Incredible Hulk Annual #10
Rarrrarghh
The Hulk wanders onto an Air Force base where they launch an air strike on him in attempt to keep him away from the ICBM launching silos there. The missiles used to attack the Hulk are misinterpreted by an unstable bunker monitor Captain Jamie Custer, who kills his CO and initiates a retaliatory launch on Moscow.
The missiles also trigger an unusual change for the Hulk, as Bruce Banner finds himself separated from his alter-ego and in the guise of Captain Universe. At first, he thinks his purpose is to put an end to the Hulk, but it quickly becomes clear he's meant to prevent the nuclear launch beneath their feet. Nonetheless, the Hulk's rage leads him to fight Banner, delaying him from using the Uni-power on the nuke. They follow the missile into space, where Captain Universe detonates it in a last-minute desperate attempt to prevent nuclear war.
He expects to die along with the Hulk, but instead, the Uni-power merges them back together. For a brief moment, Captain Universe contains both Banner's supreme intellect and Hulk's boundless power, and uses it to transmute the nuclear fallout before it can do any harm to the earth below. Banner later wakes up back on the surface, back to his cursed existence with the Uni-power departed.
Recurring Characters
Hulk, Captain Universe
Continuity Notes
Through his connection to the Uni-Power, Bruce Banner knows that it has previously bonded to others. The narrative of this story references Micronauts #8, 35 and Marvel Spotlight (vol. 2) #9-11. Regardless of this, the appearance of Captain Universe in Micronauts #35 chronologically takes place after this story.
In this story the President of the United States and the Chairman of Russia are depicted as Ronald Regan and Lenid Brezhev respectively. These appearances, as well the statement that the ruler of Russia is called a "Chairman" (as opposed the more modern Prime Minister), Russia being called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and all other Cold War references should be considered topical references per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.
