JAMES LARGO
Real Name: James Largo
Identity/Class: Human mutate/Cyborg
Occupation: Police chief
Group Membership: The Headshop
Affiliations: The Hulk (Bruce Banner), Betty Ross, Frost
Enemies: The Leader (Samuel Sterns), Speedfreek, Matt Talbot
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Sunville, Florida
First Appearance: Incredible Hulk II#427 (March, 1995)
Powers/Abilities: Largo possesses superhuman strength and durability sufficient to engage in a brief scuffle with the Hulk. Largo can also detach and reattach his head.
Eyes: Black
Hair: None
History:
(Incredible Hulk II#437 (fb)) - Largo was a human who was dying of exposure to gamma radiation. The Leader took Largo and several others suffering from gamma radiation to his hidden base, the Freehold, promising he would help them. Once there, the Leader subjected Largo and the others to horrific experiments. He decapitated Largo and the others, and grafted their heads onto android bodies. Largo and five others escaped and formed the Headshop. One of the Headshop members, Frost, later left the group to pursue a life of crime in Las Vegas.
(Incredible Hulk II#427 (fb) - BTS) - At some point Largo became the chief of police in Sunville, Florida.
(Incredible Hulk II#427 - BTS) - On the run from the authorities and their enemies, the Hulk and Betty Ross settled in Sunville, Florida under the aliases Bob and Betty Danner. The arrival of these new strangers made some of the locals in Sunville suspicious.
(Incredible Hulk II#427) - An eight-year-old boy was abducted and murdered in the nearby swamp, and the police glimpsed a large figure nearby when they recovered the boy's body (see comments). This led the police to identify "Bob Danner" as a suspect, as he was new to Sunville, and matched the description of the unknown large figure. As part of the police investigation, James Largo came to the Banners' residence, looking for "Bob Danner." Betty Ross refused to tell Largo where her husband was, and Largo decided to remain at the residence and wait until "Danner" returned. Unbeknownst to Largo, the Hulk had left for the swamp, in search of the killer.
(Incredible Hulk II#428) - Largo remained at the "Danner" residence and waited for "Bob Danner" to return. He conversed with Betty, asking her questions about herself and her husband, but she evaded his questions. Later, after the Hulk had rescued a second boy from the swamp, Largo interviewed the boy. The boy told Largo that a "big guy" had rescued him from alligators and brought him home. Largo remained suspicious of the "Danners," as he sensed that they were in Sunville because they were hiding from something.
(Incredible Hulk II#429) - Largo was informed by another police officer that there had been threats and unrest outside a local abortion clinic. Largo remarked that the police department didn't have the manpower to guard the clinic around the clock.
Later that day, a protester shot and killed a pregnant teenager named Kate Shappe, outside the clinic. Upon seeing that Shappe had been shot, the Hulk (in his disguise as "Bob Danner") flew into a rage and started searching the crowd of demonstrators for the shooter. Largo arrived on the scene and instructed "Danner" to desist. The tense conversation between "Danner" and Largo escalated into fisticuffs, and "Danner" was surprised that Largo had superhuman strength was unaffected by his blows. Realizing that he was losing control of himself, the Hulk fled from the fight (See comments) and returned to his home.
(Incredible Hulk II#430) - Betty Ross, under her alias of "Betsy Danner," visited Largo at the police headquarters. She asked him about the source of his super strength. Largo dismissed the notion that he was superhuman. The conversation was quickly interrupted as a local reverend, Reverend Richards, called the police with information about the earlier shooting outside the abortion clinic, and Largo left to investigate. Largo then met with the reverend, who informed Largo that it had been the reverend's son Larry who had committed the shooting.
(Incredible Hulk II#436) - The army located the Hulk and Betty in Sunville, Florida and surrounded the couple's house while the Hulk was away. The commanding officer in charge of the operation, Major Matt Talbot, entered the house and took Betty into custody. Largo arrived at the house and confronted Major Talbot. Talbot informed Largo of the couple's true identities, and also told Largo that the siege of the Banners' house was a government operation, and ordered Largo to stand down. Largo then left the house, telling Betty that he would not allow the situation to continue indefinitely, and that he had some "resources" at his disposal that could help. The army then succeeded in luring the Hulk into a trap and taking him into custody.
(Incredible Hulk II#437) - Largo met Betty Ross at the hospital where she was being treated and told her that he and his "associates" were going to rescue the Hulk. He then brought Betty to the Headshop's headquarters and introduced her to the group. Largo explained that the Headshop was grateful to the Hulk for defeating the Leader. They planned to rescue the Hulk from the military, and would seek the Hulk's further assistance in exchange. A short time later, Largo and the Headshop assaulted the military installation where the Hulk (in his savage Banner persona) was being held prisoner. The Headshop made quick work of the military and rescued Banner from his cell. However, during the group's escape, Banner was seriously wounded by an exploding grenade.
