Featuring the following heroine!

Betty Ross Banner

Real name: Elizabeth (don't call me Liz) "Betty" Ross Talbot Banner. (If you don't want to enrage her or her husband, you'd better just call her Betty. "Mrs. Banner" will do if you're feeling either nasty or lucky!)

AKA: Are you kidding? Betty has almost as many names as Elizabeth Taylor has had. Aside from the combinations that you can form from her real name, her other known aliases include the Harpy, Betty Danner, and Sister Elizabeth.

First appearance: Incredible Hulk 1

Favorite quote: "These bullets will travel down your ear canal ... and enter your brain. Can you laugh that off?" (Hulk 422, to Red Norvell, an ersatz Thor. Oh, by the way, Red's answer was "Nooooo..." )

Team affiliation: Infrequently, she accompanies her husband on adventures. 
Well, you know what they say: "A family that fights together..."

Powers: The ability to tell the Hulk off WITHOUT getting pummeled. (You'd be 
surprised at the number of people who shot their mouths off at him and THEN 
later wish they hadn't.) ... Oh! You mean superhuman powers?.... Well, during 
a brief period in time, Betty was mutated by A.I.M. (the subversive organization, 
not the toothpaste) into the Harpy. In this form, Betty was green-skinned, and 
had enormous wings and a lower torso that was birdlike. Plus, she could fire 
concussive beams and had superhuman strength. Since she was restored to 
her normal form, she thankfully has not had any reversions to this form. After 
all, think about all the backless dresses that she'd have to buy.

Favorite Story line: Practically all her appearances written by Peter David. He 
really brings out the best in Betty. One story line that sticks out in my mind is 
the "Myth Conceptions" story line. When the Hulk and the group that he led 
at the time, the Pantheon, decided to bring in the former leader of the 
Pantheon so that he could stand trial for his past actions, Betty asked her 
husband to let her go on the mission also. Although he literally laughed off 
her request, he took her to the Pantheon's gun range to see how she 
handled a gun. After the target was reeled in, it became apparent that Betty 
knew ... uh.. exactly where to hit a superhumanly powerful male.




Least favorite storyline: Oh, that's easy. The stories from the '60s, '70s & '80s that portrayed her as a wuss character. Aside from those, one of the lowest points in Betty's life is when she had a miscarriage (which apparently happened just before we see her in Hulk #360). Later that night, to add insult to injury, D'spare, the embodiment of despair, decided to join forces with Nightmare, the embodiment of his namesake, to torture her soul as she slept and ultimately drive her insane. Those two jerks attempted to make Betty feel inadequate, worthless and lonely. Fortunately, their plan failed, in part, because of her love for her husband and belief that he truly loved her as well. (In an alternate timeline, Betty does become pregnant several years after the miscarriage. In fact, she had a .... well, I don't want to spoil it for you. If you want to know what happens, go pick up the novel "What Savage Beast", which is written by the "Maestro", Peter David and has received rave reveiws. A must-have for any Betty fan.)