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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

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How I Learned To Love The Hulk
A bound Bruce Banner gets thrown out of a helicopter. Nick Fury fears the worse. One of the helicopter’s pilots reports to Captain America that the package he ordered has been dropped. Cap thanks the pilot, and orders all units to fall back and prepare for weapon of last resort.
In the air, Banner yells and calls everyone crazy. He crashes on a bunker and, on impact, it collapses. Fury is impressed. Suddenly, the bricks of the former bunker start to move, and a rampaging Hulk emerges!
Fury hopes that Cap knows what he’s doing. Cap notices Kleiser sneaking up on them, and pushes Fury to safety while he handles things. The Hulk attacks Cap too, and holds him responsible for Banner’s confusion, and that he makes fun of him like everyone else, while Cap was supposed to be his friend. Hulk grabs Cap by his throat and wants to suffocate him. Cap manages to push the giant hand down, and fakes to Hulk that this isn’t about him, or about Banner. It’s about Banner’s girlfriend, Betty Ross.
Hulk gets even angrier and demands to know what Cap knows about her. Cap smiles and says he doesn’t know much about her, but lies and points to a naked Kleiser, and makes Hulk believe that he was all over Betty while Banner was in solitary. Hulk throws Cap away. He screams, and attacks Kleiser by pushing him on the ground a few times.
Fury calls Cap a genius. Cap himself reports to all units to fall back, since now only a super-soldier situation. He also demands from the technical support to make a bee-line for the Widow and the Wasp. A half destroyed Kleiser, with his true face half revealed, manages to get up. He runs towards an army truck nearby, picks it up and throws it right on Hulk! Kleiser mentions to the brute that he has been fighting Steve Rogers before Hulk was born, so he can’t see why people think that the goliath will defeat him. He calls Hulk stupid. Hulk, standing up, tells Kleiser otherwise: he’s the stupid one, because… he went and made Hulk angry!
Five hundred feet below, the Widow defends Wasp, while she tries to make contact to Fury and the others. But she fails to reach anyone. Widow tells her to keep trying, or else they’ll die within fifteen minutes. Wasp jokes that’s just what she needs: more stress. That reminds Natasha of Tony Stark. He earned his first college degree by the age of eleven. Ex-MIT. He practically designed the Internet. She wants Janet to try reach Stark on-line and tell him to get down to them and switch the bomb off for them. Janet finds that brilliant and goes for it.
However, she accidentally reaches a fighting Hawkeye. He gets distracted by the call and is shot in his shoulder! He angrily shouts to Janet to go off-line this instant. Iron Man has patched into the signal, and tells Janet that he can reach her, but he doesn’t want to because he and Thor are the only ones providing air-support. Janet tells him to just leave and let the Air Force handle things. Tony doesn’t know what she’s talking about, since nobody showed up!
In the air, Thor prepares for a moment that will be written down in the history books. While fighting with his Mjolnir hammer, he watches as the Air Force finally magnificently arrives, and destroy many of the Chitauri airships.
Hulk has heard enough talk, and furious rips Kleiser’s body apart! However, the head is still intact and makes fun of him. Hulk tells him to shut up, and rips the head apart, too!
Meanwhile, Cap and Fury order their men to get a helicopter in the air, and to bring them to the Hulk. The Hulk tries to calm down, and laughs because Kleiser thought he was going to defeat him just because he was smart. Hulk knows that brains only do not win battles, since Banner had brains and people walked over him. Hulk thinks he’s the strongest one there is. From a speaker, Captain America shouts at the Hulk. He makes him look to the Chitauri airships. Cap fakes that he was talking to one of the pilots earlier, and lies that they called Hulk a sissy-boy. Hulk gets angry again, and jumps to the airships, shouting that he’s straight!
Five hundred feet below, Iron Man apologizes, but he has no idea how to switch the bomb of. Janet asks Tony if he’s not even going to try. Tony explains the first rule of business: manage time efficiently. However, Tony has a back-up plan. He drags the bomb outside, so that Thor can deal with it. He contacts Thor to come immediately down to them, since they don’t have much time.
Natasha approaches Tony, and wants him to know that she’ll always treasure that special moment they had in the men’s room back at the base. That pre-battle relief really meant a lot to her and she swears to him that he’ll always be honored for the sacrifice he is about to make. Iron Man doesn’t get it. Natasha talks about flying the bomb into space and that he’s going to give up his life for the rest of the world. Tony calls her ridiculous, and explains that he wants Thor to teleport the bomb off-world and as far away from Earth as possible.
Natasha and Janet call Tony stupid. Tony mentions that Thor is always showing off about how his Hammer can take him to Asgard and all that, so now Tony wants to see if he can transport the bomb in some mystic realm or something. Janet thinks she’s going to be sick. Natasha shouts that Thor is a former mental patient and no god at all. Suddenly, Thor enters the place, with a glowing light behind him.
Thor charges his hammer with raw energy. Iron Man, Black Widow and Wasp rush outside. Suddenly, the place falls apart! Natasha still shouts at Tony and asks him if he send the bomb to Nebraska or Canada or somewhere. Suddenly, a flashlight appears, and Thor stands triumphantly in front of them! He explains to Natasha that nobody is going to die. He took the bomb and dropped it in the wastes of Nastrond. He tells them also not to worry, as Nastrond has been an endless desert since it tried to rise up against noble Asgard may years ago and is now home to little more than Fafnir the Dragon. He believes that the worst they are going to feel is a minor ripple in three-dimensional Earth-space and he doubts that it’ll last more than a second.
Natasha won’t buy it. She turns her back around, and suddenly feels something. Blue rays suddenly surround them, and disappear as soon as they came. Natasha can’t believe it. Thor was right! He asks the man how he did it. Thor takes a look at Natasha, and simply smiles.
S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopters land and ask them aboard, since they are going to flatten the whole area in t-minus ten minutes. Tony, Natasha, Thor and Janet climb aboard. They go up, and Janet looks out of the window. She notices Hulk, and surprised asks if it’s really him. The Hulk succeeds, and destroys the Chitauri’s mother ship. Thor believes that they just let the one thing lose which is worse than an alien invasion. Fury tells him to shut up, and asks Hawkeye if he’s ready to do what Cap asked from him. Clint is and is ready to shoot Banner’s antidote at him at word, and thinks that his arm isn’t that badly injured after the shot he took.
The helicopter follows the Hulk, who tries to escape. Fury notices that they are right under each other, and orders Hawkeye to take the shot. He does, and hits Hulk with a green arrow! However, it doesn’t seem to work. Hulk still stands. He’s angry and jumps towards the helicopter, wanting to kill them. He approaches Hawkeye, who panics and begs for help. However, just then Hulk reverts back to Bruce Banner, who lies unconscious on Hawkeye. The threat is over.
Afterwards, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch triumph because they saved the world. Pietro smiles how the victory turned out to be just them, a couple of army guys at an Air Force base. Natasha doesn’t know what they are talking about, since she hasn’t seen either Pietro or Wanda during the whole event. Pietro smirks and tells her that, if she slows down any satellite pictures of the attack, he thinks she’ll find out that… Natasha gets a headache: here we go again.
Meanwhile, Captain America stands alone behind some trucks and tanks, and barfs. A soldier approaches Cap and asks him to address the troops for a minute, since they are all pretty psyched out about what happened, and a few words from him would mean a lot to them. Cap agrees to come, but asks for a second to his own.
Later, Cap is joined by the other Ultimates, and they proudly step to the troops, and are cheered by them. Hawkeye finds it all unbelievable. He was in Kosovo and Afghanistan when they both got liberated. He was in Germany the night the Berlin Wall came down, but it was nothing like this. Now, they were up against spaceships and fighting aliens who were in league with the Nazis. Janet thinks that this victory means that they are now officially super heroes!
The next day, a moping Banner watches a salute to the Ultimates on national TV. He doesn’t think that the people would cheer if they knew about all those 20,000 S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel that got killed in Micronesia. Heck, they defiantly wouldn’t have cheered if they knew that it was the Hulk who ripped Kleiser apart. Bruce tells Betty, who stands outside his cell, that he can still hear Kleiser’s bones crunching around in his mouth. He can still taste his blood at the back of his throat. Bruce feels sick, since he has been a vegetarian for the last fifteen years.
Betty apologizes, and says that she hasn’t heard anything from what he said, since she was just thinking about those satellite pics of Hulk wolfing down Kleiser’s intestines like some kind of wild animal. She smiles, and wonders if Bruce thinks that Fury would let them have some kind of conjugal visit anytime soon.
Elsewhere at the Triskelion base, Fury asks Cap if he can believe an article he has read. Fury says that Public Relations have just handed him an opinion poll saying that eighteen percent of the population thinks that S.H.I.E.L.D. faked the entire invasion. Cap doesn’t understand. Fury explains that some people are saying it was all just a plot to justify their latest multi-billion dollar cash-injection from Congress, when everybody else was tightening their belts.
To be honest, Cap confesses that he too wouldn’t know what to believe if he just watched the entire event at home in front of the television. They are approached by a S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist, who has another two and a half pounds of waste. He explains that’s approximately forty-three percent of the creature’s estimated body-mass right on schedule. Cap asks what all that means. Fury explains that it’s just a little security measure. He mentions that the Hulk beat Kleiser up by chewing him up and digesting him. Well, he adds, with Kleiser being a shape-changer, Nick just wants to say that they have to catch whatever comes out the other end and lock it up with all the other little leftovers they’ve captured.
