TITLE: The Incredible vol. 2, issue #322
YEAR: August 1986
COMPANY: Marvel Comics
Written and Drawn by Al Milgrom
Lettered by Joe Rosen
Colored by Max Scheele
Edited by Bob Harras
Supervised by Jim Shooter
During the mid-80s, “The Incredible Hulk” was no doubt one of the coolest comic books from Marvel and 1986 would feature the splitting of Bruce Banner and the Hulk and would lead to a storyline featuring the Gray Hulk (the original), who would stay gray from December 1996 through February 1991.
The splitting of the Hulk and Bruce Banner unfortunately was not helping either of them because as Bruce Banner is dying, Hulk is getting weak.
For Bruce, he desperately wants to end green Hulk and that means he must die. And he begs his wife Betty to kill him, but she can’t do it.
Hulk has now gone on a rampage and destroyed the town of Jericho. Everyone is displaced and he is out of control.
Unfortunately, the Avengers and the West Coast Avengers are left with a decision, they may need to kill the Hulk.
As news crews arrive to cover what will become an incredible battle, the military arrive but agree to Captain America’s terms of holding back and being back up if the Avengers can not stop him.
And so, the battle begins with the Avengers and West Coast Avengers vs. the Hulk, while Bruce Banner pleads to Betty to kill him. As she turns to Rick Jones about what her husband is wanting, Rick tells her that this may free Bruce from the hell that he has been living all these years. But will Betty allow for her husband to be killed?
Of course, there’s no way the Bruce Banner/Hulk will be dead but considering that “Civil War II” would revisit the notion of what if Bruce Banner was killed, would the world be better?
Granted, back then, there was one Hulk (and of course, there was She-Hulk) but now there are numerous Hulks, so things have gotten a little out of hand in the Marvel Universe with too many Hulks being created. Granted, I kind of like the Red Hulk, Amadeus Cho Hulk, Weapon H Hulk and more.
Nevertheless, the Hulk would eventually become the Gray Hulk and Marvel would run with this original Gray Hulk character for years to come.