Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #377Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #377
Title: “Honey, I Shrunk the Hulk”
Writer: Peter David
Penciller: Dale Keown
Inker: Bob McLeod
Colors: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bobbie Chase
The Savage Hulk, Gray Hulk, and Bruce Banner sit around Doc Samson who is sitting in a chair. Samson welcomes them to some genuine un-real estate- the mind of Bruce Banner. Samson says that he supposes that they are wondering why he called them here. Gray Hulk says that he doesn’t wonder anything except what the moron is doing here (pointing to the Savage Hulk). The Savage Hulk says that “Fake Hulk” thinks that he is the real Hulk. Savage Hulk says that he will show the fake Hulk who is real because Hulk is the strongest one there is. Gray Hulk says that he will make Savage Hulk the strongest in the morgue. Savage Hulk and Gray Hulk try to leap at each other, but their forms pass through each other. The Hulks turn and Samson tells them to sit down and shut up. Samson says that a post-hypnotic suggestion is keeping them from beating on each other so that they can concentrate on the more immediate problem. Samson points to Bruce Banner who is sitting in a relaxed state. Samson says that the two of them are tearing Bruce apart and that they are going to have to come to terms with each other. Gray Hulk asks Samson what he is yammering about. Gray Hulk looks around and asks why this place looks so familiar. Savage Hulk notes that Banner is silent, and says that is good because he talks too much. Samson suggests that maybe Hulk listens too little.
Gray Hulk, Savage Hulk, and Bruce Banner’s heads all turn as they react to the word “monster” being shouted. They see an enormous green spikey monster standing over a very young Bruce Banner that had snuck downstairs on Christmas morning and got caught up in building one of his presents. The monster says, “You’re some sort of monster! A freak! A mutant freak!” The young Bruce Banner begs to be left alone and swears that he will be good. He begs not to be hit. Gray Hulk yells at Samson and tells him to take it away. Bruce just covers his ears and shuts his eyes. Savage Hulk says to kill the monster. The giant spikey monster replies, “You’re the monster! The freak that doesn’t deserve to live!” Samson asks Bruce what he is seeing. Bruce tells Samson that it is Christmas day, and that “he” is screaming at them and that he won’t go away. Bruce tells Hulk to do something. Gray Hulk tells Savage Hulk to soften him up. Hulk leaps at the monster and says that he doesn’t soften, he smashes. The spikey green monster swats Hulk to the ground and grabs him up. Hulk tells the monster to let him go and that he is hurting him. Savage Hulk says that nothing can hurt him right before the monster snaps Hulk’s back in half. Gray Hulk tells Banner to be useful and to go get help. Gray Hulk rushes in, but the monster’s claws go right through Gray Hulk’s chest. The giant monster hovers over Bruce Banner and it tells Bruce that it is going to kill him. Samson yells out to bring Bruce out of it now. Samson tries to tell Banner that he could beat it, but Bruce is beyond reason. In the mind of Bruce, Gray Hulk, Savage Hulk, and Bruce all sit in on the ground with their legs crossed around Samson. Samson says that it looks like they have their work cut out for them.
Samson sits in a chair next to a near comatose Bruce Banner who lies in a hospital bed. Samson tries to talk to Bruce, but Bruce stares off into space. Samson says that he is worried that they might be doing more harm than good. Ringmaster says that he understands Samson’s concerns. He says that he has hypnotized entire crowds, but he has never seen anything like this. Samson says that Tibolt is living up to his reputation. Ringmaster says that he prefers Ringmaster over Tibolt. He says that it was kind of the warden to release him to Samson’s custody especially since he shouldn’t have been in jail at all. Ringmaster says that the Circus' latest crimes were done without his knowledge. Ringmaster says that he is trying to make amends for his past misdeed and that helping the Hulk is a good step towards this. Samson dons a pair of sunglasses that guard him against Ringmaster’s hypnotic disk. Ringmaster asks if he is still worried that he will hypnotize him and escape. Samson says to call it caution. Samson asks Ringmaster to bring Bruce up to a level that he can communicate with him on. Ringmaster says that Samson is going very fast, and that most MPD cases take months or even years of therapy. Samson points out that most MPD cases can’t destroy a small country. Samson asks Bruce what he sees.
