Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #297Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #297
Title: “Sleep, My Child… and Peace Attend Thee All Through the Night!”
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Artists: Sal Buscema & Gerry Talaoc
Colors: Bob Sharen
Editor: Carl Potts
Hulk is walking. He is holding his head with one hand and smashing a rock with the other. Hulk asks what is wrong with him. He says that he can’t remember where he is going or where he has been. Hulk stomps away from a town that he has just destroyed.
In the sky, Kate Waynesboro is catching a ride with a fellow SHIELD agent, Gabriel Jones. A squad of SHIELD flyers follow them. Gabriel, with Kate, puts in a request from the Helicarrier. He asks if he is supposed to capture or kill. Kate asks how they can kill him and that the Hulk is Robert Bruce Banner. She says that when she agreed to find him that they never mentioned killing him. Gabriel says that things have changed recently. He says that Nick Fury is no longer running the show, and that as the Hulk her boyfriend plays awfully rough. Gabriel watches as he flies by the civilian suffering that the Hulk has caused. They land in the destroyed town.
Kate says that she can’t believe this. She says that she came back to SHIELD because Bruce Banner needs help reversing the process that made him a monster. She says that all they care about is hunting him down and destroying him. Gabe says that she was an agent once. He says that perhaps if she had contacted them before the destruction began. Kate says that it all happened so fast. She says that she tried to call Bruce back, but she was too late. Gabe puts his hand on her shoulder. He says that she loved him very much. Kate says that she still does. Gabe says that Kate has to understand his position. He says that the world is at war with the Wraiths. He says that people are panicked and that it won’t take much to send them stampeding. He says that now that the Hulk is on the loose that SHIELD has two problems on two different fronts. The people ask SHIELD if they are there to help them rebuild their homes. Gabe says that he isn’t. He asks Kate how he can tell these people that he is going to let the Hulk go. He says that they all hoped that Bruce would escape his nightmare. He says that he is sorry that he didn’t, but that he has a job to do.
Hulk walks along
in the dark. His head is filled with nightmarish dreams that
never give him a moment’s rest. Hulk shouts and hits a tree.
Deer and rabbits run. Hulk turns and his foot pivots on some
loose soil. He slips and rolls down the hill. He keeps falling
until he lands face first in a small body of water. Hulk gets up
furious. He sees his reflection in the water an raises his fist
to smash it. But suddenly Hulk stops. He looks and sees that the
face in the water is now smiling at him. Hulk is confused. He
says that the face is smiling and not always angry like he is. A
deer knocks a bit of rock off the hill. It rolls down and hits
the water. The Hulk’s reflection turns from smiling into
growling. Hulk is furious again. He screams with all his might
and sends animals scurrying everywhere. Hulk smashes the water
and then the hill. He rests his head against the hill. He
isn’t sure what he has lost, but Hulk sums it up by saying,
“Hulk has lost… everything.” Hulk lies down on the
ground and rests his head on a tree that has fallen over. Hulk
dreams.
Bruce Banner materializes from a purple
circle to stand on top of a small version of the Earth. Bruce
says that he is a world famous physicist, but that isn’t all
he can do. Bruce transforms into the Hulk. His purple suit
expands with his body. Bruce says that he has finally made it and
that he is on top of the world. He says that instead of being
controlled by the Hulk that he controls the Hulk. He says that in
addition that his gamma ray research has gained him fortune,
fame, and love. Kate walks towards Bruce. Suddenly Bruce and the
world he stands on top of are shattered. 
The savage Hulk
smashes out of them and destroys them. Suddenly Bruce is falling.
His applause is replaced by the howling of the “victims of
his misapplied gamma treatment” … his miracle cure and
life’s work. Bruce looks over and sees the savage Hulk
holding the dead body of Kate. Bruce says that she was killed by
his own savagery. Bruce starts to panic. He says that he needs to
think. He says that he can still control the Hulk. He says that
he needs help. Giant visages of Iron Man, Thor, and Captain
America appear before Bruce. They say that they will help him.
They say that they will stop his rampage by destroying him. Bruce
says that they applauded him as a hero. Giant visages of the
Fantastic Four fill his vision. Thing says that they should have
known that he was a monster. Reed says that he has to be
destroyed for his own good. Bruce says that he isn’t a
monster anymore and that the president pardoned him. Suddenly
huge hands appear ripping the pardon in half. Bruce says that he
doesn’t understand why this is happening. He finds himself
in front of his giant adamantium statue. The statue looks down at
Bruce and tries to hit him. Bruce leaps out of the way and finds
himself spiraling again. Bruce says that everything he has worked
for is slipping away. He says that soon he will have nothing.
Rick, Betty, Kate, and Samson appear. Rick says that Bruce will
always have them. Bruce says that it is his friends and the ones
he has loved. Suddenly, Rick, Betty, Samson, and Kate recoil in
horror. They say that monsters can’t have friends. Bruce
says that they told him they would never abandon him. Rick says
that was before when there was hope for him. They say that Bruce
Banner is dead and that without him there is no hope. They start
running away. Bruce asks them not to go. He says that unless he
knows that they believe in him that he truly has nothing and that
he is without hope. He says that without their help that he will
become a monster once again. Eyes are all around Bruce and voice
keep calling him a monster. Bruce shouts, “All right! All
right! Reject me! Refuse to help me! You’re just dooming
yourselves! For if the world wants me to call me…
monster… then a monster I will be!” Bruce is kneeling
down in the darkness. He says softly, “No. Please. I- I
don’t want to lose my humanity again. I don’t want to
be a monster. Isn’t there anyone… some power… that
can help me remain… a man?” Suddenly a star appears.
The star transforms into Dr. Strange. Strange tells Hulk that if
he wants help that all he has to do is seek him out. Strange asks
if Hulk heard him. He says over and over, “Seek Doctor
Strange”.
Hulk wakes up saying, “Seek Doctor Strange”. Hulk suddenly realizes that he knows Doctor Strange. He says that he was Hulk’s friend once. Hulk says that Strange will help him or he will smash.
Nightmare watches Hulk from his realm. He says, “Yes you will, Hulk! Yes you most surely, most sincerely… will!”
No Excuses rating: 9 out of 10
The architect of Bruce Banner’s downfall is revealed as Nightmare. It only makes sense since Bruce Banner was continually plagued by nightmares of a dark savage Hulk stalking after him. Still one has to wonder if Nightmare’s plan would have worked if Bruce hadn’t been predisposed to giving in to that savage side in the first place. Sal and Gerry rule yet again. The vision of Bruce’s nightmare is very well done. 4.5 out of 5 for both.
Review and pictures by The Leader