(Incredible Hulk II#438) - Largo carried the wounded Bruce Banner onto the Headshop's plane and they made their escape with Betty as the pilot. After they were a safe distance away, Largo explained to Betty how Bruce had been wounded during the rescue. Shortly thereafter, Banner transformed into the Hulk and seemed to be recovered from his wounds. However, they soon discovered that shrapnel from the grenade was scattered throughout the Hulk's body, including fragments embedded in his brain. Consequently, shifting back to human form would likely kill him. The Hulk decided to go to the Leader's base, the Freehold, to use the technology there to remove the grenade fragments from his brain. The Headshop protested, telling the Hulk they had only freed him so he could help them against the Leader. The Hulk informed the Headshop that the Leader was already dead (much to their surprise). Largo insisted that the Headshop accompany the Hulk, but the Hulk refused, telling them he was not a team player. The Hulk then jumped out through the roof of the Headshop's plane. Largo used his body to shield Betty from the falling rubble caused by the Hulk's dramatic exit.
(Incredible Hulk II#439) - Headmistress became angry and confrontational toward Betty Ross for not telling them earlier that the Leader had already been killed. Largo intervened to defuse the situation. Largo then escorted Betty Ross back to her home.
(Incredible Hulk II#440) - Headgear tapped into a United States Air Force plane's cameras to view the Hulk's battle against Thor in the arctic. Largo, Headgear, and Betty Ross watched as the military dropped a nuclear weapon on the Hulk. All assumed the Hulk had perished in the explosion. Largo offered Betty his condolences.
Comments: Created by Peter David (writer), Angel Medina (penciler), Robin Riggs (inker).
The stories featuring Largo took place during a time when the Hulk was in his "savage Banner" personality. During this time, the savage Hulk's mind resided in Bruce Banner's body, and Bruce Banner's mind resided in the Hulk's body. The usual Banner/Hulk dynamic was thus reversed. The default state when the Hulk was calm was the Bruce Banner personality inhabiting the Hulk's body. When the Hulk grew angry, he would revert to a savage Bruce Banner. This left the Hulk very vulnerable, because although the savage Hulk personality thought itself to be a 7. 6 nearly invulnerable monster, he was actually inhabiting the body of Bruce Banner, and was very susceptible to injury. Likewise, the Hulk would need to focus all his energy on staying calm to avoid reverting to Banner, and thus could not unleash his full strength. During the Hulk's fight with Largo, the Hulk found himself growing extremely angry. Because of the reverse dynamic which was in play at the time, he felt that he was about to turn back into Bruce Banner as he lost control. He fled from Largo so he would not be exposed and defenseless upon his transformation.
In Incredible Hulk II#429-430, the large figure the police had observed in the swamp had been the Man-Thing (Ted Sallis). The boy in that story had been murdered by a mentally ill old man named Albert who had befriended the mindless Man-Thing. The murdered boy's brother went into the swamp to try to take revenge, and was nearly also killed. The Hulk rescued the boy, and in the ensuing struggle between the Hulk and Man-Thing, Albert was eaten by alligators.
It is not clear to me whether or not Largo and the Headshop were survivors of Middletown, which the Leader destroyed with a gamma bomb in Incredible Hulk II#345. I assume they were not, as the end of that issue showed the Leader driving away with the few Middletown survivors, who would later become the Leader's Riot Squad. Then again, the Headshop could always have survived off panel. The Headshop did not reveal how they were exposed to gamma radiation.
At the time, the Leader was thought to have been killed in Incredible Hulk II#400. And he did indeed stay absent from the stories for over a decade. The Headshop were unaware of the Leader's apparent demise, and were later angry that Betty Ross Banner had withheld that information from them, as they had only risked themselves to rescue the Hulk under the impression that it would help them in their struggle against the Leader.
Profile by Stunner
CLARIFICATIONS:
James Largo has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Incredible Hulk II#429, p12, pan1 (main image)
Incredible Hulk II#437, p14, pan3 (in battle armor)
Appearances:
Incredible Hulk II#427 (March, 1995) - Peter David (writer), Angel Medina (penciler), Robin Riggs (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Incredible Hulk II#428 (April, 1995) - Peter David (writer), Angel Medina (penciler), Robin Riggs (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Incredible Hulk II#429 (May, 1995) - Peter David (writer), Angel Medina (penciler), Robin Riggs (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Incredible Hulk II#430 (June, 1995) - Peter David (writer), Angel Medina (penciler), Robin Riggs (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Incredible Hulk II#436 (December, 1995) - Peter David (writer), Angel Medina (penciler), Robin Riggs (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Incredible Hulk II#437 (January, 1996) - Peter David (writer), Angel Medina (penciler), Robin Riggs (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Incredible Hulk II#438 (February, 1996) - Peter David (writer), Angel Medina (penciler), Robin Riggs (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Incredible Hulk II#439 (March, 1996) - Peter David (writer), Angel Medina (penciler), Robin Riggs (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Incredible Hulk II#440 (April, 1996) - Peter David (writer), Angel Medina (penciler), Robin Riggs (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Last updated: 02/11/17
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