Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #295Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #295
Title: “Turning Point!”
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Art: Sal Buscema & Danny Bulanadi
Colors: Bob Sharen
Editor: Carl Potts
The Incredible Hulk returns to Earth with a brace on his leg and a crutch under his arm. Hulk snarls as he walks back out of the strange alien construct. The construct disappears and Hulk snarls at it some more. Hulk tries to remember the memories of his time on an alien world, but those memories fade, as most thoughts do, in the mind of the snarling Hulk. Hulk walks down a path. An elderly couple sees him coming. They recall hearing about how Hulk was a hero now. They remark on all the good he has done since he was pardoned. They see that he is hurt and go up to offer to help. Hulk swats the old man to the ground and says, “Raarrhh! Out of my way!” Hulk just leaps away. The elderly couple look up at him puzzled. The man says that he thought he was supposed to be a hero. Hulk leaps away from his adamantium statue.
Hulk leaps along trying to remember what he was doing. He thinks about curing Sirius the dog. He remembers Kate being kidnapped by Boomerang. He remembers being forced to perform his gamma cure on Max Hammer, a aging gangster. Hulk remembers Hammer telling him that Kate was at his penthouse. Hulk snarls as he remembers where he was going. He lands in the street and realizes that he has to find out where Hammer lives. He walks over to the phone. He struggles to remember the numbers needed to dial information. Trying to remember even the information he was trying to get seems impossible. He says, “operator? Need a number… where Kate is! With Boomerang, blast you… at Max Hammer’s penthouse!” Hulk finally gets the address and leaps toward his destination. The people on the street stare in shock.
Boomerang tells Kate to relax. He is sitting with his back to window. He says that as soon as Hammer calls to say that everything is okay that she will be home free. Kate asks what happens if he doesn’t call. She asks what happens if the cure doesn’t work for him. Boomerang says that he has kept his end of the bargain for Hammer breaking him out of jail. A green figure is getting closer and closer as Boomerang speaks. Boomerang says that if he doesn’t call that he is a free agent again, but that as for her that he has an old score to settle with the Hulk. Suddenly Hulk smashes through the window. The ground shakes as Hulk enters the room.
Suddenly, Boomerang goes hurtling out of the penthouse apartment.
Hulk growls. Kate runs up to him and says, “Bruce! You’ve found me!” Hulk just growls some more. Kate looks at him puzzled and says, “Bruce?”
Boomerang’s boot jets finally kick in
and stop his falling. Boomerang says that he is alive, but that
the Hulk was trying to kill him. He says that he wanted another
shot at Hulk, but that he wanted it on his terms. Hulk leaps
towards Boomerang. Boomerang throws three rocketrangs at Hulk,
but they never get to explode as Hulk swats all three out of the
sky. Hulk keeps coming and plows right into Boomerang. The two
fall out of the sky all the way to the ground. They hit with a
loud thud. Boomerang gets up in a panic. He says that Hulk is
crazy. He says that the only reason he is alive is because he
landed on top of Hulk. He says that he won’t be alive long
if he doesn’t get out of there.
Hulk grabs
Boomerang by the shoulder and spins him around to go face to face
with him. Hulk growls in his face. Boomerang tells him to take it
easy. He says that he didn’t harm a hair on Kate’s
head. Boomerang manages to bend forward just enough to avoid
having his skull crushed as the Hulk pounds him in the head. The
police run over and tell Hulk not to hit him again. They say that
they will take care of him now. Hulk lets out a loud growl. They
realize that Hulk means to kill Boomerang. One says to order the
big guns to come out, but Kate runs in and tells him not to. She
says that she is Banner’s associate and that she has come to
take him home. Hulk is still letting a low growl out as Kate
walks him along. Kate asks Hulk why he is acting so savage. She
says that he is behaving like the old Hulk. She asks where the
gentle genius that she loves is. As if from a great distance,
Bruce Banner struggles to answer and regain dominance.
