Sensational Comics#21
Heavy Metal!
It was quiet. By itself, not unusual given the remote portion of the desert. The single inhabitant of this particular patch of sand and rock was the Hulk and she was standing still. No jumping, fighting or even any other kind emergency.
Betty Ross wiped her brow. It took a lot of effort to build up a sweat as her alter-ego, but she found a brisk jog of a few hundred miles was enough to take her mind off her troubles. She should have been happy, she thought. Her mother was back and normal, the Avengers were working better than ever. So why did she feel like someone was going to pull the rug under her feet?
"Aw, nuts." She groused and started back towards the base.
"Aw, nuts." Dr. Banner sat in frustration at the disassembled robot before him. He been working through most of the night. Thanks to previous attempts at espionage he had been working mostly by himself. "Stupid thing should be walking. Why are the hydraulics locking up now?" He shook his head and went back to the blueprints.
The robot, currently in several pieces across the lab, looked vaguely like a human. Wires stood in for veins and tubes for bones, but the robot was a massive thing taking up nearly the entire hanger. Banner was smart, but in this case this machine wasn't his own. After the death of Bolivar Trask, his labs and equipment had been seized by the government.
Among the various paranoid ramblings there was a spark of a bright idea. Robots, capable of almost any task conceivable, and far more advanced than anything else being used currently. Trask envisioned them as a force of protection, hunting down threats to mankind, i.e. mutants. Banner disagreed, and thankfully so did a few higher ups. Being used to hunt the mutant mastermind known as Magneto proved a disaster.
The idea, however, was still sound. Why risk regular troops when a single Sentinel could handle almost anything?
The catch, however, was trying to get the robots working. With their programing, they could prove to be a hazard to humans. Banner, however, insisted that the best operating system would be a human mind. So, for the past several days, he had been trying to hammer out the faults in the prototype so a single human driver could pilot the robot. He had been trying to get the robot to respond to proper commands. He was not being successful.
The Chameleon, rarely known as Dmitri Smerdyakov, walked carefully around the Gamma Base. As a master of disguise, he was able to pass himself off at various points as a major, a private, and for a brief time, a WAC. Given that he was in the business of stealing secrets, he needed to be able to slip in and out of places without drawing attention.
"How do these Americans stand so much heat?" Under the latex and greasepaint, Dmitri stayed calm but sweaty. His employers wanted him to steal whatever the latest project was on the famed Gamma Base. Most spies turned it down, as the Gamma Base meant an encounter with the Hulk, and there wasn't much a fake mustache could do against that.
So far, his mission had been a failure. He found plenty of things worth stealing, but no national secrets and nothing worth taking back to his masters. The only place that had anything of value would have been the lab of Dr. Banner, but since no one was allowed inside outside of the doctor, he was stuck. He no idea of the codes or layouts, so even if he passed himself off as Banner he couldn't walk out.
"I've got to find something. There must be a way inside that accursed lab!" He saluted back to a few lower officers as he made his way back to his hideout, hidden in the nearby hills.
The next day
General Ross looked over the crowd. The stands were filled with brass and various other bigwigs. He saw Betty stationed at the ready around the corner. "Staring down the enemy is one thing, but why the blazes do I get picked to speak?"
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to showcase the latest in defense of our great nation. I present the BX-1!"
The ground rumbled. The crowd gasped as the green and gray metal man emerged from under the tarp in the middle of the field. The robot saluted the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the BX-1 is the brainchild of Dr. Bruce Banner." Ross stepped aside as Banner approached the microphone.
"Thank you general. The BX-1 is a perfect fusion of man and machine. From the cockpit inside the chest cavity, the pilot is in total command of a state of the at weapons system." A cannon emerged from the robot's shoulder.
It fired off three shells, perfectly destroying the targets at the end of the field. As Banner explained the robot's capabilities, the crowd was amazed at the ease at which it picked up a tank and effortlessly crushed it to pulp.
The Chameleon was impressed too. As a simple colonel, he stared in amazement as the robot took flight and zoomed overhead. "I think I found what I was looking for!"
The robot landed and the pilot was busy soaking up the crowd's adoration. The Chameleon slipped through the throng and narrowed in on Dr. Banner. "Sir? General Morris needs to talk to you."
"What now?" Banner sighed and followed the major. Slipping into nearby office, Banner noticed the major had removed his hat and jacket. "What's going on?"
"Nothing you have to worry about," the major said in Banner's voice. Before Banner could cry out, the man pulled out a small gas gun and fired. Banner dropped to the floor senseless. Within seconds the Chameleon ripped his uniform away and was now dressed as Dr. Banner. "Now to get that robot!"
As General Ross continued his speech, Betty noticed Bruce walking towards the robot. "Bruce!" She called, but he ignored her. "Huh, must be busy."
She noticed him pushing past the pilot and climbing into the machine. "Strange. Why would he be doing that?" Her eyes narrowed as the machine came back to life. "Get down!" She yelled as the BX-1 tore up the stage and swung it around.
Racing through the panicking crowds, she jumped onto the stage. "Bruce, what are you doing?"
"Quiet!" his voice blared over the BX-1's loud speaker. "Listen well. As of today, I take my work and what belongs to me! Any attempt to follow me will be met with force!" For emphasis he fired multiple rounds into the air.
