Appearing in "Who is the Hulk?"
Featured Characters:
- ⏴ Doc Samson ⏵
- General Thaddeus Ross ⏵ (First appearance) (Secretly a LMD)
- ⏴ She-Hulk ⏵
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Winter Guard
- ⏴ Ursa Major ⏵
- Red Guardian ⏵ (First appearance)
- Darkstar ⏵ (First appearance)
- Crimson Dynamo ⏵ (First appearance)
- ⏴ Abomination ⏵ (Death)
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
- Iron Man Armor Model 29 (Extremis Armor)
- Adamantium Pistol
- Crimson Dynamo Armor Mark VI
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Who is the Hulk?"
In Russia, Leonard Samson is studying footprints in the ground made by men the size of the Hulk and Abomination. She-Hulk acts out with Samson how the Hulk-like creature eventually bested the Abomination, leveling the nearby village in the process. Afterward, the Hulk shot and killed the Abomination with a giant gun. Iron Man, Maria Hill, and "General Ross" from S.H.I.E.L.D. are also there examining the Abomination's corpse.
They examine the footprints of the Hulk again and see that he gave off so much radiation that it scorched the Earth, creating glass. Leonard suggests exhuming the remains when the Winter Guard arrives. Jen mentions she thought Red Guardian and Darkstar were dead but Iron Man tells her they did die but were replaced. They fight until Ross finds a survivor of the battle. It is a little girl who keeps murmuring a word in Russian. "Red."
In Alaska, Rick Jones awakens to find that he is wearing nothing but pants and sees a huge fire right on top of what looks like a pipeline off in the distance. He sees many men surrounding it.
Meanwhile, Ross and Samson drive to a Gamma Base in Nevada. The guards there are automatons, as no living person could stay there. They arrive at the deepest level of the base and walk up to the object of this excursion. Bruce Banner is locked up safely in his cage reading a book. Noticing that he has visitors, Banner tells Ross and Samson that he was wondering when they were going to come and ask him for help.
Solicit Synopsis
Notes
Continuity Notes[]
- The man who appears to be General Ross is actually a Life Model Decoy, as explained in Hulk (Vol. 2) #23 when the identity of the Red Hulk is revealed.
- Although the Abomination is killed here, he comes back twice more: He is briefly resurrected in the Chaos War circa Incredible Hulks #619–620. He was resurrected in Hulk (Vol. 3) #1–2.
- First names for the new members of the Winter Guard are revealed in She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #35.
- She-Hulk mentions how the Avengers files list Red Guardian and Darkstar as dead. There have been many Red Guardians. The one the Avengers were most familiar with was Alexei Shostakov who at the time of this story was believed to have died in Avengers #44. However, his death was faked and he turns up alive again in Daredevil (Vol. 2) #64. The original Darkstar was killed battling Weapon XII in New X-Men #130. Darkstar was later briefly revived during the Necrosha event as seen in X-Force (Vol. 3) #21. She was resurrected in Darkstar and the Winter Guard #3. As revealed in Hulk: Winter Guard #1, whenever a member of Winter Guard dies they are immediately replaced.
- Ursa Major states that Bruce Banner is dead. Although Banner survived World War Hulk, his survival was kept as a secret by S.H.I.E.L.D. as seen in World War Hulk #5.
- What happened to Rick Jones between World War Hulk #5 and this story is explained in Fall of the Hulks: Red Hulk #3.
Legacy Numbering[]
- Based on the Marvel Legacy renumbering infographic, this issue corresponds to Incredible Hulk #587.
