Brian Banner
| Brian Banner | |
|---|---|
Brian Banner
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance |
The Incredible Hulk #267 (January, 1982) |
| Created by |
Bill Mantlo (writer) Sal Buscema (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Brian Banner |
| Abilities | Genius-level intellect |
The Incredible Hulk #267
Brian Banner is a fictional character from the Marvel Comics Universe created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema. He first appeared in print in early 1982. Brian Banner is the father of Bruce Banner, the Incredible Hulk. The abuse Bruce suffers at Brian's hands as a child is a major contributing factor of his eventual transformation into the Hulk.
Brian Banner's father, Bruce, abused him, his sisters Susan and Elaine, and their mother. Brian regarded his father as a monster and believed that he had inherited a "monster gene" from him, and so promised himself that he would never have any children, for fear of bringing another Banner into the world.
As an adult, Brian marries a woman named Rebecca, earns his PhD in physics and finds a job in Los Alamos, New Mexico working for the United States government on a project developing a clean way to create nuclear energy. The stress of his job eventually leads Brian to become an alcoholic, and he frequently lashes out at those around him. While drunk at work one day, Brian accidentally overloads some machinery, causing an explosion that costs him his job. Even though his doctors concluded that the explosion caused him no permanent harm, Brian becomes convinced it affected him on the genetic level.
Despite his vow never to have children, Brian impregnates Rebecca, who gives birth to their only child, Robert Bruce Banner. Brian believes Bruce has inherited both the "monster gene" and genetic defects due to the accident in Los Alamos, so he ignores him completely and attempts to keep Rebecca away from him. He frequently leaves Bruce in the care of the neglectful Nurse Meachum. When Bruce wakes up one Christmas morning and opens a present from his mother, a complex model, he assembles it easily despite his young age. This convinces Brian that his assumptions about Bruce were correct. He beats Bruce and, after she comes to her son's aid, Rebecca as well. After enduring several years of abuse from Brian, Rebecca attempts to escape from him with Bruce. Brian discovers his wife and son packing the car just before their escape, and he smashes Rebecca's head against the pavement, killing her in front of their young son. Brian manages to stop Bruce from testifying against him at his trial for Rebecca's murder, saying that if he did so, he would go to Hell. Terrified, Bruce perjures himself, testifying that his father never abused him or Rebecca, and that his mother tried to run away for no reason. Brian escapes conviction due to lack of evidence, but is later arrested when he drunkenly boasts about beating the law by bullying his son. Brian is imprisoned and later placed in a mental institution. Bruce, meanwhile, is left in the care of his Aunt Susan, now known as Mrs. Drake.
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Wikipedia