In this feature we examine comic book stories and ideas that were not only abandoned, but also had the stories/plots specifically "overturned" by a later writer (as if they were a legal precedent). Click here for an archive of all the previous editions of The Abandoned An' Forsaked. Feel free to e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com if you have any suggestions for future editions of this feature.
Today, we look at the odd tale of "Professor" Hulk...
As you all know, for many years, when Bruce Banner got angry, he transformed into the Incredible Hulk. However, when he first started transforming into the Hulk, the Hulk was gray and sort of crafty - definitely not the dumb savage that the green Hulk later became. Over the years, writers began to address the notion that Banner had some sort of multiple personality disorder.
Peter David took things to another level in Incredible Hulk #377 (by David, Dale Keown and Bob McLeod), where Doctor Leonard Samson used hypnosis to talk to the two sides of the Hulk, the gray Hulk and the green Hulk...
As Samson proceeded, we see that we're talking about some serious repressed rage here, going back to when Banner's father abused his mother, even going so far as to KILLING Banner's mom...
In the end, though, Banner and his Hulk personalities come to terms with their issues, and merge into one Hulk...
This Hulk had all the abilities and personalities of the Hulk merged into one, since they all came from Banner himself. So this Hulk was smart, crafty and super strong (with some rage issues still). This Hulk remained the status quo for a number of years.
However, after this volume of Hulk ended and a new one began, writer Paul Jenkins took over with Incredible Hulk #12 (with art by Ron Garney and Sal Buscema), and he had Banner revisit his own subconscious for the first time since Incredible Hulk #377 (with the help of an old girlfriend, neuropsychiatrist Angela Lipscombe) and he saw the three dominant personalities...
In the next issue, he cuts a deal with the gray Hulk that he will give him control of the Hulk body at nights so long as he allows the merged Hulk to be freed...
However, a couple of issues later, Jenkins would drop a major bomb. Go to the next page to see what happened...
In Incredible Hulk #16 (by Jenkins, Garney and Buscema), Dr. Samson visits Angela and the merged Hulk...
Angela then presses Samson, who confesses that the Hulks never merged, he just created a THIRD, more controllable personality, the so-called "Professor" Hulk...
Personally, I never cared for the retcon. The Peter David Hulk status quo had already been abandoned, I didn't get the point in then going back and erasing that it ever actually happened.
Peter David would later return to the title for some retconning of his own, but A. the "Professor Hulk" retcon has stuck and B. David's retcons are a story for another column...
That's it for this installment!
Send any suggestions for future notable comic book retcons to brian@cbr.com!