Synopsis / Summary / Plot
In The Incredible Hulk #1, Bruce Banner turned into the Hulk for the first time after being bathed with gamma rays from the first gamma bomb blast. What if Bruce's mind remained dominant of the Hulk's form?
Turned into a green-skinned Hulk, Banner goes searching for his gamma bomb docs in order to cure himself. But he finds Igor, the Russian spy responsible for the bomb's early detonation, searching for those same notes. The Banner-Hulk locks him in a room for the police to catch him. The spy sends a message to Russia informing of Jade Jaw's existence. The Gargoyle shows up, but Banner-Hulk convinces him to leave his villain ways. The famous physicist only turns into the Hulk at night. He fells in love with Betty Ross, who discovers his dual identity. They convince her father, General Thunderbolt Ross, that Hulk is not a menace to humanity. When the world learns the secret, the monster is accepted and not feared. As a happy couple, Bruce and Betty get married. Reed Richards asks Banner's help to cure Ben Grimm from being the Thing. After reaching success, Banner-Hulk gets back to his house. In the way, Loki tries to blame the Banner-Hulk in the destruction of a train. That would have caused Thor to battle him. But the Banner-Hulk doesn't fall into Loki's trap, thus preventing the formation of the Avengers. Later, Banner is invited by Richards to live in the Baxter Building, to assist him in his research. Professor Xavier decides not to form the X-Men and joins the world class scientists in their research. They create a device capable of detecting super-power beings. The emissions attracted Galactus, and Earth was in danger of being devoured by the cosmic god-like being. Using one of their inventions, the Psychotron, the 3 (three) heroes merged into a powerful being they called X-Man to attack Galactus. Suddenly, Ben Grimm entered the room and attacked the X-Man. But he was hit to a side. The X-Man attacked Galactus successfully. The cosmic giant leaves the Earth, thinking never to return. Battle won, the X-Man separates back into Bruce Banner, Reed Richards, and Professor Xavier. But they realize they lost their powers. Meanwhile, the energy from X-Man turns Ben Grimm into a savage Thing, as powerful as the savage Hulk from the real Marvel Universe. General Ross starts chasing him for life.