Hulk #9 — Nick Peron

Mar 2

Mar 2 Hulk #9

Chip On My Shoulder

The Thing is talking about his constant clashes with the Hulk, admitting that the Hulk has an edge over him due to the fact that his strength is proportional to his anger. Despite this, the Thing won't rest until he finds a way to take the Hulk down....

In an abandoned mine somewhere in Appalachia, Archer Leopold is bringing jugs into his secret moonshine still and is shocked to discover that someone has broken into his stash. Looking around he finds who is responsible: the Hulk. It gives him such a fright he trips over and is pinned under a broken support beam. He asks the Hulk to help him up, but the Hulk is leery, telling him he doesn't trust humans because they always attack him. Arch tells the gamma-spawned monster that he has no love for humanity either. Since the Hulk isn't moving to help him, Arch frees himself. But this loosens another piece of old wood, but the Hulk catches it before it can strike the elderly miner and war veteran. Leopold says that this calls for a drink and takes the Hulk into his secret stash. The old man then shows the Hulk his moonshining operations and realizes that the Hulk isn't much of a talker. Not far away, the Thing is searching for the Hulk in the Fantasti-Car using a gamma-ray scanner to try and find his foe. Ben has been outfitted with a device that will allow him to teleport the Hulk to SHIELD for containment. Tracking the Hulk to the moonshiner's cave, he thinks that the Hulk is harming Archer and attacks. In reality, the elderly moonshiner was only trying to put out an ember that landed on his pants. When the Thing tries to carry Leopold out of the mine, he tells the Thing to let go of him. This angers the Hulk who knocks the Thing aside and carries Arch outside. When the Thing follows him, the two start brawling and it's then that Leopold notices the device on the Thing's wrist. Before Grimm can activate the teleporter, the Hulk uproots a tree and knocks the Thing away. Arch tries to warn the Hulk about the device, but the gamma-spawned brute picks up his friend and they leap away together.

It's at this point that Tyrannus makes another attempt to take control of the Hulk. When Arch's bad lungs prevent him from breathing up high, the Hulk deposits his friend on the ground. With Tyrannus in full control, he leaps back and unleashes his full fury on the Thing. The battle takes them to a construction site just outside of the mine, but nearby barrels of radioactive waste interferes with Tyrannus' connection with the Hulk. He demands that his minions do something, and they suggest that instead of trying to reach out to the Hulk, they should try to bring him to them. Meanwhile, the Thing tries to talk sense into the Hulk, but the Hulk is more interested in fighting. Their brawl takes them into a cave and down into a secret shaft. The battle is abruptly ended when the Thing is suddenly teleported away. This is thanks to Arch, who managed to steal the Thing's teleportation device and use it to send him away.nWhen Archer tries to talk to the Hulk, the brute doesn't recognize him and knocks him away. Arch gets a good look at his reflection in the water and is surprised to discover that he has become young again and believes it must have been something in the water he fell into, unaware that this is the very Fountain of Youth that Tyrannus uses to keep himself young. The Hulk is exhausted from his whole ordeal and sits down. As he falls asleep, he reverts back into Bruce Banner, much to the surprise of Archer. The two are soon found by Tyrannus and his minions and taken prisoner.

Back at Pier Four, the Thing continues to talk about his feelings about the Hulk. He can't help but be disturbed by how savage the Hulk was this time around. Finishing what he has to say, the Thing thanks Reed Richards for listening to him. However, this is not the real Richards, but a stone bust which Ben talks to so he can get things off his chest without having to hear any of Reed's "five-dollar words".