Incredible Hulk #316
Battleground
The She-Hulk is called to the New Mexico hospital where her cousin, Bruce Banner, has been placed since he was separated from the Hulk. She was called by Betty Ross, as the doctors at the facility need the next-of-kin in order to determine what to do next. Betty tells She-Hulk that they have a difficult decision to make that will determine if Bruce will awaken from his coma or not.
Meanwhile, reporter Dianne Bellamy is live on the location at Stoneridge, New Mexico, where the Hulk has been going on a rampage ever since he was unwisely freed from SHIELD custody by Doc Samson. With the destruction estimated in the billions of dollars, there appears that nothing can stop the Hulk. That is, until Iron Man and Wonder Man of the West Coast Avengers arrive on the scene. While the two Avengers have the element of surprise, they prove no match for a Hulk that is devoid of Bruce Banner's mind and hence, as Iron Man later deduced, truly has no limits to his rage. Back at the hospital, She-Hulk sits down with Doctor Fisher to learn that Bruce is in a catatonic state since his separation. However, Fisher wants to try a new experimental form of psycho-stimulation that may bring him out of his coma, but he admits that it could have the opposite effect. He leaves the decision of what to do up to her.
Back in Stoneridge, the Hulk is about to pound on Iron Man when he is suddenly attacked by the arriving Hercules and Sub-Mariner, who have been dispatched from the East Coast Avengers team to lend and assist. As the Hulk battles it out with the Sub-Mariner and Hercules, the end of the battle is nowhere in sight. Before Iron Man and Wonder Man can rejoin the fight someone tells them to stop. While at the hospital, Betty Ross meets up with She-Hulk while she debates what to do. She tells Betty how Bruce once saved her life. After she was shot by mobsters, Bruce gave her a life-saving blood transfusion. While his irradiated blood turned her into the She-Hulk she had never forgot how he saved his life. At that moment in Stoneridge, the man interrupting the Avengers battle is Doc Samson. He explains how he is taking responsible for the Hulk's most recent rampage and will not broker any interference. This leads to a clash with the four Avengers. However, the Avengers soon notice that the moment they started fighting Doc Samson, the Hulk appears to have forgotten about them and wandered off.
With the battle over for the nonce, Doc Samson explains his desire to stop the Hulk on his own. He manages to convince the Avengers to give him a chance, pointing out that if they continued fighting the Hulk they'd level half the state. The Avengers agree to let Samson handle things his way, but warn him that they will be watching very closely and will step in if Samson fails. While at the hopsital, She-Hulk and Betty agree to let Doctor Fisher inject his psycho-active drugs into Bruce. This causes him to suddenly wake up, and as he struggles with the drugs in his system he begins to normalize. Finally awake for the first time after his separation from the Hulk, the first person that Banner sees is his beloved Betty Ross.
Recurring Characters
Bruce Banner, Hulk, Doc Samson, Betty Ross, Dianne Bellamy, She-Hulk, Hercules, Sub-Mariner, Iron Man, Wonder Man
Continuity Notes
Bruce Banner is separated from the Hulk in Incredible Hulk #315. However, this separation proves hazardous to their continued existence and Banner is forced to merge with the Hulk again in Incredible Hulk #323.
She-Hulk recounts her origins as they were originally depicted in Savage She-Hulk #1.
