by Peter David
1995, Putnam
This novel takes place in a time period where the psyches of Hulk and Banner have swapped - the Hulk retains his intelligence while big and green, but when he gets angry enough he turns into a raging 120 pound nerd.
He's hounded by a new Hulkbuster squad as he and Betty try to live a normal life, Banner teleworking in IT and Betty working at a daycare. Betty becomes pregnant and gives birth to conjoined twins, one seemingly normal, the other a grey hulk. Doctor Strange assists with the separation, upon which the Maestro (a future evil Hulk) dimension warps in and snatches up the child.
With the assistance of Strange, Hulk goes to the future to face Maestro, who is building an army of alternative universe Hulks with the help of their now grown son.
I've enjoyed David's comics more than his prose. For me there were some pacing issues - a lot of domestic business and pregnancy drama, not much on the Hulk smashing stuff. It also felt very recycled, as if this was based on unused drafts of other scripts. We get Glenn Talbot's nephew as the obsessed military leader of the Hulkbusters acting much like his dead Uncle. The complicated pregnancy angle was done better with the birth of Franklin Richards (and a year later with the Parkers), and this version of the Maestro didn't differ much from the one "killed" a couple years before.
Available from Amazon, audiobook currently on Hoopla, check your library.
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