The Devil Hulk , also known as the Immortal Hulk , is a fictional alternate-personality character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics .
69-551: The Devil Hulk first appeared in The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #13 (April 2000) and was created by Paul Jenkins , Ron Garney , and Sal Buscema . After a long absence from the comics, the Devil Hulk returned as the primary Hulk personality of The Immortal Hulk , a Marvel Comics series that launched on June 6, 2018. The series writer, Al Ewing , stated that he "wanted to give some much-needed nuance to Bruce and
138-646: A Hulk film , including one penned by John Turman seeing him renamed Edward Leder . Dr. Samuel Sterns appears in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), portrayed by Tim Blake Nelson . The Leader appears in the X-Men/Avengers crossover trilogy Gamma Quest by Greg Cox . He allies with the Super-Skrull to enhance the latter's abilities with the powers of various other superhumans. However, Rogue borrows enough of
207-484: A conclusion that they were manipulated by someone who wants Weapon H dead . This leads to them making plans to capture the Hulk to collaborate on a project. The Leader and Dr. Alba later attack Shadow Base's Remote Facility FN34. After the larger Humanoid abducts Wolverine and Bruce Banner, it brings them to Shadow Base's Remote Facility FN34 as they begin the experiment that gives the Hulk the claws of Wolverine and Wolverine
276-625: A group of superhuman enforcers called the Riot Squad . With their help, he builds a self-sufficient society called Freehold in Alberta , populated with civilians dying from radiation poisoning. When the Leader's brother Philip Sterns becomes the Madman , the Leader deems him a threat and sends the Hulk to eliminate him. When Freehold is targeted by HYDRA , the Leader sends his followers to invade
345-768: A malevolent, sadistic entity. During the events of Absolute Carnage , the Venom Symbiote takes Bruce as its host to fight Carnage . Inside of Bruce's mind, Bruce converses with the Venom Symbiote as the other Hulk personalities such as Joe Fixit and the Savage Hulk add their opinions about their current situation. The Devil Hulk (in his more traditional reptilian form) is against the symbiote's presence in Bruce and says it should be removed immediately, saying that they have more important matters to deal with. In
414-399: A new #1 and lasted 15 issues (Dec. 2011 – Dec. 2012). In November 2012, Marvel announced it would publish a new Hulk title, Indestructible Hulk , by writer Mark Waid and artist Leinil Yu . Hulk (vol. 2) became Red She-Hulk with issue #58 (Dec. 2012). In 2017, The Incredible Hulk was relaunched with issue #709 with the series using "legacy numbering". However, the main character
483-428: A standard comic book rather than as a comics magazine. Following David's departure, Joe Casey took over as writer until this series ended with The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #474 (March 1999). The first volume of the shorter-titled Hulk began immediately the following month, scripted by Byrne and penciled by Ron Garney . Erik Larsen and Jerry Ordway briefly took over scripting and with issue #12 (March 2000)
552-415: Is a former member of MI6 who transformed himself using the "British Enhancile Program". He has psychic and mental abilities similar to the original Leader, but requires a wheelchair and a halo -like brace to support the weight of his enlarged cranium. In 2009, the Leader was ranked as IGN 's 63rd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time. The Leader appears in several drafts for unproduced scripts for
621-612: Is able to resurrect himself each time he is by passing through the Green Door, which makes him virtually immortal. A zombified alternate universe variant of the Leader from Earth-2149 appears in the Marvel Zombies series. Two characters based on the Leader appear in the Ultimate Marvel universe: Samuel Sterns is an elderly doctor and member of Roxxon Energy Corporation 's brain trust , while Pete Wisdom
690-417: Is also one of the Hulk's enemies, constantly threatening to escape the confines of Bruce's mind and destroy the world that has tormented and abused them. While the character's physical appearance varies, he is always depicted as having glowing red eyes and reptilian traits. The Devil Hulk first appears when Bruce uses a machine created by Angela Lipscombe to travel into his own mind, which is being overtaken by
