Rick Jones

Not to be confused with Richard Jones.

Rick Jones is a teenage orphan boy living in the southwestern United States, and the only living person to know of the Hulk's secret identity of Bruce Banner. Jones is indirectly responsible for Banner's transformation, having driven onto the gamma-bomb testing zone on a dare from his friends. Banner was barely able to shield Jones from the bomb, but absorbed the gamma rays himself, transforming him into the Hulk. Since then, Jones has acted as a source of emotional support for Banner, believing that he essentially owes him his life. He also views Banner as a father figure, having no real parents of his own. Jones is the founder and leader of the Teen Brigade, a group of activist boys who act as a kind of connecting resource to various superheroes.

Biography

Following a bizarre radioelectrical event, Jones gained a kind of mental control over the Hulk, though this didn't last long: Jones used a gamma-ray machine invented by Banner to transform the Hulk back into Banner, who then modified the machine such that he could possess the Hulk's body and Banner's mind. The experiment worked, but Jones observed that Hulk was more aggressive and confident than Banner would be otherwise. The United States military, specifically Thunderbolt Ross on the urging of his daughter Betty, considers Jones a person of interest due to his shared connection with Banner and the Hulk. In 1963, Jones founded the Teen Brigade, a loosely defined group of teenage boys across the U.S. who communicate via ham radio and do whatever is needed of them; in particular, Jones sought to aid the Hulk, a man with otherwise no allies in the world. The Teen Brigade, centered at Jones' home in the southwest, received word later in the year that the Hulk had allegedly sabotaged a moving train; in fact, this was a ruse by Loki as part of a long-winded plan to defeat his brother Thor. Jones attempted to contact the Fantastic Four for assistance in finding the Hulk, but Loki diverted the radio signal so that it would reach Thor. In the process, the signal also reached Iron Man, Ant-Man, and the Wasp. The four heroes and the Hulk eventually figured out Loki's scheme and defeated him, forming the Avengers.

Hulk would leave the Avengers very soon after their formation, upset with his treatment by the other heroes. Worried at what he might do unchecked, the Avengers contacted Jones and asked him for assistance in finding Hulk. Jones agreed to search the southwest, and soon found the Hulk roaming the desert. Jones led Hulk to his hidden base, where he turned Bruce Banner's gamma beam on him and transformed him back to Banner. The exhausted Banner was left in a bed inside the cave as Jones kept watch outside. But soon Banner again transformed, and broke out of the previously impenetrable hideout, proving that he had gotten stronger. Jones quickly returned to Teen Brigade headquarters and alerted the Avengers that Hulk was officially on the loose. The Avengers would eventually face off with Hulk, now aligned with Namor the Sub-Mariner, on the Rock of Gibraltar, and the two teams fought to a standstill.