Bruce is talking with his mother. Young
Bruce asks her where they are going. Rebecca says that they are
going away. She tells Bruce to finish packing quickly. Bruce says
that he will. Savage Hulk asks who the glowing woman is. Gray
Hulk says that she reminds him of Betty a little. Bruce tells
Samson that he sees his mother. He says that she is beautiful and
alive. He says that he didn’t realize before how young she
was. Rebecca has the car door open for young Bruce. Bruce and the
Hulks watch. Bruce says that they are going to make it this time.
He says that they are going to get away. 
Suddenly the
giant spikey green monster returns. It shouts, “Where do you
think you’re going?” Rebecca says that they are going
away. She says that she can’t take the craziness and attacks
on Bruce anymore. The monster grabs Bruce’s mother. She says
that he is hurting her. Bruce tells it to let her go and he will
be good. Gray Hulk and Savage Hulk rush to Rebecca’s
defense, but the spikey monster just shouts, “Monster! This
isn’t your fight!” The monster breathes out fire and
the two Hulks drop to the ground as charred husks. The monster
shouts, “And you, woman! I’ll teach you to try and
leave me! I’ll teach you! I’ll teach you!!” The
monster smashes Rebecca’s face against the driveway asphalt.
Bruce stands there staring at his dead mother. Bruce tells Samson
that it killed her. He says that they didn’t get away, and
that she never got up again. Samson asks Bruce what the child is
doing. Bruce says that he is stroking her face. Samson asks if
the boy is crying. Bruce says that he is in shock. Samson asks if
the boy ever cried. Bruce says that he doesn’t remember.
Bruce grabs the kids by the arms and tells him to cry. The young
Bruce responds that emotion is bad and that it hurts people.
Bruce tries to tell the young boy that it isn’t all emotion.
He yells at the boy to cry, to scream, or shout. He tells him to
do something, to react. Bruce slaps the boy across the face. The
young Bruce grows into a Savage Hulk that screams and back down
into a small boy. The boy says, “There. I reacted. A nuclear
reaction. Happy now?”
In the real world, Betty and Marlo are waiting in, no coincidence, the waiting room. Marlo is running off at the mouth about this being a nice waiting room and about her old roommate the nurse. Betty gets Marlo’s attention by calling her Ms. Chandler. Marlo says to call her Marlo. Betty repeats “Ms. Chandler” and asks her what her relationship with Bruce was in Las Vegas. Marlo says that they were just friends. Betty asks Marlo what her relationship with “Joe Fixit”. Marlo gives Betty a knowing look and Betty replies “oh”. Marlo says that she doesn’t understand what is going on here, and that she barely made it through high school, but that what she knows is that Joe and Bruce were two different guys and that Betty’s guy was loyal to her. Marlo asks Betty what the green haired guy said to her.
Flashback to the hospital room before the therapy began, Samson tells Betty that Bruce is a multiple personality. He says that is why the cures of the past have never taken. He says that they address the symptoms, but not the source. Samson says that the source is within Bruce’s mind, and that with Betty’s permission they will try to address it. Betty asks if Bruce will be normal. Samson says that Bruce will never be normal. He says that his cells are still irradiated and that would still be reflected. Samson says that he hopes to integrate the personalities, and that it will allow them to see a complete Bruce Banner for the first time in years. Betty tells Samson to do what he thinks is best.
Back in the waiting room, Marlo says that if Betty doesn’t want her there that she will leave. Betty says that it isn’t Marlo. She says that she is being such a creep. Betty puts her face into her hands. She says, “All these years, and then he’s this person and that person and I don’t know who I married and…” Marlo tells Betty to let it all out. Betty says that her life is so screwed up. Rick walks in to see how they’re doing. Marlo hands Betty a tissue. Rick makes an immediate U-turn and says that the old Rick Jones timing strikes again.
After Ringmaster tells Samson that he has Bruce under again, Samson asks Bruce what he is seeing now. Bruce Banner is sitting on a bed kissing Susan, a girl from his college. Susan stops and asks Bruce if he is into this or not. She says that it seems like Bruce’s hormones are stuck in neutral. Bruce says that he doesn’t see the point of this, and that the germs alone… Susan interrupts and says that this isn’t about germs. She asks Bruce if he is afraid of her. Bruce says that he has work to do. He says that college isn’t a playpen. Susan says that Bruce would probably prefer a playpen so that he could have his thumb in his mouth instead of her. Bruce says that was uncalled for. Susan asks if she is ugly. She says that Bruce is afraid to give a girl what she needs. Gray Hulk grabs Susan and kisses her. He says, “I got what you want right here, babe!” Susan yells at Bruce and tells him to stay away from her. Susan walks out.