759-796: Is an ongoing comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero the Hulk and his alter ego Dr. Bruce Banner . First published in May 1962, the series ran for six issues before it was canceled in March 1963, and the Hulk character began appearing in Tales to Astonish . With issue #102, Tales to Astonish was renamed to The Incredible Hulk in April 1968, becoming its second volume. The series continued to run until issue #474 in March 1999. In April 1999, it
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#1732776619562828-619: Is overpowered by the Savage and Grey Hulks in the mindscape while threatening everyone and everything Bruce holds dear, apparently being permanently contained back within the recesses of Banner's mind after his disease had been treated. During the Chaos War storyline, Brian Banner is released from Hell and becomes a hybrid of the Guilt Hulk and the Devil Hulk. After Bruce's death during Civil War II and subsequent resurrection during
897-612: Is particularly adept at genetic engineering and manipulating radiation for many nefarious purposes. The Leader has created an army of synthetic henchmen at his disposal called the "Humanoids" that have served him throughout his career of world domination, mainly as bodyguards, soldiers and laboratory servants. They have versatile programming capacities to allow them to perform any task, do not tire, talk or need sustenance and have elastic-like bodies that make them immune to blunt impacts. They range in size from microscopic to hundreds of feet tall. The Humanoids are usually controlled directly through
966-525: Is recaptured. He makes a pact with Mephisto to free himself, and is later dragged to Hell. After somehow escaping from Mephisto's captivity, the Red Leader is tracked down by "Doc Green", an ingenious and ruthless new personality of the Hulk, and is deprived of his powers. However, the Red Leader had previously taken possession of an artificial intelligence created by Banner, which restores his intellect, powers and original green-skinned complexion. In
1035-537: Is taken to the Below-Place by the Leader. Like the traditional Hulk, he possesses superhuman strength and stamina. As it took both the Savage Hulk and the Grey Hulk personas to hold him down when he attempted to escape while Banner was being treated for a presumably incurable disease, the Devil Hulk appeared to be stronger than any of the previously introduced Hulks. However, since this confrontation took place on
1104-515: The Chameleon to steal its secrets. After his men are duly thwarted by the Hulk , the Leader decides to capture the Hulk with an android army known as "Humanoids". However, the Hulk breaks free and destroys the Leader's laboratory, forcing his retreat. Impressed by the Hulk's strength, the Leader later convinces him to steal the Watcher 's "Ultimate Machine", a device containing all knowledge in
1173-474: The Guilt Hulk as he begins to die of Lou Gehrig's disease . In a cavern containing innumerable other personalities frozen in ice, Bruce finds the Devil Hulk unfrozen but bound by chains. After explaining the nature of his existence, the Devil Hulk says he will banish the Guilt Hulk (his inability to feel guilt giving him the advantage over the entity) if Bruce releases him from his shackles, but Bruce refuses
1242-587: The Arctic, and is eaten by a polar bear . When Banner is dying from ALS , the Leader summons the Hulk to give him a cure in exchange for witnessing his ascension from the mortal plane. However, he explodes in the process and is reduced to a disembodied head in a tank within a hidden California base. After the Leader regains his body through unknown means, he is captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and brought to trial for his crimes, but his attorney manages to have him found not guilty by reason of insanity. Shortly afterward,
1311-421: The Devil Hulk's help and flees. He manages to keep the Devil Hulk contained and ensure the future safety of the world by making a deal with the three 'primary' Hulk personas (the Savage Hulk, the Grey Hulk, and Professor Hulk) that they will share control of the body once Banner's disease becomes too serious while leaving Banner with some degree of awareness and control. Later, Bruce's mind is thrown into disarray by
1380-477: The Green Scar personality, Devil Hulk watches as Bruce and Joe Fixit are imprisoned as well. Feeling angrier than ever before, Devil Hulk breaks free from his cage and confronts the Leader. Before he can defeat him, Devil Hulk is stopped by the Savage Hulk, who is being emotionally manipulated by the Leader. The Devil Hulk is beheaded by a monstrous Leader and his heart is ripped out. His corpse, alongside Banner,