Cap thinks that Fury’s joking. The scientist angrily says that Fury isn’t, and he doesn’t like doing it. The scientist leaves. Cap and Fury enter an elevator. Fury congratulates Cap again, and asks if he feels weird after fighting in public after all those years fighting secret missions in World War II, and finally defeating the Nazi threat. Cap doesn’t know what Fury is talking about. Fury jokes, and tells Cap that he’s feeling a word they might not have known back in 1945: Fury thinks that Cap has just experienced his first sense of closure.
Meanwhile, the Wasp sits in a hairdresser saloon in New York. Her barber doesn’t understand something. He tells Janet that USA Today said that Thor was the one who took down that big mother-ship, but People magazine said it was Iron Man. Janet jokingly says that Tony owns a fifty-two percent stake in People magazine, so she tells her barber to go with USA Today. The barber thinks it’s amazing to see yourself on a magazine cover. Janet says it is, and mentions that she’s got about 200 newspapers back home just waiting to be clippings. Even Thor told her that he has been online all week, doing Google searches to see what people thought of his performance. She excuses herself, as her cell goes off.
It’s Hank. He begs her not to hang up. An injured Hank tells Janet that he just saw her on the news and thought he’d give her a call. He explains that he’s staying out at his Aunt Grace’s place in Wisconsin and thought it’s maybe time that they touched base. Hank asks Janet if she minds talking to him. Janet just tells Hank to say what he wants. Hank just wanted to say thanks for not going ahead with those charges against him. Even though he knows he deserved it. Hank tells Janet that she can tell Captain America that he has dropped all charges against him too.
Janet tells Hank that this isn’t the time and place to talk things out. Hank asks if he should call back. Janet doesn’t want Hank to call her at all. Hank finds that awkward. Janet agrees. Hank tells her that obviously, he isn’t going to be at the White House party tonight, but he thought that he and Janet could maybe get together for a coffee or something next week. He knows that the circumstances of them falling out were hardly ideal, but he doesn’t see the reason for them to not be civilized about discussing the actual terms of the break-up. Janet gets angry, and tells Hank that he doesn’t even know the meaning of the word civilized, and hangs up on him.
Later that night, the Ultimates have gathered at the White House. Natasha asks Hawkeye if he heard why Thor didn’t come tonight. Apparently, he said on his website that he “wouldn’t set foot in the White House until America elects a new president”. She can’t believe that. Hawkeye smiles and asks Natasha if she’s disappointed. Natasha tells him not to be ridiculous. She adds that her tastes are a little too expensive for a man who looks and smells like he sleeps inside a cardboard box. Besides, she thinks she has already found her next ex-husband and he’s moving in on the First Lady in the corner behind them. They look at Tony, who is flirting up on the First Lady.
Meanwhile, Cap and Janet are dancing. She laughs and says that she’ll never forget the look on Cap’s face when she asked her to dance. She knows this wasn’t how it was done back in the forties, but she have been twiddling her thumbs forever waiting for him to get off his backside. Steve doesn’t want to hear any excuses, and finds the dames doing all the hard work is just one of the niftier things about the 21st century. He apologizes about Hank and everything. He thinks that she finds him the biggest clown in the world for the little fight they had. Janet admits that the reason she asked Steve to dance was so she could apologize. She’s sorry for tearing strips off his back at the sick bay. She says that he just caught her at a bad time, that’s all. She honestly didn’t mean a single word she said back there.
Steve says it’s okay. He doesn’t blame her for being angry with him. He says that the Hank thing was none of his business and he shouldn’t even have got involved. Janet tells him that he did get involved, and was the only one that cared enough to get involved. They look at each other, and kiss. A surprised Steve asks what that was for. Janet apologizes, but doesn’t know. She asks Steve to just keep dancing.
Fury, who has watched the kiss, finds it nice. He jokes that he thought that the guy was never going to get some. He walks through the White House alone, and enters the Oval Office. With a big smile on his face, he tells the guard that they are at ease, and can have a glass of champagne. After all, it’s not every day that they save the world.
The party goes on for a while, and beautiful fireworks are all over the White House.


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
untitled
One year later…
Northwest Iraq…
Captain America jumps, without wearing a parachute, out of an helicopter. Holing his arms and legs close to his body, the good Captain dives into the ocean below.
At a meeting room…
The other Ultimates are in a meeting with Nick Fury and some other SHIELD soldiers. Hawkeye asks what they are talking about here: a hundred and fifty foot drop from a Blackhawk into the Euphrates?
Fury explains that’s not even an option, believing that, even with night-cover, all nine hostages would be dead before Cap even touched the water. They need a six hundred foot drop for maximum invisibility and at least five miles distance between landing point and Al Haditah itself. They’re told there’s a pretty decent sewage system on the outskirts of town so t hat’s two miles of swimming and three miles of wading before Cap even reaches point zero.
Iraq…
Without looking back, Cap keeps swimming.
The meeting…
Clint wonders where they fit into the picture. Fury states that everything overt’s going to compromise the mission, but they’ll have Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch ten miles east and both Hawkeye himself and the Black Widow circling overhead for an airdrop.
Natasha asks what their actual status is. Are they just tourists on this operation? She asks Fury if he really thinks Captain America’s even going to need them down there. Fury responds he just doesn’t like taking chances.
Fury again explains the situation they have here, despite the fact the Ultimates all saw it on the news. These terrorists got nine aid workers up there and they all saw the mess they made two miles north of Basra. Last thing they need is nine little body bags lined up at Dulles Airport.
Pietro hopes Fury will be ready for the fallout when all this hits the fan. He knows that they may not care about him or his sister, but Fury promised the public that the super heroes would only be used domestically.
Fury smiles that’s the thing about being a grown-up. Sometimes you’ve got to break these little promises.
Iraq…
Getting near the house where the hostages are being held, Cap spots some soldiers and quickly attacks them. The soldiers open fire, but Cap’s fast punches help him gain victory. One of the soldiers hits a car, causing it to explode! Cap jumps away from the flames, kicking two soldiers out of his way at the same time. More soldiers open fire on him, but using his shield to protect his face, Cap also uses it to make the bullets bounce off. They hit the car the soldiers were hiding behind. The car explodes, catching the terrorists in the flames!
Cap runs towards the door and uses his shield to make it bounce off against the face of the goon guarding it. The terrorists inside the house quickly try to close the door, but Cap keeps running at them, warning the terrorists not to even think about doing that.
The terrorists close the door anyway, with more terrorists guarding their hostages. Cap smashes through the wooden door, and once inside immediately asks the hostages if they are in descent shape. Stuttering, one of them claims they pretty much are. Cap says that’s good, promising everything’s going to be fine now. Transport is going to be here in less than forty-five minutes. They are all going home.
All of the terrorists point their guns at Cap, who glares at them. He warns them to listen to what he’s about to say. They all know who he is and what he can do. He wants the terrorists to surrender their weapons, so they might – just might – live to tell their grandchildren about this little episode. But, he coldly warns, if they touch those triggers, he swears that not even their own mothers will recognize them. Not saying anything for a while, the terrorists all look at each other, doubting. They eventually all drop their guns and put their hands in the air. Cap smirks, saying that they’re clever boys.
Some time later, back in America, the airport…
The news reports about the homecoming of the hostages. They state that the president was waiting with friends and family to greet these nine brave men and women after their terrifying fourteen-day ordeal. A woman is interviewed and asked about Captain America. She doesn’t know what else to say than that he’s the best. He’s the reason they’re still breathing and back on American soil.
Meanwhile, Tony Stark is also being interviewed by Larry. He finds the woman’s claim exaggerating. He claims that some people are saying something else. They’re saying that the Ultimates just overstepped their mandate and used a Person of Mass Destruction in a very delicate foreign policy situation. Tony defends that he doesn’t think Captain America qualifies as a “Person of Mass Destruction.” Secondly, he adds, these aid-workers Cap rescued were all American citizens and this rescue situation had the backing of both the Red Cross and the U.N. Security Council. He promises this isn’t some plan to sneak super-humans into the Gulf through the back door or whatever. This was a straightforward humanitarian mission.
Larry replies that, this morning, Thor said he believes otherwise. Standing proudly on some rubble in the city and holding his hammer up, Thor tendered his resignation from the Ultimates, because he says Cap was doing the exact opposite of what Tony is saying. A lot of his followers cheered for that decision. According to Thor, this whole Homeland Security thing was just one big scam to get public opinion on the Ultimates’ side before launching preemptive strikes against anyone who ticks them off. Larry asks Tony what he’s got to say about that. Is he worried the government might be squandering all that public trust the Ultimates build up after all those big rescues last year?
Tony admits that Thor is a good friend of his. He was out for a drink with him just the other night, but they’re talking about a former psychiatric patient who thinks he’s a Norse god. Tony admits that Thor is great company, but his conspiracy theory he’s putting around that the Ultimates are going to end up as some kind of storm-troopers for the oil industry, that’s as outrageous as these visions he keeps having.
