Anybody Out There Remember... The Cobalt Man?

The Hulk is on a rampage in New York City, fighting off the police officers and military who have arrived on the scene to stop him and then escaping through the sewers. The Hulk surfaces in New York harbor and stows away aboard a special ship finding a specially made radiation shield within, the Hulk smashes through it and enters the cargo hold where he falls asleep and reverts back into Bruce Banner.

The ship is owned by scientist Ralph Roberts who is going on a mission to pilot the ship through a nuclear blast. When his brother Ted hears of this he attempts to stop him, but Ralph punches his brother out and tells his driver to put him in a nice hotel. Ted revives on the car ride and bails out and sneaks aboard the vessel. Finding the smashed radiation shield, Ted finds Bruce Banner sleeping on the ship. Realizing that they are both stowaways, the two decide to rest together and hide out. However, when Bruce has a nightmare about the Hulk he wakes up screaming alerting the ship's crew of their presence. They are brought to Ralph, who is less than impressed that his brother is aboard the ship but is surprised to see Bruce Banner aboard. Because it's too late to turn back, Ralph takes them both down below deck to tell them what is going on.

He tells Bruce that he previously created a suit of Cobalt armor, and briefly clashed with the X-Men as the Cobalt Man during a period of insanity. He then explains that he has developed a new Cobalt Man suit and that he intends to use it while traveling in the path of an H-Bomb about to be tested out in the Atlantic.

The leader of the nation in question that is testing the bomb is visited by Colonel Armbruster, General Ross, and his daughter Betty Talbot who warn him of the dangers of nuclear radiation, however the leader balks at the dangers telling them that the bomb is already loaded on his plane and they are going to test it one way or the other. As the plane flies off to drop the bomb in the ocean, Ralph orders everyone to go below deck to be protected by the ships radiation shielding. Realizing that Ralph is up to something Ted tries to stop him, but Bruce tackles him just as the bomb goes off. While Ralph is bombarded with radiation from the h-bomb, Ted is shielded by Bruce's body.

Apparently fine, Ralph begins to glow with energy and quickly makes a break for another room, knocking all the crew in his way. Suddenly, Ralph smashes his way back above deck in his Cobalt Man armor. He begins going on a rampage on the ship, prompting Bruce to transform into the Hulk and fight back. As the two powerhouses clash, their fight takes them below deck and damages the ship to the point where it begins taking water. As the Hulk fights Cobalt Man, the radiation he is exposed to begins transforming him back into Bruce Banner, but not before he smashes Cobalt Man through the ship's hull into the water below causing the ship to flood even more. As Ted and the crew abandon ship, the Hulk reverts back into Bruce Banner and passes out just as the ship begins to capsize into the ocean.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, General Ross, Betty Ross, John Armbruster, Ted Roberts, Cobalt Man

Continuity Notes

• The two sailors mention smuggling operations that took them past the Cuban Blockade and trading in Haiping Harbor in China. At the time this story was published there were trade embargos against both Cuba and China due to the then current Cold War. Since then trade between China, Cuba and the United States has gotten less restricted. As such these references should be considered topical references per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.

• Ralph Roberts mentions his brief stint as a super-villain and his battle with the X-Men from X-Men #31.

• This story heavily implies that the government testing nuclear weapons is France. At the time of this story, France had just left NATO in 1966. France has since rejoined NATO in 1996 and no longer tests nuclear weapons. As such this should be considered a topical reference as well.

Continuity Errors

• Cobalt Man states that he heard "unverified reports" that Bruce Banner was the Hulk. Which is a strange thing to say since Banner's double identity has been public knowledge since it was exposed by Rick Jones in Tales to Astonish #77.