Odds & Sods

Doc Samson continues to interview the Clown of the Circus of Crime. The costumed villain is recounting his last encounter with the Hulk in Las Vegas. He explains how the Circus of Crime's former leader, the Ringmaster, set the Hulk against him and how they captured the gamma-spawned brute. The Clown had come up with the perfect way of getting rid of the Hulk, only he didn't take every detail into account...

In the morning following the Hulk's capture, Marlo Jones answers a knock on her door. She meets Katherine Spar, a scientist working at Hulkbuster Base who asks to speak to Bruce Banner. Marlo invites the woman in and explains how she sent Bruce to deal with some thugs she was going to do a casino heist job from. However, she hasn't heard from Bruce since and don't know where he might be. Suddenly, she gets a call from an old friend who tells Marlo something shocking. The two women head down to the Three Rings Casino. The two women head down to the casino where they are running bets on what the Hulk will do while in Vegas. Marlo deduces that someone associated with the Three Rings has Bruce prisoner somewhere. Given that the casino is circus themed, she has a pretty good idea who it is. At that moment, in the Circus of Crime's dressing room, the Clown is furious that someone leaked that they have the Hulk as their prisoner, and demands to know who had talked. Nobody owns up and he tells them that he has a plan, but right now they need to focus on the show they are about to perform.

Meanwhile, Marlo and Katherine have managed to sneak backstage and manage to find Bruce Banner, who has been drugged and chained up in a cage. While Marlo tries to wake Bruce up, Katherine has a more scientific way to wake him up: a shot of adrenaline. While out on the casino floor, the Clown goes to the betting window and puts 50k on the Hulk trashing the circus. At that moment, Katherine injects Bruce with the adrenaline. As Bruce wakes up, he tells Marlo that he misses his wife. He's upset when Marlo pulls Katherine away while they wait for the drug to trigger a transformation into the Hulk. At that moment the Circus of Crime begins putting on their show the adrenaline kicks in turning Banner into the Hulk. The Hulk comes smashing through into the arena and incapacitates the Human Cannonball, Princess Python, and the Great Gambonnos.

The Hulk then chases after the Clown who tries to flee on a scooter, but the Hulk smashes it. When the Clown pulls a gun on the Hulk, the gamma-spawned monster easily swats him aside. Before Katherine Spar can convince the Hulk to stay, he leaps up off into the desert. Soon, General Ross is on the scene and is less than happy that Spar went after the Hulk alone and let him getaway. The General then orders his troops to mobilize to hunt for the Hulk. At that moment, the middle of the desert, the Hulk has turned into Bruce Banner. As he begins to succumb to the beating sun, Bruce is knocked off his feet by the arrival of the Hulk's one-time foe, the Amphibian.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, Doc Samson, Marlo Jones, Katherine Spar, Circus of Crime (Clown, Great Gambonnos, Princess Python, Human Cannonball), General Ross, Amphibian

Continuity Notes

• Bruce Banner mentions how his wife Betty is dead. Betty appeared to have died in Incredible Hulk #466. Her killer is revealed in Incredible Hulk #473-474. However, she will turn up alive again in Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #62.