Larry asks Tony to wait a minute. Is he giving him a firm guarantee that he would never take part in a preemptive strike against any kind of rogue state acting contrary to American interests? Tony defends that he built the Iron Man suit so that he could give something back and, hopefully, meet some cheeky, little honeys at the same time. He’s honestly not interested in becoming some kind of Martini-swilling smart-bomb.
Downtown New York City…
Cap and Janet have just leave the movies and discuss it while walking over the streets. Janet claims that the movie they just saw isn’t as good as the Japanese version, but it was still pretty slick. She asks Cap if he realizes Gere actually made two good movies in a row this year and wonders if that’s some kind of record. Steve will take Janet’s point for that, as he wonder’s what’s the deal with all this potty-mouth in the movies lately. Why does every movie these days have to feel like a sailor wrote the script?
Janet smiles it’s just realistic. Even he swears sometimes. Cap admits that, but he doesn’t need to hear it every time he goes to the flicks. Likewise, as they pass a “nudity bar,” these dames don’t need to show him everything they’ve got just because he paid ten bucks for a ticket. Janet tells Steve to give her a break: this was the safest movie doing the rounds right now. He killed guys with his bare hands, for God’s sake. She doesn’t want to be made to go see the Sponge Bob movie.
Cap apologizes to be a grouch. It’s just that stuff they were saying in the papers this morning. He couldn’t stop thinking about it the whole time he was sitting at the movies. Janet doesn’t want to get started about that. Just the idea of Steve being out there risking his life for those people and then coming home to find all this idiots taking him apart tears her up. Actually, Steve admits, that wasn’t the thing annoying him. He couldn’t give a damn what they’re saying about him. It’s what they’re saying about Janet that’s driving him nuts. He means, six months ago, that crackerjack in the New York Times had him down as Man of the Year and now he’s written this whole editorial about Janet being an adulteress. He swears to God, if this creep wasn’t wearing glasses, he’d punch him.
Janet reminds Cap that they’re public figures now. This is the flipside of all those ticker-tape parades and big gala dinners people invite them to. Steve knows that, but snapping pictures of Janet coming out of his apartment, zoom-lens shots of them walking the dog is too much. Janet tells Steve that he’s Captain America. He’s also dating a married woman who also happens to be the Wasp. Did he really think people weren’t going to be interested? Steve just thought they’d show a little more restraint. Janet sarcastically welcomes her boyfriend in the 21st century.
Steve apologizes, realizing he’s ranting again. Janet is glad Steve at least stopped moaning about body-piercings and women with tattoos. Steve hugs her, wondering if this sixty-year gap ever gets Janet down. He means, does it ever feel like she’s dating Buck Rogers or something when they’re having a conversation? Janet doesn’t even know who the guy is Cap is talking about. Cap looks at her, doubtful. Janet smiles that she’s kidding. She tells him to just save all that gripping for the lodge tonight. He and all the other old-timers can complain about the modern world to his little heart’s content.
Some street punks call out to Janet, calling her “baby.” Steve wants to know what’s going on. A punk thinks Cap must be stupid or something. He wants them to hand over everything they’ve got and to hurry up, because he’s losing his patience. Noticing the gun pointed at his head, Steve wonders if they’re being “mugged” here. The punks confirm it, thinking Steve must be high or something. Janet and Steve smile at each other. The punk holding the gun wonders what’s wrong with them, and what’s so funny. Janet and Steve quickly start fighting the thugs, of course easily winning from them.
The Triskelion…
Dr. Hank Pym is guided into a large, underground lab. A SHIELD agents goads him that he saw Hank’s wife’s boyfriend hospitalized another couple of guys over in the Village this afternoon. He asks Hank if he realizes how much money he could make selling his side of that story now. While being checked-up for carrying potential weapons, Hank asks the agent if he really thinks he cares about that. Newspapers are for idiots. He wonders who pays money to read that garbage needs to have their head examined.
The agent smirks he’s just making conversation. He asks Hank if he knows the drill by now. No touching anything, no crossing that big white line on the floor, no telling anybody he even heard of Doctor Banner. Hank jokes if the agent really thinks he should toss out that T-shirt that says, “The Hulk is really a top-secret SHIELD employee?”
As Hank walks through a thick door, which gets closed behind him, the agent calls him a jackass, wondering why Fury even keeps him around.
Hank faces a large window. A familiar voice mentions he’s afraid “Clarice” will have to stop dropping by like this, as people will say they’re in love. Looking at none other than Bruce Banner, trapped in a big cage, asks the guy how long he’s been waiting to say that. “Twenty minutes,” Bruce jokes. Hank asks Bruce how his new cell is, and if those pills Doctor Brankin prescribed still keep him nice and relaxed in there.
Bruce shamefully admits that he only turned into the Hulk once in the last six weeks, and asks Hank if he knows what he did back then. He just sat on the bed and watched Curb Your Enthusiasm until he shrank back down to normal again. He also admits that these psychic sessions with Charlie Xavier have really helped suppress all the rage. Brankin’s even talking about letting Betty in here in a few weeks time. He asks if Hank knows she’s written Brankin a letter a day for the last six months just asking for a little quality time with him.
Hank jokes that somebody sounds like she’s hitting her thirties. Bruce sarcastically grins about that remark. He asks Hank how he did on those new super-hero ideas last week, wondering if Fury’s sitting on another big chunk of federal cash and he’s desperate for the both of them to come up with something nice and bright to sell to the public. Hank, putting on a helmet, claims that he actually came up with some amazing stuff. He had nothing for days and then he just sat down and came up with five different super-soldiers all in a single night. Those notes Bruce had for his Ultron idea were absolutely brilliant. But he had this crazy notion for the ants he really wanted to run past Bruce first.
Bruce thinks this is great. He can’t believe he and Hank never worked together in the past. They’ve got such an amazing synergy going on here. Suddenly, Hank shrinks, and only his lab coat can be seen! Bruce calls out to him. He doesn’t get it. What did Hank just do… turn invisible or something? Talking very computer-like, Hank denies that, thinking that’s crazy, as the Fantastic Four already got that light-sensitive girl. He just figured out a way to shrink himself down and still stay in contact with the insects there. He tells Bruce to stand a little closer to the glass and he’ll see him. Hank’s speaking to him through the helmet’s radio-system.
Shocked, Bruce can’t believe he’s looking at Hank sitting on a bug! Hank doesn’t know why Bruce is so surprised. Thor has resigned. Tony is always too busy to do the Iron Man thing and there’s no way people are going to let Giant-Man back on the team. So, he thought he’d ask Fury if he’d sneak him back with a brand new name and a whole new background. He asks Bruce how he thinks the code-name “Ant-Man” sounds like.
Terrace In The Sky restaurant, Morningside Heights, a stormy night…
Thor walks into the restaurant, with his boots soaking wet. Though all the other customers stare at him, Thor ignores them and apologizes to Volstagg for being late. He was creating a storm over a rice-field in Ethiopia and none of the locals was wearing a watch. Volstagg tells Thor not to worry about it. He’ll have to forgive him for starting dinner without him, as he’s already feasting on a large baked chicken. However, it’s been five hundred years since he set foot in this world and he’d honestly forgotten what chicken even tasted like. Thor goes to in front of his friend.
Volstagg is glad to hear Thor finally left the Ultimates. The only thing that puzzles him is why he even associated with those “idiots” in the first place. Thor smiles that he needed them as much as they needed him. Helping the Ultimates out in a few little brawls is what gave him this global profile he’s enjoying at the moment. And, Thor defends, not everyone in the Ultimates are idiots. Some of them are very fine men indeed. Volstagg calls them agents of the New World Order. And this agenda they’re following puts them completely at odds with everything he’s been sent here to do. It’s essential that Thor remember that.
Thor wonders if this is why Volstagg requested audience with him. To lecture him about the company he’s keeping? As Thor still ignores all the restaurant visitors staring at him, Volstagg denies what Thor just claimed. He’s here with a message from his father. Odin asked him to tell Thor that his brother has escaped from the Room Without Doors and swears vengeance for their last encounter. Thor doesn’t think that matters. He beat his brother once and will beat him again. He beats Loki every time they lock horns, isn’t that right?
Volstagg eats a burger, and after it wipes his mouth clean. He mentions that it’s different this time. This time, Loki has allied himself with something even Thor can’t match and, if their wise men are correct, he’ll assemble the super-people against Thor as well. He asks Thor if he can’t feel Loki moving the scenery around them? Reality is being rewritten even as they speak and this warning should be taken with the utmost seriousness. Loki is going to poison the Ultimates’ minds against him, so he’s best to be prepared. What comes next is like nothing he’s ever seen before. Thor takes a drink, and tells Volstagg not to worry. He’ll be ready.
A waiter apologizes for interrupting Thor, but asks if he’s waiting for a friend or if he’s eating alone here. Thor asks the waiter what he’s talking about. He’s sitting with a friend. He introduces the waiter to Volstagg the Voluminous from Asgard. He’s hardly the type you don’t notice. The waiter again apologizes, not meaning to embarrass Thor, but he’s actually just been talking to himself for the last five minutes. The other diners are starting to get a little scared. Thor, startled, asks if the waiter is serious about that. The waiter tells Thor to look for himself and see. Thor does so, and sees all of the other diners and waiters staring at him.
