Giant-Size Incredible Hulk #1
A Mighty Raging Fury!
Fred Sloan is conducting interviews for his book about the Hulk, which he hopes will educate people on his one-time ally and how he is merely misunderstood. His first interview is with Kropotkin the Great, a stage magician who was briefly allied with the Hulk. At first, Sloan is almost fooled into believing that a mechanical duplicate of the Hulk is really his friend, but Kropotkin explains that it was something that they were throwing away around the time he left Gamma Base. Getting into the interview, Kropotkin explains how he first encountered Bruce Banner when he ended up renting out the magician's former apartment. This led to his brief association with the Hulk and his then-sidekick Jim Wilson. However, the magician states that the staff at the base kept him separated from the Hulk, particularly when he was being psychologically examined by Doc Samson. He was eventually removed from the base for being a security risk. Since Kropotkin hasn't seen the Hulk since, leaving Fred to believe that the magician only associated with the Hulk for his personal gain.
Elsewhere at a Cowabunga Burger restaurant, Bruce Banner is waiting in line to place his order when some masked men attempt to rob the place. When Banner warns them not to harm anybody he is hit in the stomach with the butt of a gun. This makes Bruce angry and he turns into the Hulk and quickly dispatches the crooks. Seeing tables full of abandoned food, the Hulk claims it as his own and begins gorging. The owner of the restaurant then offers the Hulk a complimentary bag of food if he leaves. The gamma-spawned monster then snatches the bag and leaps away.
At that moment, Fred Sloan is now interviewing, David Anderson retired soldier who worked at the Los Diablo Missile Base during the time Bruce Banner first became the Hulk. Anderson blames himself for the birth of the Hulk since the accident happened on his watch. Had he done something to prevent Rick Jones from getting onto the test site. He also discusses the eyewitness account of the Hulk. When Fred asks him about the change in the Hulk's skin color from gray to green, Anderson cannot confirm the change, only telling Sloan that when he first saw the Hulk for himself, the creature's skin was green. As Fred continues his travels to interview people who encountered the Hulk, the subject of his book encounters some campers in an RV whose path has been impeded by a bear. When the Hulk scares off the bare, the couple in the RV continues to blare their horn at him and he smashes the front end of their vehicle before leaping away. At that moment, Fred is interviewing Ray Moran. Moran explains how he was a successful salesman until the Hulk landed on and crushed the front end of his car. Nobody believed that his car was wrecked by the Hulk and that subsequently ruined his career and his entire life.
Later, at the Daily Grind coffee house, Rick interviews a barista named Maria who remembers the Hulk fondly. She recalls how when she was ten years old and the Hulk saved her school bus when it was stalled on a railroad crossing with a train heading for it. Nobody saw the Hulk but her, and she has considered him a hero ever since. Fred is happy to hear someone has a positive story with the Hulk and he relates to his own personal experience how the Hulk saved him from some local toughs who tried to beat him up in a bar and their subsequent adventures together. Later on, Fred is driving through the San Mingo Mountains while on the phone with his agent. Remembering how the Hulk said this was a place he liked to go to be left alone he decides to go and check it out. There he finds a group of protestors who are against the clear-cutting of the area. Suddenly, the Hulk comes crashing onto the scene and smashes all the construction vehicles. Fred tries to stop the Hulk, but his van is wrecked. He rushes out and reminds the Hulk that they are friends, however as the gamma-spawned monster hears sirens he flees the scene, leaving Fred behind.
After clearing the emergency room from injuries, Fred meets with his agent to discuss the book. His agent finds his most recent encounter with the Hulk frightening. When he sees that his book is going to be used to sensationalize the Hulk as a menace, he feels sorry for Bruce Banner. Elsewhere, Bruce wakes up on the California coast. Pulling himself off the beach he goes to a nearby store and buys a change of clothing with traveler's checks and resumes his endless wanderings with nothing but the looming presence of the Hulk eclipsing his tragic life.
Recurring Characters
Fred Sloan, Hulk, Kroptotkin the Great
Continuity Notes
Kropotkin the Great glosses over his time with the Hulk the details are as follows:
With regards to their first encounter, this all came together during a period in which Bruce Banner was renting an apartment in New York City that was previously rented by Kropotkin in Incredible Hulk #208. He was evicted for not paying his rent and his landlord, April Sommers, took possession of his personal property as repayment. Ultimately, Kropotkin came back for his things leading to his first encounter with Banner in Incredible Hulk #214.
He later joined Jim Wilson in tracking the Hulk back to Gamma Base in Incredible Hulk #225. Kropotkin's recounting of the incident at Desert State University was from the following issue. His presence during Doc Samson's psychological evaluation of the Hulk in Incredible Hulk #227.
The magician's recounting of how he was deemed a security risk, necessitating his departure from Gamma Base, occurred in Incredible Hulk #238.
David Anderson recounts a number of events that were first depicted in Incredible Hulk #1. Reference is made to the fact that the Hulk's skin color changed from gray to green. While his skin was gray in Incredible Hulk #1, it turned green in the following issue. As explained in Incredible Hulk #377, the two versions of the Hulk are physical manifestations of Bruce Banner's multiple personality disorder.
Fred Sloan recounts his first encounter with the Hulk from Incredible Hulk #231 and glasses over how the Hulk rescued him from the Secret Empire as seen in Captain America #230 and Incredible Hulk #233.
