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The Hulk has seen many writers at the helm, notably Lee himself and greats such as Bill Mantlo, Peter David and Greg Pak. When creating the Hulk, Lee and Kirby were inspired by the horror/literature characters Frankenstein and Dr. The character of the Hulk was created by artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee and first appearing in The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962). This brute was quickly dubbed "the Hulk" by military personnel. They were still in isolation at sundown when Banner transformed into a gray, monstrous, and lumbering brute for the first time. Banner and Jones were later picked up by the base's military personnel and taken back to Desert Base, where they were placed in isolation and observation due to their exposure to gamma radiation. This resulted in Banner being caught in the Gamma Bomb explosion and thus exposed to an incredibly massive amount of gamma radiation. However, rather than delay the countdown and halt the detonation as instructed, Banner's assistant, Igor Starsky (in reality, a foreign secret agent named Igor Drenkov), allowed the countdown and subsequent detonation to occur.
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Hoping to rescue him, Banner went into the testing area where he encountered the individual he'd seen: a young teenager named Rick Jones, who had snuck onto the test site on a dare. On the day of the bomb's scheduled detonation, Banner saw someone in the testing area. It was here that Banner met Ross's daughter, Betty, and the two found a mutual attraction. The latter was overseeing the test of Banner's newly-created Gamma Bomb. He gained employment with the military at Desert Base, New Mexico, under the command of General "Thunderbolt" Ross. He grew up a social outcast due to the trauma of being abused by his father, as well as witnessing his mother's abuse and murder at the hands of his father.Īfter graduating high school, Bruce began studying nuclear physics at Desert State University and later at the California Institute of Technology. His mother's murder and his father's arrest left Bruce in the care of his aunt, Mrs. Tragically, Rebecca was killed by Brian when she attempted to take young Bruce and leave him.
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While growing up, Bruce was subjected to Brian's drunken rages and abuse, as was his mother. Because of this, he also feared that Bruce would grow up a genetic freak, when actually, Bruce was just a very gifted and intelligent child. Brian was convinced that his work in atomic science had altered his genetic structure. Although deeply loved by his mother, Bruce's father, who was mentally unstable, harbored deep jealousy and hatred for him.
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Robert Bruce Banner was born to atomic scientist Dr. Origin Bruce Banner becomes the Incredible Hulk
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