Incredible Hulk #261
Encounter on Easter Island!
After his battle against Glenn Talbot in Japan, the Hulk has been swimming in the Pacific Ocean trying to find his way back home. However, the man-monsters limited capacity causes him to get lost for days. Eventually, he washed up on the shores of Easter Island. Exhausted from his travels, the Hulk falls asleep on the beach and reverts back into Bruce Banner. There he is found by the Absorbing Man who has been hiding on this island in a paranoid state since his last battle against the Avengers. He recalls how he was forced to flee, changing into water to get away in the Hudson River. However, this spread him apart and it took all his effort to pull his form back together but it had a negative impact on his mind. Now afraid of "Them", Absorbing Man picks up Banner and carries him away.
While in New York City, Rick Jones has re-established Teen Brigade and is using them to track the movements of the Hulk so that he can help him. Having set up an apartment in a hotel on Times Square. He is soon visited by Betty Ross, and he shows her how Teen Brigade has been tracking the Hulk's movements. Betty then informs Rick that her ex-husband, Glenn Talbot, was killed trying to destroy the Hulk. Betty breaks down when telling this, realizing that while she was married to Talbot, she still loved Bruce Banner -- the man trapped inside the Hulk.
Back on Easter Island, the Absorbing Man takes Banner down into a trench but loses his footing. The tumble wakes Bruce up, but he realizes he has no choice but to follow the Absorbing Man when he notes that he is mentally unhinged. Creel forces Bruce to go into a tight tunnel which is partially under water to get to the Absorbing Man's hiding place inside a cave. Trapped with this lunatic, Banner notes the bredth of his abilities. This gets him thinking about the people of Easter Island and how they were beset by invaders. Looking around he finds that skeletons of those slaughtered thousands of years ago in the caves with them and decides that he needs to get out. He waits until the Absorbing Man falls asleep and tries to sneak out through a tunnel out. However, the tunnel had shifted while he was waiting and is now stuck. To make matters worse, the Absorbing Man had woken up and chased after him.
The panic triggers a transformation into the Hulk, who smashes free from his entombment. Seeing the transformation into the Hulk, the Absorbing Man recognizes the Hulk from a previous battle. He then believes the Hulk is one of "them" and attacks. During the fight, the Absorbing Man decides to absorb the properties of the entire island and begins to grow in size. However, the Hulk knocks Absorbing Man into the ocean, the sudden impact with the water -- after absorbing the properties of the molten core below the island -- causes the Absorbing Man to turn into a man-shaped island. With his enemy defeated, the Hulk notes that the island is peaceful and decides that he will stay there... for now.
Recurring Characters
Hulk, Teen Brigade (Rick Jones), Betty Ross, Absorbing Man, Glenn Talbot (Corpse)
Continuity Notes
The Absorbing Man's battle against the Avengers was chronicled in Avengers #183-184.
Rick Jones is depicted usign a Ham Radio to contact the members of Teen Brigade. The technology used by Teen Brigade is a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. For example, in Avengers #1 they were depicted using Ham Radios, while when this story was retold in Avengers: The Origin, they were depicted as using the internet.
This story confirms that Glenn Talbot died during the events of last issue. He is briefly resurrected during the Chaos War many years later in Incredible Hulks #619-620. The apparent resurrection of Talbot during the Fall of the Hulks event was actually a Life Model Decoy.
Betty mentions how she was once married to Glenn, that happened in Incredible Hulk #158. Their marriage was troubled and the eventually filed for divorce in Incredible Hulk #238.