Bruce is finally in control, and back in his regular body, as their taxi pulls up to Northwind Observatory. The cab driver says that this is his fifteenth fare to this destination today. He asks if they have come for the miracle sure as well. Bruce gets out of the cab and sees a line of the sick, lame, and blind people. Bruce walks up to a man and asks him what all these people are doing here. The man says that they have come him and his gamma cure. The man says that he is from the health department and that they heard rumors that Banner was here playing miracle worker. Bruce says that he just got back, but that someone is obviously using his machines without permission. Kate pleas with Bruce not to become the Hulk as he looks getting angrier. Bruce sees lame people walking. One says that her cancer is gone. A blind man says that he can see. Bruce says that these people don’t know what they are doing. He says that they don’t know the risks. As Bruce tries to get in, one of the men in line says that he has to wait his turn. He asks who he thinks he is. Bruce says that he is the man that they have all come to see. He says that this is his home and laboratory. He says, “I’m Bruce Banner. The Hulk!” Bruce changes into Hulk. Hulk swings his arm to shoo the people out of his way. Kate wonders again what happened that he is raging so much. She says that it is like his nightmares of reverting are coming true. She thinks how he will lose everything that he has finally gained. Kate pleads with Bruce. She says that they are just poor suffering people that have come for help. Bruce says, “Y-yes. Of course, Kate… of course!” Bruce grabs Kate and leaps into the observatory.
They land inside. Bruce sees Hammer using his machinery. Hammer says that Bruce had returned just in time to reap the rewards of his research. Bruce asks Hammer what he thinks he is doing. He says that he is a gangster not a scientist. Hammer says that he isn’t a gangster anymore. He says that Bruce has cured him of his cancer and his crime. Hammer say that his cure made him feel young and healthy for the first time in years. He says that he could have stole it and made a fortune, but that something made him just feel like sharing. Banner tells Hammer that he told him the cure was untested. Hammer says, “Who cares! It worked for me… and it’s worked for them!” Hammer motions to all the cured, yet green, people. Kate says that he is right. She says that all these people are cured and healthy. She says that the green skin is a small price to pay. Bruce says that he sees that, but that no one knows what the other potential, and possibly harmful, side effects will be. A voice says, “You’re wrong, Dr. Banner. I know.” Bruce turns to see Mr. Douglas. He is holding the dead body of Sirius the dog. Mr. Douglas says that they all thanked him for doing the impossible and curing their dog. Bruce says that the dog is dead now. He asks what happened, what went wrong. Mr. Douglas says that he was hoping that Bruce would know. He says that he came back hoping he would explain.
Mr. Douglas says that once they got Sirius
home that something changed in him. The kids wanted to play fetch
with Sirius, but Sirius just growled at them. He says that they
accepted that he would be green, but that Sirius had never been
mean before. He says that the dog wound up biting his son. He
says that his wife called him home from work early to deal with
the dog. Mr. Douglas says that he struggled with all his might to
drag the dog, by chain, into the cellar. He tells Bruce that he
tried to call him, but that he couldn’t get through. He says
that Sirius’ snarls made the kids cry all through dinner,
but that the snarls were nothing compared to the howling that
occurred when the sun went down. He says that he heard
Sirius’ chain snap and then listened as the threw himself
against the door again and again. 
He had his wife
get the kids back as Sirius smashes right through the door. Mr.
Douglas says that he was forced to gun down his own dog in front
of his family.
He says that he always questioned keeping a
loaded revolver in the house because he was worried one of the
kids would get to it, but that in this case it was the only thing
that saved his life. Kate wonders that if that happened to the
dog what will happen to the people who have been subjected
themselves to gamma radiation today. Bruce asks Hammer if he
understands why he wanted to proceed slowly. He says that he knew
how dangerous gamma rays could be. He says that they made him
into a monster after all. Hammer says that the newspapers
reported that those days were over. He says that is why he came
to him looking for a cure. He says that he thought Bruce had
everything under control. Suddenly something awful happens to
Hammer. He clutches his head and falls to the ground. Bruce asks
Kate if she sees what is happening, what he has done. He says
that he wanted to make a better future for mankind, but that all
he has done is make his fellow man as monstrous as him.
Hammer crawls
his way back up. He is much more muscular and lets out a guttural
roar. Bruce says, “May Heaven help me! May Heaven help us
all!”
No Excuses rating: 8 out of 10
I think the title says all one needs to know about this issue! The savage Hulk actually seems to be poking his head out for a little bit during the fight with Boomerang. Banner’s goals of curing the sick are dashed as Sirius and Hammer are reverted from healthy and happy to snarling and vicious. Two bizarre changes in this book. The switch from Ann Nocenti to Carl Potts at editor? In the middle of a story arc like this? And the switch of names from Max Stryker to Max Hammer, what’s up with that? I don’t really like Sal with Bulanadi as much as with Gerry. As the pictures will show, there are some really nice images that are produced from this combo, but there are other parts of the book that just seem sloppy. 3.5 out of 5 for the art.
Review and pictures by The Leader