Incredible Hulk #364
Countdown Abomination
It is dawn, and at the home rented by Bruce Banner, the Hulk begins to change back to his human form. The pain it causes makes the Hulk wish he could find a way to get rid of Banner so he would not have this sort of transformations. When Banner reasserts his control he finds himself on the floor. He curses the Hulk for not being more careful where he lets the transformation happen as a serious fall could cause seriously injure Bruce or worse. Banner goes outside to get the morning paper and narrowly avoids being struck by it as the paper boy's aim is off. He checks the newspaper like he has since Bruce returned in Las Vegas, for some sign of where his wife Betty or his friend Rick Jones might have gone after the gamma bomb blast in Middletown. What he does find is a newspaper article about how Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four is giving an address in Pheonix that evening.
Meanwhile, at the home of Philip Sterns the only person at the Yucca Flats nuclear research facility who knows Bruce Banner's true identity is visited by a strangely garbed lunatic calling himself the Madman. The Madman claims that Bruce Banner has ruined his life and demands that Sterns inject him with a poison that will kill him instantly. When Sterns asks if the poison will affect the Hulk, the Madman assures him that it will. Back at Banner's home, Bruce wakes up to discover that he has dozed off and is running late for work. As he rushes into work he notices a bunch of trucks number of trucks specially prepared for hauling nuclear material. When he arrives, Philip tells Bruce that he was late and should have called in sick. Watching men carrying in toxic waste into the facility, Bruce is interested in knowing what they are up to. Philip tells him that they are attempting to find a way to removing the toxicity of the material to render it safe. Bruce finds this interesting, they both thing that they could possibly use this to cure Bruce of turning into the Hulk. Philip claps Bruce on the back, secretly injecting him with the poison given to him by the Madman.
Outside, something comes rocketing down from the sky catching the attention of the facility's guards. Their bullets do nothing to stop the object and when it impacts into the facility. Suddenly, the Abomination comes falling in through the roof. Having come for the toxic waste on behalf of his employer, the Abomination easily tosses the guards aside. Seeing Bruce Banner among the staff, the Abomination instantly recognizes his old foe. As Banner tries to flee he suddenly feels his heart getting weak. When the Abomination catches up, Bruce believes he is having a heart attack and tells his foe this. The Abomination, not wanting to be robbed of finally destroying the Hulk, tosses Bruce into a gamma ray device and turns it on. As he fends off more guards, the Abomination waits for Banner to transform into the Hulk. This apparently saves Bruce's life as the Hulk smashes free of the device. The Abomination is shocked to see a gray Hulk instead of a green one, and this allows his foe to get the first blow.
They trade blows taking them across the facility, and the Abomination gets the upper hand. The Hulk begins to weaken and almost gets pushed into the path of a powerful laser. However, the Hulk manages to get enough leverage to push away his foe. Feeling his heart pounding, the Hulk realizes that somehow he has been poisoned. Before he can leave to try and find a means of curing himself, the Hulk is attacked by the Abomination again. The Hulk finally gets fed up with his foe and lures him into the room where the toxic waste is being stored. There, the Hulk smashes one of the bottles over the Abomination's head. The toxic material instantly begins eating through the Abominations strong skin, causing him so much pain he collapses on the floor. The Hulk doesn't have long to celebrate his victory either, as he is struck by another heart attack and keels over himself.
Recurring Characters
Hulk, Abomination, Madman
Continuity Notes
Bruce Banner mentions how he has lost track of his wife Betty, and Rick when he was caught in a gamma bomb blast in Incredible Hulk #345 that left the Hulk in control of his life for three months while he worked in Las Vegas. This left everyone believing that the Hulk had died.
Bruce also recounts the initial gamma bomb blast that turned him into the Hulk in Incredible Hulk #1.
The Abomination initially does not recognize the Hulk in his gray form. Banner started transforming back into the grey Hulk back in Incredible Hulk #324. Although the Abomination had recently saw Bruce Banner back in Incredible Hulk Annual #15 he did not witness him transform into the grey Hulk.
