Bruce Banner, imagining himself chained to a tree and fired upon with a variety of
weapons, is undergoing therapy with the Samson Protocol, a program where he is
analyzed by a hologram Doc Samson. He has programmed it so that he must
complete two hours of therapy every day to be allowed into the Starship Hulk
control deck; the ultimate goal: to have “Samson” determine whether Bruce is
sane enough to continue these voyages. Samson asks Bruce for a happy memory
from his childhood and Bruce recalls Logan James Gidley, a school friend who
was always nice to him and whose home became a safe refuge for Bruce—until the
father came to pick him up every time. Samson okays Bruce’s return to the
control deck…
…where Bruce has a large crew, all variations of
himself, scanning the universe. Bruce is informed that they have picked up a
distress call on a beam of gamma so they follow it to a planet. The planet is smooth
with rings of debris encircling it with towing casinos dotting the landscape.
So Bruce has Starship Hulk land where they see…a giant statue of Hulk at the
foot of one of the towers. Then are attacked by rat-like humans which are
driven away by a flash of energy. A tall, armor-clad woman introduces herself
as Monolith and adds, “Welcome home….”