Rick Jones was a rebellious youth, and one day he ran away from a state institution for troubled teens. He drove to an army test site, where experiments involving gamma bombs were being conducted. Hulk|Dr. Bruce Banner, the designer of the gamma bombs, realized that Rick was on the testing field, and threw him to safety, absorbing the radiation himself. As a result of this, Banner transformed into the hulk. Jones remained with the Hulk for some time, becoming a close friend.
Rick was instrumental in the creation of the Avengers, as after the evil Loki took control of the Hulk, Rick was the person who sent out the radio call to assemble the heroes there. He later went on to become Captain America's sidekick. However, after some time Rick started to resent being on the side-lines, however this was cured when he discovered a pair of alien bracelets that let him trade places with Captain Mar-vell, an imprisoned Kree warrior.
Jones was a key player in the Kree-Skrull War where the Supreme Intelligence released Jones' latent Destiny Force. Jones used the Destiny Force to conjure up heroes from Earth's past to battle Ronan the Accuser and his Kree army, as well as to bring about a halt of galactic hostilities between the two races.
After the death of Mar-vell, Jones returned to the side of the Hulk, and also briefly became an ally of the Galadorian spaceknight Rom. He later met and married Marlo Chandler, but not before he had an encounter with the Ecdysiast.
Rick was also a key player in the Destiny War, where Avengers from past, present and future were united to prevent the Time Keepers from destroying a significant number of timelines where humanity was deemed a threat to all existence. Jones' Destiny Force had led to a destructive, expansive human race in many timelines. Jones later sacrificed himself to prevent the destruction of all reality, but was saved when he merged with the son of Mar-Vell, Genis-Vell. This created a new Captain Marvel.
Rick Jones was also revealed to be the monetary backer of the ex-superheroes team, the Loners.
Jones has recently acquired powers causing him to transform into a massive creature calling itself A-Bomb. How this has occurred has yet to be revealed, but Rick has already tangled with the evil Red Hulk and helped the original Hulk - who somehow knew A-Bomb was Rick - temporarily stop his sinister twin. Rick also has some crucial information on who this Red Hulk is, but before he could say anything, Doc Samson stunned him with a blast from behind and carried him away. Rick was taken to secret A.I.M. facility, disguised as an abandoned S.H.I.E.L.D. base, and placed into the hands of the sinister M.O.D.O.K.. It was soon revealed M.O.D.O.K. had used cell patterns stolen from Bruce Banner at the end of his war with the heroes of Earth to create Rick's monstrous side known as A-Bomb. During a fight between Hulk and Red Hulk, the A.I.M. facility was destroyed and Rick helped a powerless Banner escape the explosion.
A-Bomb stayed with Banner in the same shelter where they would cage Banner for the night when he first became the Hulk, and Rick had finally exerted control over the A-Bomb personality to the point where the monster possessed Rick's intelligence. Norman Osborn wanted to see if the claims about Banner no longer cursed with his gamma-powered alter ego were accurate, so he sent Ares to investigate. Ares attacked Banner, but it was A-Bomb to the rescue. Between A-Bomb's strength and Banner's intellect, Ares was defeated, and the two left him locked in the shelter. Rick and Bruce went their separate ways, and even though Rick is unable to transform back to his human state, he isn't unhappy about it, claiming he likes to be among Earth's heaviest hitters.
A-Bomb was on hand when Banner decided it was time to teach his son, Skaar, the importance of teamwork by organizing a somewhat friendly game of football, but an unscheduled visit by the new Harpy forced them to oppose each other as Rick found out she was none other than Marlo. When the Harpy was finally subdued, A-Bomb took her away from the others to keep her safe. He returned after General Ross was killed by the Red Hulk and attended the memorial service.
Rick went on to help Bruce Banner and the Red Hulk in their war against the Intelligencia, but he mainly acted as a chaperone to the red goliath in order to keep tabs on his whereabouts. Using his amazing camouflage ability, Rick trailed Red Hulk to an A.I.M. facility where the Cosmic Hulk was stored, but in an unfortunate turn of events, Rick and Red Hulk were pummeled by the powerful robotic copy. Following that incident, A-Bomb watched as Red Hulk gave aid to Thundra, sending her back to her time and burying a time machine for her people to find in the future. After the warrior woman was gone, A-Bomb attacked, hoping to uncover some of the blurred facts behind his metamorphosis. His mind still hazy from being experimented on, Rick knew Red Hulk had the answers. He just had to trick him into giving them up, and the best way to do that was by making him feel confident from triumph in battle.
Rick pretended to lose his intelligence and spoke in monosyllabic words, allowing Red Hulk to do most of the talking. In the next few moments, as Rick continued to take massive doses of punishment from his foe, he remembered being skewered by a former member of the Warbound, Miek, during Hulk's war in Manhattan. A group of supposed S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers took him away, but in reality, it was A.I.M. scientists in disguise. Using DNA from the Abomination, after Red Hulk killed him, M.O.D.O.K. and the Leader transformed him into A-Bomb. Knowing they wanted to turn him against Banner, Rick's wife, Marlo - already changed into the new Harpy - helped him to escape. Rick was soon captured by Samson before he could reveal who the Red Hulk was working for and was brought back to Intelligencia headquarters. Once there, Samson implanted a subconscious suggestion into Rick's mind to kill Banner when he received a certain cue. Banner realized what was done to Rick and decided to get that business out of the way. He discovered the cue and A-Bomb went berserk. Bruce had re-engineered the Redeemer armor in order to withstand the assault, but it was soon apparent the upgrades wouldn't last as long as he'd hoped. On the run from a killer he let loose, Banner determined it was Rick's guilt which drove him forward - the guilt of causing Banner's life to drastically change upon their first meeting during the testing of the gamma bomb which gave birth to the Hulk. Banner was right and Rick was freed from the murderous suggestion, and even though he thought he was defeated, Banner assured Rick this was a big victory over their enemies.
