Issue 194 - Thunderbolt Ross

 Issue 194 - Thunderbolt Ross

• Intro

• Captain America: Brave New World reaction coming to Patreon

• Background (1:38)

• General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962)

• Lieutenant General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross oversees gamma bomb project that ultimately leads to the creation of the Hulk (Bruce Banner)

• Grew up in a military family, and was focused on serving his country from a young age - joined the Army Air Corps (later Air Force) and worked his way up through the ranks

• Bruce’s growing relationship with Ross’ daughter Betty was a source of frustration and anger for him, as was the recurring nuisance of the Hulk - Ross made it his personal mission to find and destroy the Hulk

• Several times he allied with villains to battle the Hulk, which ultimately led to his dismissal from the military

• Betty and Bruce get engaged, but the Leader turns Hulk savage, and the wedding is called off - Betty later marries Glenn Talbot, and Ross is satisfied that Banner will never be his son-in-law

• When Talbot was captured by the Soviets in a rescue mission to save Ross, his apparent death fractured his relationship with Betty, as well as a demotion at work because of his inability to capture the Hulk

• Betty divorced Talbot and revealed she still loved Bruce - enraged by this, Ross allied with MODOK to have the Abomination kill the Hulk, but Betty caught wind of the plan and accused her father of treason - he was discharged from the Air Force and nearly committed suicide

• When Bruce and Betty get married, Ross shows up at the wedding with a gun to stop the ceremony - Rick Jones intervenes and is shot non-fatally

• In a SHIELD experiment he merges with Zzzax, a being of sentient electrical energy - in a battle with a mutant, he expends his energy to save Betty, and dies

• His body was resurrected by the Leader, and he rejoins the Air Force

• After Betty is killed by the Abomination and Hulk is exiled by the Illuminati, Ross sinks into an alcoholic depression - when Steve Rogers is shot, he is visited by MODOK and the Leader and offered a chance to gain Hulk-like powers - he then becomes Red Hulk, and his first act is to kill the Abomination for murdering Betty

• Ross’ identity as the Hulk is kept secret for over two years before being revealed during World War Hulks

• He later joins the Avengers, where he befriended an LMD named Annie that helped give him some perspective and understanding about things

• Temporarily bonds with both the Venom symbiote and the Spirit of Vengeance, becoming a being known as the Circle of Four - this is to defeat Blackheart, son of Mephisto

• Gets depowered by Doc Green, a super-intelligent version of the Hulk

• Issues - Theme is “a small river flowing long enough becomes a canyon” (7:10)

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