Wolverine/Hulk #3
Po's Story
A young girl named Po has recruited Wolverine and Bruce Banner to save her father from drowning in the lake. However, Banner can't see Poe and the lake in question dried out years ago. However, Bruce recalls Poe because she was the daughter of a colleague of his, Hank, who worked with Bruce on the gamma bomb project. He respected Poe's father because he believed in the project when nobody else did. When Poe was born, her father asked Bruce to be the godfather, although Bruce didn't have any interest in children he agreed. When Po grew old enough, Banner took a liking to the girl but after talking to her about death, he was disturbed when she developed a morbid curiosity with death. He then tells Logan about the day that Hank took his daughter on a flight on a vintage airplane. Their plane disappeared and their bodies were never found.
While Po listens in on their conversation while pretending to be asleep, she hears how Bruce talks about how he has lost so many people in his life that he is now numb to it. Po knows that she is actually dead and hopes her "Uncle Bruce" learns that she and her father are fine after dying. Meanwhile, Logan points out that Bruce's numbness to loss has kept him alive all of these years. However, he doesn't believe that Po or her father could possibly still be alive given how long it has been since they disappeared. Suddenly, in the middle of their conversation, they become aware of an impossible sight... a polar bear cub has wandered up to them. Suddenly, they are attacked by the cub's protective mother. Banner turns into the Hulk and with the gamma-spawned monster's strength, he is able to fight off the polar bear so that it takes its cub and flees. Suddenly, Po scolds them for screwing around, and the polar bear and its cub blink out of existence. She insists that they help save her father from the "lake", which apparently she cannot see has dried out.
The trio then goes to the center of the lake bed and Po tells them that her father is here. She tells the Hulk to help rescue her father or she will start singing again. Hulk begs her not to sing and agrees to help, while Logan wryly believes that he is in hell.
Recurring Characters
Wolverine, Hulk, Poe
Continuity Notes
Bruce Banner recounts the accident that turned him into the Hulk. This happened in Incredible Hulk #1.
Banner talks about all the people he has lost a lot of people in his life. He is specifically referring to his mother seen killed by her father in Incredible Hulk #377, his former sidekick Jim Wilson who died of an auto-immune disease in Incredible Hulk #320, and lastly his late wife Betty Ross who died in radiation poisoning in Incredible Hulk #465.
Continuity Errors
Wolverine states that the gamma bomb test that turned Bruce Banner into the Hulk happened over 20 years ago. This is not an accurate measurement of time at all, not even as a topical reference. Per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, the length of time between the gamma bomb test and this story is actually about 11 years of between stories.