1449-460: The Hulk and Weapon H are fighting each other, until Shadow Base agents led by Agent NG catch up to him. As the Hulk starts sneezing, the Leader states to Agent NG that he infected Clayton Cortez with a gamma-altering virus. Arriving where Weapon H had knocked the Hulk unconscious, the Leader begs for Weapon H to finish him off. When the Leader threatens his family as part of Plan C, he detonates some bombs near Weapon H to get away. Clayton chases after
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#17327766195621518-427: The Hulk and taking the opportunity to analyze Soul Man's power in a bid to achieve immortality. Marlo's revival is interrupted by a two-pronged attack on Freehold by the Hulk and HYDRA, and the Leader is apparently killed in the crossfire. The now-incorporeal Leader controls his follower Omnibus and attempts to throw the world into a state of war. Omnibus is eventually exposed by his fellow Freehold citizens, exiled into
1587-472: The Hulk's side of this story – and also reveal more about the Banner/Hulk dynamic at the core of Immortal Hulk ." The Immortal Hulk is penciled by Joe Bennett and features covers by Alex Ross . The Devil Hulk is an alternate personality of Bruce Banner , personifying all of Bruce's resentment at the way he is treated by the world, and all his negative emotions such as self-hatred . The Devil Hulk
1656-836: The Humanoids. Sterns would later be further transformed, causing his cranium to change into the shape of an oversized brain. As part of the Intelligencia, he is an integral part of the Hulked Out Heroes storyline. The character has been adapted from the comics into various forms of media, including television series and video games. Samuel Sterns made his cinematic debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film The Incredible Hulk (2008), portrayed by Tim Blake Nelson , and will return in Captain America: Brave New World (2025). In 2009,
1725-580: The Intelligencia's plans, Sterns is subjected to a dose of red gamma radiation by the Red Hulk, who intends to make Sterns his intelligence agent. However, Sterns is shot and killed when the Punisher discovers him. The Red Hulk further exposes his body to gamma radiation, which revives him and transforms him into the Red Leader. Initially forced to work for Ross's Thunderbolts , the Red Leader manages to escape and begins to rebuild his criminal empire, but
1794-596: The Leader advises the Minotaur to leave the Hulk to him. The Leader later studies the Below-Place, where gamma mutates travel to after dying and before resurrecting. He harnesses the One Below All 's power and transforms into a colossal crab-like monster before the Hulk defeats him. During the " Empyre " storyline, it was revealed that the Leader also used the Green Door to return the She-Hulk to life after she
1863-834: The Leader discovers he is dying and builds a dome in a Nevada desert to survive. Upon recovering, he joins the Intelligencia , and he takes part in the creation of the Harpy II ( Marlo Chandler ), the Red Hulk (General Ross), and the Red She-Hulk (Betty Ross). However, when Ross discovers that the Red She-Hulk is his daughter, he drains the gamma radiation from the Leader's body, depriving him of his super-intelligence and reverting him to his human form. Subsequently taken into custody so that he may divulge information on
1932-401: The Leader repairs his teleporter enough to get himself and Dr. Alba away from Weapon H. After watching the aftermath from afar, the Leader and Dr. Alba share a romantic kiss as they embrace each other. After the Hulk left after finding that Xemnu devoured the Minotaur and transformed him into a Xemnu/Minotaur hybrid, the Leader visits him. While controlling Rick Jones when spying on the Hulk,
2001-429: The Leader until Wolverine arrives. The Leader brings out the Humanoids, only for them to be regressed back to their pods by reverse-engineered Humanoids when former Weapon X Project scientist Dr. Aliana Alba shows up. She advises the Leader to leave the disposal of Wolverine to her. After a brief fight, the Leader explains that he was pursuing the Hulk, while Dr. Alba states that she was pursuing Wolverine. They come to
