#igor drenkov

From Hulk & Doctor Strange #001

“Gray Dawn on Bleecker Street”, by J. Michael Straczynski (W), Germán Peralta and GURU-eFX (A)

"The Hulk" by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby

Ooh, #1 issues are always exciting and today it's time to recap Incredible Hulk (1962)!

Our story begins with Dr. Bruce Banner and his associate Igor about to test their gamma-bomb. Igor is complaining that Bruce hasn't shared the deets of the gamma ray with him when General Ross walks in and tells them to hurry the heck up. Luckily, his lovely daughter Betty steps in to cool everybody down:

They get ready to launch the bomb, but as Bruce is looking out at the test site he sees a kid driving a car right in the danger zone and leaps into action! Meanwhile, Igor is about to prove himself a bad bitch by pressing the button to fire instead of delaying the launch. Bruce manages to get the boy to safety just in time but is hit with the bomb's rays himself and radiation fried!

That didn't look too comfortable...

Bruce comes to back inside the lab, looking surprisingly good for a dude with major radiation poisoning. He and the boy, whose name turns out to be Rick Jones, wait in a room with two cots for something to happen. And something does!

Wait...hang on. The Hulk was originally blue??

Okay, I'm over my shock. The Hulk smashes his way out of the facility and Rick follows since he feels indebted after Bruce saved his life. Soldiers soon come looking for the Hulk and christen him with that name as seen below:

The Hulk, retaining vague memories from his life as Bruce Banner, smashes his way into a cabin where he kept the gamma ray formula. Once inside he finds none other than that bastard Igor trying to steal it from him!

Hulk totally wastes Igor and in the process upends a flask which had the gamma ray formula taped to the bottom. Rick grabs it for him as Hulk sees a photo of himself as Bruce and freaks out, saying he was weak and he's glad he transformed. Just then, though, the sun comes up and with its rays Hulk turns back into Bruce.

Funny, I didn't realize Hulk was some sort of vampire.

The army arrives along with Betty, who supposedly wanted to come apologize for her father's behavior earlier.

Once she leaves, Bruce angsts over potentially becoming the Hulk at sundown again. But that might be the least of his worries, because Igor might be in jail now but that doesn't mean he can't still scheme with his... thumbnail!?

The Russians send word to the Gargoyle, who they all seem to be afraid of. I wonder what his powers are aside from a funny-looking head.

The Gargoyle manages to make his way to the US via rocket just in time for Bruce to change back into the Hulk while driving a jeep with Rick. Hulk wants to go see Betty, and it seems she has Bruce on her mind as well. She wanders outside but faints at the sight of the Hulk.

Unfortunately there's no time to deal with that, as the Gargoyle opens fire using bullets that will supposedly make Hulk his slave. He captures Hulk and Rick and brings them all the way to Russia, but on the way not only do the bullets' effect wear off, Hulk turns back into Bruce!

This is a total wtf moment for Gargoyle, and it turns out he's not one to keep his cool. In fact, he is totally jealous that Bruce gets to be normal at all, and they strike up a deal.

The Gargoyle gets a normal-sized head and also turns on his mother country. He blows up some Russian soldiers along with himself, but not before he sends Bruce and Rick back to the US in another rocket.

“You fool! Nobody has checked your work! If you’ve made an error, you might blow up half the continent!! I oughtta--”

“I don’t make errors, Igor!”