Appearing in "Thaumiel"
Featured Characters:
- Hulk (Split from Bruce Banner behind the scenes)
Supporting Characters:
- Alpha Flight
- Gamma Flight
- Romesh
- Dr. Walter Langkowski
- Puck (Eugene Judd) (Joined team behind the scenes)
- Gamma Flight
- Jackie McGee
Antagonists:
- U.S. Hulk Operations
- Absorbing Man (Carl "Crusher" Creel) (Freed from the One Below All's indirect posession)
- Bushwhacker (Carl Burbank)
- Gen. Reginald Fortean
- Dr. Charlene McGowan (Cameo)
- Numerous unnamed others
- Brian Banner (Freed from the One Below All's possession behind the scenes)
Other Characters:
- Bruce Banner (Split from Hulk behind the scenes)
- Del Frye (Stasis)
Races and Species:
Locations:
Items:
- Absorbing Man's Ball and Chain
- Gamma Bomb (Mentioned)
- Green Door
Vehicles:
- Alpha Flight Shuttles
- Alpha Flight Squadron Jet
Synopsis for "Thaumiel"
Alpha Flight Space Station
The new Gamma Flight, a team specifically created to track down the Hulk, just received a signal: the gamma signature of Bruce Banner appeared in Los Diablos, New Mexico. Walter Langkowski, formerly known as Sasquatch, remembers that Los Diablos was the site where the infamous experiment that made Banner turn into the Hulk happened, and the thing intrigues him. He asks if they are ready for a field trip, but reporter Jackie McGee expresses concern: she still is not sure why she is part of this new Gamma Flight operation, and wonders if this is crossing the line. Is she still a reporter? But while Jackie and Walter are debating, an operator signals to Langkowski that there is another gamma signature near the Hulk...
Los Diablos, New Mexico
The Hulk is facing off against a monstrous version of the Absorbing Man: his body ripped in half, standing with his spine sustaining a skull that grew fangs. The skull mumbles words that sound like "I'm sorry", but the Hulk assures him that he will be sorry for real soon enough. The fight is closely watched by Agent Burbank, looking from his rifle's sight. Burbank communicates with General Fortean at Shadow Base: he informs the General that Creel should be dead, but he is still moving in some way. And also, he is winning.
In fact, Creel's new gamma-absorbing power is draining the Hulk, who looks like an emaciated version of himself. Still, the Hulk possesses the same ability, and so the two monsters go back and forth, draining one another, until the Hulk decides to make a move: he rips out Creel's spine and skull, using it to deliver a clubbing blow to his opponent. Burbank sees the fight's momentum shifting, and asks to Shadow Base if he has to take a shot, but the answer is negative: he must wait for the right moment.
That is provided by Gamma Flight: on a ship, the team approaches the Hulk and notices that the second gamma signature comes from a body ripped in half. Walter tries to approach the Hulk and, thanks to the distraction, Burbank shots the Green Goliath with a pair of cyanide hollow-pointed bullets right in the eyes. This makes the Hulk very angry, so much so that he loses control of himself, also believing the shooting was done by Gamma Flight. He grabs the ship with one hand and takes it down hard. Meanwhile, Burbank notices that Creel, or what remains of him, is heading somewhere else.
The Hulk tries to regain control: he must stop Creel. But then, Puck attacks him with a bazooka: the Hulk crushes the weapon, and tries to tell Puck to stop fighting him. He must get to Creel and shoot him down, unless he wants Hell to break loose. In fact, Creel got a lot of gamma radiation from the Hulk, but not enough to satisfy the plan of whatever is inside him right now. The creature lurking in the Absorbing Man needs tons of gamma radiation to open the Green Door, and this is the best place to obtain it. When Banner's experiment happened, the Green Door was left ajar, but the creature wants to open it wide, and if Creel succeeds, that is what is going to happen.
As Gamma Flight asks the Hulk what would be the consequences of the Green Door opening, Creel completes his task...
Somewhere Else
The Hulk and all of Gamma Flight are in another place: a red sky, ruins all over, and a beacon of intense green light shooting from the top of a cliff to the heavens. Creel is kneeling, crying and asking for forgiveness. Jackie is dumbfounded: where are they? But the Hulk has the answer: they are where they always have been. He welcomes everyone to Hell.
Solicit Synopsis
• Gamma Flight was too late. Shadow Base is infiltrated. Crusher Creel is damned. And the One Below All walks upon Earth.
• Now, in the place he was born, the Immortal Hulk is the last thing standing between the world of the living...
• ...and the GREEN DOOR.Notes
Legacy Numbering[]
- Based on the Marvel Legacy renumbering infographic, this issue is Incredible Hulk #727.
Trivia
- The name of this chapter represents how the Below-Place is the topmost sphere of the Kabbalistic Tree of Death, Thaumiel.
