Nick Peron

View Original

Incredible Hulk #157

Name My Vengeance: Rhino!

Credits

Having returned from the Microverse, the Hulk just barely recalls his reunion with Jarella and its abrupt ending and struggles to understand why he is so sad. His return has not gone unnoticed as there is a ship in space piloted by some being that is very interested in what the Hulk is up too and begins initiating a plan of attack.

Meanwhile, at Project: Greenskin, Betty Ross, and Glenn Talbot begin rehearsing their wedding, with General Ross hoping that Glenn has better luck with Betty than Bruce Banner did. Jim Wilson is also in the audience, however, he feels like a traitor to Bruce by participating in Betty and Glenn's wedding and decides to cut out and hitches a ride with the next craft out of the base, destination: New Jersey.

While on the west coast, the unconscious body of the Rhino suddenly comes to life and smashes it's way out of the mental hospital he has been left in since his last defeat at the hands of the Hulk. The comatose body is drawn to a ship and is carried out to the station high above Earth. As it turns out, the station is controlled by the Leader, who is no immobilized following his last encounter with the Hulk. Hoping to get revenge against the Hulk once more, the Leader takes full control of the Rhino's body and has it dawn a new suit of Rhino armor and sends it out to destroy the Hulk.

The Hulk meanwhile has let his grief give into anger and he starts to go on a rampage through the area. His tantrum causes a traffic jam on the highway into Newark, New Jersey. Hitching a ride into the area, Jim Wilson spots the Hulk and manages to calm him down and stop his rampage long enough to get him to cover at an oil refinery. There the Hulk calms down enough to revert back into Bruce Banner. Jim tells Bruce the bad news about Betty and Glenn's upcoming wedding. Although Bruce accepts the reality, he can't help but feel a sense of loss and blames the Hulk for messing up his opportunities with Betty and struggles to maintain control of his temper.

They are then interrupted by the Leader controlled Rhino, who taunts Bruce and tells him that he intends on crashing Betty and Glenn's wedding. Bruce, not wanting to ruin the wedding by showing up as the Hulk tries to resist the urge to change into the Hulk. The final straw is when Jim attempts to stop the Rhino and is swatted aside does Bruce allow himself to transform into the Hulk.

The two clash and the Leader's superior intellect controlling the Rhino's body appears to grant him the upper hand. Battering the Hulk aside, the Leader controlled Rhino boards his ship with the intent of crashing Betty's wedding. The Hulk is about to bounce after him when Jim warns him not to follow, however, the Hulk doesn't listen and jumps after the ship anyway.

Jim has no other choice but to call General Ross at Project: Greenskin and warn him of the Hulk's approach. Although this greatly upsets Ross, he hides the truth when Betty comes to express her excitement of the coming wedding.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, Jim Wilson, Betty Ross, Major Talbot, General Ross, Rhino, The Leader

Continuity Notes

  • This story states that the Microverse realm of Jarella is hidden in the atoms of this world. However, that is not an accurate assessment. As later revealed in Fantastic Four #282, the Microverse is accessed through the process of shrinking that eventually causes one to shunt into another dimension that exists outside of this one.

  • Jim Wilson recalls how the Hulk was believed to have been killed following his battle with Hydra in Incredible Hulk #154.

  • The Leader recounts his last battle with the Hulk which occurred in Incredible Hulk #147. Although this crippled the Leader he is eventually cured of his condition following the events of Marvel Feature #11.