is like a sister to him. She has also served as a member of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. Silver Surfer When you're the mightiest gamma powered being on the planet, it doesn't hurt to have one of the mightiest cosmic powered beings as an ally and former teammate. Fred Sloan Although he was the Savage Hulk's sidekick, at times it almost seemed as though the Hulk was his sidekick. Katherine "Kate" Waynesboro "The Spy Who Loved the Hulk". She met and fell in love with the Hulk during the extended period of time when Bruce was in control of the Hulk's form. Jim Wilson Before he died, he was one of the Hulk's closest friends and sidekicks. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Hulk's Main Enemies If you have ever felt like the entire world is out to get you, then you may understand how the Hulk feels. In addition to being considered public enemy number one by the general population, the Hulk must also deal with several villains who would love to take him down for good. (Please bear with me as I continue to develop each bio ) Abomination A gamma irradiated ex-spy who is almost as strong as the Hulk. Too bad "almost" only counts with horseshoes, hand grenades, and gamma bombs. Absorbing Man A criminal with the mystic ability to assume the properties of almost anything he touches. When he's not getting trashed by Thor, he looks up the Hulk to receive more punishment. Colonel John Armbruster This deceased solidier was best remembered by his ever-present pipe, hard-nosed nature, role in rescuing General Ross many years ago and duties at the Hulkbuster Base. Bi-Beast Although it is generally accepted that two heads are better than one, this two-headed monstrosity has devoted its brains to defeating the Hulk. Leader Oh, just your typical under achiever who was exposed to gamma radiation that later became superhumanly brilliant and deranged. Too bad that he doesn't get smarter as he gets madder. Madman He's a long time admirer of Bruce Banner who wanted to be like him soooo much that he exposed himself to radiation, became horribly mutated and has subsequently tried to kill the Hulk. Hey, you can try to be like Mike, don't try to be like the Hulk! Pantheon A self-appointed policing organization that the Hulk was a member of and eventually led. Later, they blamed the Hulk for their misfortunes and fired him. Rhino A thick headed criminal who was been trying to put a "horn in the Hulk's side" over the years. General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross The Hulk's father-in-law who was used to hound him to the ends of the Earth. Speedfreek He's wild, swift, crazy and has no scruples about using his set of Adamantium blades to carve the Hulk open. Major Glenn Talbot A deceased military officer who hated the Hulk with a passion. It never helped matters that many years ago he was married to Betty Banner, but she loved the Hulk more and eventually left him. Major Matt Talbot The "spitting image" of his uncle, Major Glenn Talbot, right down to his obsessive hatred of the Hulk. Tyrannus A centuries old being who is determined to retain his youth at any cost. Hey, Oil Of Olay's anti-aging cream just wont do for this guy. UFoes A criminal and pseudo version of the Fantastic Four that the Hulk has fought several times. But, I'd really would have liked to have seen them fight the Fantastic Four! Wendigo When this single-minded beast shows up, you can bet solving the national debt isn't on its mind. To make up for its poor conversation skills, Wendigo lets its animalistic instincts, enormous strength, and virtually invulnerable body do the talking. Zzzax This living dynamo, who feeds of the energy that exists in normal human beings, has gone toe-to-toe with the Hulk over the years. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert Bruce Banner was born in Dayton, Ohio and is the son of Dr. Brian Banner and Rebecca Banner. From the onset, Brian hated Bruce. He was fearful that Bruce’s exceptional level of intelligence was a benevolent mutation which resulted from his exposure to radiation as an atomic physicist. To make matters worse, Brian was not only an alcoholic, but he was insanely jealous of the love and attention that Rebecca directed toward the child. Consequently, Brian consistently physically and verbally abused Bruce and Rebecca. Eventually, Rebecca grew tired of the abuse that Brian directed towards Bruce and attempted to take Bruce and leave. Unfortunately, before she could get Bruce into the car, Brian brutally murdered Rebecca. It should be noted that throughout all of the abuse, hardships, and the death of his beloved mother, Bruce internalized ALL of his emotions fearing that he might become like his father if he did otherwise. In fact, he immersed himself in the study of science to escape his pain. Eventually, Brian was institutionalized and Bruce was raised by his aunt. Later, Bruce attended Desert State University in Navapo, New Mexico. It is believed that he initially studied Pre-Med as an undergraduate and switched to nuclear physics at some unspecified point. During this time, he studied alongside Walter Langkowski (better known as Sasquatch of the Alpha Flight), Peter Corbeau, who won the Nobel Prize for creating Starcore One, the first orbiting solar reactor, and Raoul Stoddard, who created the Gammatron to isolate gamma radiation. At least two of Bruce's undergraduate professors became fond of him: Dr. Herbert Weller and another professor who was simply known as Max. Also, Bruce became involved with Susan Jacobson. However, their relationship ended as a result of Bruce's inability to deal with his emotions. (It is unclear whether Bruce was involved with another girl, who looked very similar to Susan, named Sally or if the depiction of "Sally" was really Susan) After graduating from Desert State University, Bruce began his post graduate studies at an unnamed university in Pennsylvania. After his first year at the university, Bruce presumably encountered financial problems and left the school. However, he received a full scholarship at the California Institute of Technology, where he eventually obtained a doctorate in nuclear physics. Despite these accomplishments, however, Bruce was still traumatized by his childhood and was a highly withdrawn intellectual who was unable to cope with emotions. After graduating from the California Institute of Technology, Bruce was a world-renowned physicist. He was recruited to work at a United States Defense Department nuclear research facility at Desert Base, New Mexico to construct the gamma bomb, a nuclear weapon that would destroy an enemy's equipment while sparing their lives. Upon his arrival, Bruce met General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross, the commander of the base, and his daughter, Betty. While explaining the nature of the gamma bomb to General Ross, Bruce's father, who was being released from a mental facility, asked Bruce if he could temporarily stay with him. Although he was reluctant at first, Bruce allowed Brian to stay with him at his apartment. However, Brian began to act belligerent towards Bruce and Bruce left the apartment to visit his mother's grave since it was the anniversary of her death. However, Brian found him in the rain at the grave and proceed to continuously and brutally attack him. Enraged and fearful for his life, Bruce accidentally killed his father when he kicked him and caused him to fall and crack his skull on his wife's tombstone. Bruce reported that his father was missing to the police, but they dismissed the death as a random mugging since the rain washed away all of the evidence. Eventually, Bruce repressed his memory of how his father died and developed an intense subconscious fear that his father would return from the grave one day to get revenge. During a test detonation of the gamma bomb, Bruce noticed that a teenager, a