Rampaging Hulk (Vol. 2) #3
Ravage!
General Ross and Major Talbot have brought a team of soldiers to the scene of Desert State University where the Hulk has last been sighted. They believe that Banner may have come here to try and find a cure for his condition. In case they have to face the Hulk, they have brought the newly constructed Cryo-Inducer device to put the gamma-spawned monster into a state of suspended animation. Although they are looking for the Hulk, Glenn Talbot believes that the Hulk must have turned back into Banner.
Talbot's deduction is correct, as Banner is rushing back to the home of his colleague Professor Geffrey Crawford following a recent transformation into the Hulk. Crawford had used his telepods to grant himself gamma-spawned powers, becoming Ravage whom the Hulk had fought the previous evening. When he arrives at Crawford's home he discovers that Crawford had changed back to human form at daybreak and has reverted back to his human form, and lost the use of his legs as a result. Carrying the Professor back into his home, Bruce believes that Geoffrey's transformations occur at night, much like he did when he first became the Hulk. Crawford remembers everything that happened as Ravage and revels in the power. When Bruce suggests that they reverse the process, Geoffrey refuses to do so, enjoying the power and mobility that Ravage brings him. When General Ross and Major Talbot come knocking, Crawford tells Bruce to hide in the basement. However, when Geoffrey lets the two soldiers in, he rats Banner out. Bruce is caught off guard and hit with a tranquilizer dart before he can transform into the Hulk and is taken prisoner. With Banner out of the way, Professor Crawford looks forward to sundown when he becomes Ravage once again.
At Gamma Base, Bruce Banner is locked up in a cell where he is kept sedated. He is visited by Betty Talbot, and seeing the love of his life he tells her to go away. When she tells him that she still cares about him, he reminds her that she went and married Glenn Talbot, the only man her father ever approved of. As he begins to slip into unconsciousness again, he tells Betty to just leave him alone. Up on the surface, Betty asks her husband Glenn if they can take a vacation. Glenn is receptive to the idea but wonders if this vacation is for them, or if it is so she can get away from Bruce Banner. That evening, Banner is woken up by General Ross who has just received reports of a green monster on a rampage in Navapo. Banner tried to warn them that this was Crawford, and agrees to help contain and cure him, but only because innocent lives are at stake. Back in Navapo, Ravage is going on a rampage, wrecking the small town. While Glenn Talbot and his forces confront Ravage, Banner takes General Ross to Crawford's lab where he shows them the telepods that allowed Geoffrey to replicate the Hulk's powers in himself.
However, before they can get to work repairing the pods, Ravage arrives to destroy the machines. This triggers a transformation in Banner into the Hulk. The two fight it out, but their brawl begins to damage the structural integrity of the building. When it is about to collapse, the Hulk pulls General Ross to safety as it collapses on Ravage. When Ravage pulls himself on the rubble he is ready to resume his battle against the Hulk. However, before Ravage can attack, Glenn Talbot and his troops arrive and freeze him with the Cryo-Inducer. When Glenn suggests they use the device on the Hulk, General Ross hesitates long enough for the Hulk to destroy the device and leap away. In the aftermath, Ross wonders if he subconsciously hesitated because the Hulk had saved his life earlier.
Recurring Characters
Hulk, General Ross, Major Talbot, Betty Ross, Ravage
Continuity Notes
This series is stated as happening "six years ago", this measurement of time passed in the Modern Age between stories published in 1998 and roughly around Incredible Hulk #209 per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.
This story takes place during a period of time that Betty Ross was married to Glenn Talbot. The couple got married in Incredible Hulk #158. From the perspective of this story, the pair have been married for roughly a year. After a troubled marriage, the couple get divorced in Incredible Hulk #238 roughly a year after this story based on the Sliding Timescale.
Banner mentions how he used to transform into the Hulk at night, this was the case when he first became the gamma-spawned brute in Incredible Hulk #1. This status-quo quickly changed in the following issue.
