Incredible Hulk #335
The Evil That Men Do!
A young woman named Adria Wagner wakes up in the middle of the night with the sense that something is in her room. Looking under her bed, she is shocked when a man in a wide-brimmed hat and long finger nails comes out from under her bed. Her shock is turned into utter horror when this man, this stalker, uses his long fingernails to slash her eyes, blinding her. The girl climbs out her bedroom window and attempts to flee down the street. With her pursuer following behind her the girl meekly calls out for help. That's when Adria Wagner bumps into the Hulk. Unable to see what her would-be savior looks like, she begs him to help her from the monster, a request that the Hulk finds somewhat amusing. The Stalker orders the Hulk to stand aside from the woman or face the consequences. While the girl begs the Hulk to help, the Stalker tries to convince the Hulk that as a creature as hideous as he is, they should destroy something so pretty as the Wagner girl. While the Hulk finds the prospect interesting he decides against it. It's at that moment a police car arrives on the scene and interrupts the exchange. The Stalker suddenly vanishes leaving the Hulk to deal with the cops. As Adria runs to their side, the Hulk laughs at the officers threats. He isn't afraid of them hurting him and demonstrates his strength by punching off the top of a fire hydrant. Convinced that he proved himself to the officers, the Hulk leaps off, warning them that they wouldn't like him when he's angry.
The following morning gas station attendant Gil Jeffers is filling up a customer's gas tank when he learns about what happened to Adria Wagner. Although he expresses that the news it terrible, his overall persona gives the customer the creeps. While at the hospital, a concerned Bruce Banner is posing as a doctor to learn what he can about Adria's attacker. The only thing he can glean is that the Stalker called her "Addy-Addy", a nickname which the weird gas jockey Gil Jeffers used to call her. When the girl asks how someone could be so evil, Banner tries to explain it to her but his words are not as soothing as she'd hope. Bruce then leaves the hospital before he can be caught by the actual staff.
By this time, Gil Jeffers has gotten off work and follows his usual routine: buying a bunch of booze and renting a stack of horror films. He is lost in his thoughts, thinking about how he is a loner and justifying his love to drink and indulge in violent entertainment. The whole time he is unaware that Bruce Banner has been tailing him the whole day and now watches from outside his window. As Gil begins watching a movie based on "Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde" he begins to pass out. As night begins to fall, Banner transforms into the Hulk and witnesses as the Stalker suddenly materializes in the middle of Gil's living room. When the Stalker exits Jeffers house he bumps into the Hulk. Before a fight can break out, the Stalker explains how he terrorizes those he believe are deserving of his wrath. To prove his point, the Stalker convinces the Hulk to take him to a nearby by. There the Stalker points out four men who raped a woman and thanks to their mutual alibies got away with it. The Stalker brags about being able to take all the men at once and the Hulk calls him on his bluff.
The Stalker then goes crashing into the bar and attacks the men, maiming them with his long fingernails. He then invites the Hulk in to partake in the killing, the Hulk contemplates this and decides that he will. However, the Hulk is actually turning his rage toward the Stalker himself, having decided that he doesn't like the man. The Stalker is frightened of the Hulk and tries to flee. As he exits the bar police arrive on the scene and the Stalker steals their car. Frantically trying to flee the scene, he cannot avoid the Hulk when he leaps into the path of the squad car. The Stalker bails out at the last minute and then runs back to Gil's house to try and wake up his host. However, Gil is too drunk to wake up and soon the Hulk catches up. With nowhere to run, the Stalker begs for his life, but it's all for naught as the Hulk rams his fist straight through the phantom killer.
The following day, Bruce Banner is skulking around the hospital again just as Adria Wagner who is being released from the hospital. She has some small hope after her ordeal: there is a new experimental surgery that may allow doctors to restore at least some of her sight. Overhearing that Gil Jeffers is now in the hospital as well. Banner goes up to visit him and finds that Gil is in a catatonic state, having been consumed by his own evil.
Recurring Characters
Hulk
Continuity Notes
Gil Jeffers is depicted as renting VHS tapes and watching his movies on a VCR. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.
