The Day The Earth Turned Green"

Bruce Banner's most recent attempt to cure himself of being the Hulk has backfired when he discovers that the benefactors have turned out to have alterior motives. Strapped into a chair to try and work himself up into a transformation into the Hulk, Bruce bombards himself with images of New York City, particularly it's water supply. Suddenly, his old classmate Rikky Keegan comes rushing into the room with an army of Humanoids to try and stop Bruce. Rikky insists that Bruce is being paranoid, but it is too late to stop the transformation. The Hulk then begins trying to fight his way to freedom when the Leader enters the room and orders the Hulk subdued. Looking at the pictures on the screen, the Hulk remembers that he has a mission and tries to smash out of the facility. It turns out that the Hulk is aboard the Leader's satellite and plummets to the city below. Although they have lost the Hulk, the Leader is certain that his plan will go ahead unimpeded.

Days later, the city of New York is afflicted by a mysterious "green plague". It starts with people's skin turning green, then they become incredibly ill before passing out. The final outcome of the disease is unknown and the city is in the midst of a panic. The mayor of New York places a call to Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four and learns that the team has been afflicted by the mystery illness. Reed informs the mayor there is nothing more he can do, but he has forwarded all his medical research to a nearby hospital in the hopes that those who are well enough can find a cure. At the hospital, Doctor Donald Blake has summoned the aid of Doctor Stephen Strange. Although Strange doesn't practice medicine, his expertise is welcomed from the man who is secretly the thunder god Thor.

Meanwhile, at Empire State University, Peter Parker is conducting his own private investigation into the illness to find a cure as well. His research is interrupted by commotion outside. Looking out the window and sees the Hulk on the rampage. Changing into the Spider-Man, Peter makes a connection between the Green Plague and the Hulk. Rushing outside, he asks the Hulk for a blood sample, but the man-monster is not willing to comply as he has his own mission to comply with. He recalls how Bruce Banner sought out the aid of Rikky for help only to be led into the clutches of the Leader. The Hulk snaps back to reality and knocks the Hulk aside, with his own symptoms worsening, Spider-Man passes out allowing the Hulk to flee the scene.

At that moment, the mayor checks in with the Avengers, who have their best minds on the job to try and find a cure. As Yellowjacket and the Beast put their biological expertise to work, an alert comes in about the Hulk being sighted. The team begins to wonder if the Hulk is somehow connected when Yellowjack suddenly begins showing symptoms. Meanwhile, the Hulk has reached Central Park where he recalls more memories from when he was Bruce Banner: How the Leader and Rikky experimented on him, how the Leader convinced Keegan that Banner is paranoid. Lastly, the Hulk recalls how Bruce managed to escape and later discovered that the Leader is somehow tainting the water supply. The Avengers suddenly attack, and although they have the advantage of surprise, they soon begin to start losing the battle as the Wasp, Iron Man and the Beast begin to succumb to the Green Plague.

While aboard the Leader's satellite, Rikky suddenly feels ill and then transforms into a gamma-irradiated being like the Leader. The Leader explains how he has deceived her and intends to taint all the water on Earth to create a race of gamma-powered beings. In the Leader's new world order he theorizes that there will be three different species: a class of beings like the Hulk, a class of warriors like the Abomination to be his army, and beings like the Leader who will be the ruling class. Back at Central Park, the Hulk fights off the Avengers and rips open a passage to a water filtration system. There the Hulk finds the device that the Leader is using to contaminate the water. When the unaffected Avengers finally catch up to the Hulk, they notice the strange device as well and realize that the Hulk is trying to stop the plague from spreading. The Leader then sends his Humanoids down to try and stop them and while the Hulk battles the Humanoids the Avengers work to take down the device tainting the water. While aboard the Leader's satellite, Rikky is horrified by what the Leader proposes to do and uses her mental powers to destroy the gamma genes that they harvested from the Hulk and shuts down the Humanoids.

With his plan in shambles, the Leader teleports himself and Rikky to the water treatment plant. There he decrees Rikky unfit to be his mate and administers a cure. The Hulk then attacks, knocking the Leader into the swirling waters below and disappears. With Rikky slowly changing back to normal, the Avengers believe they can synthesize a cure for everyone. The Avengers are surprised that they have the Hulk to thank for finding a cure.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Wasp, Wonder Man, Beast, Vision, Jocasta, Yellowjacket), Leader, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Donald Blake, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Edwin Jarvis

Continuity Notes

• The Mayor of New York City is depicted as Ed Koch. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.

• The Avengers mention how the Hulk used to be a member of their team. He was a founding member back in Avengers #1. His membership was short-lived as he left in the following issue.

Unus Unchained!

Doc Samson is attending a seminar called "The Alienated Mutant in our Society". To punctuate their point, the organizers have brought the mutant criminal known as Unus the Untouchable and brought him up in shackles. As Doc Samson hopes that they can keep the evil mutant contained, Unus uses his powers to break free from his shackles. The guards are easily dispatched by Unus.

Doc Samson then tries to fight off Unus, he becomes victims of his powers. After a few failed attempts to get at his foe, Samson starts using his head instead of his fists. Noting that Unus' powers redirect any attacks with equal force, Samson then uses his own strength to knock Unus off his feet by punching the ground. When Unus falls to the ground, his powers bounce him up into the sky.

Samson repeats this a few times, warning Unus that if he does not surrender he will hit him with enough force to send the mutant flying into space. Not wishing to take any more punishment, Unus shuts off his powers and surrenders himself to the police.

Recurring Characters

Doc Samson, Unus the Untouchable