2070-469: The Leader was ranked as IGN 's 63rd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time. The character first appeared in Tales to Astonish #62 (December 1964), and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko . Born in Boise , Idaho , Samuel Sterns lived in the shadow of his brilliant brother Phillip, and he worked in a menial capacity for a chemical plant where Phillip was employed as a researcher. While Sterns
2139-508: The Leader's mutation destabilizes and he reverts to the form of Samuel Sterns. He convinces the Gray Hulk to transfer the gamma radiation from the recently Hulk-like Rick Jones into himself, and the Leader is restored with a new appearance and a psychic link to Rick. The Leader subsequently detonates a gamma bomb in a small Arizona town, killing over 5,000 people. The few survivors, now enhanced, provide him with valuable research subjects and
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2208-480: The Leader's own mental commands, but can also be pre-programmed to carry out a certain directive. The Leader has also developed gamma bombs, shield generators to cover large areas, cages for holding the Hulk, powered armor, teleportation devices, android duplicates, a means of controlling the minds of the Hulk or the Rhino through technological devices, a special Humanoid which was programmed to bring him back to life in
2277-548: The U.S. Army's Tripod Observation Module (TOM), nicknamed the Murder Module and then, with the help of the Rhino , interrupts the wedding of Bruce Banner (the Hulk's alter ego) and Betty Ross by shooting Banner with a ray which restores the Hulk to his savage state, gamma-irradiates Manhattan's water supply to transform its inhabitants into loyal servants, and clashes with the Hulk and the Avengers twice. Eventually,
2346-417: The accident that transformed him and can calculate possibilities and outcomes so accurately that it borders on predicting the future. Despite his limitless intelligence and supreme knowledge, his effectiveness as a villain is greatly hampered by his own arrogance, immaturity, impatience and obsession with killing the Hulk, which constantly causes him to lose sight of necessary details and act prematurely, causing
2415-539: The book, he liked my ideas so much. I did, and once installed he immediately changed his mind—'You can't do this!' Six issues was as much as I could take." Byrne's final issue featured the wedding of Bruce Banner and Betty Ross . Byrne had done a seventh issue, consisting entirely of one-panel pages. It was eventually published in Marvel Fanfare #29. Al Milgrom briefly succeeded Byrne before new regular writer Peter David took over with issue #331 (May 1987),
2484-424: The character Wolverine , who would go on to become one of Marvel Comics' most popular. The original art for the comic book page that introduced Wolverine sold for $ 657,250 in May 2014. Key supporting characters included Jim Wilson and Jarella , both of whom would make few appearances outside of this decade. In 1977, Marvel launched a second title, The Rampaging Hulk , a black-and-white comics magazine. This
2553-457: The covert Pantheon organization and coerce them into aiding Freehold. To the Hulk's chagrin, the Leader and the Pantheon's head Agamemnon ultimately form an alliance. At the same time, the Leader is experiencing Rick's grief over the recent death of his girlfriend Marlo Chandler . The Leader offers to revive Marlo by using the power of his follower Soul Man, hoping to use Rick as a pawn against
2622-620: The day, but the Immortal Hulk will resurrect at night and take vengeance. Leader (character) The Leader ( Samuel Sterns ) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . The Leader first appeared in Tales to Astonish #62 (December 1964), created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko as the archenemy of the Hulk . He has mainly appeared in Hulk-related comic books over
2691-452: The end, Bruce, Joe Fixit, and the Savage Hulk agree to collaborate with the Venom Symbiote. The Devil Hulk storms off, saying they are making a mistake. When Bruce was affected by Xemnu's mental manipulations, the Devil Hulk was imprisoned inside of Bruce's mindscape, leaving the Savage Hulk in control. When the Leader finds his way into the mindscape as well via the Green Door and takes over
2760-472: The event of his death by using a device called the Revivo-Beam that was also made to do so and Omnivac, a sentient computer that maintains the enormous space station that he has used as a base of operations. On occasion, the Leader has been shown to have the ability to change himself back into Samuel Sterns, but this ability resulted in him losing all memory of his identity as the Leader, as Sterns' mind
