Incredible Hulk #262

Feb 12

Feb 12 Incredible Hulk #262

People in Glass Houses Shouldn't Hurt Hulks!

Bruce Banner has washed up on the shore of Malibu, California, where he is found by a mysterious albino woman named Glazier and her dog Snowstar. She revives him with CPR and he thanks her for saving his life before passing out again. When Bruce wakes up again, he finds himself inside Glazier's home, which is made entirely out of glass or white objects. She takes him on a tour of her home and he is impressed to see very life-like glass sculptures, which she explains are her own creation. She says that she wants to sculpt him in glass as well. Banner agrees, but the look of pure horror on one of the glass statues makes him uneasy.

He stays with Glazier for over a month, wondering when she is going to sculpt him. She then invites him into her studio room. He is surprised to see that it is entirely made of glass. Glazier then explains that she has the power to turn people into glass, so long as it's under the light of the full moon. She then goes on to say that she has been turning men into glass statues ever since a man broke her heart. Now, she intends to have a statue of Bruce Banner while he is in mid-transformation into the Hulk. When she tries to touch him, Banner begins transforming into the Hulk.

Snowstar tries to attack him, but the Hulk throws the dog at his owner. Glazier reflexively shields her face, touching her beloved pet and turning it into glass. She is horrified as Snowstar shatters upon impact. Furious, she rushes at the Hulk vowing to turn him into glass after ruining her scheme. However, the weight of the Hulk in the room causes its fragile glass to shatter sending both Glazier and the Hulk into the ocean. As she falled, Glazier touches herself, turning her own power upon herself, leaving her trapped as a glass statue at the bottom of the ocean.

Interlude:

In New York City, Rick Jones and Betty Ross use their Teen Brigade network to track the movements of the Hulk. Learning that the brute is back in the Untied States they begin mobilizing to track him down. To assist, Rick has called in a favor from the Avenger, Iron Man. In turn, he has Tony Stark's employee Scott Lang come and deliver some wrist-mounted communications devices that Rick intends to hand out to the other members of Teen Brigade, increasing their communications capabilities.

Interlude:

Following an election, Congresswoman Ruth Messinger packs up her things as she has lost her seat. After she says goodbye to her secretary, Ruth bumps into General Ross in the hallways of Congress. Ross has come out of retirement to assist in dealing with the Hulk. Ruth warns him that if he thinks that the United States Government is going to start funding Gamma Base again, he is in for a rude surprise.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, Rick Jones, Betty Ross, General Ross, Scott Lang, Ruth Messinger

Continuity Notes

Rick Jones continues to use Ham Radios and obtains wrist radios for Teen Brigade. The technology used by Teen Brigade should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timsecale of Earth-616.

This story states that a United States election had just occurred. This story was written just after Ronald Reagan had just been recently elected as President of the United States. The last time a Presidential Election was depicted was in Howard the Duck #8. That story was published in 1977, per the Sliding Timescale, that happened roughly a year before this story. As such the reason for the political change should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale.

Rick mentions how the Avengers owe him a favor after he saved the world once. He is referring to how he used the Destiny Force to stop the Kree-Skrull War in Avengers #97.

Foundling!

Bruce Banner's tranquil time in Los Angeles is soon broken when he crosses paths with a boy named Mark Sarkan who is fleeing from his parents. He calls for help, but Dr. Andrew Sarkan and his wife subdue the boy and inject him with a sedative. Banner tries to intervene but they insist that the boy is their son and that he has a mental illness. As it turns out, Dr. Sarkan is the man he was seeking a medical assistant and Banner was hoping to apply for the job. Forced to accept the situation because he needs the work, Banner decides to pay close attention to find out the truth.

Bruce manages to get the job as Sarkan is not overly concerned about references. Banner's job consists of monitoring and keeping Mark sedated, something that the Sarkan's insist is required.

One night, Banner is woken up by the sound of screams and rushes out into the hallway. There he witnesses Dr. Sarkan being tossed out of a room. He asks what's going on and he admits that their "son" Mark is actually a shape-shifting member of the Dire Wraiths. He tells Banner how the alien ship carrying the boy crashed in their backyard one night. The entire crew except for the Wraith child were killed in the crash. Although they were initially horrified by the alien child, when it takes a human shape, they decided to adopt it.

However, as "Mark" inched closer to puberty, his alien heritage started coming to the fore, including knowledge of his true identity. The boy, now calling himself Kattan-Tu, attacks Banner, triggering a transformation into the Hulk. The Hulk battles the Wraith, who tries various alien forms to fight off the gamma-spawned brute. However, the Hulk proves too powerful, he subdues Kattan-Tu long enough for Dr. Sarkan to inject a sedative, causing him to revert back into Mark again.

When the Hulk calls Mark a monster, the Sarkans chastise the Hulk for this, telling him that he has a lot of nerve calling their son a monster. Furious and more confused than ever, the Hulk leaps away in order to get away.