Bruce Banner before the Hulk Bruce Banner dealt with a difficult childhood. His father, Brian Banner, was convinced that his work as an atomic physicist researching radiation at Los Alamos had resulted in a mutant son, whom he had never intended to have. Although Bruce's mother Rebecca loved the boy, this only led to Brian becoming jealous and hating Bruce all the more. He used excuses to keep Bruce away from his mother, often leaving him in the care of Nurse Meachum, who barely tolerated the boy. When Bruce demonstrated an abnormally high intellect, Brian took it as proof positive that his son was a monster and began physically abusing both Bruce and Rebecca. Rebecca eventually tried to flee with Bruce, but was killed by Brian in the attempt. Bruce initially refused to testify against his father, but was eventually convinced to reveal the truth, leading to his father being institutionalized for many years. In the meantime, Bruce was left in the care of Brian's sister Susan Drake. (Susan divorced her husband while Bruce was in high school and took the name Susan Banner again. Note that some early sources state that Susan was actually Rebecca's sister.) As a coping mechanism, Bruce developed an imaginary friend that he called "Hulk". This Hulk shared qualities of both the later Savage and Grey Hulks, but physically resembled the Savage Hulk. Bruce continued to use this technique at least into his high school years. Banner was a loner in high school, and spent time at an old, abandoned shed making "gadgets", including a time bomb. This bomb was attached to a boiler in the school by Banner's "Hulk" persona in revenge for a beating that Bruce had received, but Bruce's "normal" personality disabled the bomb. Susan was offered a deal by the school so that the incident would be forgotten if they moved. The time bomb that Bruce built attracted the attention of the U.S. Army Department of Research & Development (and, in particular, of a Major Thaddeus Ross), who saw potential in Bruce as a weapons designer and took a hand in his education. The rest of the Character biography here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulk_(comics)