The lodge…
All of the World War II veterans walk out of their club, having had a fun night out. Among them are Bucky, Gail, Steve and Janet. Marty tells his friend Bucky this had to be the funniest roast he ever heard. He can’t even believe they hired Cap’s costume that time and he had to fight the Nazis in his underwear. Bucky swears to God, Marty should have seen the Nazis’ faces. A living legend Cap may be, but he looked like such a goofball in those long-johns.
Gail, putting her arm around Steve’s, tells him not to listen to them. She knows for a fact he looked a picture in those long-johns. Bucky warns Gail to be careful, as she isn’t engaged to Steve anymore. She better remembers she moved onto bigger and better things now. Janet smiles that Gail can have Steve. Gliding into his arms, she jokes that those two hooking up again just leaves things open for them. Bucky smiles that Janet got a deal, and he asks Carmine if he’s seeing this. Carmine mocks Janet to be careful how she squeezes Bucky: any tighter and he’s going to bust that colostomy bag of his.
Once outside, the veterans are all surrounded by the press! A reporter from the NBC news asks Cap if he has any comment to make about the Hulk situation. Steve warns the reporters to hold their horses, as this is a little private time and they can’t just bust in there like this. Another reporter asks Cap if he and the Wasp would like to explain why they both repeatedly lied when they said they had no idea who the Hulk was or what his relationship was to Betty Ross. Shocked, Janet and Steve don’t know what to say. Stunned as well, Bucky asks Steve what the reporters are talking about.
All over the world…
Newsfeeds can be seen everywhere about the news concerning the Hulk. Anonymous files were sent to every major news network in the world, explaining that the Hulk’s name and origins have been known to the security services since the moment he appeared. General Nick Fury, the commander-in-chief of SHIELD, refused to confirm that he participated in this cover-up to protect a man responsible for the deaths of more than eight hundred people.
Hawkeye’s home…
Watching the news at their bedroom, Hawkeye’s wife tells him he better wakes up and sees this.
The news…
Reporters continue to say that, if these reports are accurate, and all signs indicate that they are, then the Hulk is in fact a federal employee whose identity was concealed to avoid a massive public outcry.
Iron Man’s home…
An angry Tony asks his employees where this stuff is coming from. He’s getting SHIELD files ten levels over presidential clearance here. He wants to know who is sending all these.
The news…
Reporters repeat tonight’s main headline: the identity of the Hulk has been confirmed as Doctor Robert Bruce Banner, former director of SHIELD’s super-soldier program and, as the world can see from the pictures showed on viewing screens, Banner is living comfortably in federally-funded quarters one mile beneath the Triskelion. The Ultimates are expected to make an announcement shortly, but first they go live to the White House for an emergency statement from the president of the United States.
The Triskelion…
In the middle of eating a sandwich, Bruce is shocked to hear about this breaking news…


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
The Trial of the Hulk
Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse
The Hulk Trial, Day One…
An angry mob has gathered in front of the courthouse.
Inside the courtroom, the trial of Bruce Banner is taking place. Not able to be there in person, Banner can only see everything through a television screen. His defender is Matt Murdock.
The prosecutor addresses the judge, jury and other people in the room. He states its clear that guilt isn’t the issue here. He believes the question is whether Doctor Banner is actually culpable for those horrific acts he committed in his drug-inducted Hulk state. Matt objects against that. He defends that his client has never been diagnosed as chemically dependent, either now or in the past, and that prosecution is misleading the jury.
The judge overrules that statement. Holding some papers in her hand, in which she has read that the super-soldier serum Doctor Banner was trying to replicate was unquestionably a drug and that the terminology used sounds accurate to her. The prosecutor thanks the judge and continues. Now, he suggests what if this super-soldier serum had actually been crack-cocaine and Doctor Banner had murdered these people in a more conventional drug-fuelled rage. He wonders if this would culpability even be called into question.
Matt objects again. He doesn’t like this persistent inference that his client has somehow taken an illegal substance. Holding a top-secret SHIELD file in his hand, Matt states that the super-soldier serum was a state-sanctioned military performance enhancer and its derivative was tested for five years before Doctor Banner conducted trials on his person. The judge duly notes that revelation.
The other lawyer holds a liquor bottle in his hand. He wants to use alcohol as an example. He knows that Doctor Banner is using the defense that he has no memory of what he does in his altered state, but the lawyer wonders if a homicide is not a homicide if a person is under the influence? Is a pregnancy declared null and void if two teenagers have no recollection of falling into bed? He states that everyone shouldn’t pay no heed to the fact that Doctor Banner looks different on the screen than from the one they saw tearing a path through downtown Manhattan. These were the acts of a single individual and that individual must now pay the ultimate price.
Watching the trial on TV at Tony Stark’s mansion, Janet tells Steve to turn it off, as the lawyer is giving her a headache. Tony believes that, even so, the lawyer has got a point. He agrees that Banner is never going to get away with this, and that this blind lawyer Banner found himself makes great TV, but the execution’s really just a formality at this stage. Sitting next to him, Natasha smiles at Tony not to be such a Mister doom-and-gloom.
Steve also agrees that Banner is going down and doesn’t think that’s more than natural. People need a scapegoat, don’t they? Only thing he doesn’t understand is how that old girlfriend of Banner can orchestrate this whole charade. He remembers that Fury offered Betty compassionate leave, but she turned him down and says she doesn’t want anyone else running “her damn department.” Janet recalls that Betty was exactly the same back in college. She just likes to prove she’s as tough as her old man. She asks everyone else if they know Betty hasn’t even been down there to see Banner yet?
Natasha angrily calls Betty a cold-hearted witch and thinks that’s unbelievable. Tony disagrees, defending it’s perfectly understandable. Everyone has their own way of dealing with crisis situations and Betty’s just a typical Type A personality. Steve changes the channels and sees Thor on Sixty Minutes.
Jarvis, standing behind the heroes, dusting things, looks up, surprised. On the interview, Thor says that he’s actually becoming irritated by the way everyone just assumes he leaked Banner’s name to the press. He doesn’t see why he would do that when it was obvious they’d hang the poor man out to dry. Jarvis smiles at Thor’s marvelous physique. He doesn’t think he has ever seen someone’s abdominals through their raincoat before. Tony tells Jarvis to be quiet and, between sips of his Martini, asks Steve turn the TV up a second.
Steve does, and they all continue to listen to what Thor has to say. Thor further adds that this is all smoke and mirrors. He points out that Banner’s trial being televised 24/7 is just to distract the citizens from the real atrocity in the cards and that’s superhuman troops in the so-called rogue states. He suggests everyone to forget this little street theater they’re numbing brains with. He defends that the primary concern should be the rumors of The Ultimates being deployed in Syria and Iran. Because, Thor says to reporter Bob, that’s what’s coming up if they don’t get their act together. He knows this team wasn’t put together to stop burglars and bank robbers.
Natasha calls Thor a moron and can’t believe she actually planned to seduce him when she first joined the team. Tony looks surprised at her.
The Triskelion. The Hulk Trial, Day Seven. Night…
Betty visits Bruce in his cell, and says hello to him. He does the same, but without looking at her. Betty asks Bruce to listen to him. She brought him some milk and stuff for his coffee and a couple of magazines that just came out today. She asks if he has the new Premiere yet. She doesn’t thinks so, because she hadn’t seen the cover before. Still not looking at her, Bruce replies that he hasn’t got it and thanks her for it. He thinks it’s really going to be entertaining reading previews of movies they’re releasing the month after he’s dead. He sarcastically thanks Betty for the nice thought.
Betty doesn’t know what to say. Bruce wipes his mouth clean, claiming that what he just said was a joke. And a funny one at that. He thinks nobody can tell when he’s trying to lighten the atmosphere anymore. Betty apologizes. God knows she should have come down to see him before now, but she just couldn’t handle it. She has just been sitting in her office crying all day with the phone off the hook. Bruce thinks that’s because she’s feeling a little guilty. Betty is speechless again.
Bruce angrily smashes some experiment tubes and papers out of his way, shouting that he hopes Betty feels guilty, because if it weren’t for her he wouldn’t even be in this mess. It if weren’t for her, he’d never have injected himself with the drug in the first place. Feeling ashamed, Bruce tells Betty that maybe somebody else would have just accepted the way he was. Maybe a nicer person wouldn’t have made him feel this pathetic. Betty can’t tell Bruce how sorry she is. Bruce thinks Betty should be sorry.
Looking at her, he starts to cry. He corrects himself that he should be sorry. He knows this isn’t Betty’s fault. It’s his. This is nobody’s fault but his own and it all goes back to way before Betty came on the scene. She can believe him in that. Betty knows. Bruce thinks they’re some couple. She knows. She quietly thinks for a while, and asks the sergeant if he could open the doors for her. The sergeant apologizes but he can’t do that. Starting to cry, Betty asks what the sergeant means by that, as he has opened the doors for the cleaners.
Bruce doesn’t think this is such a good idea. Betty reminds Bruce he hasn’t changed into the Hulk in months, believing he has this thing completely under control now. He said so himself! Bruce doesn’t want Betty to do this, as it doesn’t solve anything. All she’s doing is making things worse. Betty cries and tells Bruce she loves him. She loves him so much and is so sorry she’s playing all those stupid games with his head. She begs him to forgive her, and to tell her he loves her back. Hesitant, Bruce claims that he… can’t. Betty wants to know why. Staring at all the cameras filming him, Bruce admits it’s because he’s too embarrassed in front of all these people.