youth named Rick Jones, had compromised the security of the base and entered the restricted test area. He told his colleague, Igor Drenkov, to delay the countdown while he rescued the boy. However, Drenkov, an undercover Soviet agent, allowed the countdown to continue because Bruce’s death would halt the project. Upon reaching Rick, Bruce threw him into a protective trench. Rick was saved, but before Bruce could get himself to safety, the gamma bomb detonated and intense waves of gamma radiation irradiated him. Because of an unknown genetic factor in his body, Bruce was not killed by the radiation. In fact, the gamma rays were beginning to mutate him based upon subconscious images, which actually were multiple personalities. Bruce and Rick were taken to the base hospital for examination where one of Bruce’s multiple personas which represented Bruce’s repressed feelings as an adult emerged. Consequently, Bruce was transformed into a gray-colored humanoid creature. One of the soldiers who saw him referred to him as a "hulk". At first, Bruce changed into the Gray Hulk at sunset and reverted to human form at dawn. For a time Bruce could control the transformations using gamma radiation projectors in his secret desert laboratory. Over time, the projectors only served to further segregated his multiple personalities. During this period the Hulk possessed Bruce’s intelligence, but had a more brutish, violent temperament. Soon afterwards, the Hulk became a founding member of the team of the superhuman champions known as the Avengers. Unfortunately, the other members distrusted the Hulk due to his explosive temper. This distrust was exploited by an other-dimensional shape-changer known as the Space Phantom who impersonated the Hulk and turned the other Avengers against him. The Space Phantom’s imposture was exposed, but the Hulk, feeling he was hated by the other Avengers, left the group. Bruce’s mutation continued, and eventually his transformations into the Hulk were triggered by his adrenal medulla's secretion of norepinephrine. Conversely, stress would cause the Hulk to revert into Bruce. As his mutation progressed over the subsequent months, a decline in this adrenaline levels transformed him from Hulk to Bruce. By this time, the Savage Hulk, which represented Bruce’s repressed feelings as an abused child, had fully emerged. Hardly surprising, the green Hulk spoke and thought in a childlike manner. He also had a deep longing for love, friendship and companionship. However, he was easily enraged and became publicly known as a menace primarily because of the widespread devastation that remained after his numerous encounters with military forces and villains. For a surprisingly long time Bruce managed to conceal the fact the he was the Hulk from virtually everyone but Rick Jones, who became his friend and confidant. Unfortunately, a strange event occurred which robbed the Hulk of his secret identity. The military confiscated an experimental device that Bruce was working on: the T-Ray gun. Believing it to be a power ray projector, they used it on the Hulk from afar, and the Hulk was seemingly annihilated. (sound familiar Hulk fans?!) However, the device actually was a time-traveling device and displaced the Hulk into the future. Despite the T-Ray's dramatic visual effects, the military suspected that the Hulk was somehow displaced and not destroyed. During this time, the military strongly believed that a connection existed between the Hulk, Bruce and Rick, and that Bruce was a traitor. During their investigation, Rick was brought in and interrogated about the Hulk's whereabouts. However, Rick was unable to answer their questions since he believed that the Hulk was destroyed and was unaware of the T-Ray's true function. After the military released him, Rick traveled to Bruce's secret laboratory to mourn the "death" of the man who saved his life. While Rick reflected upon the past, Major Glenn Talbot, who secretly followed him, goaded Rick into talking about what was troubling him. Believing that it would clear Bruce's name, Rick revealed the Hulk's identity to Major Talbot. Subsequently, the Hulk returned to our time line and Bruce’s secret inevitably became public knowledge. Needless to say, Bruce became a hunted fugitive. Following the Hulk's battle with the Leader, the Hulk was shot in the head by a soldier while transforming. Rick saved Bruce by bombarding him with gamma rays. Realizing that the Hulk would be indebted to him, the Leader removed the bullet from the Hulk's skull. To bring him back to full strength, the Leader subjected him to the strongest gamma radiation dosage he had ever received, making him stronger than ever, with the intelligence of Bruce Banner. Little by little, however, Banner's identity was suppressed by the Savage Hulk's persona. Later, during an attempt to cure Bruce from becoming the Hulk, Dr. Reed Richards broke down Bruce's atoms, then reconstructed them. The process had a side-effect of permitting Bruce to maintain his intelligence in the Savage Hulk's form. Believing that Richards was successful in curing Bruce from becoming the Savage Hulk, Bruce and Betty made wedding plans. However, the Leader blasted Banner with a gamma-powered amplifier during the ceremony and Banner lost his control over the Savage Hulk. Nevertheless, Betty continued to love Bruce, despite the fact that he transformed into the Hulk. However, Bruce’s feelings were divided after the Hulk fell in love with Jarella, the green-skinned warrior queen of the otherdimensional realm of K’ai. Eventually, Betty moved on and married Glenn Talbot, who had loved her from afar; however, she continued to secretly love Bruce. Unfortunately for Bruce, Jarella was accidentally killed years later as she saved an innocent bystander during the Hulk's fight with the Crypto-Man. Over the years to follow, the Hulk continued to save towns, our country, our world, other worlds and even the universe while being considered public enemy number one. Although he did not have any sophisticated surveillance equipment, privileged news related information, or governmental contacts, the Hulk halted many villainous schemes on his own by finishing off what Bruce could not, or being at the wrong spot at the right time. He also aided other heroes and groups thwart the evil schemes of many would-be-conquers. Furthermore, he also was a member of the Defenders, an informal and unofficial group of superhuman champions. Unfortunately, the general public was unaware of his deeds or the existence of the Defenders as a team during the years that the Hulk was a member. This tragic cycle of the Hulk being a spurned and rejected hero continued until a startling event occurred in #272. After being exposed to an extraordinary amount of gamma radiation during Bruce's attempts to cure himself of becoming the Hulk, the Hulk's fight with a powerful extraterrestrial being called the Galaxy Master in space and a gamma-powered transporter beam back to Earth, Bruce’s persona was able to remain dominant in the Savage Hulk’s form and repressed the Savage Hulk’s persona. Hence, Bruce could control his transformations into the Hulk while retaining his own mind. Unlike the previous time that Bruce's persona was able to briefly usurp control of the Hulk's body, Bruce's dominance turned out to be fairly stable and lasted for an extended period of time. After he gained control of the Hulk's form, Bruce decided to use the Hulk’s strength to aid humanity instead of continuing his treatments to cure himself from becoming the Hulk. He also proved to the world that he should no longer be considered a menace by defeating the U-Foes, a quartet of mutated criminals, on national TV. Virtually everyone was impressed by the Hulk's demeanor. Consequently, the Hulk received a Presidential pardon for the rampages that the Savage Hulk’s persona committed and