Incredible Hulk vol. 3 #41Incredible Hulk vol. 3 #41
Title: “Poker Face”
Writer: Bruce Jones
Penciller: Lee Weeks
Inker: Tom Palmer
Colors: Studio F
Editor: Alex Alonso
A helicopter flies overhead as the police cars remain blocking the street in front of the store.
Inside their van, Pratt says that the nosey Sally Riker might be trouble. Johnson asks if he should have her removed. Pratt pulls a headset off one of the other men in the van and says that they will play nice for the moment. Pratt tells Johnson to patch him through. Johnson does so. Pratt is looking at the monitor that has Sid, the sniper, aiming his rifle at the store. Pratt asks him how it goes. Sid says that he has two clear shots, but that Banner hasn’t shown his face in either of them. Pratt tells Sid that he will and reminds him to shoot to wound, not kill. He reminds him that it is the Hulk that they want. Sid copies that.
Inside the store, the gunman says that they have two more minutes and then he starts tossing out corpses. Bruce asks him why he is doing this and asks what the people ever did to him. The man asks what they ever did for him. The man says that he spent his whole life helping all people, but that the only thanks he got was getting fired, cleaned out by his stockbroker, and divorce proceedings from his wife. He says that he is going down, but that he is taking a few friends with him. He shouts that there is thirty seconds left.
Riker shouts for Agent Pratt. She says that she realizes that the FBI is running things now, but that they can still use her. She says that she is a trained negotiater. Riker starts to object, but Riker also adds that she is an expert marksman. She says that she needs this opportunity and that she has no problem going face to face with the perp. Pratt thinks for a minute.
Inside the store, the gunman is counting down from nine. He gets to two when the phone rings. Bruce answers the phone and relays the message. He says that the FBI is going to comply and that they are going to send in an unarmed agent to explain the details. The man agrees, but says that if the agent tries anything that he or she will be the first to go.
Inside the van, Pratt tells everyone that they are on. Pratt tells Riker that “Mr. Smith” is wanted by the FBI and that is why they are there. He tells her that this is all classified info, but that he has escaped them twice and that he is not about to let it happen again. He asks her if she understands and she says that she does. He tells her to trade herself for Mr. Smith and that once they have him that she can take over and have her town back. Riker says that she is clear. Pratt puts an FBI badge on Riker and says that it is to make it look official. Pratt tells Sid that she is on her way. Sid copies that.
Riker walks into the store. The gunman says that the government is making them pretty these days. She says that if he trades Mr. Smith for her that the FBI will pull out. He asks her if that is guaranteed and Riker says that it is. The gunman tells Mr. Smith to get on his horse. Bruce starts walking out the door. Sid has Bruce in his crosshairs. Before he walks all the way out, Bruce says that it is a trap. The gunman asks what he means. Bruce says that once he leaves the store that they will storm in and kill everyone in the store. He asks Bruce why they would do that. Bruce says that Pratt is a phony. He says that once he is captured that they will remove any evidence that they were ever there, including witnesses. The gunman asks Mr. Smith how he came by this insider information. Bruce says that his name isn’t Smith but Bruce Banner.
Pratt is listening outside and says that Bruce is a smart puppy.
The gunman continues his lame prattling by telling everyone in the store that they are in the presence of the Hulk. He asks Hulk if he isn’t a little skinny around the biceps. Bruce says that he is telling him the truth. The man asks why they don’t just storm the store, and that if he is the Hulk that he wants to see some Hulk action. Bruce says that is what they want and that he is trying very hard to avoid giving them that. The man says that he has seen the news and that the Hulk killed Ricky Myers. Bruce says that was a set-up just like this one is. Bruce says that he believes that the boy is alive and that if the man is looking for a purpose in life that he can help him get out of there and find the little boy. Bruce reminds Harry that he hasn’t killed anyone and that the wounded cop is still alive. Bruce says that there is a way out of this. Harry eats a chip and asks Riker if she has any thoughts. Riker says that Bruce could be telling the truth and that it always seemed odd to her that the FBI swarmed into a small town robbery and that before Pratt’s team arrived that she and Bruce established a code for trouble and that he used the code just as Pratt took command from her. Harry says that he recognizes her and that it was something about a “SWAT fracas in Denver”. Riker starts telling her life story about the Denver bank. Her sniper on the roof was injured when he touched a high tension wire. She took his position on the sniper, but when the robbers started killing the hostage she couldn’t do it. She claims that she couldn’t take a life, even if it was a hostage taker’s. She says that she only nicked the gang leader and that all hell broke loose in the bank. She admits that she thought about taking a bottle of sleeping pills that morning, but decided that as a law enforcer that people were depending on her. She says that a few minutes later the call came in about this hold up.
Pratt tells Sid to tell him that he has got a bead, but Sid says that the side window is the only shot and that so far only the woman and the gunman have shown themselves there. One of Pratt’s men says that they have picked up a “police freek” and that six to eight cars are coming towards the town. Pratt asks how long they have. Murph tells them that they have thirty-five or forty minutes. Pratt says that there has been a change in plans and that there may be another way.
Harry asks, that if he believes their sad tales of woe, what the plan would be. Riker has nothing. Bruce says to let the kids go and that while Pratt is distracted that they can sneak out the back alley. Harry asks what if they are covering the back. Riker says that they aren’t and that there isn’t a door on the store map. She says that they can use the old basement coal shute. Harry puts down his gun and says, “Okay ‘partners’. You make the call, Mr. Hulk.”
The doors to the store open and the kids go running out. Pratt tells his men, who are aiming guns at the store, to go gently.
Bruce, Riker, and Harry all start to go. Harry stops to pick up a penny and Sid blows his head off.
Pratt compliments Sid.
Riker dives over the counter. She says that they shot Harry and that they are real FBI. Bruce says that he doesn’t understand. Riker tells him to cut the act whoever he is and to put his hands behind his head. Bruce says that it must be a ruse and that he was telling her the truth. Riker says that she is warning him. Bruce says that they are trying to inflame him by shooting Harry. He says that they must have heard somehow. Riker says that they can’t hear through walls. Bruce stares at the FBI badge on Riker’s jacket.
Sid has Riker in his crosshairs.
Bruce shouts
for her to get down. He dives and catches her just as a shot goes
off. Brucepulls off the badge and then shows Riker the listening
device on the badge. Bruce’s blood drops on the badge. Sally
tells Bruce that he has been hit, but Bruce knows as he removes
his glasses while the change begins.
No Excuses rating: 2 out of 10
Hey only three issues in and we already get to see the Hulk again. Yippee. I guess “Harry” must have told Bruce his name “off screen” as opposed to Bruce developing mind reading ability. I find the writing to be boring, sloppy, and predictable. At no point was I in the least bit surprised by anything that happened in the issue. Bruce Jones could have lifted this scene directly out of any crappy action movie I’ve ever seen. The characterizations are paper thin and, in the case of Harry, completely unbelievable. I’m not too sure what a “police freek” is, but I was under the impression that the police knew that there was a hostage situation and that was why Riker was there. Lee Weeks does another average job except for little things that annoy me like the way Harry seems to be pouring chips all over his shirt instead of into his mouth.