Hulk 2099

John Eisenhart is from a possible future of the Marvel Universe.

2099 Unlimited #1 – John Eisenhart is a Concept Hunter working for Lotusland Studios. His research takes him to Lone Mountain home of the Knights of Banner where he tries to secure the concept rights to be able to make a movie about them. When Eisenhart fails to convince them, he switches to a different tactic and befriends a youth named Gawain from whom he gets information. Through him he learns that the Knights named themselves after the Hulk who for them is a symbol of power and the persecuted wild man. He also learns that the Knights are experimenting with Gamma rays in order to create a new Hulk. John calls the Lotusland security force, Sweet Dreams to turn them in. At the scene of the arrest the Knights refuse to stand down quietly and so Sweet Dreams forces open fire. John launches himself between them hoping that his standing in the way will prevent bloodshed but instead they continue firing. An angry Gawain runs from the slaughter to activate the Gamma device and kill them all. John chases him and instead takes the brunt of the blast himself. When he awakens he transforms into the Hulk. Six days later John returns to work and is ironically assigned the job of learning about the appearance of a savage creature stalking the desert. While researching in order to find out what Sweet Dreams knows about the Hulk he discovers another kill order. As the Hulk he races to rescue of Quirk, a struggling singer who writes songs without the use of subliminal messages. The Hulk and the Sweet Dream police engage in a huge battle culminating with Hulk defeating them and leaping away with Quirk.

2099 Unlimited #2 – John finds a lead to where Gawain is being held and travels with Quirk to find him. The trail takes them to the Sweat Tech, a virtual reality Sports Center. Very quickly they uncover that it is more than that. Sweet Dreams soldiers are there transporting the boy who when he hears John’s voice begin calling him a murderer. John’s anger gets out of control and he turns into the Hulk. Sweet Dreams escape with the boy and the Hulk battles the Mall Security. Quirk jumps on his back and the two escape by running into the unsupervised zone of the mall. There the two run and fight mall trolls and maniac mannequins. Hulk begins to suspect that the mall above is a cover for a underground lab that is experimenting on people. Jumping down a trap door, Hulk and Quirk find Gawain as he is being interrogated by henchmen working for the Programmers. When Hulk demands that they hand over the boy the lab’s self destruct is activated. Hulk has to choose between saving Gawain or Quirk, he choose Quirk hoping that somehow they would have a way to get Gawain out. The lab detonates and the only survivors are Hulk and Quirk.

2099 Unlimited #3 – A nuclear explosion in the desert states forces refugees to try and cross the canal that separates California from the continental USA. The Hulk appears on scene to rescue the refugees from the automatic guns hidden beneath the surface. Suddenly a water-based being rises from the canal, the Water God, and begins to attack Hulk and the refugees he brought ashore. As Hulk and the Water God fight, the being reveals he was created by eco-terrorists obsessed with protecting California’s resources. Hulk leads the Water God up a nearby mountain until the cold temperatures freeze his body and then with one hit shatters him to pieces.

2099 Unlimited #4 – The search for Gawain leads John San Francisco where a lab funded by the Church of Thor is experimenting on evolution. There he and Quirk find a rampaging “hulkish” being known as Sigurd. John observes that the Thorites are rushing to Sigurd thinking that to be massacred by him is to gain entry to Valhalla. John leaps into the air and changes into the Hulk. While Hulk tries to reason with Sigurd, Quirk inspects a gold medallion that Hulk ripped off of him. As Sigurd pounds on Hulk, Quirk signals to him and reveals to all what is hidden in the medallion, a document revealing that he is in fact a failed evolutionary experiment. This enrages Sigurd even more and the Hulk is forced to kill him.  