was proclaimed a hero and accepted by not only virtually all of the super-powered adventurers, but the world as well. Everyone seemed to accept Bruce except Betty, who disagreed with Bruce’s decision to cease his attempt to eliminate the Savage Hulk. Instead, she decided to distance herself from him. However, another woman became Bruce’s love interest: Katherine Waynesboro. Katherine, sent by S.H.I.E.L.D., a worldwide intelligence and peace-keeping organization, to merely monitor Bruce’s gamma levels and state of mind, began to fall in love with him. Although he was suspicious of her motives at first, Bruce eventually reciprocated her feelings. The bond between them grew after he rescued Katherine from the clutches of Modok, a mutated being with superhuman mental abilities. Afterwards, she resigned from S.H.I.E.L.D to be with Bruce and assist him with his research to use gamma radiation to cure diseases and stimulate the growth of crops to end food shortages. But, just when it seemed as though Bruce had it all: love from Katherine, power from being the Hulk, and fame from his ground-breaking research, Nightmare, the demonic embodiment of his namesake, launched his plan to use the Hulk to destroy Dr. Strange, his hated enemy and the Hulk’s friend. He began invading Bruce's sleep with horrifying visions of a savage and berserker Hulk, which he knew would serve to undermine Bruce's dominance. To compound Bruce's slipping control of the Hulk's form, the RingMaster, a criminal who hypnotized and robbed audiences during his circus shows, hypnotized and took control of the dormant Savage Hulk persona. Eventually, the breaking point of Bruce's dwindling control occurred shortly after his gamma based research was misused to mutate Max Stryker, an elderly crime lord, and others who came to Stryker seeking a cure for their ailments. During his fight with Stryker, Bruce's persona retreated and the Savage Hulk's persona returned from its dormancy. After Rom, a cybernetic hero who defended the Earth against malevolent shape-shifting aliens known as the Dire Wraths, arrived to reverse the mutations that Stryker caused, the Hulk left and eventually made his way to Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanatorium to carry out Nightmare's subliminal commands. Upon his arrival, Dr. Strange quickly immobilized the Hulk, broke Nightmare's influence on him and revealed to Bruce what Nightmare had done. However, upon realizing that Nightmare was responsible for the Savage Hulk persona's return from dormancy, his persona went into a psychic retreat to prevent himself from having to share his existence with the Hulk. The shock of the retreat caused the Hulk to regress and become the mindless Hulk. To protect the Earth from the senseless rampages of this incarnation and the Hulk from the lethal force that would eventually be used to stop him, Dr. Strange banished the mindless Hulk to the crossroads of reality, a nexus point to virtually any other dimension or world. During the banishment process, he cast the Fail Safe Spell on the Hulk. (For more information on the Fail Safe Spell, see the Powers section .) It was his intent for the Hulk to find a world that he would be content to live on. Eventually, Bruce’s persona returned from its retreat through the subconscious cooperation of the other personas. Banner’s return resulted in the end of the mindless Hulk and the return of the Savage Hulk. Later, the Hulk was unwittingly brought back to Earth by Walter Langkowski, a member of the Alpha Flight. After a battle with the Alpha Flight, the Hulk made his way back to the desert in New Mexico were Bruce was first exposed to gamma radiation. Upon the Hulk’s arrival, Doc Samson captured him and separated Bruce and the Hulk into separate beings using a procedure similar to the one that Raol Stoddard used in his earlier failed attempt to separate both entities without any harmful side-effects. After the separation was completed, Doc Samson inadvertently released the Hulk. Since Bruce's persona was absent, the mindless Hulk walked anew and began rampaging in the nearby cities. In the meantime, Bruce founded a new government task force, the new Hulkbusters, to capture the Hulk. Also, since he believed that Samson's treatment had finally cured him from becoming the Hulk, Bruce and Betty finally got married. However, Bruce became deathly ill as a result of being split into two separate physical entities. After the Hulk was captured following a furious battle with the East and West branches of the The Avengers, Doc Samson attempted to place both entities back into the nutrient bath treatment and reintegrate their psyche and mass to save both of their lives. But General Ross had other plans. He blamed not only Bruce for his distant relationship with his daughter, Betty, but also the Hulk for making a mockery out of him over the years. He unsuccessfully attempted to sabotage Doc Samson's machine, believing that he could end both of their lives by destroying the equipment that could save them. During his attempt to stop Ross, Rick Jones fell into the nutrient bath.The damaged equipment, combined with Rick Jones’s presence, somehow caused the Gray Hulk's persona to no longer be suppressed and the Savage Hulk's persona to possess Rick Jones. Consequently, Bruce and Rick would transform into the Gray and Savage Hulk at nightfall, respectively. To restore Rick back to normal, the Gray Hulk made a deal with Samuel Sterns, better known as the Leader, that would cure Rick and restore Sterns's lost superhuman intellect. To accomplish this, Sterns would transfer the excess gamma radiation from Rick Jones into himself. During the transfer, however, a power surge occurred. Although Rick was cured, a psychic link was established between him and the Leader that enabled the Leader to aware of Rick's thoughts and emotions. In addition to developing a psychic link with Rick, the Leader had a more abnormal appearance. Apparently, the Savage Hulk’s persona returned to Bruce’s psyche where it continued to be repressed. Later, the Hulk learned that gamma bombs were being developed and tested. In an attempt to locate and stop the production of the bombs, Rick, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Clay Quartermain and the Hulk joined forces. Eventually, they learned that the Leader was the mastermind behind the production of the bombs. The Leader's goal was to create a race of gamma-spawned beings by exposing people to the gamma radiation that the detonating a gamma bomb would produce. As they drew near the location of the gamma bombs, the trio found and rescued Betty from a trio of robots under the Leader's control. Later, the Leader revealed to them that he was going to detonate a bomb in Middletown, Arizona. Upon their arrival, the Hulk left Rick, Betty, and Clay on the outskirts of the town. After returning to the town, the Hulk engaged in a furious battle with two of the Leader's minions, Rock and Redeemer. Unfortunately for Redeemer, he perished when the Hulk used Rock's attack against him. After the Hulk subdued Rock, the Leader attacked the Hulk with a mental illusion. However, the Hulk realized that he wasn't physically being attacked and overcame it. Subsequently, the Leader transported himself, Rock and Redeemer's corpse out of the town, activated the force field generators that he had placed around the city and detonated the gamma bomb. It was believed that the Hulk perished in the detonation, but he was magically transported to the microscopic interdimensional world of K'ai by Gorsham and his fellow wizards just before the explosion. They made a deal with the Hulk that if he could help them restore political order to K’ai, they would cast a spell to suppress Bruce’s persona and prevent the Hulk from transforming back into Bruce. After the Hulk helped to place the wizards in power and the wizards cast the