While he was firing, Betty jumped off the stage and ducked under the stands. "No sense in causing more panic." She breathed carefully. Her eyes flared green as her muscles rapidly swelled. Her dress was reduced to tatters in seconds. Under the now ruined garments was a simple purple suit, not unlike an average swimsuit. "So thankful for those unstable molecules! At least this beats those old greens." The Hulk stepped out. The crowd parted.
The BX-1 stopped firing and spun around. "The Hulk? Stay back!" The robot brought its guns to bear.
Without saying anything the Hulk rushed forward. The BX-1 opened fire. The bullets struck her but bounced off. She spread out her arms, keeping the range of fire narrow so the ricochets wouldn't go into the crowd. She rushed towards the robot, taking fire all the way until the guns ran out. She smiled.
"Stay back!" the BX-1's rockets ignited and it took off. The Hulk leaped, landing on the robot's back. But before she could slam her oversized fist into the cockpit, a strange tremor went through her.
"What, what's happening?" Her vision swam as she struggled to stay on the flying machine. The thief, not looking for an answer, fired a missile. It hit dead on and flung her from the robot's back. The Hulk landed in a daze right in the middle of the field. Her father rushed up to her.
"Betty, what happened?" Ross stood back as his daughter staggered to her feet.
"I-I don't know." She suddenly slumped over. Ross gasped as the Hulk's gray skin and muscles suddenly shrank back to normal.
Ross looked at the retreating form of the BX-1 and scowled as medics helped Betty to the infirmary. He grabbed a nearby trooper. "Get me Morris and then the Joint Chiefs. We have a rouge robot on the loose."
Betty sat in her hospital bed hooked up to various monitors. "So, what's the diagnosis?"
Banner sighed. Guards found him tied up in an office, but that didn't make it any easier to believe. The only reason he wasn't in the stockade was his knowledge of radiation. "That's a bit tricky. At this moment, I'd say your exposure to so much radiation has triggered something in your cells. You say the more excited you became the weaker you became?"
"Yes. Normally whenever I get angry I get stronger."
"Yes, I marked where your adrenaline increased during your transformations. As it stands, it seems to produce an opposite effect."
"You mean the angrier I get I'll change back?"
"I…don't know. Honestly Betty so much of you doesn't make sense. I suppose if we exposed you to more gamma rays it might stabilize you, cure you, or even kill you. I just don't know."
"Then you'd better find out mister!" General Ross stormed inside. "My daughter almost because your machine fell into enemy hands. Can you account for any of that?"
"I'm telling you general, I was knocked out. The spy looked like someone in the army, but I never saw him before."
"A likely story, plus we have over a dozen witnesses naming you as the thief."
"But I rushed back to check on Betty! How could I steal the robot and do that?"
"You could have had help." General Morris stepped into the room. "Dr. Bruce Banner, I am placing you under arrest for treason. Take him away!" MP's rushed forward to drag Banner out of the room.
"What? You can't do this!" Betty shouted. Her pulse was thundering in her ears as she saw Bruce being dragged away. "He didn't do anything!" Her skin felt hot.
"Betty, you don't know…" Ross's words died in his throat as he saw his daughter's eyes glow green. "Oh sweet Lord" he whispered as he pushed Morris out of the room.
"No! I'm tired of being ignored!" She brought her hands up, snapping the IVs and monitors cords. "Bruce is innocent, I know it!" Her frame started to swell as her skin began to change into a dark green. She bent over as her flimsy hospital gown evaporated due to the growing muscles pushing against it. The best started to buckle under her rapidly increasing weight. "And if I have to tear this entire countryside apart to prove it, I will!" She jumped from the bed as its legs finally broke and crashed to the floor. "And I'll smash anyone who gets in my way!" She shook the now jet black hair from her eyes as she glared at her father. "Do you hear me? Hulk will smash!" She picked up the ruined bed and threw it at the door before she smashed the wall apart and leaped away.
Ross stared at the destroyed room. "Not again…"
Morris wiped the sweat from his face. Moving past the assembled onlookers that now swarmed to the hall, he rushed to a nearby phone. Picking up the receiver, he tried to find his voice. "Get me Major Talbot-now!"
The end
Based on "the Incredible Hulk" which first appeared in Tales to Astonish I#60 (October 1964) with credits to Stan Lee (writer), Steve Ditko (pencils), George Bell (inks), and Sam Rosen (letters)
Next issue, "Captured at Last!"
Sensational Lore
From They Call Me Bruce
This chapter was large!
Thanks!
And from Darci, who's contributed so much to this series.
This story is very different from "Enter…the Hulk!" in Tales to Astonish#59. In story, the reason Hank Pym sought out the Hulk was to try to get him to rejoin the Avengers. Metatextually, Marvel wanted to revive the Hulk character, whose own series had failed. For us fans, it was a sad day to see Hank and Jan lose half their book to another character.
Here, there's no talk of Hulk joining the Avengers and, of course, the Hulk has never been absent from the publishing schedule. We wonder if this is the end of the Grey Hulk? What now for Jennifer?
Jennifer Ross's story isn't over yet True Believers, but her part in this wild saga will come a little later.
Journey into Mystery#22-Mr. Hyde and the Cobra!
Tales to Astonish#20-Trapped by the Porcupine!
The Avengers#8-Their Darkest Hour!
Amazing Fantasy#13-The Grim Ghost Rides Again!