For a short time, these will be the last issues under the title, “Incredible Hulk.” With the next arc, this series becomes “Marvel Knights Hulk.” Then it will revert back again with legacy numbering.
In the last big arc, Hulk and friends foiled another huge Leader plan. Doc Samson nuked Leader’s base, and Hulk killed his own clone. This story starts with Samson and Betty Ross flying away from the explosion and Banner and Nadia Dornova burying the dead clone.
Bruce thinks Betty and Doc died in the blast. Nadia’s son, Ricky, likely did actually die in the blast, and Bruce decides to head off—since he is still being hunted, he doesn’t want to put Nadia in danger. Nadia and Bruce have a thing going on. In parallel, Samson and Ross look for Banner and Ross tries to get Samson to sleep with her. He declines.
Apparently, Betty’s blood transfusion with Abomination (in last story) has not worn off. At least she can blame her infidelity on being corrupted by bad blood. Bruce thought Betty was dead but now that there’s a chance she’s alive, he’s got not excuse for being with Nadia.
We learn at this point how Betty Ross returned from the dead. Before the last story, her father was keeping her dead body in stasis. She tells Samson that an organization called The Team brought her back so that she could help them find and control Hulk, and use Hulk to help stop the Home Base organization (which Samson just exploded via nuke). However, the side effect of being brought back to life was that she now has cancer. Samson figures out that gamma-irradiated blood can slow or stop her cancer from expanding. So, it’s time for them to find Hulk again.
Meanwhile, the Hulk clone returns from the dead and takes on Bruce’s form. That’s when Samson and Betty arrive.
Despite all that’s happened, they seem happy to see each other. The joy doesn’t last long, though, as the third act of this arc has an interesting love triangle: Bruce still loves Betty. Betty has given up on love and her own life. Nadia is jealous of the Bruce/Betty bond and tries to come between them. And clone says that he can give Betty a life with no Hulk because, as a clone, he can control his transformations.
For the big finale, Hulk and Hulk Clone finally have a knock-down-drag-out.
Hulk wins. Clone dies. Banner decides that he has to leave, alone, because his presence will imperil the others. He leaves behind a vial of his own blood, which will cure Betty’s cancer. One gets the sense that he also is just running away from having two women fighting over him, one of which (Nadia) seems to want to be with him while the other (Betty) is the one he truly loves but she is nearly suicidal and has given up.
I continue to find Bruce Jones’ extended Hulk run one of the most fascinating I’ve ever read.