Patchwork (Kyle Barker)

Gamma mutations usually transform their hosts into living vessels for their repressions. All of their inner demons, secrets and fantasies suddenly thrust to the surface and given form such as the inner rage of an otherwise mild mannered scientist who undergoes the startling transformation into the Hulk whenever he gets angry. The creature known as Patchwork was no different. Subjected to the opinions and punishments of a somewhat cruel grandmother, then as a college student working for a magazine intended on photographing the perfect woman, his repressed feelings towards women came to light whenever his mutation took hold of him.

Patchwork began killing various women in the New York area just so he could create composite corpses from different bits and pieces he found unique about them. The NYPD revealed traces of gamma radiation on the women and decided to call in an expert to help them with the case. Doc Samson was asked to participate in the hunt for the first known gamma-powered serial killer, but he didn't readily agree until he had a talk with his friend, Bruce Banner. On the way to the police station, Samson saved a young man, Kyle Barker, from committing suicide – a task he was more prepared for than the one he was there to actually perform. Samson came to New York as a consultant for the police while She-Hulk was called in to be the actual super-hero assigned to take Patchwork down. Samson's first run-in with Patchwork turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. Instead of it being the actual Patchwork killer, Samson discovered a human who can latch onto nearby radiation patterns and copy them. Geiger soon became Samson's temporary sidekick and helped track down the actual murderer.

While Samson was working with Geiger, She-Hulk was confronted by the genuine Patchwork murderer and was soundly beaten when he siphoned her gamma energy and took her power for himself. She-Hulk wasn't the only casualty, however, for when Samson and Geiger tracked Patchwork into the subway, the duo were also defeated. Patchwork decided against killing Samson because he ominously said he owed Samson. Later, as She-Hulk was recovering, Samson figured out how Patchwork was choosing his victims because of a clue left at one of the crime scenes. He, and Geiger, went to a local adult magazine publisher and explained his theory of Patchwork trying to create the women displayed inside the publication, and Samson was prepared to use a reluctant Geiger as bait. It didn't come down to that because the young man Samson saved on his arrival in New York called and said something that Samson had only said to Patchwork, and that's how Samson knew Patchwork's civilian identity. It turned out the man, Kyle Barker, worked at the publishing house retouching photographs and when confronted, he transformed into Patchwork before everyone's eyes. Unfortunately, the combined might of Samson, Geiger and even a visiting Polaris could not stop Barker from escaping.

The search for Patchwork didn't end, and soon Samson, She-Hulk and Polaris found themselves at the Empire State University campus looking for Kyle who was a photography student at the college. Geiger, also a student there, found out about Patchwork's secret identity and went looking for Barker too. The quartet met up by an experimental particle accelerator –the cause of Kyle's troubles – and that's where they found Patchwork. The man inside the monster knew what he was doing was wrong and immoral, but his urges kept getting the best of him, so he decided to kill himself with a lethal dose of gamma radiation. Polaris erected a shield to protect herself and Samson, but he would not watch Kyle die. Samson showed no sign of concern for himself as he shut down the machine, saved Barker for the second time, and brought him into custody. He decided to testify in Barker's defense in order to get him into an institution rather than prison.