spell to suppress Bruce's persona, the wizards attempted to transported him to Washington D.C on Earth. However, the spell went awry and transported the Hulk to the Yucca Flat outside of Las Vegas and left him injured severely. Shortly thereafter, the Hulk was found by casino owner (among other things) Michael Berengetti. Michael realized that he was the "deceased" Hulk and hired him to be his enforcer. To keep his identity a secret, the Hulk adopted the alias of "Joe Fixit." This alias was very effective since the general public still believed that the Hulk was green, had tattered clothing, went on senseless rampages and had a below average intellect. Conversely, "Mr. Fixit" was grey, had the finest clothing, had a stable occupation and had an above average intellect. Moreover, he did not periodically revert to Bruce Banner because of the spell to suppress Bruce's persona. During this time, the Hulk established a reputation as the most feared enforcer in Las Vegas and an intimate relationship with Marlo Chandler. (Apparently, the grey Hulk did not feel bound by Bruce's marriage vows to Betty.) Unfortunately for the Hulk, the spell lasted for only three months. Afterwards, Bruce’s persona became dominant once more and the Hulk's paradise in Las Vegas began to crumble. For starters, Bruce's return caused the Hulk to only be active at nightfall because of their transformation pattern at the time. Secondly, his employment in Las Vegas was terminated by Berengetti because of the costly damage that resulted from the Hulk's frequent encounters. Finally, his relationship with Marlo eventually ended because of his secrecy about his past and his frequent disappearances. Although the Hulk lost his job, Bruce found employment as a janitor at a radiation testing lab in Yucca Flats. Bruce planned to use the facility to develop a means to eliminate the Hulk. During his employment at the lab, Bruce was befriended by Phil Sterns, a scientist and the brother of the Leader. Unknown to Bruce, Sterns had attended Desert State University with him many years ago and admired and envied his talents. Moreover, Phil suffered from a form of multiple personality disorder which resulted in a split personality that became known as Madman. At some unspecified point in time, Phil exposed himself to radiation so that he could transform into a powerful being just like Bruce. Anyway, once Madman became aware of Bruce's presence at the radiation testing lab, he developed an exotic poison to kill him and hence triggered what is known as the Countdown story line. After developing the toxin, the Madman coerced Phil to administer the poison to Bruce. Fortunately for Bruce, the Leader dispatched the Abomination to the lab knowing that the Abomination would recognize Bruce and force him to transform into the Hulk; this was important since the Hulk's healing abilities would serve to retard the poison's effect. However, since the Hulk transformed back into Bruce at sunrise during this period, he had approximately 12 hours to learn who poisoned him and find an antidote. After defeating the Abomination, the Hulk sought Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four for help. However, Reed was unable to devise an antidote to the poison. Hence, the Hulk questioned the Abomination about his "coincidental" arrival just before he realized that he had been poisoned and learned that he was sent by the Leader. Almost immediately, the Leader transported him to his hidden city, Freehold, and made a deal with the Hulk. He would reveal Betty's current whereabouts, which was in a convent in Darien, Connecticut, and the person who poisoned him in exchange for the Hulk's promise to kill the Madman, whom he feared might attack him. Eventually, the Hulk confronted Madman in his subterranean hideout, but could not defeat him since he was weakened by the poison's effect on his body. During the fight, Phil's persona was able to usurp control from Madman and tried to reveal to the Hulk the location of the antidote. In return for his "betrayal", the Madman persona apparently "killed" Phil's persona. During the psychic execution, the Hulk located the poison and injected Madman with it, which forced him to prepare a syringe that contained the antidote. Just before the Madman could inject himself with the antidote, the Hulk struck him from behind and caused the syringe to fall onto the floor. Although the Madman and the near-dead Hulk scrambled on the floor to reach the syringe, the Hulk was able to reach it first and injected himself just as he began to transform into Bruce. The Countdown story line ended with Bruce placing the syringe on the floor away from the Madman and leaving the subterranean hideout. As the Hulk traveled to Connecticut, we learned that Agamemnon, the leader of a covert policing organization known as the Pantheon, was interested in recruiting the Hulk and dispatched Prometheus, their expert tracker, to locate and capture the Hulk. Upon his arrival in Connecticut, the Hulk transformed back into Bruce, who headed to the convent where Betty resided. However, Bruce was prevented from seeing Betty by the head nun. Later that day, Betty decided to leave the convent because of the feelings that she still had for Bruce (whom she still believed had perished in the Middletown explosion) and headed for the train station. However, just before Bruce could catch up to Betty at the train station, he was stopped and captured by Prometheus in his high-tech vehicle. Just as Prometheus began to return to the Pantheon's headquarters, known as the Mount, Bruce released his self-imposed mental block and allowed the Savage Hulk persona to become dominant. After the Savage Hulk defeated Prometheus, he transformed into Bruce just in time to see the train leave the station. However, Betty, perhaps through "woman's intuition", decided not to board the train and saw her exhausted husband standing on the train tracks. Finally, after several months apart, Bruce and Betty were reunited. After their heart-warming reunion, they decided to locate Rick. By this time, Rick was on a promotional tour to sell his book, "Sidekicks", which was his story about being the sidekick of several heros including the Hulk and Captain America. However, one of the cities he stopped in was controlled by a race of shape-shifting aliens known as the Skrulls. The Skrulls wanted to capture Rick so that they could attempt to tap into Rick's dormant and undeveloped, yet powerful, psychic abilities. During their search for Rick, Bruce and Betty were captured by the Super-Skrull, a Skrull who could mimic the appearance and abilities of the Fantastic Four. Although Bruce attempted to release the Savage Hulk to defeat the Super-Skrull, the Gray Hulk persuaded Bruce to permit his persona (which represents the dark feelings that Bruce is ashamed of) to become dominant during the day. After the Hulk soundly defeated the Super-Skrull and he transformed back into Bruce, Betty, Bruce and Rick were finally reunited. But the happy reunion became short-lived for two reasons. First, upon returning to Rick's apartment, Rick and Betty learned the Rick's new girlfriend, Marlo, was the Gray Hulk's old girlfriend. Secondly, the Savage and Gray Hulk personas began fighting to destroy the other. Although the Savage Hulk persona began to get the best of the Gray Hulk persona, the fight was actually ended by Bruce's persona when he literally KO'ed both Hulk personas to stop the fight. Shortly thereafter, Doc Samson arrived and began to psychoanalyze Bruce at an unnamed hospital with the aid of the reformed Ringmaster. After the Ringmaster hypnotized Bruce, Samson began to thoroughly probe Bruce's past in an effort to understand the tragic events that caused his multiple personality disorder and integrate all of the personas. During the therapy, Bruce fully realized the impact that his abusive father