WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Marvel Action: Avengers #10 by Matthew K. Manning, Marcio Fiorito, Nuno Plati, Protobunker and Christa Miesner, on sale now.
Bruce Banner has undergone a number of different transformations as the Incredible Hulk, with some of his most recent taking place in his ongoing Marvel Comics series, The Immortal Hulk. The one thing that remains consistent with Banner's alter ego is no matter what version you come across, a Hulk has the power to annihilate any resistance that steps in his way.
Of course, any new iteration of the Jade Giant is guaranteed to raise some eyebrows, especially when a different colored Hulk enters the gamma-equation. Fans are already familiar with green, grey, blue and red Hulks, but the Yellow Hulk that smashes his way into IDW Publishing's Marvel Action: Avengers #10 adds a new transformation to the monstrous hero's history.
The world of IDW's Avengers comic takes place outside of the regular Marvel 616 Universe, with the publisher's Marvel Action brand geared towards middle-grade readers and fans of all ages. The versions of Earth's Mightiest Heroes found in Marvel Action: Avengers will be familiar to longtime comic book readers and devoted followers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films.
What won't be familiar, however, is a society run by the evil scientific organization called Advanced Idea Mechanics, or A.I.M. The clss group is weaponizing Fear Eaters, a race of extraterrestrial demons, to mind control Captain America. When we first see Steve Rogers, all memories of his heroic past have been erased. The Captain America we know and love is gone, replaced by Captain A.I.M.ERICA, protector of Advanced Idea Manhattan.
Evil Cap dons the yellow colors and logo of A.I.M. on his costume, and attempts to take down two citizens walking down a dark alley. Luckily, Black Panther and Iron Man show up just in time to zap Cap back to his proper senses. When the duo tries to take Cap and the civilians back to the Avengers' temporary base at the Widow's Peak, we get our first full look at the Yellow Hulk, who previously cameoed on the last page of Marvel Action: Avengers #9.
Similar to Captain A.I.M.ERICA, this Yellow Hulk gets his color and name change from his A.I.M. handlers. Bruce Banner still has on the Hulk's signature shredded purple pants, only this time the belt buckle is sporting an A.I.M. logo. Unlike some of Hulk's other personalities like the smart Professor Hulk or the wisecracking Grey Hulk/Mr. Fixit, the Yellow Hulk is the same anger-filled Green Hulk with a color change, and his only vocal response is a deafening growl. After Iron Man and Black Panther free Captain America from A.I.M.'s control, they are able to escape before coming into direct conflict with the Yellow Hulk. But when one of the civilians is found with an A.IM.-issued tracking device, Yellow Hulk follows them to the Widow's Peak with some major backup.
Our Yellow Hulk is joined by the Advanced Idea Marksman (Hawkeye), the Golden Witch (Scarlet Witch), the Artificial Intelligence Mechanic (Vision), Yellowjacket (Wasp), Ant-Mechanic (Ant-Man) and Spider-Mechanic (Spider-Man). All of our mind-controlled heroes are once again in matching A.I.M. colors, which only slightly takes some of the spotlight off of the Yellow Hulk. After Cap gets the upper hand on the Advanced Idea Marksman, a yellow-eyed Fear Eater that has been haunting Cap's mind throughout the issue welcomes the Sentinel of Liberty to his worst nightmare.
The final page of Marvel Action: Avengers #10 sees Captain America resting in a medical bed while Thor, Black Widow, Black Panther and Captain Marvel watch over him. The Fear Eater appears to still have control over Cap's mind, placing him in a living nightmare scenario he can't wake up from. If the next issue picks back up inside A.I.M.'s new playland, then there is a good possibility the Yellow Hulk will get to fight the Avengers in a free-for-all, even if it's all just in Captain America's head.