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The Gamma Project: A Guide To The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk and Superman: The Animated Series have a lot in common. They were both
based on incredibly popular comic books. They both premiered in the fall of 1996. They were
both the kingpins in the Saturday morning line-ups of fledgling television networks. But, where
as Superman struck a chord with fans managed to last four seasons, The Incredible Hulk limped
its way through only two seasons. Of course, lots of factors got it canceled. There was Marvel's
bankruptcy woes, a shift in direction for the second season, and the fact that most TV stations
opted to show it on Sunday mornings rather than Saturdays. But, it forever remains one of my
favorites, and my latest guide. I didn't get to watch this as obsessively as I wanted, so there are a
lot less trivia notes and favorite lines. I didn't even get to watch an episode! But, I compiled
this the same way I compiled the other guides. Enjoy!
Season 1 (1996/1997)
Return of the Beast, Part 1
The Hulkbusters finally manage to capture the Hulk! But, before the army "disposes of" the
Hulk, Bruce Banner implores General Thunderbolt Ross to allow him to attempt his latest cure.
And, as Bruce Banner and Betty Ross reminisce about the good old days, the Hulk's origin is
retold.
Return of the Beast, Part 2
Gen. Ross allows Bruce Banner to attempt his cure, but the Abomination bursts in and abducts
Bruce Banner. Abomination is in the employ of the Leader, who seeks to steal the Hulk's
strength. It's up to Rick Jones and a group of gamma mutated desert creatures to save the day.
Raw Power
On the run from the military again, Bruce Banner manages to befriend lowly nuclear engineer
Mitch McCutcheon. Bruce implores Mitch to assist in the latest Hulk cure, but the Hulkbusters
burst in at the wrong moment, and McCutcheon is turned into the energy absorbing ZZZAX.
Can the Hulk stop ZZZAX before he absorbs all the energy from Hoover Dam? Oh, and Doc
Sampson and Agent Gabriel of S.H.E.I.L.D. join the Hulkbuster team.
Helping Hand, Iron Fist
Bruce Banner manages to make his way to L.A., where he implores his old friend Tony Stark to
help him come up with a cure. So, War Machine holds off the combined might of the Army and
S.H.E.I.L.D. while Iron Man and Rick Jones try to subdue an amnesic Hulk rampaging through
Stark Enterprises. Can Iron Man cure Bruce Banner? (Favorite line: "So, do I send the bill to
S.H.E.I.L.D. or the Pentagon?" -- Iron Man, wanting to know who's paying for the damages to
Stark Enterprises.)
Innocent Blood
The Hulk passes through Detroit, and manages to incur the wrath of Ghost Rider. Meanwhile,
Col. Talbot is hot on the Hulk's trail with a gamma-powered ray gun that will destroy the Hulk.
Can Talbot be stopped? Can Rick Jones convince Ghost Rider that Hulk isn't the villain here?
Man to Man, Beast to Beast
Bruce Banner heads to northern Canada, where he hopes his old colleague Dr. Walter
Langkowski can help him devise a cure. But, Langkowski has his own problems. Seems that he
has gamma mutated himself, and turns into that great furry creature called the Sasquatch. Can
these two gamma mutants cure themselves? Can Hulk stop Sasquatch from destroying the
nearby village? (In case you didn't know, Sasquatch eventually joins that Canadian team of
mutants called Alpha Flight, who are recurring characters in the X-Men universe.)
Doomed
Washington, D.C. is Bruce Banner's next stop, where he holes up with his cousin Jennifer
Walters. But, Dr. Doom is hot on Banner's trail! Doom knows Banner's secret and seeks to
brainwash Hulk into becoming his super-soldier. Doom busts in and kidnaps Banner and
Walters, but Walters is critically wounded. Banner does a MacGyver-style blood transfusion to
save his cousin, but his gamma mutated blood turns her into the She-Hulk. Doom succeeds in
brainwashing the Hulk, and the Hulk goes on a destructive rampage in Washington. Can She-Hulk save her cousin?
Fantastic Fortitude
Bruce Banner and She-Hulk make their way to New York, where Banner hopes that Reed
Richard's latest invention can help reverse his and his cousin's mutation. But, the Fantastic Four
are on vacation, except for the Thing, who just had a fight with his girlfriend and stayed behind
to patch things up. Meanwhile, the Leader takes advantage of this to unleash his mutant Hulk
clones, led by the Ogress. Can Hulk, She-Hulk, the Thing, and Rick Jones stop the Ogress and a
gang of mutant Hulks? But first, we've got to get in some good ol' Hulk vs. Thing battles.