The Hulk Trial, Day Nine. The courthouse…
Once again an angry mob has gathered in front of the building. Inside the courtroom, Matt Murdock speaks for Bruce Banner once again. Matt suggests they consider the facts. Doctor Bruce Banner has worked for the United States government since graduating from university two years early. During this time, he has devoted himself entirely to the creation of a second U.S. super-soldier, the result of which, as everyone knows, was responsible for the deaths of more than eight hundred civilians. However, what he’s there to stress was that these people died in what can only be described as a military accident. With the exception of the bereaved here in the courtroom, Matt thinks that no one feels their loss more than Banner himself and he has sworn to spend the rest of his life atoning for his one terrible mistake.
Matt adds that the offices of Nelson and Murdock did not defend Doctor Banner free of charge for the media publicity. As attorneys practicing in this great city of New York, it does them no favors to argue the case for someone who has become, perhaps, her most reviled and hated son. They defend Banner because, where others saw murder, they saw manslaughter. Where others saw a monster, they saw a healer who plans to devote himself to cancer and AIDS research. Banner isn’t asking for freedom, just the chance to stay alive and use his God-given genius for the benefit of all mankind.
The judge sarcastically thanks Murdock for a most impassioned performance. She tells the ladies and gentleman of the jury they have two duties to perform: first, they must determine the facts from the evidence received in the trial and not from any other source. Second, they must apply the law to the facts and in this way, arrive at their verdict.
Later, at the Triskelion…
Nick Fury, being followed by several SHIELD soldiers, enters Banner’s cell. Bruce admits he’s feeling nervous. It’s like he’s back in high school waiting for exams results, except much scarier because he always used to score full marks in those things so that might not be the best analogy. Fury asks Bruce if he ever thought it would all end up like this. Of course he didn’t! Becoming Public Enemy Number One isn’t how he pictured his life. He wanted to become Captain America! He jokes that skinny Steve Rogers enrolls in the super-soldier program and suddenly he’s transformed into The Living Legend of World War Two. That’s what he wanted. He just wanted people to like him. That’s why he spent all those hours working in the lab.
Fury asks Bruce if he’s prepared for what’s coming next. On a practical level, Bruce is. He’s got his will sorted out: all that salary that’s been building up in his account the whole time he has been here is settled. Then, of course, there’s the letters he has been writing to the families of all those people the Hulk killed. Or Bruce Banner killed. Or however you want to look at it. Emotionally, he doesn’t know if he’s prepared.
Nick asks Bruce if he wants the good news or the bad. Hesitant, Bruce doesn’t know. Both, he guesses. Taking out a champagne glass and pouring some glasses, Fury explains that the good news is that the judge threw the whole case out of court and the bad news is he just got charged a hundred-and-fifty bucks for this big bottle of Dom Perignon here. Bruce doesn’t know what to say to that. Fury smiles to Bruce that he’s off the hook.
The guards happily open Bruce’s cell and congratulate him. Bruce, taking a glass of champagne, asks Fury if he’s a hundred percent certain about this. Fury is. Bruce happily smiles, thinking this is huge. He wants to know how they end up throwing this out of court. He thought this case was a foregone conclusion! Fury smiles it was until Banner’s buddies on the team marched into court and pointed out how the Hulk almost single-handedly saved the world from an alien invasion. If it wasn’t for him, the entire world would be pushing up the daisies right now and executing the boy who saved their necks back their and that might be a little ungrateful.
Bruce honestly doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He doesn’t even drink. This is crazy. He can’t believe the guys came through for him like this. Fury promises Banner he can believe it. Now he wants to raise a toast to getting him out of this stupid cell altogether. They both know Bruce got that Hulk problem under control again, but he figures it’s time to show it to the rest of the world as well. Bruce wants to drink to that.
He takes the wine bottle and drinks from it. Fury’s smile fades, and gets a serious, grim look on his face instead. The wine bottle falls out of Bruce’s hands, smashing into pieces on the floor. Banner collapses and faints. Fury tells Bruce he’s sorry about this. The guards hold their guns ready, and Fury orders them to proceed as planned.
The Pacific Ocean, Exact Location Classified. U.S.S. Constellation…
Leaving an unconscious Bruce behind on a ship flight deck, Fury orders his helicopter to fly up again. Betty takes a final look at Bruce again and cries, calling Fury and his partners monsters. She wants to know why Fury did that to him. Why did Fury have to lie to Bruce like that?
Fury tells Betty to be reasonable. She has seen what happens when Banner gets mad. They tell Bruce he just got the death penalty, and who knows what’s going to happen next. If they hadn’t tranquilized Banner, there’s a forty-percent chance he could have torn a hole in that cell. This was all for the best, and Betty knows that. Hank, sitting next to Fury, agrees. He’s hardly going to screw up his last assignment.
Fury asks Tony if he has connected with the battleship yet, as this thing is going off in T-minus four minutes. Iron Man asks Fury for a second. Fury asks if Banner is still out cold. Walking over the ship deck, Tony checks up on Banner and reports he’s sleeping like a baby. It’s hard to believe this is even happening. Banner’s like a little bag of bones lying there. It just feels obscene to him. Fury reminds Tony they’ve been over this a million times. Banner murdered over eight-hundred innocent people. Tony knows. He gets up, and jokes Fury wonders why he drinks.
T-minus three minutes are left. Soldiers warn Stark to better get off the deck, as the safe-zone is 15 miles with a one-megaton bomb. As the Ultimates and Betty say one final goodbye to Bruce, they take off in their helicopters. Once they’re gone, Bruce suddenly opens his eyes! On that very moment, a bright light appears, and the deck gets destroyed into pieces…
Some time later, at Banner’s funeral…
Captain America, wearing his Army uniform, speaks in honor of Bruce for an almost completely empty church, with the exception of the Ultimate members.
Steve reads: “My dear friends. I know that serious scientists aren’t supposed to believe in the concept of an afterlife. There’s no proof, after all. No empirical data to suggest that there’s anything beyond the here-and-now and yet here I am talking to you all from beyond the grave itself. What does that suggest? What does that teach you? To me, it’s a perfect illustration that the world is a far more complex place than even the brightest among us would dare to imagine.”
“My own, private faith dates back to my seventh summer and our annual vacation with my cousins on Chesapeake Bay. My uncle was a wildlife photographer and patiently nurtured my earliest interests in both plants and animals. I remember a little caterpillar we’d grown fond of during that long, hot July. A tiny Geometridae we played with and stroked and made up some child-like name for. How heartbroken we were when he seemed to have died. When he curled up tight in a silken cocoon and didn’t make a move for days.”
“We cried and cried and cried, but my uncle explained that nothing truly dies. Change was merely taking place as ice becomes water and water becomes gas and he was right, you know. In a matter of days, a butterfly hatched from that hard, little chrysalis and took off in search of something far more interesting than Bruce Banner and his high-pitched cousin.”
Quoting from Bruce’s will: “So don’t weep for me, my friends, because science insists that I have not died. Energy just always changes state and I refuse to believe that human consciousness is the sole exception to this universal law. Remember me fondly as I’ll remember you. In all my years, I never had friends so dear. In all my years, I never had a group of people whom I truly felt such an integral part of. For this and everything else you have given me these last eighteen months you have Bruce Banner’s eternal and everlasting gratitude.”
After the ceremony, it starts to leave and everyone heads home. Janet thinks this was awful. She can’t believe they were Banner’s best friends. She doesn’t think she even spoke to the guy for more than ten minutes. Betty asks Janet not to think about it, as it’s too horrible. She doesn’t even want to think about someone being that lonely. Fury suggests that he and Betty go hit the bars and see Bruce off in style. Joining Fury with Cap, Janet takes a final look at Hank, who goes home all alone himself.
Arriving at his apartment, Hank’s answering machine reminds him he missed two calls when he was attending Banner’s memorial service. One was from Evergreen Real Estate with details of an apartment in the price-range he was looking for. The second was from Dr. Brankin regarding those missing Ultron designs the department requires before he officially leaves. The machine asks Hank if it has to call him back. Hank strongly denies it as those designs are his, and he wants to see Brankin sweat for a while. The machine received the message and understands. As Hank prepares a drink, the machine gets another call from an unknown location and the number has been purposely withheld.
A voice just thanks Hank, telling him he just called to say thanks. Hank quickly rushes over to the phone, answering it. Saying hello to the caller, he doesn’t receive an answer. Hank is startled.
Elsewhere, at an unknown location…
Bruce hangs up the phone. Picking up his backpack, he puts on a cap and merges into the crowd, and disappears…


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Brothers
Downtown…
Captain America punches out a terrorist, who had explosives wired on his body so he could blow up a building. As the terrorist falls down and gets surrounded by the other members of the Ultimates, Cap mocks the terrorist and jokes that they know he has a bomb.
