Red Hulk #1 (2008)
With Red Hulk being a focus in last summer’s Captain America movie, a One World Under doom tie-in and Avengers Armageddon, this seems like a good time to look at this book.
When Red Hulk #1 came out, no one knew who he was. He was as strong as the Hulk and smart. Who was he? It wasn’t until issue #23 that his identity was revealed as General Ross! But how did he come to be?
HOW GENERAL ROSS BECAME THE RED HULK
The true identity of the Red Hulk remained a lingering mystery for some time after his debut in HULK (2008) #1 by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. While the Hulk rampaged through space, the Leader and M.O.D.O.K. approached an aimless Ross as he grieved the loss of his daughter and the apparent assassination of Captain America (Steve Rogers). As the villains prepared for the Hulk’s inevitable return to Earth, Ross agreed to become a Hulk; in exchange, they would bring Betty back to life.
When the Hulk attacked Earth and fell in battle, the villains—now known as the Intelligencia—drained gamma energy from the Hulk and used the Cathexis Ray to send it into Ross, as detailed in a sequence in HULK (2008) #23 by Loeb and McGuinness. As the Red Hulk, Ross kept his intelligence, could lift roughly 100 tons, possessed a rapid healing factor, and could absorb energy like gamma radiation.
On his early missions for the Intelligencia, the Red Hulk performed several impressive feats around the Marvel Universe. The Red Hulk killed the Abomination and a Wendigo, briefly stole the Silver Surfer‘s board and Power Cosmic, destroyed a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, and caused an earthquake in San Francisco. To keep the Red Hulk’s identity a secret, the Intelligencia replaced Ross with a robotic Life Model Decoy, but that LMD was eventually destroyed.
When he learned that Betty had been revived as the Red She-Hulk, Red Hulk turned against the Intelligencia and stopped their plans to take over the United States. With his energy-absorbing abilities, the Red Hulk depowered the Leader and siphoned off his intelligence. But when the Red Hulk went mad with his extra power, the Hulk stopped him in a one-on-one fight.