2099 Unlimited #5 – John rushes to his apartment because he suspects that his superiors at Lotusland know about his using their resources to track Gawain and that they may have discovered Quirk. When he arrives, he instead finds a message from his sister, Marian, saying that she is being held for ransom. As the Hulk he barges in on where Marian is being held and is shocked to discover that his sister was cooperating with her captors. Hulk is suddenly attacked by Vulx, another mutated human. The battle between the two brings the entire building down. Vulkx arises from the rumble and holds onto Marian. Hulk explodes in rage and lashes out on Vulx who manages to stab Hulk with one of his extra appendages. Marian realizes that Hulk is in fact her brother John and uses her imagecaster to deceive Vulx into believing Hulk is dead. Hulk then punches Vulx and buries him underneath rumble from the destroyed building. Confronting his sister Hulk learns that Vulx and his crew contacted her because they wanted information from John and offered to pay her. Hulk gives her John’s credit card and promises to tell her about the changes he has gone through, one day.

2099 Unlimited #6 – Thanks to information acquired by Quirk, the Hulk has been able to trace Gawain’s to a Mr. Gold who is running underground genetic experiments. The trail leads them to the Wharf. There John and Quirk are ambushed by genetically altered humans who are picking up candidates for more experiment. Vulx reappears and knocks the Hulk out. The two are taken before the Golden One. He is revealed to be a genetically engineered being created by scientists to be the perfect being. After destroying them he began a crusade to destroy all the “accidentals,” referring to people who are born the usual way. The Golden One then appeals to Hulk’s dislike of his human form. The Hulk accepts his offer to join the Golden One and he is taken to where Gawain is so that he can extract from him the secret to creating more Hulks. Hulk releases Gawain and reveals that his joining was a ruse. The Golden One and Hulk fight until the Golden One suddenly bursts into fire and destroys the building with his flames. Hulk escapes together with Quirk and Gawain. From the ashes the Golden One observes them leave and swears that his dream is far from dead.

Hulk 2099 #1 – Some time has passed since his previous adventures, Quirk has been driven away by John’s emerging anti-civilization personality, and John is preparing to entrust Gawain to a Health Cult that will see to his safety. Before he can do that he travels to Lotusland in order to cash out his money from his job. There John discovers there has been a regime change and someone else has bought the company. Dr. Phil, the companies Mood Management Expert reveals that the new investor has an interest in John and so he interrogates him. John recaps the events leading up to the gamma explosion and of course hides the fact that he is the Hulk. Draco, the new owner, and his forces begin butchering all the employees and John decides it is time for him to leave. Draco’s men chase him and he unwittingly leads them to Gawain. The troops are about to shoot John when Gawain jumps and pushes him out of the way. The shots cause an explosion and bury John and Gawain. When John emerges he finds Gawain dead. Turning into the Hulk, he attacks Draco.

Hulk 2099 #2 – Hulk and Draco continue to battle until Draco uses Keisha to force him to back down. Using a cerebral overload, he knocks Hulk unconscious. When the Hulk awakens, Dr. Phil has been assigned to dig into his mind to learn everything about him. As Dr. Phil tries to probe his mind, Hulk appeals to the crowd of employees waiting to find out if they will be kept or killed and incites them to rebel. A Crowd Control robot begins to massacre the rebels and Hulk frees himself in order to fight it. Hulk quickly defeats it and then begins to trash the studio. Draco briefly fights Hulk but leaves when he realizes that the studio is no longer worth the effort.

Hulk 2099 #3 – Zamora, the leader of the employee rebellion against Draco, consults John about a new primitive religion that is becoming popular among the citizenry. John doesn’t trust their leader, the Cybershaman, however Zamora doesn’t quite trust John. Later, as the Hulk, Zamora tells him how he plans to unite Lotusland with the Cybershaman and an army of tribal warriors that are forming in the streets. Hulk observes that Quirk has joined the warrior Human Tribe and leaves to search for her. Hulk finds her on the run. Hulk intervenes and suddenly the Human Tribe begins to exalt him as the liberator. Hulk leads the Human Tribe to their meeting with Zamora and they are quickl;y joined by the Shaman in holoform. Shaman reveals that he is the real leadership behind the Human Tribe and that his ultimate purpose is shutdown the city so that chaos can reign. He offers Hulk the chance to oppose the chaos or take charge of it.

