It goes without saying that comics are always a place for plenty of strange and bizarre bedfellows and friendships. As time and the world of Marvel comics has worn on, new and weird bonds have been formed and none speak louder than the Jade Giant himself, the Incredible Hulk.
Created after a bomb test gone wrong allowed Dr.Bruce Banner to change into the enormous Green Goliath whenever he was angry, the Hulk’s become a staple for weird in the world of comics and as such, his friendships reflect that ranging from human companions, fellow Gamma mutates, and extraterrestrial allies.
Rick Jones
![Marvel: 10 Strangest Friendships In The Hulk Comics](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Rick-Jones.jpg)
Any Marvel fan worth their salt knows the Hulk’s first friend belongs to that of Rick Jones. A musician who Banner saved right before the life-changing bomb detonated, Jones has stuck by the Hulk’s side even though Banner continually put his life in danger.
Over time, Jones would almost always side with the Hulk. Even he though saved his life, Jones kept putting himself in harm’s way. After he died by one of Hulk’s own Warbound in “World War Hulk,” Jones kept helping him after returning. He later became a gamma mutate named A-Bomb until Hulk drained him of that power and kept helping him until his death thanks to Stevil in “Secret Empire” and his return in “Immortal Hulk,” where a Chroenberg Leader had control of him. While Hulk’s not to blame for all of this, it is still a good amount which is weird as to why they’re still friends.
Betty Ross
![Betty Ross arrives at her work for Shield](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Betty-Ross.jpg)
Along with Rick Jones, Betty Ross is one of the Hulk’s first allies and friends. Daughter of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Betty found herself always sticking up for Bruce and quickly became his friend and eventual lover, even with the Hulk.
Yet, as the years went on, Betty and Bruce would go through a cycle of being estranged and then come back together only to separate again. Betty would frequently go through mutations of her own, from the Harpy to Red She-Hulk, battling Banner one instance only to side with her sweetheart the next.
Marlo Chandler
![Marlo gets yelled at by Joe Fixit](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Marlo.jpg)
Now, Betty Ross has always been the Hulk’s true love. That’s not to say that he hasn’t had other lovers over the years. Among those lies Marlo Chandler, a woman who became Joe Fixit’s, the Grey Hulk, girlfriend.
Given Fixit’s personality and nature, it’s odd to see a human-like Chandler fall for Fixit. Yet, things would get stranger when years later, Chandler married Rick Jones. Still, it seems as if their friendship was still intact.
Doc Samson
![Doc Samson emerges from rubble](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Doc-Samson.jpg)
Leave it to one of Marvel’s strangest heroes to need one of comics strangest psychiatrists. For years, Samson served as a college professor before the Hulk lost his powers and Samson decided to take him on as a patient. After exposure to Gamma radiation, Samson gained abilities similar to the Hulk.
However, after Samson got his powers, he made the mistake of flirting with Betty Ross. Due to that, Banner became the Hulk again and the pair began a friendship that is largely one-sided with Banner almost always ignoring Samson’s advice.
Amadeus Cho
![Amadous turns into the Totally Awesome Hulk](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Amadous-Cho.jpg)
While Banner’s held the mantel of Hulk for the longest time, there were a few periods where he gave it up. One time involved child genius Amadeus Cho who, in a bid to take the burden of the Hulk from Banner, became the Totally Awesome Hulk and eventually a lower-powered Mutate, Brawn.
The bizarreness of Bruce’s and Amadeus’s friendship lies, like others, within the Gamma. Although the pair are on good terms, it’s largely due to Amadeus taking the Hulk from Bruce, bearing his burden. As such, the friendship feels odd given those circumstances and given that Bruce wasn’t really around to mentor Amadeus to come into his new form.
The Defenders
![Hulk and Namor rush to save Dr.Strange](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/The-Defenders.jpg)
Every hero it appears needs a team to join. While MCU fans know that the Hulk is a prominent member of the Avengers, they tend to forget he was a member of another team. The Defenders, a ragtag group of heroes and anti-heroes that’s had its own strange friendships with the three founders being Hulk, Doctor Strange, and Namor, who worked together over the years.
It’s odd to see someone like Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, work alongside the likes of the Hulk, given their checkered past and dislike for one another. Given the behemoth’s checkered past, even him siding with Namor, an equally quick-tempered character who was one of the Avenger’s first villains feels off. Still, made for one heck of a comic.
Sentry
![The Sentry unleashes his powers](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Sentry.jpg)
Although the Hulk claims the title of “strongest there is,” there are a few who may rival it. Chief among them lies the Sentry, a superman-level hero with the alter ego of Bob Reynolds, an agoraphobic man who has the chance of becoming a super-powered entity called the Void.
Truthfully, the pair do have a good amount in common with their dangerous alter egos and did at one point become partners. Yet, the way they go about that, by avoiding one another or trying to calm one another down by beating each other into their human forms as shown in “World War Hulk,” is the furthest thing from normal.
Skaar
![Skaar rises from the ruins of his planet](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Skaar.jpg)
During the Hulk’s time on Sakaar, he became enamored with an alien named Caiera. The pair would marry and become a happy couple until the planet was destroyed and Caiera perished. As she died though, she and the Hulk’s son, Skaar, was born and survived.
For a while, Skaar felt as if Hulk had abandoned him and set out to get revenge. Yet, even after leaving a bloody wake of destruction in his path, Hulk and Skaar would gain a grudging respect for one another and work together despite the strange father-son relationship.
Jarella
![Jarella stands in her kingdom greeting the Hulk](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Jarella.jpg)
In recent years, Caiera has been seen as the Hulk’s queen. Years before though, Hulk had another queen. On the planet K’ai, Banner came across it’s Princess, a green-skinned warrior who the Hulk fell for and eventually made his Queen.
Due to the nature of the relationship, it was odd to see the two come together as a couple. It was strange that Jarella came to accept both Banner and the Hulk, especially given his home being on a far off planet. However, Jarella was killed while saving a child during a fight between the Hulk and Crypto-Man, bringing their relationship to an untimely end.
Miek
![Miek is crowd King Miek by his brothers](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Miek-1.jpg)
Sometimes even one’s greatest ally can go sour. It happened when Hulk was blasted into space thanks to the Illuminati in “Planet Hulk,” one of the Hulk’s best story arcs, which was luckily adapted into one of the best MCU movies. On the planet, Hulk came across the bug Miek and other Warbound on Sakkar. While Miek started out weak, he became stronger and more ruthless as his bond with the Hulk grew.
However, Miek was so content with who the Hulk was, he never wanted him to change. When the Hulk becoming the peaceful leader of Sakaar, Miek retaliated. He allowed rebels to blow up the plane,t kicked off “World War Hulk,” killed Rick Jones, and tried to infest the world with his “Children” after an insectoid gender swap. All in all, a strange friendship that just got weirder.