D is for Dog

After kidnapping Betty Ross, the Hulk finds himself face-to-face with Iron Man, who has been hired by the military to stop the rampaging monster. When the Hulk refuses to let Betty go, the armored hero blasts the Hulk with his repulsor rays sending him flying into a nearby rock outcropping. As Iron Man checks to see if Betty is okay, he is distracted long enough for the Hulk to recover and attack him. As he beats on Iron Man, he tells the hero to go back and tell General Ross to leave him alone. When the Hulk turns around and tells Betty that she's safe now, she scolds him for kidnapping her and demands to know what the Hulk wants. Before the Hulk can explain himself, Iron Man flies in and grabs the brute and flies off. Iron Man then tries to fly up into the upper atmosphere hoping the creature will pass out from lack of oxygen. However, the Hulk isn't going without a struggle and begins pounding on Iron Man's arm, forcing him to let go. The Hulk plummets to the ground below and lands in a nearby lake.

As Iron Man makes a pass of the lake, the Hulk swims up and grabs is leg and throws him into the water, shorting out his armor thanks to the damage sustained to it earlier in the fight. Iron Man pulls himself out of the water, shocked by how the Hulk survived a fall from such a height. Before he can get his bearings again, Iron Man is swarmed by the Hulk. Thinking that he is fighting a robot, the Hulk continues to pound on the downed hero. Trying to get the Hulk to see that he is fighting a man and that he might kill him, Betty rushes to the two combatants to try and stop the fight. However, the Hulk is swinging back to land another blow and accidentally clips Betty with his fist, the force of the sends her landing head first into a rock, cutting her forehead and drawing blood. Seeing that Betty is injured and discovering the blood, the Hulk bellows in sorrow and then leaps off with her to try and get help. Soon the military arrives at the scene. When one of his men says that Iron Man needs medical attention, Ross tells them that Tony Stark can deal with it and orders his men to press on before the Hulk's trail grows cold.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, Doc Samson, Betty Ross, General Ross, Iron Man

Continuity Errors

• Iron Man is depicted as wearing his original armor after he painted it gold, circa Tales of Suspense #40. However, for this story to fit into chronology, it must take place just after Tony Stark returned to the United States (as seen in flashback in Iron Man #268) following the events of Tales of Suspense #39. This is because by the time that Iron Man next clashes with the Hulk, as seen in a flashback in Savage Hulk #1, the Hulk is now green and Iron Man, while still wearing his original armor, had not yet painted it gold. As such, this is a continuity error based on technicality.

• Leonard Samson is surprised to hear of this early encounter between the Hulk and Iron Man, and finds a cover-up hard to believe. However, Samson should already know this because he was part of a court trial that revealed that at least one other battle between Iron Man and the Hulk was covered up by the military, as seen in Savage Hulk #1.