Avengers #3
The Avengers Meet Sub-Mariner
The Hulk has quit the Avengers and the rest of the team is concerned that the gamma-spawned brute will be a menace.[1] They agree to ask the rest of the super-hero community to assist in their hunt. Using a holographic image projector, Iron Man transmits his image to the Baxter Building. There he tries to recruit the Fantastic Four, however, the team is busy with their own affairs. However, Mister Fantastic agrees to contact the Avengers if he hears anything. Next, he finds Spider-Man who is webbing up some crooks. The web-slinger isn’t particularly helpful or happy to be interrupted while he is busy. Lastly, Iron Man pays a visit to the X-Men at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.[2] Professor X agrees to have the X-Men keep an eye out for the Hulk and then asks Iron Man to leave so they can continue their training session. Iron Man returns the rest of the team remembers that Rick Jones might know how to find the Hulk.
After being contacted by the team, Rick Jones goes looking into the desert to find his friend. When Rick finds the Hulk, he convinces the gamma-spawned brute to return to his secret cave. There he convinces the Hulk to step on the gamma-ray projector.[3] The bombardment changes the Hulk back into Bruce Banner. Banner immediately goes to bed and asks Rick to stay.[4] As soon as Banner’s head hits the pillow he changes into the Hulk again. Angrier than ever, the Hulk smashes his way out of the hidden cave and pushes Rick aside. Rick races to the headquarters of Teen Brigade and warns the Avengers that the Hulk is on the loose in New Mexico.
Iron Man is the first Avenger to arrive on the scene and as the two battle it out, Giant-Man and the Wasp use a nearby ant colony to trip the Hulk up using an underground river. When Thor arrives the Hulk realizes that he is outnumbered and escapes by smashing through the ground into the shaft of an abandoned mine. Using it to reach a nearby railroad, the Hulk hitches a ride on a passing train. The Avengers catch up to him but manages to trip them up as the train passes through a tunnel.[5] He then evades capture by hiding in the back of a dump truck carrying a load of gravel to the ocean. The Hulk is found at sea a few days later by the crew of a boat who takes the exhausted brute aboard. This scene is witnessed by the Sub-Mariner who decides to recruit the Hulk in his war against humanity.
When the Hulk abandons the ship for a nearby island, the Sub-Mariner confronts the brute and suggests an alliance. The Hulk isn’t interested at first but when the two fight it out, he realizes that the Sub-Mariner is nearly as strong as he is. Although the two agree to work together against humanity, both men intend on betraying the other once they have outlived their usefulness.[6] The pair then head to an island off the coast of Gibraltar to begin that was once a wartime military base. They then issue a challenge to the Avengers, who answer the call to battle.
When the Avengers arrive, they are attacked by the Sub-Mariner and the Hulk who take advantage to the abandoned munitions that have been leftover from World War II. At first, the pair has the upper hand when the Sub-Mariner shoots Iron Man with an emery dust pellet, incapacitating the hero. Luckily, Giant-Man is able to blast the dust out of Iron Man’s armor with a nearby oxygen tank. The Wasp almost has a close call when she is knocked to the ground and almost trampled on by her own teammates. Luckily, the floor is uneven and she is able to duck into a small divit to avoid getting stepped on. Then, before Namor can use a sonic device on them, Giant-Man pulls him away from the weapon. The Avengers then all pile onto the Sub-Mariner all at once.[7]
Namor breaks free and then joins the Hulk in trying to disarm Thor. However, no matter how hard he pulls, the Hulk cannot wrest Mjolnir from Thor’s grasp. When the rest of the Avengers come to Thor’s aid, the Hulk’s emotional state causes him to start reverting back into Bruce Banner. Fearing for his life, Banner flees before anyone can recognize who he really is. Noticing that the Hulk is gone, the Sub-Mariner believes he has been betrayed. Breaking free, Namor then dives into the ocean to get away, vowing to get revenge against the Avengers in the future.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man, Wasp), Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Teen Brigade (Rick Jones), Jane Foster, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing), Spider-Man, X-Men (Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast, Iceman)
Continuity Notes
The Hulk quit the Avengers last issue when he realized nobody on the team trusted him.
Iron Man mentions how he was told how to contact the X-Men following his recent encounter with the Angel. That happened in Tales of Suspense #49.
Prior to this story, Bruce Banner needed a gamma-ray projector to change back and from the Hulk. This had been the status quo since Incredible Hulk #2. However, starting this issue, Banner’s transformations begin getting triggered by his emotional state.
Rick mentions how he sticks by Banner because Bruce once saved his life. Banner pushed Rick into a trench to save him from a gamma bomb explosion, the very explosion that turned him into the Hulk. See Incredible Hulk #1.
The battle on the train is expanded upon in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heros #1.
The Sub-Mariner recounts how his people recently abandoned him. This happened in Fantastic Four Annual #1, when he saved the life of the Invisible Girl. This was viewed as a betrayal by his people. His people will ultimately take him back by Fantastic Four #33 per Saga of the Sub-Mariner #9.
It’s at this point that Thor and the Hulk end up duking it out separate from the rest of the group. See Journey into Mystery #112.
Topical References
The Teen Brigade is depicted using ham radio in this story. This should be considered a topical reference as ham radios are no longer a hobby for teenagers. Per Avengers: Origins #1-5, the use of ham radios in early Avengers stories have been replaced with the internet.