Incredible Hulk #70

The INCREDIBLE Hulk #70

Date: June 2004
Title: Simetry
Writer: Bruce Jones
Penciler: Mike Deodato Jr.
Inks: Mike Deodato Jr.
Letters: Randy Gentile

Colorist: Hermes Tadeo
Editor: Axel Alonso
Cover Artist: Mike Deodato, Jr.

Bruce jumps off a train in to the city of Simetry and walks into a cafe. He sits at a table and orders coffee. Just then, some policemen step into the cafe. The waitress comes back and gives him a piece of pie, on the house. Suddenly, there is a stranger sitting on the other side on the booth. The stranger starts talking about fate and then calls Bruce by him name, which surprises him. The stranger says that he was there when Bruce first became the Hulk, which Bruce of course knows is not true. He also says there when he talked to Jerome and tells Bruce that Jerome right now is a freshman at college. He also tells Bruce that the state troopers are not interested in him yet.

He then tells him about one evening, a woman will be sitting in front of her vanity mirror when her husband comes in and kills her. As he is telling Bruce, the state troopers walk by and stare at Bruce. The man then informations Bruce that he is a clairy, as in clairvoyant, and that his name is "Even" Steven Mathews. Bruce wonders where this is all going and Steven tells them they should go outside in case Bruce "Hulks out" amd points a gun at him. They walk out into the rain and Steven shows Bruce the gun with six bullets and lets Bruce fire it at a tree. Steven takes the gun back and holds it up to his head and ask Bruce what the chances are that the gun will malfunction. He pulls the trigger and nothing happens. He explains to Bruce that nothing will happen until it's predestined moment, when fate comes. Bruce asks why he has an impulse to die and Steven mentions that we all die sometime, and is his case it will be by cancer. The real curse, he explains, is to forsee your own death and not be able to do anything about it. A carival witch once informed him also that a clairvoyant is not able to take his own life. As they talk, a large amount of State Troopers surround them. Steven is surprised that he has not asked when he is going to die, everyone else always does. Bruce responds that he likes surprises and then asks how long he has been working with the Feds. Steven replies too long and says that this is the last job for them. He also mentions the woman's address who he forsaw get killed and says that fate will have her way. Bruce meanwhile turns into the Hulk, grabs a tree trunk and starts taking out the cops. Steven continues to talk about the woman who will get killed and how the Feds were too intersted in getting Bruce Banner than looking into what might happen to the woman. After defeating all the cops, the Hulk turns back into Bruce and starts to walk away, telling Steven he should tempt fate sometime. Steven takes out a tranquilizer gun and fires it at Bruce.

Bruce is laid out in a hotel room with a cop and Steven. The cop asks Steven to watch the prisoner for a miute while he goes out for a smoke. Bruce opens his eyes and Steven tells him he turned down his sedation just a small amount. He tells Bruce that he has decided to tempt fate and doing something good with his life and let Bruce escape. He tells Bruce how a helicopter will be there in 20 minutes to take him away but suppose he turns off the sedation IV. Bruce says that the police would not be too happy with him but it doesn't matter since he only has six weeks left to live anyways before the cancer kills him. Bruce gets up and gets ready as Steven tells him a way out of the city. Steven than ask if he can stop the woman from being killed before he leaves town. As Bruce leaves, Steven tells Bruce that he wouldn't use the Hulk for this situation. Bruce escapes down a fire exit in an alley and is discovered by two cops by he takes them out by utilizing the Hulk's power. He takes one of their uniforms and steals a police car. Meanwhile, an image of a hand grabbing a knife in a house is shown. Bruce drives oven and makes it to the house and busts in the door as he sees the shadow of a man holding a knife over a woman. Bruce draws a gun and tells the man he can drop the knife as well as the mannequin. Out of the shadow steps Steven, who asks when he put it together. Bruce suspected when he asked him not to use the Hulk when time was the essense. Why would he need Bruce Banner that the Hulk couldn't do and that was put a bullet between his eyes, killing him before the cancer does. Steven says he was warned Bruce was brilliant. Bruce says brilliance had nothing to do with it, but rather one person trying to take control of his life recognizing another one. He's put a gun to his head before. Steven asks why he never pulled the trigger and Bruce says there is always hope. Steven says that a sympathetic mand would have killed him but Bruce convinces him that life is worth living, no matter how long you've got.

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