Marvel's "First Hulk" Makes Bruce Banner Simple (& Weak)

Summary

Marvel’s original Hulk, Tammuz, was even more brutal and powerful than Bruce Banner.
Tammuz’s control of his powers sets him apart from the internal struggle between Banner and the Hulk.
Tammuz’s ability to turn his fury onto enemies highlights Banner’s weakness in The Incredible Hulk #15.

Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Incredible Hulk #15!The Hulk Being centuries before his more infamous counterpart makes Bruce Banner and his counterpart look rather insignificant in comparison. As Bruce and the Jade Giant continue to be at odds with one another, the vile entity known as the Elder reflects on the first Hulk to ever trouble them.

in The Incredible Hulk #15 By Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Danny Earls, The Monster Ruler Eldest tells the story of Tammuz, aka ‘Enkidu’, a gamma mutant from several millennia ago. Under the guise of a beggar, Tammuz comes to a city that has been overrun by monsters guided by Eldest. When confronted, Tammuz transforms into his twisted counterpart and brutally destroys Eldest’s powers.

Tammuz attacks the Elder's enforcers wonder

Tammuz talks to some survivors of the city, who tell him how their city was captured by Eldest. The original Hulk warns the survivors to leaveSaying that they will not be safe from the violent that will come.

Marvel’s first Hulk was so much more brutal than Bruce

Bruce Banner may be the most famous gamma mutant in the Marvel Universe, but the first person to be touched by the strange cosmic power is Tammuz, a man who lived thousands of years ago. After a gamma-irradiated meteorite crashes to earth near his village, Tammuz is sacrificed by being kicked into the crater the meteorite created, only to travel through the Green Door, the metaphysical portal that empowers all gamma mutants. Tammuz returned to life as a Hulk, and he spent the next several centuries traveling alone.without any clear indication of what happened to him.

Just as the Hulk has ventured into the body horror corner in recent years, Tammuz is just as terrifying when it comes to transforming from an average person into a monster of incredible size and strength. But Tammuz (or Enkidu as he is known in later years), has greater control over his powers. He doesn’t think he’s at odds with himself like Banner and Hulk are. Not to mention he savagely brutalizes some of Eldest’s enforcers, ripping them apart like they were rag dolls. Hulk can say that he is the strongest there isBut Marvel’s original Gamma Mutate is better.

Tammuz reveals what Hulk’s potential could be

It’s no secret that Banner and Hulk are rarely on good terms. Right now, the hatred they share is weakening the two of them and allowing Elder to use them. Even though Tammuz was a ‘blessed son’ like Banner, he does not vent his anger inside, but rather, out on his enemies. This is an internal strength that Banner/Hulk sorely lacks and ultimately makes them weak. If only they could be a little more like Marvel’s original HulkThen Banner and his old self might know true strength.

The Incredible Hulk #15 is available now from Marvel Comics.