Hulk [Bruce Banner] (Brief Origin); Thunderbolt Ross; Rick Jones
Synopsis
The military captures Rick and Ross convinces him that they need the Hulk to test a new experimental rocket for national security. Rick tricks the jade giant into the capsule but once it is shot into space, he realizes that Ross deceived him to get rid of his foe. Rick overrides the programming and returns the rocket to earth but not before Banner (he transformed back to his human form when the rocket came into view of the sun) is doused with further radiation. The Hulk is now unable to revert to his human form and is under Rick's control but only while Rick remains awake.
The Hulk [Bruce Banner]; Rick Jones; The Ringmaster (introduction); the Circus of Crime (introduction); Polly Jones [Rick's Aunt] (introduction, cameo); General Thunderbolt Ross; Hercules (circus strongman)
Synopsis
Rick takes a break from his Hulk-sitting duties and goes to the circus. Unfortunately, he picks one run by a hypnotic criminal who mesmerizes his audience and then robs them. When the Hulk arrives to bail out his buddy, he is captured and made part of the act thanks to the fact that Rick is in thrall and cannot give him any commands. Rick returns with the FBI and the Hulk finds himself free to kick some circus tail.
At this point, for some reason that escapes me, we're going to leave the early editions of the Hulk and present a now-classic tale of the fabulous Fantastic Four.
Hulk [Bruce Banner]; Thunderbolt Ross; Betty Ross; Banner Bot
Synopsis
Bruce creates an indestructible robot which is able to withstand the power of a nuclear blast but the stress of completing it on schedule causes him to transform into the Hulk and he leaves this massive weapon of awesome power unattended. A foreign spy who has been hanging around jumps into the robot and takes off. The Hulk tries to stop the robot but can't and once he is worn out from the battle, he transforms back into Banner. Found lying in the desert by Ross and Betty, Bruce vows to build a bigger and better robot to take down the first one.
Hulk [Bruce Banner]; Rick Jones; Betty Ross; Thunderbolt Ross; Glenn Talbot; Chameleon [Dmitri Smerdyakov]; Captain America [Steve Rogers] (cameo); Leader (introduction)
Synopsis
The Hulk takes on the indestructible Banner created robot and, in one of the more dubious plot devices in comics, succeeds in kicking him down a bottomless hole when he realizes that he cannot beat the machine. Glenn Talbot arrives on gamma base sent by the Pentagon to keep an eye on the suspicious activity of Bruce Banner. Glenn decides that keeping an eye on Betty seems like a good idea as well. The Hulk is felled while saving Gamma Base from a missile and Ross captures him in a special restraint built by Bruce Banner based on a design by Tony Stark.
Hulk [Bruce Banner]; Rick Jones; Betty Ross; Thunderbolt Ross; Glenn Talbot; Chameleon [Dmitri Smerdyakov]; Captain America [Steve Rogers] (cameo); Leader (introduction)
Synopsis
The Hulk is captured in unbreakable restraints but slips through them when he turns back into Banner. Hearing that his buddy has been captured, Rick leaves Cap's side to go help his original super pal. The mysterious Leader sends the Chameleon to gamma base to find out what happened to an agent who didn't report back in (probably because he ended up falling down a hole in a robot suit last ish). Talbot and Banner begin their less than friendly rivalry. The Chameleon impersonates Banner and tries to steal a gamma grenade using Betty as a hostage but the Hulk thwarts his plans.
The Leader ponders his origins as he prepares to send his powerful Humanoid to confront the Hulk. Although he is under suspicion for being in collusin with the Hulk, Banner is sent by train to escort one of his nuclear devices with Talbot keeping a close eye on him. The Humanoid attacks the train and Hulk fights the creature off. The nuclear device falls off the train in the skirmish and when Talbot goes to retrieve it, he finds Banner next to it in nothing but a pair of ripped pants. Bruce is jailed as a traitor.
Hulk [Bruce Banner]; Rick Jones; Betty Ross; Thunderbolt Ross; Glenn Talbot; Chameleon [Dmitri Smerdyakov]; Leader [Samuel Sterns]
Synopsis
Banner has been jailed as a traitor and is popping tranquilizers to keep himself from turning into the Hulk. Rick goes right to the commander in chief to tell the prez Banner's secret and to ask for his release. Much to Talbot's chagrin, the president orders Bruce's release and the two are sent to Astra Island to oversee testing of Banner's absorbatron which has the power to soak up a nuclear blast. Figuring that one Humanoid was not enough, the Leader sends a horde of them to Astra where they battle with the Hulk.
Hulk [Bruce Banner]; Glenn Talbot; Leader [Samuel Sterns]
Synopsis
In a pitched battle with the Humanoids, the Hulk and his foes fall into the ocean where the jade giant transforms back into Banner and is promptly captured by a Russian sub. Bruce is told he will be forced to work for the commies but instead he turns back into the Hulk and escapes. The Russians chase him down with a proton gun.