Gray Hulk, Savage Hulk, and Bruce are standing by watching. Gray Hulk says that is a typical woman for you. Bruce tells him that he is a brute with no idea of how to handle a woman. Gray Hulk says that Bruce is one to talk. He says that without help from him that Bruce wouldn’t even get to first base with Betty. Samson tells Bruce that he seems to have trouble dealing with emotions like passion. Gray Hulk says that Bruce has trouble dealing with anything except books and science. He says that they were the only things boring enough for him. Bruce says that it wasn’t boring. Samson asks what it was if not boring. Bruce says that it was safe.
Bruce and the Hulks find themselves standing in a cemetery. Samson asks what Bruce is seeing. Bruce says that it is the graveyard that his mother is buried in. Bruce starts to say that this was the last place that he saw his father, but before he gets to the word father the giant spikey green monsters rises out of the ground. Bruce shouts, “monster!” Bruce says that it is the creature and asks for it to be taken away. Samson asks Bruce if he doesn’t understand. Samson asks Bruce what the monster is, what it really is. Bruce just shouts to take it away. The monster grabs the Hulks, one in each hand. He looks at the Savage Hulk and says, “I know you! You’re my hideous son when he was a brat! Single-minded, childlike, wanting just to be left alone!” He turns to the gray Hulk and continues, “And you’re him when he was in college! Wanting nothing but pleasure, a perverted monster!” Bruce is cradled up to his mother’s headstone. He says that he wasn’t the monster. He tells his father that he was the monster. He says that he was so convinced that his work in radiation had given him a monster for a son. He says that he killed his mother and made him so afraid. Bruce says that he got so mad, and when he saw what emotions did he was so afraid of becoming like his father that he hid all his emotions. Bruce says, “I’d be safe. Safe… and… and calm… and… and… puny… I’m so puny… and so bad… I’m… I’m sorry ma.” The giant green spikey monster shrinks down and becomes Brian Banner.
Savage Hulk asks if that is the monster. Gray Hulk says that Banner’s bogeyman is nothing. Brian’s form crumbles and blows away leaving the outline of Rebecca Banner. Rebecca says, “My darling boys. It’s over. He needs you now. No more fighting.” Both Hulks say that they don’t want to. Rebecca says, “Yes you do. You’ve all been moving towards each other for months now. It’s time.” Gray Hulk says that he doesn’t want to die. Rebecca says that they won’t die, but that they will all live, and she will love them all. Gray Hulk says, “You first, salad-brain.” Rebecca tells them to go together for the first and last time. The Hulk’s hands phase into Bruce Banner’s back.
Bruce jolts upright in bed and shouts, “Mother! What’s happening?” Ringmaster jokes and says that Bruce is becoming Norman Bates. Samson tells Ringmaster to bring him out of it. Ringmaster says that this is beyond his control. Ringmaster says that this is beyond what anyone has ever seen.
In the waiting
room, Betty asks Rick why he is limping. Rick says that a kid
kicked him, and that he will tell her about some time. Rick asks
how long it has been. Betty says that it has been too long. She
gets up and says that she knows Samson said he needed privacy,
but she has had enough. Betty says that she is going in there to
see what is happening when the door suddenly opens. A gigantic
green muscled man stands before Betty with Bruce’s face. The
Hulk says, “Honey… I’m home.”
No Excuses rating: 10 out of 10
The only reason this issue received a 10 out of 10 is because it couldn’t get a higher rating than that. This issue is not only perfect, but it is a monumental issue that changed how people will think of the Hulk forever. It makes you wonder if Peter David was smart enough to have had this planned all the time, or if he is so smart that he managed to put it together on the fly. I bought several copies of this issue, not as a prospector, but because I read this issue so many times when it first came out that I ruined two copies of it. The set up as the savage green Hulk as a raging child that he was always described as fits perfectly. The gray Hulk is a classic example of the teenager from hell. Sarcastic, sexually curious, and strong enough to destroy a tank. Samson’s realization is like something that was always right there in front of the Hulk and just needed to be done, but this is more a demonstration of just how good Peter David is making it look easy. Dale Keown also needs a higher than perfect score. His design of the merged Hulk earns him points beyond points. Truly a monumental issue in all respects.