had on his development as a child and an adult. He also realized that the "monster" was actually his father and not the emotions that he learned to shun. Upon this realization, an image of Bruce's mother, Rebecca, appeared to help all three persona to finally coexist with each other. (It is unclear whether this actually was Rebecca's spirit or merely some type of mental image). Nonetheless, Rebecca convinced both Hulk personas to merge into Bruce's persona. Afterwards, a "complete" Bruce Banner with green skin , weighing 1,150 lbs, and standing over 7 feet tall arose to greet his loving wife. Sounds like a happy ending doesn't it? Hulk is smart, strong, and has an attitude that can back it all up. Plus, Bruce has finally overcome the childhood trauma that caused his personality to split. He accepts himself and the fact the he IS the mightiest mortal on the face of the Earth. Wrong !!! The merger actually plays a pivotal role in the Hulk's encounter with a villain from the future whose very existence will threaten his mental stability and may condemn the entire planet to a devastating and horrifying fate. Following Doc Samson's merger of the three Hulk personas, Bruce, for the first time in his life, felt like a whole person and was comfortable with himself. However, Betty did not echo his feelings. She apparently hoped that the merger would result in Bruce being a "complete" person in his normal form not a green, 7'6", 1140 lbs. highly muscular green form. Moreover, she mistook Bruce's newfound confidence as arrogance and incorrectly believed he thought that she was not important in his life any more. Afterwards, Hulk was recruited by Agamemnon, the leader of the Pantheon, to join their worldwide organization devoted to actively policing international criminal activities. Although reluctant at first, he changed his mind for two reasons. First, the Pantheon would give him the opportunity to aid humanity. Secondly, he realized if that he tried to make it on his own, he would be hounded by governmental task forces because of the destruction caused by his Mindless and Savage Hulk incarnations following his presidential pardon and second separation from Banner. Although he was pleased with being a member of the Pantheon, Betty was not pleased with the prospect of living at their headquarters, the Mount. As a result, she opted to stay with Marlo; consequently, their marriage became strained. Shortly after joining, the Hulk went on various missions. These mission included : to stop Nadia Dornava from being stalked by her ex-husband, the Abomination to overthrow a merciless dictator of a small middle east country ( He and the Pantheon fought against S.H.I.E.L.D. and the second incarnation of X-Factor) to save a little boy from being executed who was prophesied to become the next Adolf Hitler (He fought against the Israeli superheroine, Sabra) to determine the fate of a missing scientist who tried to duplicate the "Super Soldier" formula that gave Captain America his powers ( He and Rick fought against the Man-Thing during the investigation) to rescue a Pantheon operative, Atalanta, who was kidnapped by a love smitten extraterrestrial known as Trauma. (This mission ultimately proved to merely be the first round of their encounters) to capture and play a "payback" mind game on Igor Drenkov, the former Soviet spy who purposefully failed to stop the countdown of the gamma bomb detonation that transformed Bruce into the Hulk (He and the Pantheon encountered the Soviet Super Soldiers) to apprehend the person who killed Michael Berengetti, who was the Hulk's employer when he was an enforcer in Las Vegas. (He teamed up with the Punisher and fought against Frost, who was later revealed to be a awol member of the Headshop, a group of androids created by the Leader) In between one of his missions, the Hulk was reunited with Jim Wilson, who had not been seen for several years. The reunion brought forth the revelation that Jim had contracted the HIV virus and worked at an AIDS clinic. However, the reunion was interrupted by a new villain, Speedfreak, who was hired to kill a person at the clinic. After the Hulk stopped Speedfreak and apprehended the person responsible for hiring Speedfreak, Betty started to draw closer to him during a conversation they had about Jim; she asked the Hulk how Jim contracted the HIV virus, but he told her that he didn't care and want to know how he contracted the virus. He stated that he would help her or another friend regardless of their circumstances. When the Pantheon and the Hulk returned to the Mount after apprehending Berengetti's murderer, they learned that it had been ravaged by the U-Foes. During the subsequent fight, the Leader's minions joined the fray. Meanwhile, the Leader sought Agamemnon's aid against an expected attack by Hydra, a subversive organization whose goal is to rule the world. Hydra hoped to incorporate the Leader's equipment and researchers into their organization while eliminating the possibility that he might conquer the world before they do. Just as the Hulk and the Pantheon defeated both the U-Foes and the Leader's minions, Agamemnon agreed to help the Leader. Hardly surprising, Hulk left the Mount and the Pantheon. As all of this took place, Betty and Marlo were following Rick. Rick was being driven by a woman, named Jackie Shorr, who appeared a few days earlier and claimed to be his presumed deceased mother. Earlier, Jackie managed to convince Rick that she was he deceased mother, drugged him and drove him to her home where he will be "safe" from any dangers. Upon arriving at Jackie's home, Marlo and Betty began searching for Rick. While she was in the kitchen, Marlo heard a faint plea for help from Rick coming from the basement. Suddenly, Jackie stabbed Marlo from behind. When Betty returned to the kitchen, she found Marlo laying on the floor in a pool of blood and Jackie standing over her. Although Betty managed to subdue Jackie and call the authorities, Marlo was pronounced dead and taken to the morgue. After being freed, Rick traveled to New York and unsuccessfully sought help from Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, Henry Pym of the Avengers, and Dr. Strange to bring Marlo back to life. After he returned to the hotel that he was staying in, the Leader appeared and offered to restore Marlo to life. As proof of his ability to help Marlo, the Leader revealed that Redeemer II, a zombie like henchmen, was the deceased General Ross. Meanwhile, Agamemnon convinced Betty to go and talk to the Hulk and convince him to aid the Pantheon. During their conversation, she reconciled her differences with him and they became close again. Afterwards, Agamemnon told the Hulk that he only agreed to help the Leader because he only wanted to stop the destruction that had been done to the Mount. He gave the Hulk the directions to the Leader's secret headquarters, Freehold, that is located somewhere in the Arctic. The Hulk saw this as an opportunity to defeat the Leader and for all and left for Freehold. During this time, the Leader began finalizing the preparations necessary to bring Marlo back to life. Suddenly, Hydra's forces began their assault on Freehold. When the Hulk arrived, he began storming the place looking for the Leader while disposing any of the Hydra forces that were in his way. Eventually, Rick convinced the Hulk that Hydra was a bigger threat than the Leader since he is trying to bring Marlo back to life. After the Hulk defeated virtually all of Hydra's forces, he turned his attention to the Leader. However, the Hulk lost control, began rampaging almost mindlessly, attacked the Leader and the others who opposed him and destroyed the elaborate equipment that the Leader was using to restore Marlo's lifeforce. At the end of the fight, the mortally wounded Leader attempted to flee by entering the crystal chamber that was used