HULK

The world believed the Hulk had died at Middletown, and for once the obituaries suited him. The Hulk who resurfaced in Las Vegas was grey, smaller, and considerably smarter than the rampaging green legend — and he had steady employment, working the floor of the Coliseum casino as an enforcer the staff knew only as Mr. Fixit.

His employer was casino owner Michael Berengetti, who knew exactly what his muscle really was and kept the secret. Berengetti supplied the tailor-made suits, the food, the rooms, and the orders about which problems to beat down; he also supplied a first name, borrowing Joe from the gorilla of the film Mighty Joe Young, and so Mr. Fixit became Joe Fixit.

The work suited the hours, because this Hulk belonged to the night: Bruce Banner stayed buried for months at a stretch while Fixit handled casino business after dark, shrugging off bullets that did nothing worse than ruin expensive tailoring — as the gunmen who came for Berengetti in his own penthouse learned when his enforcer came through the roof.