Incredible Hulk #227
The Monster's Analyst
In an attempt to help the Hulk, Doc Samson has convinced Bruce Banner to undergo therapy. Watching this session are Jim Wilson, Clay Quartermain, pilot Spad McCracken and stage magician Kropotkin the Great. As the session is underway, Jim thinks back and recalls the aftermath of the Hulk's rampage through Desert State University. It was here that Samson suggested that the Hulk undergo therapy and that he can trigger a transformation with a gamma-epinephrine so that Banner can be turned into the Hulk without any anger involved. Samson returned Banner to Gamma Base and injected him. After Banner transformed into the Hulk, Samson then hooked him up to a machine called a Rem-Integrator that would allow Samson to see the Hulk's dreams.
At this moment, Samson enters the mind of the Hulk and they are brought to the image of a modest family home. Going up to the house and looking in the window they see a young Bruce Banner playing on the floor. Interested in a wall radiator, the infant reaches out and burns his hand. This causes phantom pain in the Hulk's hand and he lashes out, smashing the house to rubble. They then jump ahead to Banner's days in high school where he is mixing chemicals in a science class. The young Banner mixes the wrong chemicals together in a beaker and causing it to blow up in his face. When Banner is reamed out by his science teacher, the Hulk gets angry again and he slams his hands together to shatter this image. In the real world, as a side effect of the Rem-Integrator, Samson acts out all of the Hulk's actions in the real world. So when the Hulk slammed his hands together, Samson did the same thing, causing the observation window above them to shatter.
In the dream, Samson and the Hulk find themselves at the Gamma Bomb test that created the Hulk. As if on cue, the memory of Rick Jones coming onto the site on a dare happens. Although Doc Samson pleads with this imaginary version of Rick Jones, nothing can stop the fated events from happening. However, this time when the Gamma Bomb goes off, the Hulk takes control of the dream. The Hulk grabs the dream version of his alter-ego, Bruce Banner, and is about to smash him when Rick tries to stop him as well. When the Hulk tries to harm Rick as well, the Hulk is interrupted by the arrival of the Avengers. In this dream the Hulk is not only faced with Thor, two versions of Iron Man, Ant-Man, Giant-Man and the Wasp. As the Hulk smashes the Avengers, Doc Samson tries to take control of the situation.
Samson tries to restrain Hulk and asks him why he is attacking the Avengers, calling them the Hulk's friends. The Hulk says he hates friends, and when Samson inquires further suddenly more dream visions appear: Crackerjack Johnson, Yuri Topov, Filius Omen, Mogol, and Jarella, all those the Hulk considered friends who have died due to their association with the Hulk. When the Hulk tries to approach them, they suddenly disappear causing the Hulk to rage out of control. He is suddenly confronted by the image of Bruce Banner. The both come to blows and as soon as they strike each other the dream suddenly explodes.
In the real world, Samson inadvertently smashed the Rem-Integrator ending the dream sequence. With this most recent experiment a failure, Samson explains to the others that he discovered that Banner and the Hulk are two distinct personalities. Just then one of the Gamma Base scientists enters the room and tells Samson that there was a mistake and they gave the Hulk a high dose of gamma-epinephrine ensuring that Banner will remain the Hulk for at least a week.
Recurring Characters
Hulk, Doc Samson, Spad McCracken, Clay Quartermain, Jim Wilson, Kropotkin the Great
Continuity Notes
Doc Samson mentions how he once examined Bruce Banner's mind, back in Incredible Hulk #141.
One of portion of the Hulk's dream recreates the events that led to the creation of the Hulk, as originally seen in Incredible Hulk #1.
The Hulk's dream depicts the Avengers as they appeared when he first joined the group in Avengers #1 and when they began pursuing him in Avengers #3 after he quit the team in the previous issue.
The following friends of the Hulk appear in this story:
Crackerjack Jackson who met the Hulk and died during a battle with Hamer and Anvil in Incredible Hulk #182.
Yuri Topov was originally the Gremlin, he sacrificed his life so the Hulk could flee Russia in Incredible Hulk #1.
Fillis Omen first met the Hulk in Incredible Hulk #164, when the Hulk helped Omen get to the surface world the lack of pressure caused Omen's body to literally explode in Incredible Hulk #165.
The Hulk befriended Mogol in Incredible Hulk #127. In that same issue the Hulk destroyed Mogol when he discovered that he was a robot.
Lastly, the Hulk met and fell in love with Jarella in Incredible Hulk #140. She eventually sacrificed her life to save a young boy endangered during a battle with the Hulk in Incredible Hulk #205.