Later, the event gets reported on several talk shows and is heavily discussed. Interviewer Dave thinks that drug busts, hostage situations and house fires is just the stuff the emergency crews have been doing for years. He really wonders if the Ultimates are really worth that extra eighty-seven billion dollars Nick Fury just secured from Congress. Janet waves the bad publicity away, asking Dave to be serious. The Ultimates do all that stuff in their spare time. Their main job is still national defense, and sarcastically asks if he has ever seen a Polaris Missile save a kid from a burning building. She then recalls how Captain America earlier saved a little kid from a burning house.
Next, Janet is a guest on the Oprah show. Oprah tells Janet they had her friend, Betty Ross, on last week talking about her feelings after the execution of Bruce Banner, but Oprah knows that Janet too had her share of heartache, obviously. She asks if Janet ever hears from her ex-husband after he was dismissed for that disgusting behavior of his last year. Holding Oprah’s hand gently, Janet admits she doesn’t hear from Hank directly, but hears he’s been kept busy enough. It’s all in the hands of their attorneys right now so she’s afraid she can’t say too much.
Meanwhile, Hank himself is busy working in his lab, wearing his Ant-Man helmet.
Interviewer Jay talks about urging anti-war protestors to do whatever it takes. It sounds to him like Thor’s trying to stir things up. He wants to know if the Ultimates can’t have a word in Thor’s ear and straighten the hippie out. Janet smiles that Thor might not be a member of the team anymore, but he is a private citizen and entitled to his opinion. That said, if Thor keeps spreading these stupid rumors that the Ultimates are being sent to the Gulf with some European super-guys, she’s going to have to give him a smack.
Elsewhere in town, Thor flies up in the sky, holding his hammer strongly in hand. Lots of people protest against the war and cheer for the mighty god.
Talkshow host Leeza smirks that six foot three, two hundred and eighty pounds of super-soldier muscle mass and a face like Brad Pitt has to make her wonder how it feels like to be living with a guy who’s just been voted The Sexiest Man in America. Janet jokes that she likes to think Steve is the lucky one in their relationship.
Later, at the old Archonis Gym…
Watching Steve work out with weights, Janet wants to know what he’s doing in this dump. There’s sweat stains on the carpet as old as her mother. Steve thinks that just shows people actually work out down there. He hates all those other gyms with their iPods and their MTV and their stupid, overpriced isotonic drinks. Janet reminds him that the Triskelion has a ten million dollar sports facility and she can’t believe Steve is still paying ten bucks an hour to hang around something that looks like a prison workout room to her.
Steve explains that this gym has been around since the thirties. He used to pass it every day on the way to his old job at the bakery, and Janet has no idea how much it means to him to be a member now. Janet just wants Steve to remember to take a shower before he’s coming home, as they are going over to Hawkeye’s place for dinner tonight. Tony and Natasha are maybe coming too and Wanda and Pietro just called to say they were definite. Steve doesn’t want to go tonight. They’re going to that ballroom dancing thing with Bucky and Gail. Janet admits she completely forgot about that and asks if they can’t put them off. They can’t, as Steve already bought tickets and booked the cars. Bucky has been looking forward to this for ages, and Gail bought a new dress and had her hair done this afternoon.
Janet states that it’s not like she doesn’t want to go or anything. She means, Bucky and Gail are hilarious, but she asks Steve, doesn’t he think it might be nice to hang out with someone his own age every once and a while? Steve doesn’t know what Janet is talking about: Bucky and Gail were a year behind him at school. Janet sighs.
The billionaire bachelor club, Switzerland…
Jarvis asks all the rich men to have their attention for a moment. Sir James wants to know what Jarvis is doing here, as someone told him he was about to dish the dirt in somewhat –the-butler-saw memoir he managed to strike a deal for. He mocks Jarvis, wondering if Stark isn’t letting him go. Jarvis pours a glass of champagne, smiling that he’s afraid loyalty to his employer far outweighed the little offer Sir James is talking about, as is the check his young Master Tony had the good sense to cut by way of compensation.
No, he still runs Stark’s household at this precise moment in time and have traveled there on Master Tony’s behalf to impart the most terrible of news. Another rich guy jokes that he doesn’t want to hear Stark had another suicide attempt. He thought this whole Iron Man business was keeping Tony’s black dog at bay for a while. Jarvis drinks from his champagne, correcting Mister Rockefeller it’s far worse than suicide. He’s there to inform them all that Tony has finally found the harlot of his dreams. Master Tony has fallen in love. Everyone cheers for Stark and drinks a glass of wine in his honor.
St. Petersburg, Russia, the open skies…
Natasha soars through the skies wearing a new black armor Tony built for her, and thoroughly enjoys it. Happy asks Natasha if she thought of a good name yet. Natasha quotes that Tony suggested the names Cybernatrix or Iron Maiden, but she thinks they both sound a little silly. There’s plenty of black in this birthday gift Tony designed for him, so Black Widow still works. She’s ready to approach mach three and flies at top speed.
Iron Man joins her and admits to Natasha she looks amazing in that armor. She looks like something out of one of those dirty little Japanese cartoons and he must confess that he’s quite turned on. Natasha compliments the armor is the most amazing present she ever got. The nanites feel like second skin to her. Tony takes her hand, asking her to follow him, as the suit was only half the surprise.
They fly through the skies together, with Natasha telling Tony he should have seen the dirty look Janet gave him when she told her about all the other stuff Tony delivered her this morning. Janet hates her more than all the others put together, and asks Tony if he can believe Janet told Hawkeye she was only after his cash. Tony jokes Janet only said that because she has never seen him naked. Or seen how unhappy he was when he was dating Christina, Paris and all the rest of those little airheads. Natasha is the first real person Tony has ever actually met, and one thing the tumor has taught him is never to pass a golden opportunity when he sees one.
Natasha looks down, and can’t believe her eyes. Tony says it’s the other half of the surprise. Natasha can’t keep her eyes off it: on the land below her, the following words are spelled: “Will You Marry Me?” plus a heart is formed underneath it.
Natasha asks if those letters are actually being formed by people. Tony admits that. It’s three million of them, which is the entire population of Natasha’s old home city. She wouldn’t believe how long it took him to organize them like this, or how many labor laws he had to break. Still, a hundred dollars a head and a warm cup of coffee and it’s amazing how long these guys can stand around in the snow. Natasha opens her helmet and looks quietly at Tony. He thinks he asked too soon. Natasha cries, denying that. It’s not too soon at all. They share a hug and kiss.
Tony’s crew is happy for him, and Happy notices Pepper cry. He asks if she always cries when people pop the question. Pepper denies that: she just cries when billionaires ask it.
Rome, Italy…
Half a million people protest against rumors of European super-soldiers. The police have the hardest time holding the folks at bay and throw tear gas grenades at them. They start smashing the officers with their guns and start pushing them away. One of the protestors begs the officers to stop. He’s an American citizen and this was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration.
During the tumult, nobody notices a strange, black-haired person just quietly standing, smiling at the devastation.
As the officers keep smashing people, not hearing them claim they weren’t going to do anything, thunder flashes suddenly strike them. Cars explode and fire appears. A large figure goes to stand on the destroyed cars, holding his weapon ready. It’s Thor! With rain falling all over his body, Thor points his hammer at the officers, telling them to leave these people alone.
Brooklyn…
Hawkeye’s wife watches the news about the riots. A reporter states they’ve yet to hear a statement from the Italian authorities, but Thor’s shocking attack on the city’s police has been condemned. Two of Hawkeye’s three kids tell their mommy that their daddy is coming up the driveway now. They all happily rush to him.
Holding a bag in his hands, Clint asks what happened to the security detail. They’re supposed to have six guys on this place twenty-four seven. Laura jokes that they’re helping Mrs. Bernstein get her cat out of the dryer. She doesn’t think it matters. She tells Clint she has been trying to call him all day and asks if she didn’t get his messages. Clint stares at his cell phone, joking he can never figure out how these stupid things work. He asks what happened. Laura admits it’s about Thor. He finally flipped. He just took out a hundred Italian cops and Nick Fury’s called an emergency meeting. She thinks they’re sending Clint to Europe.
On that very moment, a helicopter arrives to pick Clint up.
The Dome, Brussels…
Nick Fury leads Captain America, Janet, Natasha, Pietro, Wanda, Hawkeye and Iron Man into the building. He introduces them all to meet Professor Sir James Braddock of the European Defense Initiative. Sir James has been overseeing the super-soldier program out there for the last two years and he’s as big a name in bio-engineering as Bruce Banner was back home. James apologizes for all the papers and mess lying on the floor, but they’re still six to eight months from going public with this place. He asks if anyone fancies a cup of tea.
Steve shakes hands with Captain Britain. He tells him Tony was telling him all about that submarine rescue he and the others did a few weeks back, and it was pretty amazing. Brian smiles that Tony is hilarious. Everyone there just absolutely loved him. They’ve all been very excited about meeting Steve as well. He asks if he knew he used to have a poster of him on his wall when he was a pupil up at the Fettes College in Edinburgh.
Sir James jokes that other boys have posters of John Lennon or Che Guevara, but his son was the ultimate icon of military imperialism. He proudly introduces everyone to Brian Braddock, aka Captain Britain, who is the only man under seventy-five who’d agree to wear a Union Jack on his chest. Brian tells Cap not to listen to his dad, as he designed the exo-suit. He jokes his dad is just ugly enough to look intelligent.
