Brian Banner is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Bill Mantlo, first appearing in The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #312. He is the abusive father of Bruce Banner, with said abuse being a major contributing factor of Bruce's eventual transformation into the Hulk. Publication history Brian Banner first appeared in The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #267 and was created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema. Fictional character biography As a small child, Brian and his two sisters, Elaine and Susan and their Mother was physically and mentally abused by their violent alcoholic father, Brian regarded his father as a monster and believed that he had inherited a "monster gene" from him, and so promised himself that he would never have any children, for fear of bringing another Banner into the world. As an adult, Brian married a woman named Rebecca, earned his PhD in physics and found a job in Los Alamos, New Mexico working for the United States government on a project developing a clean way to create nuclear energy. The stress of his job eventually lead Brian to become an alcoholic, and he frequently lashed out at those around him. While drunk at work one day, Brian accidentally overloaded some machinery, causing an explosion that cost him his job. Despite his vow never to have children, Brian impregnated Rebecca, who gave birth to their only child, Robert Bruce Banner. Brian believed Bruce had inherited both the "monster gene" and genetic defects due to the accident in Los Alamos, so he ignored him completely and attempted to keep Rebecca away from him. He frequently left Bruce in the care of the neglectful Nurse Meachum. When Bruce woke up one Christmas morning and opened a present from his mother, a complex model, he assembled it easily despite his young age. This convinced Brian that his assumptions about Bruce were correct. As a result, he beat Bruce, and after she came to her son's aid, Rebecca as well. After enduring several years of abuse from Brian, Rebecca attempted to escape from him with Bruce. Brian discovered his wife and son packing the car just before their escape, and he smashed Rebecca's head against the pavement, killing her in front of their young son. Brian managed to stop Bruce from testifying against him at his trial for Rebecca's murder, saying that