Hulk (Vol. 2) #35 — Nick Peron

Mar 16

Mar 16 Hulk (Vol. 2) #35

Red Planet Hulk (Part Two)

The Omegex arrives on the planet Earth and begins searching for the Red Hulk, whom he has been programmed to destroy. He scans the planet Earth, causing panic worldwide, but finds no trace of the Red Hulk...

... Who has just become the Red King of the planet Tiran after defeating Warlord Warka. His first duty as king is to stop the royal wives from killing each other, telling them that they can both be his brides. His advisor, Allehk, questions why the Red Hulk is spending so much time learning the history of this world instead of devising a way of destroying their enemies the Hedzek of planet Randaa. Suddenly, their village is attacked by Hedzek warriors astride the massive serpentine Hydrekas, powerful creatures that can breathe fire and cause massive destruction. The Red Hulk easily defeats this army, single-handed, and tells his new subjects to not kill their foes, as they will need to study them while plotting their counterattack. That evening, the Red Hulk begins planning strategy for the coming battle. He sends some of his soldiers to recover the ship that brought him from Earth. During some downtime, the Red Hulk tells Alturi and the others about what it is like on his world and how it is run by a democracy, vastly different from the survival of the fittest of Tiran. Alturi points out that while they may be primitive they pay attention, noting that the strange energy that brought the Red Hulk here has reappeared in the sky. The Red Hulk tells Alturi that he hadn't noticed, causing the wise man to grin, as he knows better.

The following day, on Randaa, King Bellusk is informed that his warriors are returning across the inter-planetary slipstream that allows travel between worlds. However, these are not the Hedzek warriors, but the Tiranians in disguise. Hiding in the mouth of one of the Hydreka is the Red Hulk. Once they are close enough, the Red Hulk orders him to attack. The Red hulk easily defeats Bellusk in battle. He then tells both races that their war is over, citing the legends of a king from the skies. He tells them that he has proven that he is the king of prophecy, and tells them that they will cease fighting each other and form a unified society. With his decrees, his warriors return with the ship that brought him to Earth. Taking Bellusk with him, the Red Hulk leaves Alturi in charge and is taken out to the stars. He passes through the portal telling Bellusk that he is taking him to Earth. However, the disposed of warrior king tries to fight himself free. As they pass through the energy barrier, the two struggle when suddenly Bellusk and the ship disappear.

The Red Hulk soon finds himself before Yruku the Watcher. Yruku explains how Uatu, the Watcher of Earth has been acting erratically after the Red Hulk struck him. He recounts how Uatu attempted to lure the Red Hulk into a black hole, then later observed the rebirth of the Omegex knowing that the Red Hulk's latent energy signature would prompt the doomsday weapon to track down and try to destroy him. With the Omegex approaching Earth, Yruku created the portal in space in the hopes of recreating history wherein a Hulk is exiled into space. However, this proved unsuitable and Yruku had eliminated this scenario, telling the Red hulk that it doesn't exist in history. The Red Hulk is returned to Earth orbit where he is reunited with the NASA astronauts who he ventured out with. As they tether the Russian ship and bring it back to Earth, the Red Hulk questions if the events of the past few days even happened.