Issue(s): Hulk #208
Cover Date: Feb 77
Title: "A monster in our midst!"
Credits:
Len Wein - Writer
Sal Buscema - Penciler
Joe Staton - Inker

Review/plot:
The Hulk, still mourning Jarella, sulks through New York City. The police sensibly leave him alone for once, but the Hulk encounters some goons with a high powered tank. The goons' actions, including a jail break for one of their buddies, manages to free Absorbing Man, who was creatively kept prisoner inside a cardboard box. Presumably the idea was that he could only absorb cardboard which wouldn't be enough to break free, but i don't see why he couldn't break out of the box in his human form.

Anyway, in the meantime, the Hulk finally turns back into Bruce Banner. As Bruce, he rents an apartment that was apparently previously rented by a stage magician named Kropotkin the Great. April Sommers is the girl who rents him the apartment.

Bruce sees the Absorbing Man on a rampage on TV, but manages to stay calm and not get involved. The Absorbing Man is suddenly teleported away, where he faces some mysterious shadowed strangers that give him a new costume...

...and tell him to kill the Hulk, which he has no problem with.

Meanwhile, Doc Samson finds a man wondering in the desert around Gamma Base...

...and Jim Wilson hears about the Hulk being in NYC and heads there.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 3 - setting up a new status quo for Bruce Banner

Chronological Placement Considerations: "Last night" is when Dr. Strange told the Hulk that Jarella couldn't come back from being dead. This has been pushed back prior to its publishing date to place this prior to any further Defenders appearances. Even though this issue starts with Banner in a new status quo, i have a gap between this issue and #209 where a bunch of other generic appearances occur, including some Defenders issues, Hulk annual #6, the Rampaging Hulk series, and Marvel Team-Up #53-55.

References:

• The goons the Hulk runs into have equipment they bought from the Tinkerer, who was last seen in Amazing Spider-Man #160.
  
• The Absorbing Man was most recently seeing fighting Thor in Thor #236.
  
• He last faced the Hulk in Hulk #125.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

It's curious that the Hulk seems to be the only one seriously upset over Jarella's death, since in many of her prior appearances, he had Banner's brain, so Bruce might have as much claim to being her "true love" as Greenskin, if not more. Did Len forget?

@ Matthew Bradley, Jarella got to know the Hulk as the Hulk in #202-203, and she showed genuine affection for him more than once. A beautiful woman with green skin, and they go off on an adventure together. Stuff like that doesn't happen to him often. For Jarella's part she didn't seem to care whether he was Bruce or the Hulk, in mind or in body; she just seemed to accept him spiritually, for who he really is. Gals like that don't come along every day; it would seem strange if the Hulk didn't fall in love with her.