to bring Marlo back to life. However, the Hulk flung Redeemer at him. Consequently, a huge explosion followed, Marlo fell into a catatonic state and Ross seemed to have return to the dead. After the Hulk and the UFoes left, Omnibus, who possessed gamma-enhanced intellect like the Leader, became the leader of Freehold. Shortly after the Hulk brought Rick and Marlo back to Marlo's townhouse in Reno, Agamemnon asked the Hulk to return to the Mount for a final discussion. Intent on merely gathering his personal belongings and "telling off" Agamemnon one final time, the Hulk agreed. In his private chambers, the Hulk mentioned that he distrusted Agamemnon because of his secret agendas. Upon considering that he maybe out of touch with society, Agamemnon decided take one of his routine "every 50 years or so" leave of absence from the Pantheon to stay in touch with society and offered the Hulk the leadership of the Pantheon. The Hulk accepted the position since it would give him the opportunity to help people all over the world. Despite the Hulk's benevolent intentions when he accepted being the leader of the Pantheon, some of the Pantheon members were displeased with him becoming the leader. Although a few members had different reasons for disagreeing with the Hulk's promotion, the central reason was that he was an "outsider". Nevertheless, the Hulk either supervised or was personally involved in each of the Pantheon's worldwide operations. Among these operations were : to assist the Croations to prevent illegal deforestation of the Amazon Rain Forest (He encountered the Juggernaut, Red Skull, and the Avengers) to investigate the mysterious disappearances in Loch Ness (He fought against the Madman, who barely escaped death during their first encounter, and his henchman, Piecemeal. When the battle shifted to England, Motormouth and Killpower joined the Hulk's fight) to rescue an framed CIA agent (and former girlfriend), Susan Jacobson, who was imprisoned in an inhuman prison in Ft. Cheer Nebraska (He and the Pantheon fought against Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. After this confrontation, the Hulk began to distrust and hold a grudge against Fury since he initially resisted the Hulk's attempt to free the wrongly imprisoned agent) In between his missions in the Amazon Rain Forest and in Lock Ness, Marlo came out of her catatonic state just in time to prevent being institutionalized. Earlier, her brothers arrived and, with the support of the local authorities and Captain America , attempted to remove her from Rick's care. In the process, tempers and fists flared. Ultimately, the shock of seeing Rick being taken into custody, brought Marlo out of her catatonic state. Eventually, Trauma returned for Atalanta and despite the Hulk's efforts, he captured her, placed her aboard his starship and attempted to return to his world. The Hulk and the Pantheon rallied together and pursued them in one of the Pantheon's spaceships, the Argo. After they had already departed, Dr. Strange learned that the Hulk was pursuing Trauma. Consequently, he contacted the Silver Surfer and informed him of the Hulk's whereabouts. The Argo caught up with Trauma's ship, which had been disabled by Atalanta. Afterwards, some of the Pantheon members boarded Trauma's ship while the Hulk squared off against Trauma again. During the fight, Trauma maneuvered the Hulk near his ships cannons and ordered his crew to open fire upon the Hulk. However, in the midst of the bombardment, the Silver Surfer arrived to aid the Hulk. Upon the Surfer's arrival, Trauma simultaneous boarded his ship and ordered his crew to activate their "warp" engines. The resulting backlash left the Hulk and Silver Surfer disorientated and a considerable distance from where they encounter Trauma. However, they recovered, joined forces with the Starjammers, an intergalactic band of vigillantees, to pursue Trauma. The Pantheon members who boarded the ship were captured by Trauma. After encountering resistance from the Troyjan forces, the Hulk, Silver Surfer, and Starjammers allowed themselves to be taken captives so that they could meet the Troyjan monarch, Armageddon. Armageddon revealed that many centuries ago, Agamemnon made a deal with the Troyjans. The Troyjans altered his genetic code to permit his descendants to acquire longevity, quick healing abilities, and a unique ability. In return, the Troyjans could take any of Agamemnon's descendants which was satisfied when Trauma selected Atalanta to be his bride. Just before a fight could break out, Armageddon immobilized both the Hulk and the Silver Surfer. Then the Hulk taunted Trauma, who in turn asked his father to release the Hulk so that he could fight him. To appease his son, Armageddon released the Hulk and the two squared off again. Unfortunately for Trauma, a sharp wing-like piece of his costume became embedded into a near by wall during the fight. As the fight progressed, the Hulk grabbed Trauma, slammed him against the wall, and inadvertently caused Trauma to be impaled by the sharp object. Then Trauma staggered back over to Atalanta to profess his love to her, asked his father to rescind the centuries old pact and permit everyone to leave peacefully and died in his father's arms. Afterwards, the Hulk tried to apologize and console Armageddon. However, Armageddon told the Hulk to save his consoling for himself since he'll need it. (hmm... I believe this is what is known as foreshadowing. After the Hulk's next adventure, he'll need all of the consoling that he can get) After the Hulk returned to the Mount, he received a message to see Rick. Upon arriving at Rick's apartment, he learned that he has two visitors from approximately 90 years in the future: Janis, Rick's great-granddaughter, and Pizfiz, Janis's ally. The two informed the Hulk that they need for him to return to the future with them to defeat the greatest villain in their timeline: the Maestro. Upon returning with Janis and Pizfiz to future, they encountered the Maestro's policing force. Although the Hulk defeated the force, Pizfiz was captured and taken to the Maestro for questioning. Later, the Hulk and Janis arrived at the outlaw's secret underground base. He learned that he was sought by a decrepit and feeble old man to defeat the Maestro, Rick Jones. Rick informed him that the world had been decimated by a nuclear war and nearly all of the heros and villains perished. The notable exception was the Hulk in this futuristic timeline who somehow managed to avoid being at ground zero of any of the atomic bombs. Later, using his scientific knowledge and strength, which was augmented by the excess radiation, he created a city called Dystopia (formerly New York City). Then he created shielding for Dystopia from the excess radiation. At some point, he began calling himself the Maestro and appointed himself ruler of all he beheld. Eventually, the Maestro learned of the Hulk's presence in the future. He also learned of the outlaws secret base by using a device to view Pizfiz's memories, rounded up his forces and broke in their base. Afterwards, he sent his forces in to kill the outlaws. However, the outlaws had already evacuated the base and activated the defense systems, which decimated the Maestro's forces and forced the Maestro to search for the outlaws himself. After easily overcoming the defense systems, he encountered the Hulk. The Hulk intended to overpower the Maestro and end his tyrannous reign. However, after a furious and destructive battle, the Maestro defeated the Hulk by breaking his neck. Afterwards, the Maestro brought the Hulk back to his palace. His goal was to persuade the Hulk to remain in Dystopia and rule with him. He knew that a bleak future awaited the Hulk; one in which the Hulk would be betrayed and persecuted. In addition to warning him that he was going to loose his friends and loved ones, he