(Trivia note: In one of the greatest ironies of cartoons, the voice of the Ogress was done by
super-model Kathy Ireland.)
Mortal Bounds
Betty Ross is temporarily re-assigned when a gamma mutated virus breaks out in Chicago. Betty
tells the man in charge of the crisis, Dr. Donald Blake, that she needs Bruce Banner to help find
a cure, and that Banner and the Hulk are one and the same. So, Blake becomes Thor and goes
off to find the Hulk. Hulk and Thor duke it out, and Hulk is brought back to Chicago by Thor.
Bruce Banner begins work on a cure, but is soon abducted by the Abomination. The struggle
results in Betty becoming infected with the virus. Seems that this virus was a consequence of
the Gargoyle's latest gamma experiments. Can Banner and Gargoyle develop a cure? Can Thor
find Banner? Can a cure be found Betty Ross dies?
And the Wind Cries...Wendigo!
A tussle between Bruce Banner, Thunderbolt Ross and some gamma-powered restraints
developed by Doc Sampson results in the Hulk and Thunderbolt Ross getting handcuffed
together. While this goes on, the Wendigo abducts Betty Ross, hoping to slug it out with the
Hulk and thus be freed from his centuries-old curse. Can the Hulk and Thunderbolt Ross put
aside their differences to rescue Betty? Can the Hulk defeat the Wendigo in battle?
Darkness and Light, Part 1
Betty Ross and Doc Sampson unveil their new treatment for Bruce Banner: a way to separate
Bruce Banner and the Hulk into two separate beings. After Rick Jones and the Outcasts (the
gamma mutated desert creatures from Return Of The Beast) manage to sneak the Hulk into the
Hulkbuster base, the procedure begins. But, Thunderbolt Ross burst in, and the treatment ends
early. The result: Bruce Banner is comatose, the Hulk's mind is wiped completely clean, but
they are seperated. Agent Gabriel then steps in, saying that S.H.E.I.L.D. has ordered the Hulk's
"disposal." Can Doc Sampson save the Hulk?
Darkness and Light, Part 2
Bruce Banner awakens from his coma, and he and Betty decide to get married while they still
can. But, the wedding is disrupted by a gun-toting Thunderbolt Ross, whose obsession with
destroying the Hulk has driven him to madness. Meanwhile, the Leader captures the Hulk, and
modifies Betty's treatment to merge himself and the Hulk into one being. Can the Leader
control the Hulk's savage tendencies? Will Bruce Banner survive his wedding?
Darkness and Light, Part 3
Well, the Leader couldn't control the Hulk, and so he and the Hulk separate into two separate
entities again. Bruce Banner, wanting to be free of the Hulk once and for all, dons an armored
exosuit and goes off to slug it out with the Hulk. But, both collapse during the battle. It turns
out that both Bruce Banner and the Hulk are dying, and the only way to save the two is to merge
them together once again. But, Thunderbolt Ross, still mad with his obsession over the Hulk,
attempts to sabotage the procedure. The result: Rick Jones becomes the Hulk, and Bruce Banner
now becomes the Grey Hulk.
Season 2 (1997/1998 With the second season, the show was renamed The Incredible Hulk and
She-Hulk, and She-Hulk took over as sidekick.)
A Hulk Of A Different Color
OK, this is the only episode I haven't seen, so here's a synopsis I got from a Hulk website: the
Rick Jones Hulk goes on a rampage, and critically wounds Thunderbolt Ross, but Grey Hulk
saves Thunderbolt Ross. But, Bruce Banner is put on trial for the attempted murder of
Thunderbolt Ross. Banner asks his cousin, Jennifer "She-Hulk" Walters, to defend him at his
trial. While this goes on, the Grey Hulk conspires with the Leader to capture the Rick Jones
Hulk, and rid Grey Hulk of Bruce Banner one and for all. Things reach a climax in the Leader's
lab, when the Leader tries to absorb both the Rick Jones Hulk's and the Grey Hulk's strength,
only to be stopped by She-Hulk. The end result of this experiment: Rick Jones is returned to
normal, the Leader gets nothing, and when Bruce Banner gets angry, he turns into either the
Hulk or Grey Hulk, depending on the scenario.