Hulk 2099 #4 – The Hulk begins to sway under the Shaman’s argument that chaos is what he truly wants. The Shaman is disabling all the vestiges of civilization that Hulk has fought against. However Hulk refuses to submit realizing that the Shaman just wants to replace the corporate tyrants with himself. Hulk begins to attack the rampaging Human Tribe. Attempts to call Shaman out from his holographic disguise fail and so Hulk approaches the only man he thinks can find Shaman, Draco. After getting his location, Hulk raids a deserted church. There he finds a solitary old man who turns out to be the real Shaman. The Hulk is forced to battle a protective droid who occupies him long enough for the Shaman to disappear. Hulk is left ponder whether he is dead or if he escaped. Hulk returns to Quirk and the Lotusland crew where Zamora decides to take leadership of Lotusland.

Hulk 2099 #5 – Hulk finishes a battle against some Locusts, a gang of troublemakers trying to burn the city, and then goes to Lotusland for a meeting John has on its leadership council. When he arrives, Keisha is running out of the board room. Inside, Quirk fills John in that Dr. Apolinio, head tech at Lotusland, was explaining a discovery he made to use gamma rays to control people’s minds when suddenly Keisha pulled a gun to try and take the technology away. Suddenly John notices that everyone in the room begins to act strangely and Dr. Apolinio discreetly exits the room. John is suddenly filled with aggression towards Zamora and his poor handling of leadership. He heads to Keisha to get her on his side but catches her with a gun heading to kill Quirk. He tries to stop her as John but gets shot. The pain forces him to change into the Hulk and thus manages to save Quirk. Hulk realizes that Apolinio’s gamma mind control is in effect and is exaggerating everyone’s personality. He confronts the doctor in his lab only to find that he calls himself Doctor Apollo. Apollo blast Hulk with gamma rays and he begins to mutate physically as well as become savage in his personality.

Hulk 2099 #6 – Hulk has mutated into a dinosaur sized creature obsessed with doing whatever he wants. Keisha and Quirk begin to fight over winning the Hulk to their side. Hulk tosses Keisha aside and throws Quirk over his back. Zamora attempts to join them thinking he can be the artistic guide for the chaos however Hulk is jealous of Quirk interest in him and so he throws him into the streets below. Apollo begins to feels the effect of the gamma rays as well as he becomes fixated with knowing how much he can push his powers. Keisha convinces Hulk that Apollo is controlling him and so Hulk lashes out at Apollo. The increase in radiation sends Hulk fleeing as he tries to think. A struggle between John and Hulk begins and John’s mind wins. John fights Apollo one on one. Eventually John uses Apollo’s own obsession with knowing everything to convince him to reverse the effects. With everyone back to normal, John begins to ponder on the growing gap between his mind and the Hulk’s and how he is becoming a separate personality.

Hulk 2099 #7 – Doom has taken over American and the Lotusland crew disagree on the next action they should take. Keisha is all for Doom and thinks that they should push the mind control gamma tech. Zamora and Quirk are all for making a VR movie about a century old revolutionary. John is just worried that they should do something before Doom begins to restrict free speech. As John takes a walk on the streets he observes aerial devices appearing in the sky. Believing them to be some kind spy device sent by Doom, he transforms into the Hulk and attacks them. Afterwards Hulk heads back to the studio and catches Zamora and Quirk making love. The next day Doom addresses the nation explaining that the aerial devices EMP designed to clean the air. The Lotusland people don’t trust Doom and so the Hulk stands guard making sure none appear above Lotusland. Despite Doom’s promise to clean the air, the EMPs instead begin to make the climate worse. After four days Hulk grab Dr. Apollo and has him see if he can disable the EMPs. The one they are on suddenly begins to launch upwards into the sky under the direction of Draco.

