Earth-65 Hulk Smashes Into New Spider-Gwen Comic

Hulk... STALK! Gwen Stacy, a.k.a. Ghost-Spider, a.k.a. Spider-Gwen, has faced the greatest threats from her home universe of Earth-65 — Matt Murdock, the Kingpin of Crime; Susan Storm, TV star turned tyrannical Doctor Doom; Cindy Moon, who spins a tangled web as leader of S.I.L.K — baddies who have heroic counterparts on Earth-616. In this week's Spider-Gwen: Smash #1, the first in a four-part limited series, it seems Gwen's home dimension has another evil version of one of Earth-616's mightiest heroes: Bruce Banner, the man behind the monster that is the Hulk.

The issue begins with Ghost-Spider defeating the pink latex-clad supervillain influencer Pink Velvet to save her band The Mary Janes — Em Jay Watson, Glory Grant, and Betty Brant — sparking a social media backlash from Pink Velvet's 60,000 followers and getting their act banned from The Freak-Out club. Gwen has been on the outs with her band mates before, but this feels different: after joining other Spider-People from other dimensions in her travels through the Spider-Verse, her home hasn't quite felt like home. She quietly questions what she's holding onto — other than her supportive father, George Stacy — that makes her want to stay on Earth-65.

The Mary Janes get a gig performing as openers for Dazzler & The Uncut Gems, a new band of rising stars that includes lead singer Alison, a.k.a. Dazzler; guitarist and drummer Lila Cheney; lead guitarist Rick Jones; and their tour manager, Natasha Romanoff. While The Mary Janes play their opening set at Madison Square Garden, Lila reports that Rick is "not in playing condition" after suddenly becoming ill. As Em Jay fills in for Rick on guitar, Gwen suspects that this Dazzler is also a mutant who can manipulate sound into light.

As she dazzles the stadium with her light show, an ape-like, green-furred Hulk crashes the show and attacks Dazzler & the Uncut Gems. Gwen thwips into action as Ghost-Spider and fends off the Hulk with Dazzler, but the green goliath gets away when Ghost-Spider saves the audience from a falling truss. Later, Gwen hints to Natasha that she's the Black Widow on other worlds, but she's already aware: this Natasha is actually a handler who identifies potential assets for specific missions. Assets like Ghost-Spider.

Alison is being stalked, so Natasha hired The Mary Janes so Ghost-Spider would be nearby when "they" attacked. Whoever "they" are, "they" took Alison's sister and her bassist, Pixie. Natasha reveals that the tour was carefully put together and planned to present Dazzler as bait and catch whoever is after the pop star and her friends.

In a bunker somewhere in the desert, posters of Dazzler adorn the walls. "Subject's reaction to the trigger was violent. Reactive. But ultimately successful," says a scientist who appears to be Bruce Banner. "Looking forward to the next trial... and the next venue."

Earth-65 wouldn't be the first universe to turn Rick Jones into a gamma-powered hulk, but readers will have to wait until Spider-Gwen: Smash #3 to discover this Hulk's secret origin. Spider-Gwen: Smash #2 is on sale January 10, followed by issue #3 on February 14.