Down Memory Lane
She-Hulk is invited to her high school reunion, and heads off with the Hulk in tow. But, the
Leader follows, and manages to abduct the Hulk. Problems ensue when She-Hulk begins to lose
her strength and revert back to Jennifer Walters! Can Jennifer Walters save the Hulk? Can she
survive her high school reunion? Can Bruce Banner find out why Jennifer Walters is losing her
strength? Can the Hulk and She-Hulk save the town from the Leader? (Trivia note: That's Stan
Lee, the Hulk's creator, doing the voice of Jennifer Walter's father. Favorite line: "House too
small. Definitely too small." -- The Hulk, doing his Rain Man impersonation while hiding out
in Jennifer Walter's childhood tree house.)
Mind Over Anti-Matter
The problem: Bruce Banner is possessed by a demon, turning him into that purple beast known
as the Dark Hulk. The solution: Dr. Strange and She-Hulk enter Bruce Banner's mind, in the
hopes of tracking down and defeating the demon. Will they succeed? Can they recruit the Hulk
and Grey Hulk to help out, who are both trapped in Bruce Banner's psyche?
They Call Me Mr. Fixit
Bruce Banner heads off to Chicago, where he's been hypnotized by the crime lord Allure into
helping her find a way to increase her hypnotic powers. But, this irks Allure's boyfriend and
enforcer, the Absorbing Man, who attacks Bruce Banner. This attack turns Banner into the Grey
Hulk. In order to take down Allure and the Absorbing Man, She-Hulk establishes herself as the
new crime-lord "Lady Green," and Grey Hulk becomes her enforcer "Mr. Fixit." Can they take
down Allure's empire? (Trivia note: In a subtle reference to one of my favorite cartoons of the
80's, Bruce Banner identifies a piece of scientific equipment as "a unicron transformer.")
Fashion Warriors
After some gentle prodding by She-Hulk, Bruce Banner attends a charity fashion show, where all
the models are scientists. In a pleasant surprise, one of the models is Betty Ross. But, the
Leader, with Ogress and Gargoyle in tow, crash the event and leave Bruce Banner incapacitated.
It seems the Leader has become strapped for cash, and seeks to hold the party hostage for a
substantial ransom. So, it's up to She-Hulk, Betty Ross, and a gang of scantily clad female
scientists to save the day! (This is the episode that made me say "The writers have lost their
way.")
Hollywood Rocks
Bruce Banner and She-Hulk head out to Hollywood, which has recently become subject to
mysterious meteor impacts. While out there, She-Hulk gets her own show, Greena: Gammazon
Princess. The meteor attacks eventually turn out to be courtesy of Dr. Doom, testing his meteor
targeting system/latest weapon of mass destruction. Can Hulk and She-Hulk stop Dr. Doom
before he brings down a planet killer?
The Lost Village
The words of a dying man send Bruce Banner, Betty Ross, and She-Hulk to a hidden village in
the Himalayas. Here, Bruce Banner finally achieves inner peace, and is freed of the Hulk. But,
the evil cyborg Scimitar, an exile from the village, seeks to return and conquer. Will Bruce
Banner sacrifice his inner peace so Hulk can stop Scimitar?
Mission: Incredible
While doing some hacking one night, Bruce Banner discovers that S.H.E.I.L.D. has rushed into
operation the defective gamma reactor that created the Hulk. S.H.E.I.L.D. is using it to power
their undersea base. In order to shut down the reactor and save lives, Bruce Banner, She-Hulk,
and Betty Ross seek to sneak into the base and shut it down. But, complications ensue when
Bruce Banner turns into the Grey Hulk, and Betty Ross is possessed by the evil Hybrid, who
seeks to destroy the base. Can Grey Hulk stop the Hybrid and save the base? (Note: You gotta
love the climax, where Grey Hulk gets so mad he turns into the Hulk!)
OK, to clear my conscience, I feel I have to give a link to the Incredible Hulk website that was
invaluable in creating this guide. DRG4's Incredible Hulk the Animated Series Page is just a
great resource on this cartoon. Not only will you find a better episode guide than mine, you will
also find complete synopses of the Hulk's guest appearances on the Fantastic Four, Iron Man,
and X-Men cartoons. And, he's got complete episodes for you to download! Plus, this DRG4
fellow has prepared pretty good websites for all of Marvel Comic's cartoons in the 1990's!
Check it out, why don't you?
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