Hulk 2099 #8 – As the Hulk and Dr. Apollo skyrocket towards space, Draco attempts a second take-over. Back on the EMP, in desperation Hulk rips outs the power system and the platform begins to crash. Quickly Apollo tries to fix the system in order to stop them from hitting the floor. Instead the platform crashes on top of Draco’s forces and thus breaking their fall. Draco holds Quirk and Zamora hostage and runs with the. Hulk is ready to battle Draco when Doom’s army shows up and sends Draco fleeing. Zamora reveals that he called Doom in exchange he will give him the mind controlling gamma device. In a fit of rage Quirk walks away.

Hulk 2099 #9 – The Hulk observes as Lotusland hands over the mind control technology. When he tries to stop it, Zamora and Keisha order him away. As John, he returns to his apartment and ponders the recent developments until he gets a call from his sister, Marian. Marian tells him that something is happening among the Locusts but she is cut off. John decides against going to her rescue and instead returns to Lotusland. There he arrives in time to see Doom losing his patience with Zamora who is obviously not happy with the deal he made. Keisha offers herself as a replacement. John intervenes and tries to balance things out. He suggests that Zamora be kept for his artistic ideas and that he and Keisha handle the administration side. Zamora refuses to work for Doom and lashes out at John who promptly shoots Zamora with a gun. Elsewhere the Golden One and Draco unleash a force to battle the Hulk, the Anti-Hulk

Hulk 2099 #10 – Zamora struggles to reach Quirk and tell her about John’s defection. Quirk quickly realizes what is wrong with John and journeys to Lotusland to confront him. She finds him unresponsive but when she threatens to kill herself he suddenly turns into the Hulk. It becomes clear that John and Hulk have become two different people. With Quirk in hand Hulk heads for the gamma device. After stealing the device, Hulk finds his sister lying nearly dead in the streets. She tells him about the bomb the Locusts have and their plans to ransom the state with it. Hulk then drops in on the leader of the Locusts to convince to give up the bomb. The Anti-Hulk suddenly appears on the scene and attack the Hulk. The Locust leader arms the bomb anyway and the explosion causes a massive earthquake. Rumble begins to fall everywhere and some of it crashes on top of the gamma device and thus activating it. A huge gamma explosion turns California into a wasteland. From the ashes rises a mutated Hulk.

2099 A.D.#1 - Hulk catches a Lotusland crony hitting on Quirk. After bullying him away Quirk chastizes him for being overly protective of her. Pondering on how maybe he should just leave Quirk alone, he recalls a legend he once heard from the Knights of Banner about an alien jar that could restore life. Hulk decides to search for the jar in order to bring back Gawain. Searching the desert, Hulk comes across a lone woman asking for food. Hulk offers her help not knowing that she is Polymre of the Theatre of Pain. Polymre bites Hulk and he falls unconscious. He awakens captive in the Theatre of Pain and they begin to probe his mind for all the pain and suffering he has endured. They find the memory of Gawain and his desire to bring him back with the jar. However the theate has the jar and intend to use it to resurrect one of their own. Meanstreak, Ghost Rider, and Halloween Jack arrive also to claim the jar but are quickly captured. Punisher the arrives and frees them all. Free, the Hulk helps the other heroes defeat the Theatre members but not before they use the jar to resurrect their dead member. The resurrection is a short one as Punisher quickly kills the woman. The heroes then depart empty handed.

2099 A.D. Apocalypse - In the aftermath of a coup that deposes Doom from the presidency of the USA, Hulk makes his last stand at Independence Hall in Gammadion formely Lotusland, California. An army of SHIELD foot soldiers arrive on scene and riddle him with shots from an identified weapon. The Hulk falls dead.

Issue summaries and cover scans by Victor Cardigan

Character image by The Leader

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