2829-399: The events of Avengers: No Surrender , the Devil Hulk suppressed the rest of Banner's personalities and became the dominant Hulk. During a conversation with Doc Samson , the collective personalities reveal that the Devil Hulk actually embodies Banner's desire for a protective father figure, and that Banner's inability to "imagine love without pain" is why he had previously perceived it as being
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2898-496: The experiments of John Ryker , allowing the Devil Hulk to escape the cave from which he taunts Bruce. As Bruce's condition became worse, the Devil Hulk enacts a plan to manifest in the real world by trapping Bruce's consciousness in an illusionary utopia . The three core Hulk personalities manage to break through the fantasy and Bruce leaves it, rejecting the Devil Hulk's offer to repair it and allow Bruce to live peacefully within it in exchange for control of Bruce's physical body. He
2967-517: The introduction to the Hulk trade paperback Beauty and the Behemoth , David said that his wife had recently left him, providing inspiration for the storyline. Marvel executives used Ross' death as an opportunity to push the idea of bringing back the Savage Hulk. David disagreed, leading to his parting ways with Marvel. His last issue of The Incredible Hulk was (vol. 2) #467 (Aug. 1998), his 137th. Also in 1998, Marvel relaunched The Rampaging Hulk as
3036-406: The memories of several humans at once, create illusions to trick others or disguise himself, and project telekinetic blasts potent enough to topple a very weakened Hulk. The Leader is also a technological genius that specializes in gamma radiation. He has created technology that is beyond human ability, including vehicles, weaponry, computers, laser pistols, pulse weapons and kinetic gauntlets, and
3105-492: The mental plane, it reflects the force of the Devil Hulk's will compared to the more child-minded Hulks rather than providing a clear indication of their actual physical strength. During the Immortal Hulk series, it was shown that the Devil Hulk persona is even stronger than the Green Scar (World War Hulk). Thanks to his intelligence, he has the ability to detect lies from people who hurt him. His newfound level of strength
3174-464: The miniseries Hulkverines , the Leader is shown to be detained at Shadow Base Remote Facility 43B using Big Bob's Lumber Lounge in Akron, Ohio as a front. He is approached by Agent Castillo, who informs him that the Hulk has returned from the dead and they need his help to kill him. The Leader accepts, but stabs Agent Castillo, stating that he would rather do it himself. The Leader arrives at the area where
3243-449: The ongoing series on hiatus. Peter David, who had initially signed a contract for the six-issue Tempest Fugit limited series, returned as writer when it was decided to make that story the first five parts of the revived volume three. After a four-part tie-in to the House of M crossover and a one-issue epilogue , David left the series once more, citing the need to do non-Hulk work for
3312-466: The ruin of his schemes. His egotism also briefly led him to embark on two mad and impractical schemes to turn the rest of humanity into gamma mutates like himself. He has also unlocked latent telekinetic and telepathic powers within himself. He is able to control the minds of ordinary humans by merely touching them (aside from gamma-mutated individuals like the Hulk or the Abomination), mind-wipe
3381-426: The sake of his career. In 2006, writer Greg Pak took over the series. With issue #113 (Feb. 2008), it was retitled The Incredible Hercules , still written by Pak but starring the mythological demigod Hercules and teenage genius Amadeus Cho . Concurrently, Marvel launched Hulk (vol. 2), written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Ed McGuinness . While continuing to publish Hulk (vol. 2), Marvel also relaunched
3450-476: The second 1960s Hulk series with The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #600 (Sept. 2009). With the arrival of the Red Hulk —a transformed General "Thunderbolt" Ross, the Hulk's longtime nemesis—and the Red She-Hulk —the revived Betty Ross—this series was retitled Incredible Hulks with issue #612 (Nov. 2010). This lasted through issue #635 (Oct. 2011). Yet another Hulk series, The Incredible Hulk vol. 4, written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Marc Silvestri , began with