attempted to persuade the Hulk to remain in the future by exposing him to benefits of having power, wealth, status and being a monarch instead of being considered a monster. However, the Hulk resisted the Maestro's temptations. After recovering from his injuries, he, along with the outlaws that he helped to sneak into the palace, attempted to attack the Maestro. However, the Maestro anticipated their attack, blasted the Hulk with the same gun created many years ago to kill him, and had his forces ambush the outlaws. The Hulk managed to escape and made his way back to the outlaw's underground base. While the Maestro pursued the Hulk, the outlaws managed to overcome the Maestro's forces. The Maestro, while looking for the Hulk, found Rick and attacked him. Although Rick used Captain America's shield to defend himself, he was mortally wounded when he fell into Wolverine's skeleton. Afterwards, the Hulk arrived and attacked the Maestro. Although the Hulk seemed to have gotten the upper hand by his sudden attack, he was overwhelmed by he Maestro's might. However, he lured the Maestro to Dr. Doom's time machine and sent the Maestro back in time and space to New Mexico next to the gamma bomb just seconds before its detonation. Ironically, while the Maestro was incinerated by the explosion, Bruce was being exposed to the radiation that would later turn him into the Hulk. Before he returned to his timeline, the Hulk fulfilled what he thought would have been Rick's final request. He applied Rick's ashes to Captain America's shield, which was covered with a special adhesive and hurled the shield into the sky. Hence, Rick could "take part" in many more adventures. Upon returning to our timeline, the Hulk had one bright spot: the wedding of Rick and Marlo. Although many heroes and villains were in attendance, the wedding was almost event free. The only wrinkle occurred when Mephisto, the lord of the underworld, appeared to claim Marlo's soul. However, the Hulk "defeated" him. In truth, Mephisto allowed the Hulk to defeat him so that the Hulk would subconsciously believe that he had "conquered" evil; this belief, according to Mephisto, will have far reaching consequences. After Rick and Marlo left for their honeymoon, the Hulk did not realize that shortly he would wave good-bye to another friend: Jim Wilson. Shortly after the wedding, the Pantheon informed the Hulk that Jim was involved in AIDS protest rally. Although he quickly rushed to Jim's aid, the protest erupted into a riot and Jim was severely injured. Upon his arrival, the Hulk rescued Jim and took him back to the Mount in hopes of treating his injuries. After an examination, the Hulk learned that Jim is not HIV positive, but actually had full-blown AIDS. In fact, he had it before the Hulk rescued Jim and Rick from Speedfreak many months ago. Although the Hulk was hesitant about giving Jim an untested and experimental drug that may halt the effects that the virus had on his body, Jim asked the Hulk for a blood transfusion with his blood. But, the Hulk refused his request fearing the possible harmful mutation that would possibly turn him into a monstrous menace and cause him to suffer the same tragedy that he has faced. Although it is unclear whether the Hulk opted to administer the experimental drug or merely gave him a placebo treatment, the Hulk remained by his side and helplessly and painfully watched one of his closest friends die. Later, he anonymously paid for Jim's funeral arrangements. Following the revelations about Agamemnon by Armageddon, the Pantheon demanded that the Hulk bring Agamemnon in to stand trial for his actions in the past. Although their quest took them across the country and even into Asgard, they eventually brought Agamemnon in. After being captured, Agamemnon concluded that it was time for the Pantheon to end. To this end, he summoned the Endless Knights, the deceased members of the Pantheon. After the battle ended, the Hulk totally lost control when he learned that Betty was fatally wounded. At this point, the bond between the merged persona became severed and the Savage Hulk persona was making itself dominant. Subconsciously, the other personas changed their physical form back into that of Bruce Banner to prevent the Savage Hulk persona from causing any substantial destruction and damage. In short, he became the Savage Bruce Banner. Eventually, Bruce and Betty were brought to a hospital. Betty, of course, received medical treatment, while Bruce was placed in a mental ward. While Betty was on the verge of death, S.H.I.E.L.D decided take Bruce into custody and either help him or "help him" out of existence. As Bruce was being transported aboard one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s aircrafts, Betty went into cardiac arrest. As her spirit was being escorted to its final destination by Mercy, an extraterrestrial who "helps" those who are either contemplating suicide or are close to death to leave this world. En route, Betty saw the plane that just that Bruce just happened to be on and went to take a closer look at the plane. Upon seeing Bruce, she realized that it was important for her to calm him and attempted to do so. After achieving some success, her spirit returned to her body. In the meantime, Bruce broke free of his bonds and escaped from the plane. During his free fall, the Savage Hulk's persona lost its dominance and the merged persona became dominant. Then, he returned to the Mount to check on the Pantheon. Upon his arrival, he was greeted by hologram recording left by one of the Pantheon members, Paris. The recording informed him that the Pantheon had relocated and that he has become one of their enemies. At some point, the Hulk snuck Betty out of the hospital that she was in and they began living as fugitives. Eventually, they wound up in Sunville, Florida where Betty worked as a librarian and the Hulk worked as an auto mechanic assistant for an old friend named Max. As part of his disguise, the Hulk wore bandages, claimed to be a burn victim and assumed a new alias, "Bob Danner". Soon afterwards, some of the children in Sunville were mysteriously being kidnapped and murdered; their bodies were recovered in the Everglades. The local authorities, led by Chief Largo, suspected Mr. Danner and began questioning Betty about her evasive and hard-to-find husband. Instead of relocating, Betty wished to stay in Sunville and asked the Hulk to locate the kidnapper so that the local authorities would stop questioning them. Although he rescued another child from the killer, an elderly psychotic man named Albert, and the killer was eaten by an alligator before the Hulk could rescue him, the Hulk continued to have the authorities attention. Later, he and Largo had a physical altercation when the Hulk tried to locate the person who shot and killed a young woman, Kate Shappe, at an abortion clinic. Afterwards her father arrived at the Danner's and offered the Hulk money to locate the killer. Once the killer was found, Kate's father revealed that he really was Speedfreak and attempted murder the young man, Larry, despite the fact the he confessed to accidentally killing Kate. Despite Speedfreak's determination to kill Larry, the Hulk stopped him. Although the Hulk managed to keep his identity a secret to practically all of the citizens of Sunville, he made his presence known in New York when he traveled there in a misguided attempt to free someone whom the Abomination was televised taking hostage. In actuality, the hostage was a friend of the Abomination who was helping the him and the other homeless who resided in New York's sewers. During their fight, the Abomination managed to escape from the Hulk. While he was in New York, the Hulk became involved in the Over The Edge storyline in which the Punisher received a posthypnotic suggestion that Nick Fury was responsible for killing his family many years