Puffball Collective

First Appearance: The Incredible Hulk #301

Origin: Incredible Hulk # 308

Powers/Abilities: The Puffball Collective has the ability to tap into a person's mind and read it and also learn the language. They can propel themselves through the air through some unknown force. They can also reshape themselves to form various shapes such as people, arrows, or food.

Artist Representation Gallery

Origin: The Puffball Collective came from a planet where individual consciousnesses in the appearance of "puffballs" floated about the planet experiencing life but each individual was part of the whole collective conscious. Each knew what the others experienced also. The Puffball Collective where rogue entities which acted to destroy the whole. They found a cairn on their planet and deciphered it to release the N'Garai demons who preceded to destroy the other 'cells.' The others knew what the rogue cells had done and banished them to the Crossroads and sealed the door so that the N'Garai could not escape their world to go to others.

GREAT MOMENTS IN HISTORY

The Incredible Hulk #301: When the Mindless Hulk is sent to the Crossroads for the first time, he shows his anger by hitting the tree at the center. The Puffball Collective talks to the Hulk telepathically and the Hulk just hits the collection out of anger. The collection talk to each other wondering why the Hulk did that and the Hulk just gets anger and blows the Collective into one of the doorways but the doorway just spits them back out. After the Hulk comes out of one of the doorways, the Collective forms a shape like the Hulk to try and understand him. One of the Collective reaches deep into the Hulk's mind and sees an image of Bruce Banner and the Hulk instinctively lashes out at the Collective and falls into another doorway.

The Incredible Hulk #302: The Collective forms the shape of a tourman holding a plate of food. The Hulk grabs the food and tries to eat it but spits it back out. It then forms a map of the Crossroads where the Hulk can point to different areas and see the world that is there. He sees a world with a green-skinned woman crying and he goes to see her. The Collective says that he was just showing the Hulk the worlds so that he could take them with him because they are trapped there. The Hulk just walks through the doorway while the Collective is stuck behind and cries.

The Incredible Hulk #303: The Hulk returns from a brutal world to find the Collective waiting for him. The Collective is happy to see him back and says that they can be exiles together and then calls him friend.

The Incredible Hulk Annual #13: The Hulk returns from another world to the Crossroads, angry at not getting any food, and sees the Collective in the form of food. The Hulk just hits them away. The Hulk heads into another doorway and the Collective begs for the Hulk to take them with him. The Hulk eventually comes back, exhausted, and the Collective makes a bed to comfort the Hulk.

The Incredible Hulk #304: With no food at the actual crossroads, the Hulk just sits down and does nothing and slowly starts to starve to death. The Collective, worried about losing his friend, tries to convince the Hulk to eat. The Collective forms the shape of food again but the Hulk doesn't move. The Collective tries to do what it can to help the Hulk so it forms the shape of an arrow and shots at the Hulk. It then forms a wrecking ball and hits him and makes the Hulk angry. It keeps pesting the Hulk until the Hulk leaps at it and the Collective tricks the Hulk into flying into a doorway where he can find food. The Hulk returns from the world back to the Crossroads to find the Collective trapped by the U-Foes.

The Incredible Hulk #305: The Hulk starts to fight the U-Foes while X-Ray holds the Collective captive. When the Hulk is fighting a red-hot Ironclad, the Collective manage to escape and sacrafice some of its own to help the Hulk escape. The Collective then gets in Vector's way. When X-Ray turns into a form of radiation not visible to the eye, the Collective form around him so the Hulk can see where he is. They tell the Hulk to duck as X-Ray heads towards him tricking him into a world he cannot escape. When Vapor encompasses the Hulk, the Collective tells the Hulk what world to trap her on. It then goes on to help the Hulk trap Ironclad and Vector on other worlds also. The Hulk and the Collective stand by each other after defeating their common foe, as friends.

The Incredible Hulk #306: The Collective digs into the Hulk's mind and pulls out memories. It changes into Bruce Banner as a child, child, teenager, and finally as the adult. The Hulk sees this and gets made and swats at the form. The Collective turns into the Hulk. It is trying to find some way of communicating with the Hulk. Suddenly Klaatu comes inot the realm. The Hulk tries to defend his land and attacks Klattu who just brushes him aside. Klaatu walks through the Hulk and the Collective and absorbs a large amount of their life forces. Then Xeron appears and recognizes the Hulk. The Collective tells him it is not the Hulk he remembers. The Collective then probes the Hulk's mind to see the first meeting between the Hulk and Xeron. Xeron says that the Hulk must come aboard to help them track down Klaatu but the Hulk just tries to hit him. Xeron uses his laser harpoon to take down the Hulk. The Collective tells Xeron that once the Hulk awakens, he will be angry again unless they take the Collective with them to help keep the Hulk calm. The Hulk awakens chained to the boat and helps them row to a doorway but as they go through, the Collective can still not get through.

The Incredible Hulk #307: The Collective stands at the Crossroads thinking that the Hulk was gone forever. Suddenly the ship comes back since they could not control the Hulk without the Collective's help. The Collective tells Xeron that the only way they will be able to utilize the Hulk's strength is to figure out how to get the Collective to get through one of the doorways. They use a force-field projector linked to the ships shields to envelope the Collective in. They go through one of the doorways and even though it is painful, the Collective manages to get through. During the battle with Klaatu, the ship is damaged and the Hulk saves the Collective as they fall to the ground below. The Hulk frees Klaatu and the Hulk returns to the Crossroads, taking the Collective with him.

The Incredible Hulk #308: The Collective show the Hulk a map-shape showing it's homeworld. It says that it must get to the reasoning of the Hulk so that he can help them get back home. The Collective tells the Hulk of his planet where individual consciounesses floating about where part of a whole who just wandered to experience different sensations and gain knowledge. The Collective tells of how some stumbled upon an anciet cairn and curious to gain more knowledge, accidently released evil which spread across the land, killing. The Collective was the few that escaped into the Crossroads. They wanted to go back but the evil had sealed off the doorway. The Collective convinces the Hulk to try to break the chains on the doorway and after much anger, he manages to break the chains and open the brick wall. The Hulk and Collective go through to face a barren world. The Collective acts surprised at how everything has been destroyed on his world. He tells the Hulk to sleep and they will decide where to go next. After the Hulk falls asleep, the Collective calls the Hulk a fool and disappears, laughing at the same time. The Hulk is attacked by the N'Garai demons as the Collective just watches. The Collective appears and tells the Hulk that it was they that had purposely released the demons before to cause destruction and that their fellow cells from the Collective banished them to the Crossroads for their crime. He wanted to get back to his world to control the demons and spread destruction across other worlds. The Hulk runs for the doorway back to the Crossroads and closes it before the demons make it. The last scene the Hulk sees is the N'Garai killing the Collective for failing to set them free.