The Hulk escapes from his Russian captors with a fellow fugitive who gives his life to save the jade giant from a blast from the powerful proton gun. Angry at the death of his friend, Hulk decides to take his fight to the commies.
Hulk [Bruce Banner]; Glenn Talbot; Kanga Kahn; Hakun Gantu
Synopsis
The Hulk beats on the Russians bad enough that when he decides to leap away, they don't try to stop him. Jumping all the way to the Himalayas, the Hulk is finally tired out and transforms to Banner just in time to be menaced by a local bandit chieftain. Talbot catches up with Bruce in this hairy predicament and when their captors are attacked by a rival band of raiders, Bruce and Glenn fall off a cliff to their death?
Hulk [Bruce Banner]; Rick Jones; Betty Ross; Thunderbolt Ross; Glenn Talbot; Leader [Samuel Sterns]
Synopsis
Saving Talbot and himself from plunging to their deaths, the Hulk decides he is tired of world travel and leaps home. Waking up in gamma base, Bruce is once again jailed as a traitor and the president once again sets him free (Rick told the commander in chief the secret of the Hulk a few issues ago). Banner and Talbot are once again sent to Astra Island to continue a test of the absorbatron but the Leader sends an army of Humanoids who finally succeed in capturing the Hulk.
Hulk [Bruce Banner]; Rick Jones; Thunderbolt Ross; Glenn Talbot; Leader [Samuel Sterns]
Synopsis
The Leader makes off with the Hulk and the absorbatron but the jade giant ends up destroying the machine to keep it out of the Leader's hands. Convinced that Banner is still a traitor and despite his orders, Talbot authorizes his men to use deadly force and Bruce is killed by a bullet through the head.
Hulk [Bruce Banner]; Rick Jones; Betty Ross; Thunderbolt Ross; Glenn Talbot; Leader [Samuel Sterns]; Giant Humanoid
Synopsis
Dragging his dead buddy to their old underground complex, Rick uses the gamma machine on Bruce, thus turning him into the Hulk and saving his life. The Hulk once again has the intellect of Banner but he has to continue to use the ray machine every 48 hours to keep himself from turning into his alter ego as he still has a bullet lodged in his head. Talbot makes a bid for Betty now that his arch rival has been killed in disgrace. The Leader sends a giant Humanoid to attack gamma base and the Hulk gets involved in the fight.
Hulk [Bruce Banner]; Rick Jones; General Ross; Major Glen Talbot; Leader; Humanoids
Synopsis
The Hulk and Rick barely make it out of the blast radius as Ross fires the giant "Sunday Punch" missile at the Leader's giant Humanoid bringing the massive robot down. The pair decide to hide in their underground cave but are spotted by military planes as they enter. Ross and Talbot attack, threatening the underground complex and Bruce's gamma machine. The Hulk pushes Rick out to safety just as the Leader appears and tells the Jade Giant he will save him from his sticky predicament if only he agrees to serve the big brained bad guy.
Hulk [Bruce Banner]; Rick Jones; Thunderbolt Ross; Glenn Talbot; Leader [Samuel Sterns]
Synopsis
The Hulk finally agrees to follow the Leader and the big brained one teleports him out just as Ross destroys Banner's old underground complex. The Leader and the Hulk get to know each other a little better but the jade giant struggles with trying not to change back to Banner as he is still plagued with a bullet in his head that would kill his alter ego.
Hulk [Bruce Banner]; GUEST: The Watcher; VILLAINS: Leader [Samuel Sterns]; Humanoids; CAMEO: An alien
Synopsis
Discovering the bullet that is lodged in the Hulk's brain, the Leader dissolves it with a laser and bathes our hero with gamma rays to give him strength. The Hulk still has Banner's mind but can no longer transform into human form thanks to the extra blast of radiation. Indebted to the Leader for saving his life, the Hulk agrees to be teleported to the Watcher's planet where he has been commanded to steal the "ultimate machine" but finds that said machine is also sought by the most powerful creature in the galaxy.
Hulk [Bruce Banner]; Watcher; Leader [Samuel Sterns]
Synopsis
The Hulk fights the baddest alien in the galaxy over the Watcher's ultimate machine. After the battle, the Watcher allows Hulk to take it and he is teleported back to the Leader's lair. The Leader tries to use the machine which dispenses all of the Watcher's collected knowledge but even his big brain can't handle it and the strain kills him.
Hulk [Bruce Banner]; Rick Jones; Betty Ross; General Thunderbolt Ross; Glenn Talbot; Boomerang [Fred Myers]
Synopsis
Since they have discovered that the Hulk is not the total villain he has been painted to be, the president tells Ross to pardon him if he thinks the threat is over. Of course, Boomerang picks that exact moment to secretly enrage the jade giant, causing him to go on another rampage and causing Ross to still see him as a menace. Hulk fights the new and improved (but still fashion-impaired) Boomerang.