James further introduces everyone to Carlos Fraile from Spain and Hugo Etherlinck from France. The Parliament hasn’t finalized their code-names yet, but they’re thinking Captain Spain and Captain France anyway, just to keep things nice and simple. Both Carlos and Hugo wave “hi” to the Ultimates. James also introduces the gang to their moody Italian friend as Umberto Landi, who is Captain Italy. They might have seen those leaked training photographs of him on the news lately. Umberto doesn’t want to be blamed for the protests, as it’s not his fault if security doesn’t know how to keep a secret.
James guides everyone further into the building, explaining there’s nine member states involved in the initial state of the program, but these are the only ones ready for the kind of combat the Ultimates are about to get involved in. Hawkeye asks the Professor what he means by that. Iron Man agrees with that question, also wanting to know what any of this has got to do with Thor. James suggests that Gunnar could explain it to the heroes.
Gunnar, standing on a stage, presses on a button and opens a presentation screen behind him. He introduces himself as Gunnar Golmen. He has been heading up the Norwegian team for the last twenty-four months. They did a lot of market research before they started work on the country’s representative and the national icon they’ve selected was Thor, the Viking god of Thunder. Like the Americans, they were unable to crack the secrets of Captain America’s super-soldier serum and opted for a bio-mechanical approach to the post-human they were developing.
Using North iconography, Gunnar designed a harness that would imbue the wearer with flight, durability and a level of strength unseen in even the mutant community. He shows them images of the armor, which are similar to the one Thor’s wearing. However, Gunnar continues, their biggest success was the power battery they created in the form of Thor’s mystical hammer. This hammer could ionize the environment and artificially manipulate the weather or even use its four-dimensional engine to teleport the wearer anywhere in the world.
Of all the super-soldiers they designed, Thor was unquestionable the most formidable and would have been the leader, were it not for Gunnar’s lunatic brother. He doesn’t need to remind the Ultimates they’ve with no doubt met his brother Thorlief, or Thor, as he’s been calling himself ever since he stole Gunnar’s hardware.
Tony wants to know if this is a gag.
Gunnar can only wish it were. He has always been very close to his brother. Everyone has to understand that. Thorlief might be a little odd and lack social skills, but he’s all the family he has and Gunnar tried to spend a lot of time with Thorlief after his nervous breakdown. Thorlief himself was a nurse himself before he went into the hospital. He was always interested in animals and the environment. Gunnar never thought his brother could hurt him like this, or could destroy the lab the way he did after he stole the armor and hammer.
This all happened eighteen months ago. Eighteen months and Gunnar and his team are still picking up the pieces of what they lost that night.
Janet wants to know what Gunnar’s saying: that Thor is a fake? Is his hammer and stuff just stolen hardware? Fury admits that’s exactly what Gunnar is saying. They’ve known about this right from the start, but figured it was time everyone else got brought up to speed. Hawkeye can’t believe it.
Tony doesn’t think this makes any sense at all. He wonders if Thor was running around with stolen goods, why didn’t Fury just do something about it? Fury doesn’t know what they could have done about it. Thor was designed to be the most powerful superhuman on the planet. That belt protects him from even psychic attacks, and asks Tony if he was maybe going to take him down.
Besides, Gunnar adds, Thorlief might have had his problems, he might have had these insane delusions, but nobody could say his heart wasn’t in the right place. He helped the Ultimates out a few times. It’s just the recent things that’s been dangerous… encouraging violence against democratically-elected governments.
Captain America asks Fury what he wants them to do. Fury wants Thor brought in tonight, before this gets any worse. He wants all seven of the Ultimates to work with these guys from the European division and, of course, they’ll be backed to the hilt by Fury’s own conventional people too. Tony apologizes, but he doesn’t know if he can do this. Fury tells Tony he can believe him, as he doesn’t want this any more than he does, but Thor’s becoming a serious problem out there. Janet thinks it’s unbelievable. This is just completely unbelievable… she smirks at Fury, joking this sure is a good way to ruin their first team-up.
Norway, the snowy forests…
While his followers are partying behind him, Thor prays alone, holding his hammer straight down on the ground. Jane approaches him quietly. As he hears the wind changing, Thor asks Jane to get everyone out of there. He powers up his hammer and pushes Jane away, shouting at her to just do as he says.
While soldiers get a lockdown on Thor, Quicksilver rushes at him top speed, holding his fists ready. Unfortunately Thor spots him and strikes him down, shooting thunderbolts from his hammer.
Thor asks if this is how it’s going to end. Creeping up on him like he’s some kind of criminal? But he won’t be going anywhere! He just wants his friends to be given the time to get out of her. He wants to at least being granted that courtesy.
Above in his plane, Fury can see Thor on his monitors. His soldiers ask what they have to do. Fury agrees with Thor. He wants his followers to be given twenty minutes to pack their things, as they don’t want civilian casualties any more than he does.
Twenty minutes pass, and soldiers watch how Thor’s followers are ready to leave. Jane refuses to go and says this to Thor. Thor tries to explain to Jane that, if she stays, she’s only going to get killed. She can trust him on that. He knows what he’s doing there. He knew this would happen sooner or later and he’s ready for whatever they throw at him. Jane thinks that if everyone stays, the Ultimates won’t be able to attack. Thor kisses Jane on her head, joking she’s being crazy now. He tells her to just go with the others. He’ll be fine. She just has to have a little faith and this will all work out.
As the people start to leave, Fury’s soldiers report that the forest is clear for a mile in every direction. The US and European soldiers are on standby and await further orders.
Captain America and all the other Captains merge from the forest trees. Thor tells Steve he doesn’t have to do this. Steve strongly disagrees with that. Thor tries to explain to Cap he’s being tricked. He’s being deceived by his evil half-brother. He thinks this is all Loki’s masquerade. He can’t believe the Ultimates don’t see this. Loki can shuffle time and space, and just made all this up.
Tony asks Thor to be serious. Thor knows this, admitting the same thing happened in the restaurant when he was talking to Volstagg. He didn’t notice it at the time, but there was a ripple in the scenery. Just before Loki gave things a little nudge and turned all those dates and times against him. Janet asks Thor not to make this any harder than it has to be. Thor tells Janet that the guy they met back at the complex isn’t real. He’s the Asgardian god of Mischief and he’s laughing up his sleeve at the Ultimates. He only sent them there to spoil his father’s mission. Tony asks Thor to stop. He thinks Thor’s sick, and a danger to himself and to other people now.
Thor disagrees. He tells Tony he only believes that because Loki has twisted reality. That’s what he does. He asks Tony if he doesn’t see it. Loki just twists things around to cause problems for him. Janet admits to Thor that they’ve read his file, and that all this is just happening in his head. Thor begs to Captain America to make them listen to him.
Captain America apologizes to his chum. He’s nuts and he’s going down!


[User]
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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
The Passion Play
Norway…
Soldiers try to bring Thor’s followers into safety. One of the soldiers, Sparrow-hawk, reports to Eagle-one that they’ve got the “freaks” a mile from ground zero and that transport is good to go. The Ultimates are now clear to attack. Another soldier has the hardest time getting Jane into a truck and asks what’s the matter with her and the others. Jane refuses to get inside, as they won’t just walk away and leave Thor like this. The soldier reminds her that this is a superhuman situation. If she hangs around here, one of those things is going to fly straight through her.
Jane doesn’t think that matters. Thor is their leader and some of them came halfway around the world to hear what he has to say, and his people won’t turn their backs on him now. The soldiers don’t see what the folks can possibly do for Thor. Jane doesn’t know. Pray, she guesses. Just let him know that some of the humans still believe in him. As some of the followers start to pray, Jane walks back to Thor.
Meanwhile, Captain America has activated his flame throwers and fires it on Thor, catching him on fire! Cap orders to the other Captains to get Thor’s belt, as that’s the source of his powers. If they get the belt he won’t be able to whip up the storms.
Inside his plane, which has now landed on the ground, Sir Braddock worries that Captain America and Hawkeye are going to get crucified. Fury asks Braddock if he’s serious about that. Braddock explains that, as long as Thor’s wearing that belt they designed, he’s the most powerful superhuman on the face of the Earth. He still believes Fury should have used his Captains first.
Sir Braddock is correct. Though Thor has lost his hair due to the flames, he still manages to beat both Hawkeye and Rogers. Quicksilver, who was being carried into safety by SHIELD soldiers, wakes up and immediately runs back into battle. Gunnar notices something on his monitors moving towards the Ultimates, at five or six hundred miles an hour and getting faster and faster. Fury immediately suspects Quicksilver. Braddock asks Fury to order Quicksilver to go for the belt, as that’s their number one priority. Without the belt, Thor’s completely powerless.
Quicksilver rushes towards Thor, but he points his hammer at the young speedster and somehow manages to take him down. Captain Britain and Spain hit Thor, and Brian orders Wasp to go for it, now! Janet warns the boys to hold Thor tight, as she’s going in. She flies inside Thor’s mouth, remembering that a brain-freeze worked when they took down the Hulk. She doesn’t see a reason why it shouldn’t work again. Thor immediately closes his mouth when Janet flies in and threatens to swallow her, but she begs him not to do it.
