“ | Ever since Bruce Banner pushed me to safety and took the brunt of that gamma blast that turned him into the Hulk -- Well, I've felt responsible! One mistake and I'm spending a lifetime trying to rectify it! | „ |
~ Rick Jones. |
“ | I've been a sidekick for years now. I've seen a lot. I've seen the bad guys win. I've watched the good guys die. And if there's one thing I learned, it's this: The real monster in your life doesn't do loud rants in loud costumes. He doesn't gloat or give speeches. The real monster stays quiet. Keeps his head down. He's got a reputation to think about. He's got a name. Maybe you know it. | „ |
~ Rick Jones to Bruce Banner. |
Richard Milhouse "Rick" Jones, also known as A-Bomb, is a major character from the Marvel universe, appearing as the deuteragonist of the Hulk franchise and a supporting character in several comics such as The Avengers, Captain America, and Captain Marvel.
Once an orphaned rebellious teen, Jones indirectly caused the creation of the Hulk after being at the Gamma Bomb test site in New Mexico. Feeling guilty for causing Banner's transformation, Rick decided to become his ally and helped him and many heroes defeat villains, such as Captain America, Captain Marvel, and the Avengers. Jones has since become a superhero on numerous occasions, such as becoming Captain America's sidekick, a mutated experiment "A-Bomb" by Intelligencia, a revived Subject B, and briefly merged with Del Frye. He is an honorary member of the Avengers, and has been a member of the Teen Brigade, S.H.I.E.L.D., Shadow Base and Gamma Flight.
He was created by the late Stan Lee and the late Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 in May of 1962.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Richard Milhouse "Rick" Jones was born in Scarsdale, Arizona to Albert and Elizabeth Jones, but Rick would be orphaned at a young age due to the deaths of his parents. Due to his rebellious nature, he was often expelled from numerous orphanages until he was sent to the Tempest Town institution. After suffering from abuse the chief administrator, Rick left the institution and became a drifter, avoiding the law and working small jobs to get by. Once he reached the age of sixteen, Jones got his driving license and obtained a car, which allowed him to continue driving across the states.
The Hulk[]
In New Mexico, Rick was dared by a fellow teen to drive into the desert where it was rumored that a atomic bomb site was found, and Jones traveled there but the challenger didn't show up. Jones didn't know that his challenger wasn't going to arrive, and waited until he encountered Dr. Bruce Banner, who warned him to leave the site as the gamma bomb was ready to launch. Rick was saved by Banner from the bomb, but the scientist was hit with the radiation, which transformed him into the Hulk. After the incident, Jones felt guilt for causing Banner's transformation, and would often act as Bruce's support when dealing with the government. Due to Banner's transformations, Rick put together the Teen Brigade, a group made to help Jones check on the Hulk's activities.
Jones would indirectly cause the formation of the Avengers, as he sent out a radio broadcast to warn about the Hulk, which led to the discovery of Loki Laufeyson. After the formation of the team, Rick became friends with the legendary hero Captain America, who gave him training and temporarily made Jones his sidekick. Later on, Rick bonded to Mar-Vell due to the Kree warrior going out of the Negative Zone, but was separated from him by the Supreme Intelligence. After the superhero's death, Jones returned to helping the Hulk, and began a romantic relationship with Banner's former love-interest, Marlo Chandler. The two would later marry, but Rick would lose his wife to Moondragon and Death before reuniting with her.
Becoming A-Bomb[]
After being wounded by Miek, Rick was taken to the Gamma bomb test site that turned Banner, where he found that the Red Hulk had killed the Abomination. After witnessing the event, Rick was captured by the Leader and M.O.D.O.K., and was turned into A-Bomb, a blue creature that shared some resemblance to Blonsky. Upon his transformation, A-Bomb battled the Red Hulk into a stalemate before noticing harpies coming after them, and A-Bomb was able to recognize the faces of the harpies were Betty Ross. Afterward, A-Bomb assisted Hulk, She-Hulk, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four into stopping a massive earthquake caused by the Red Hulk. Once the villain was stopped, Jones turned back to his human form and attempted to tell his allies the Red Hulk's true identity before being stopped by Doc Samson. Unable to get rid of his powers, Rick decided to use his newfound abilities to help people, but he was cured by Banner under his new persona Doc Green.
Secret Empire[]
During the Secret Empire storyline, Rick became a hacker under the code name "Whisperer" after losing his powers, and publicly exposed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s project Kobik. As a result, Jones become a fugitive to the organization, but was able to evade them by being assisted by Falcon. He was briefly imprisoned by S.H.I.E.L.D., but was rescued by A.I.M.'s New Avengers before being imprisoned by Hydra during their takeover. Hydra would later pressure Captain America (Hydra Supreme) into killing Jones to set an example, and Rick was executed on live-television by a firing squad.
Return[]
Following the events of Secret Empire, Jones' body was taken by Shadow Base, who proceeded to plant gamma tissue from Emily Blonsky into him. Rick was revived by the tissue and turned into a creature similar to Abomination, but with two heads being protected by large contorted like-fingers. He was sent to attack the Hulk, and while battling Betty Ross as Harpy, Jones was freed from the cocoon and was able to recover.
Portrayals[]
Television[]
- In The Marvel Super Heroes, he was voiced by the late Paul Soles.
- In the 1982 Incredible Hulk animated series, he was voiced by Michael Horton.
- In the 1996 Incredible Hulk animated series, he was voiced by the late Luke Perry.
- In Iron Man: Armored Adventures, he was voiced by Andrew Francis, who also voiced Dende in Dragon Ball Z.
- In Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., he was voiced by Seth Green, who voices Chris Griffin in Family Guy and Howard the Duck in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and also voiced Jeff "Joker" Moreau in the Mass Effect series, Leonardo in the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, numerous characters in Robot Chicken, and also played Richie Tozier in the It miniseries, Daniel Osborne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Patrick Wisely in Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.
- Green reprised his voice for the character in Ultimate Spider-Man.
Video Games[]
- In The Incredible Hulk, he was voiced by Jon Curry.
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, with his vocal effects provided by Fred Tatasciore, who also voiced Nikolai Belinski in the Call of Duty zombie series, Damon Baird and Tai Kaliso in the Gears of War series, Mario Auditore in the Assassin's Creed series, Zeratul in the StarCraft series and Poseidon in God of War (2005).
- In Lego Marvel Super Heroes, he was voiced by Will Friedle (who also voiced Ron Stoppable in Kim Possible) and Steve Blum (who also voiced Tank Dempsey in the Call of Duty zombie series, Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop, Vincent Valentine in Final Fantasy VII, Urdnot Grunt in the Mass Effect series, and Sub-Zero in Injustice 2).
- In Lego Marvel's Avengers, he was voiced by Robbie Daymond, who also voiced Prompto Argentum in Final Fantasy XV.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The character has been stated to have "cosmic awareness" (fourth wall breaking).
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