3519-458: The series was restarted as The Incredible Hulk vol. 3 New series writer Paul Jenkins developed the Hulk's multiple personalities, and his run was followed by Bruce Jones . Jones' storyline featuring Banner being pursued by a secret conspiracy and aided by the mysterious Mr. Blue. Jones appended his 43-issues of Incredible Hulk with the limited series Hulk/Thing: Hard Knocks #1–4 (Nov. 2004 – Feb. 2005), which Marvel published after putting
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#17327766195623588-406: The series, and had held off so that he could make the readers have an emotional attachment to the grey Hulk. David worked with numerous artists over his run on the series, including Dale Keown , Todd McFarlane , Sam Kieth , Gary Frank , Liam Sharp , Terry Dodson , Mike Deodato , George Pérez , and Adam Kubert . In 1998, David followed editor Bobbie Chase's suggestion to kill Betty Ross. In
3657-406: The series. After five years, Mantlo left the title to write Alpha Flight , while Alpha Flight writer John Byrne took over the series and left it after six issues, claiming, "I took on the Hulk after a discussion with editor-in-chief Jim Shooter , in which I mentioned some of the things I would like to do with that character, given the chance. He told me to do whatever was necessary to get on
3726-464: The start of an 11-year tenure. He returned to the Stern and Mantlo abuse storyline, expanding the damage caused, and depicting Banner as suffering dissociative identity disorder . In issue #377 he merged Banner, the green Hulk, and the grey Hulk into a single being with the unified personality, intelligence, and powers of all three. David claimed he had been planning this from the beginning of his tenure on
3795-617: The strength of the Hulk. The Leader and Dr. Alba unleash the mutated Hulk and Wolverine on Shadow Base Auto-Op WMD Facility BX91 in Central, Ohio using Green Energy Corp as a front. Weapon H arrives and lures them towards the Leader and Dr. Alba. When Weapon H destroys the remote control in the Leader's hand, Dr. Alba withdraws the nanobots that were placed in Wolverine and Bruce Banner and places them in Weapon H. It does not work on Weapon H, as
3864-556: The supervillains the Leader , who would become the Hulk's nemesis, and the Abomination , another gamma-irradiated being. Comics artist Marie Severin finished out the Hulk's run in Tales to Astonish . Beginning with issue #102 (April 1968) the book was retitled The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) and ran until 1999, when Marvel canceled the series and restarted the title with the shorter-titled Hulk #1. The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2)
3933-503: The universe. After obtaining the device and visualizing its contents, the Leader apparently dies of shock, with even his enhanced brain unable to comprehend the knowledge that the Ultimate Machine contains. The Leader is later resurrected by a Humanoid designed specifically to do so. Months later, he resurfaces to engage in a number of plots against the Hulk, including an alliance with General Ross . He also attempts to steal
4002-552: The writing with issue #245 (March 1980). Among the adversaries Mantlo created for the series were the U-Foes and the Soviet Super-Soldiers . Mantlo's "Crossroads of Eternity" stories, which ran through issues #300–313 (Oct. 1984 – Nov.1985), explored the idea that Banner had suffered child abuse . Later, The Incredible Hulk writers Peter David and Greg Pak called these stories an influence on their approaches to
4071-513: The years and was one of the featured characters in the Marvel NOW! Thunderbolts relaunch. Sterns worked as a janitor in Boise, Idaho when he was exposed to gamma radiation . This mutated him into a green-skinned, super-intelligent entity who named himself the Leader, embarking on a career of attempts at world domination. He is repeatedly foiled by the Hulk, who overcomes all of the Leader's schemes as well as his artificial henchmen known as
4140-560: Was Amadeus Cho instead of Bruce Banner, since Cho succeeded Banner as the Hulk as shown in the Totally Awesome Hulk series. After being killed, Marvel resurrected Bruce Banner and restored him to the ongoing series in 2018, changing the title to The Immortal Hulk and focusing on more horror-inspired tales. Al Ewing 's acclaimed run delves deeply into Peter David's dissociative identity disorder premise with an enhanced supernatural aspect. Bruce Banner can be killed during
