The Leader (Samuel Sterns) is a fictional super-villain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Leader first appeared in Tales to Astonish #62, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko as an enemy of the Hulk. He has mainly appeared in Hulk related comic books over the years and was one of the featured characters in the Marvel NOW! Thunderbolts relaunch. Sterns worked as a janitor in Boise, Idaho when he was exposed to gamma radiation. The radiation mutated him into a green skinned, super-intelligent entity who names himself the Leader, embarking on a career of crime. He is repeatedly foiled by the Hulk, who overcomes all of the Leader's schemes as well as his artificial henchmen known as the Humanoids. Sterns would later be further transformed, causing his cranium to change into the shape of an over-sized brain. As part of the Intelligencia he is an integral part of the Hulked Out Heroes story-line.