Wanda sees that her brother has been taken down and tries to wake him up, but with no success. She angrily points her hands at Thor, telling him that there’s a reality out there where he’s a baby seal getting clubbed by a million Eskimos. She’s going to find that reality and bring it there.
Thor punches the two Captains off of him, taking them all out. Suddenly, he gets attacked by loud sounds waves coming from Iron Man. Tony tries to tell Thor he’s acting like a lunatic. He just needs to calm down and surrender. Thor and Iron Man fly up in the skies, and Thor asks Tony if he can’t see what they’re doing there. He claims that they’re trying to silence the conscience of the team. Iron Man mocks that’s probably because, that way, they can use the Ultimates in the Middle East. So they can be deployed in Asia or something. Tony has heard it all before, and it’s really getting old. He calls Thor a paranoid schizophrenic who needs psychiatric help.
Thor begs Tony to listen to him. He has to understand. He claims that Fury’s information was just Loki screwing with reality and that none of that stuff is real. Tony makes the waves coming out of his gloves stronger, apologizing to Thor, but he just doesn’t believe him. Thor is sorry too. He charges up his armor and hammer, and throws the hammer straight against Iron Man’s armor, causing him to fall down.
Natasha notices this and angrily slams into Thor’s back, causing them both to slam into the snow, which results can even be seen far back by Thor’s followers. Cap thinks that Natasha needs backup. He sends the other Captains in to assist, and warns them to keep Thor off balance so he doesn’t has a chance to summon up the lightning! With Brian taking the lead, the other Captains follow. Meanwhile, Cap helps Iron Man back up to his feet, and jokingly asks Tony if Natasha’s this violent back home. Tony jokes back she’s only that way when he asks her nicely.
Black Widow keeps punching Thor. As she kicks him in the face and holds him down, she asks if he knows what he hates about Thor and his hippie scum people. They grow up with everything in these woods and then they bite the hand that feeds them. She wonders if Thor knows who pays for all those welfare checks they draw. Natasha doesn’t notice that Thor summons his hammer back to him, which floats through the air right back into his hand. Thor uses it to punch Natasha away from him and slams her into the ground, telling her America can afford it.
Natasha starts to panic, wondering what Thor has done to her baby! Thor is stunned. Natasha reveals that she was three months pregnant, but she and Tony hadn’t tell anyone about it yet. Her stomach hurts so much, and can’t believe Thor did this to her. An ashamed Thor holds back and tries to apologize. Natasha quickly gets up and points her armored fists at Thor, and shoots bullets at him, calling him a sucker.
On that moment, Captain Britain and the others slam into Thor and warn Iron Man they’ve got him and has to hurry up. Iron Man flies towards the Captains, ordering them to hold Thor down as he’s coming in. He tells Natasha to bring the neuron scrambler on-line, as he’s going to microwave Thor’s brain. Thor makes it to the Captains and tells them to take Thor’s belt off, so they won’t have to fulfill his plan. Thor keeps struggling against this, and Tony asks him to stop doing that, so they won’t have to hurt him much.
Sparks fly through the eyes of Thor, who calls Tony and his friends traitors. Suddenly, a storm comes up above the heroes. Fury informs Tony about this. Tony thinks Thor’s almost out and that they’ll be finished in another second. Thor angrily lashes out and shouts “traitors! How dare you lay a hand on me!”
Quicksilver gets back up from the snow and thinks he’s got one more chance. He runs at top speed toward Thor, who has noticed Pietro and quickly strikes him with a thunderbolt. Thor uses his hammer to fly up into the sky, declaring that there won’t be any more chances. Captain America activates the communicator in his helmet to order everyone that he wants them all standing to group on Thor. He wants him nailed and he wants that belt. He asks Janet for a sit-rep, as he doesn’t know what she’s doing right now. Thor gets attacked by all of the Captains, but he hits them with lightning bolts again. He claims that he tried to explain and that what happens now is nobody’s fault but their own.
It starts to rain. Elsewhere in the woods, the soldiers try to escape in their truck, which gets almost smashed by a crashing tree! Luckily for them, Captain America notices this. He uses his strength to hold the tree up and saves all of the soldiers’ lives. Thor’s lightning bolts hit Fury’s plane, which explodes, causing his followers to run into safety. Thor shouts that he came here to save the world and all mankind’s done is try to crucify him. Below, Gunnar, Fury and the others have survived. They stare at Thor, and Gunnar thinks he’s going to kill them. He thinks they’re too late, as Thor is now completely super-ionized up there and that nothing can stop him now.
Wanda tends to her brother and keeps slapping his face for him to wake up. Pietro does, and Wanda tells him that he’s the only one who can do this. He’s the only one fast enough to snatch Thor’s belt off. Pietro disagrees, as he can’t even stand up anymore. Wanda lies to Pietro that Thor hurt her, explaining that she was trying to disable Thor and that he hit her with Captain Britain. Pietro is shocked to hear that. Wanda sarcastically smiles, lying that Thor really hurt her, asking Pietro if he has seen the size of that madman. He almost broke her nose. Pietro angrily glares at Thor.
Thor shouts at Loki that he’s going to die for this. He asks the trickster if he can hear him, because the charade he has created… ends! Meanwhile, Pietro rushes towards Thor, unnoticed by anyone. As lightning almost hits him, Pietro dodges it and jumps high up into the sky! Having jumped so high, Pietro reaches out to Thor’s belt and manages to take it off! Both Thor and Pietro fall down, and Pietro calls out to his team asking for someone to catch him, which gets done by Captain Britain. Thor starts to cry and calls out to his father. He lands into the snow, where he rolls and falls off a cliff. As he smacks on the ground, Thor barfs and pukes Janet back out, who isn’t amused by it. She coughs and notices Hawkeye standing in front of her. Clint, holding an arrow ready and awaits Cap’s word to fire. Cap, looking at the disappointed Thor, tells Hawkeye to take it easy as Thor’s done.
Later, at the Triskelion…
Thor has been jailed into Bruce Banner’s former glass cell. Gunnar stands in front of his brother and gloats him. Gunnar has been informed that this cell is pretty much the biggest one SHIELD’s got down here in the Holding Area. He knows it’s all a bit plain right now, but mentions that, once they’ve moved Thor’s stuff over there, he won’t even recognize the place. It’ll be his little home away from home. Thor doesn’t say anything. Gunnar asks Thor what’s the matter, smilingly asking if he’s angry with him or something. He reminds Thor he knows there’s no malice in what he’s done here. This is all just part of the game. This is what they always do.
Thor wants to know how Gunnar got in there, as he told the soldiers he didn’t want any visitors. Gunnar can’t believe Thor actually thinks he asked permission. He didn’t even have to use a door. He can step anywhere in this little three-dimensional realm Thor’s so found of as easily as Thor can take a walk in the park. Thor reveals that his father sent him there to save this world and that this isn’t a game they’re playing. This is a matter of life and death and Gunnar already had poor Banner killed with his pranks.
Gunnar grins that wasn’t him. He mentions to Thor that he knew he’d get to blame for that, but he really had absolutely nothing to do with outing Banner to the press. Gunnar whispers that between the two of them, the Ultimates have a wolf in the fold. Thor didn’t know that. Gunnar defends there’s a traitor in the Ultimates and one of these “super-soldiers” isn’t quite as noble as they seem. He thinks Thor will be surprised when he finds out who it is. They’re working for some friends of his and, together with what he has in mind, the next few months should be very entertaining. Thor calls out to security and Gunnar simply laughs.
A security guard, sitting behind a safety glass, asks Thor what’s up. Thor tells him there’s a man outside his cell. He knows the guard didn’t let him in but the man is standing right outside his cell. It’s his half-brother from Asgard! It’s Loki! The guard doesn’t see anyone. He tells Thor to get some sleep, and if he needs any help he’ll ask Doctor Brankin to come by with some tranquilizers. The guard continues to read his paper and calls Thor a lunatic.
Gunnar transforms into a talking snake and wraps himself around Thor’s neck. Gunnar, calling Thor “Odison,” states it must be so frustrating being teased by a foe who can shuffle reality like a pack of cards. On that moment, he disappears, joking that what if they’re right? What if this is just all in Thor’s head. He leaves Thor thinking, alone in his cell.
Above, Fury has a meeting with Tony, Cap and Hawkeye. Tony enters the room a little late. Nick as Tony how it’s going. He apologizes for getting him out in the middle of the night, but they’ve got themselves a little situation here. He also asks Tony how his neck is doing. Tony mentions it’s a little stiff down the left side, but the medics gave him some pretty decent painkillers. Nick smiles that’s cool, and asks Thor how he’s feeling about this whole Thor thing now. The Norwegian trip was tough on everybody, but Fury knows Tony and Thor were especially tight. He wants to know if Tony’s okay with the way things planned out.
Tony doesn’t think anybody was okay with it, but what else could they do? Thor was delusional. They had to stop him before he hurt himself more than anything else. Cap compliments Tony he did good out there. He made more of an impact than both him and Hawkeye combined. Clint doesn’t think Steve’s serious on that: he had a bow and arrow. They’d all have been great back there if somebody had given them a little Iron Man suit. Tony asks Nick what this meeting is all about. Fury gets an intense serious look on his face, stating they’ve got big problems. Something’s come up in the Middle East.