"Bob" Banner?

[Silver Surfer]

Just reading through Avengers #3 and on page #24 the Hulk changes back to "Bruce" Banner but he says "Bob"? Did Stan has an off day?

[Aman619]

hasnt Stan admitted messing up early on and calling Banner both Bruce and Robert? Ending up with an official name of Robert Bruce Banner?

[Silver Surfer]

News to me but hey you learn something every day.

[Aman619]

Chalk it up to good ol' absentminded Stan.

[shadroch]

I believe it came after the two part FF-Hulk

battle. Reed kept referring to Dr banner as Bob. In a letter column,responding to many requests for clarification came the Robert Bruce Banner explanation.

[Sal]

actually, Robert Bruce DAVID Banner. for tv show fans and completists

[tth2]

actually, Robert Bruce DAVID Banner. for tv show fans and completists

 

I still remember Mad Magazine's hilarious send-up of the Hulk TV show, where one of the characters asked why they used David instead of Bruce, and another replied that the networks had decided that Bruce was too effeminate a name. And then in the background of the same panel, they showed a TV broadcasting "And Bruce Jenner wins the Olympic decathlon, Bruce is the greatest athlete in the world!" (or something to that effect).

[BradleyX2]

As a big fan of the Incredible Hulk TV show, this is what I've heard.

 

Kenneth Johnson, who wrote and directed the pilot, didn't like the name "Bruce Banner". Some say it's because "Bruce" was too effeminant or gay (think "Bruce Wayne" and his *relationship* with Robin), but according to Ken, he didn't like it for the exact reason Stan *did* like it - it was alliterative.

 

So if Ken had to come up with a new name for the Hulk's human identity, why not use what the comic characters' "real" name was revealed to be- Robert Banner? Apparently because at the time, there was a newscaster named Robert Banner who was actually pretty well known.

 

So Ken gave Banner his son's name- David (but kept the middle name "Bruce" seen on Banner's gravestone in the begining of every episode, to appease Stan Lee).

[OldGuy]

I believe it came after the two part FF-Hulk

battle. Reed kept referring to Dr banner as Bob. In a letter column,responding to many requests for clarification came the Robert Bruce Banner explanation.

 

Correct!