4209-425: Was enough to throw Hercules and Thor away by a mere flex of his muscles, and he is capable of leveling a mountain with an ability called Gamma Burst. Due to gamma radiation from the Below-Place, regeneration is seen in a more gruesome detail. During an experiment where the Hulk's body is torn apart, he can remain alive and control every non-attached limb. The Incredible Hulk (comic book) The Incredible Hulk
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#17327766195624278-406: Was ill-equipped to cope with the Leader's intellect (although he always remembered everything when he changed back into the Leader again). It has been revealed when the Leader changes back into Sterns, Sterns gets a little smarter each time this happens (although Sterns is still nowhere near the Leader as far as intellect is concerned). Although the Leader can be killed, being a gamma mutate, he
4347-526: Was initially scripted by writer-editor Lee and illustrated by the team of penciller Steve Ditko and inker George Roussos . Other artists later in this run included Jack Kirby from #68–87 (June 1965 – Oct. 1966), doing full pencils or, more often, layouts for other artists; Gil Kane , credited as "Scott Edwards", in #76 (February 1966), his first Marvel Comics work; Bill Everett inking Kirby in #78–84 (Feb–Oct. 1966); and John Buscema penciling Kirby's layouts in #85–87. The Tales to Astonish run introduced
4416-524: Was originally conceived as a flashback series, set between the end of his original, short-lived solo title and the beginning of his feature in Tales to Astonish . After nine issues, the magazine was retitled The Hulk! and printed in color. A nine-part "continuity insert" that in many ways contradicted the original comics stories was retconned later as a movie made by an alien movie producer, Bereet who also portrayed her people as warmongering shapeshifters. Following Roger Stern , Bill Mantlo took over
4485-693: Was possessed by a Cotati . The Leader has superhuman mental acumen as a result of his exposure to an explosion of gamma-irradiated waste. He is capable of knowledge and comprehension that is beyond the human ability to understand. Just as the Hulk has the potential for limitless strength, the Leader has the potential for limitless intelligence, being capable of mastering every worldly subject and adopting concepts completely foreign to his environment. His higher brain functions, including pattern recognition, information storage/retrieval and logical / philosophical structuring have been enhanced to inhuman levels. He also has total recall of every event he has witnessed since
4554-429: Was published through the 1970s. At times, the writers included Archie Goodwin , Chris Claremont , and Tony Isabella . Len Wein wrote the series from 1974 through 1978. Nearly all of the 1970s issues were drawn by either Herb Trimpe , who was the regular artist for seven years, or Sal Buscema , who was the regular artist for 10 years, starting with issue #194 (December 1975). Issues #180–181 (Oct.–Nov. 1974) introduced
4623-564: Was replaced with The Indestructible Hulk as part of Marvel's Marvel NOW! relaunch). The Incredible Hulk vol. 5 was launched in August 2023. The original series was canceled with issue #6 (March 1963). Lee had written each story, with Jack Kirby penciling the first five issues and Steve Ditko penciling and inking the sixth. A year and a half after the series was canceled, the Hulk became one of two features in Tales to Astonish , beginning in issue #60 (Oct. 1964). This new Hulk feature
4692-781: Was replaced with the series Hulk which ran until February 2000 and was retitled to The Incredible Hulk ' s third volume, running from March 2000 to March 2007 when it became The Incredible Hercules with a new title character. The Incredible Hulk returned in September 2009 beginning at issue #600, which became The Incredible Hulks in November 2010 and focused on the Hulk and the modern incarnation of his expanded family. The series returned to The Incredible Hulk vol. 4 in December 2011 and ran until December 2012 (in January 2013 it
4761-476: Was transporting radioactive materials, an explosive accident bombarded him with gamma radiation , which turned his skin green, abnormally enlarged his cranium and brain, and granted him a superhuman intellect that reflected his subconscious desire to be smarter than his brother. Calling himself "the Leader", he forms an espionage ring to overthrow the United States federal government , enlisting spies as
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