ago. Needless to say, the Punisher attempted to kill Nick. During S.H.I.E.L.D.'s pursuit of the Punisher, they located him in close proximity of the Hulk and Nick advised the Hulk not to interfere. However, the Hulk still held a grudge against Nick after he held the Hulk at gunpoint during the Hulk's attempt to rescue Susan Jacobson and for attempting to take him into custody while Betty was dying and he was the Savage Bruce Banner. He attacked the aircraft Nick was on. However, Nick slipped off of the craft and managed to confront the Punisher. Meanwhile, the Hulk captured all of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on the mission and allowed the Punisher to escape. Later, the Punisher apparently killed Nick. Feeling guilty, the Hulk attended Nick's funeral, but watched from afar to prevent any unnecessary altercations. However, the other heroes learned of the Hulk's presence. Although a small skirmish broke out, cooler heads prevailed and gave way to the funeral service. Shortly after the Hulk returned to Sunville and he and Betty settled back into their disguises, the Army surrounded the Banner's home while the Hulk was at work. In an attempt to capture the Hulk, Matt Talbot, the nephew of the Hulk's deceased enemy, Glenn Talbot, used Betty as bait to lure the Hulk into his trap. After baiting the Hulk to attack by giving Betty superficial wounds (by shooting stun pellets in the leg from a seemingly real gun ), Talbot's forces, who were wearing Mandriod battlesuits, engaged and enraged the Hulk. After Talbot shot Betty again, the Hulk became so enraged that the meld between the personas broke and the Savage Hulk's persona became dominant. On cue, the Hulk changed into his Savage Bruce Banner incarnation. Afterwards, he was easily taken into captivity where Talbot pressured the Ringmaster into helping him understand how the Hulk goes from being Savage Bruce Banner back to the Merged Hulk. Meanwhile, Chief Largo arranged for Betty to be discharged from a hospital in Sunville and to meet the group that he was secretly a member of, the Headshop. At some point in the past, the Leader created the group by decapitated the heads from people dying of exposure to gamma radiation and grafted them to the bodies of androids. In exchange for rescuing the Hulk from Talbot, the Headshop wanted him to help them in their fight against the Leader. Almost simultaneously, several important and high ranking governmental officials met to discuss how to deal with the Alliance. The Alliance was seemingly an unseen and mysterious terrorist group that attacked commercial planes, ocean liners, historical monuments, and governmental buildings around the world. As a result of the Alliance's activities, the tension level between different governments rose exponentially since no one knew whether a single person or several governments supported the group. Among those in attendance at the meeting was Matt Talbot. The Headshop "acquired" an aircraft, which Betty flew for them, successfully broke into the facility that held the Hulk and freed him from his cell. However, before they could leave, the Hulk, still in his Savage Bruce Banner incarnation, attempted to pick up a live grenade and was fatally wounded. Largo picked up the Savage Bruce, hurried the other members of the Headshop aboard the aircraft and asked Betty to get them airborne immediately. As soon as Betty was able to engaged the aircraft's auto pilot, she went to check on the Hulk. Largo informed her of what happened, marveled at the fact that Bruce was still alive and informed her that he was beyond treatment. After excusing Largo from the area, Betty expressed her remorse and shed tears for the Hulk, which revived him. Upon seeing her and thinking that she needed him, he transformed back into his Merged Hulk form. However, the color of his skin was olive like the Maestro's was instead of emerald green; moreover, he seemed very belligerent, short tempered, and self centered (just like the Maestro). Headgear, a member of the Headshop, scanned the Hulk's body and detected grenade fragments throughout his body and in his brain. The Hulk remembered that the Leader used some equipment many years ago to remove a bullet from his brain and decided to travel to Freehold. Although the Headshop wanted to accompany him, the Hulk revealed that he witnessed the Leader's "death" and refused their offer since he believed that only helped him so that they could use him. As he left for Freehold, he destroyed their plane. Upon arriving at Freehold, the Hulk told Omnibus to scan his body. The scans revealed that he had a high concentration of metal fragments in his head. Although the Hulk asked him to use the Leader's machinery to remove the fragments, Omnibus claimed that he could not since he did not know the location of the machine and could not fully recreate it. He added that the Hulk would be better off staying in Freehold since global warfare was imminent because of the global terrorism perpetrated by the " Alliance". Remembering the Maestro's prophetic words about the global destruction that would occur prior to him establishing his dictatorship, the Hulk concluded that only the "Maestro" could prevent the world from being devastated. "He" could serve as a scapegoat and prevent other governments from blaming and destroying each other. Then, he transformed himself into the Maestro. The transformation occurred for several reasons. Among the reasons are the effects that the metal fragments in his brain was having on him and the subconscious influence of his earlier encounter with the Maestro. After the Hulk transformed into the Maestro, he claimed to be the leader of the "Alliance". To validate his claim, he destroyed what remained of Mt. Rushmore and several buildings in various cities. Afterwards, he traveled to the Arctic and waited for a response. The response he received was Thor, who volunteered to stop him once and for all. By this time, it has been revealed (to the readers but not the world) that the true mastermind was actually Omnibus, who was possessed by the Leader's consciousness. By placing several key governmental officials under his mental control, including Talbot, the Leader organized a plausible plan to finally conquer the world. However, as Omnibus/The Leader observed the fight from Freehold via the Air force observer plane's transmissions, the citizens of Freehold confronted and seized him for his terrorist actives. As a result of the disruption, Omnibus/The Leader caused Talbot to issue the command to drop an atomic bomb on the "Maestro". Just before the bomb struck, the "Maestro" knock Thor safely away and seemingly perished in the explosion. For several weeks, the military and Doc Samson unsuccessfully searched for the Hulk. During this time, Betty began writing her autobiography and Talbot was brought up on charges for shooting Betty. Also, the Freehold community sentenced Omnibus to death; the form of execution was to drop him off in an isolated Arctic area were he would freeze to death. Just before the sentence was carried out, the Leader's consciousness usurped control of Omnibus's form and demanded that they stop the execution. However, this was regarded as a pitiful ploy by Omnibus (since the Leader's usurpation didn't alter Omnibus' physical form) and he was dropped into a blizzard. Just as the Leader encountered a polar bear, Talbot began his defence during his trial. However, Talbot realized what he had done and broke down in tears. Apparently, the Leader had to divert his mental energies towards the polar bear and relinquished his control over Talbot. At the end of issue 442, many Hulk fans were still wondering, "What happened to the Hulk?", "How did he survive the atomic bomb?", and "Where IS he?". The answers to these questions began to surface in issue 443.

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