On Sunday, my wife and I went to a used bookstore after
lunch. We enjoyed perusing the shelves,
and found three novels that we thought would be fun to read. We had also brought several books to sell, and the bookstore purchased three of ours. So we left equal on books, only a dollar
poorer, and with three new (to us) books to read.
Our next stop was the comic book store. We looked for missing issues from the two
series that we are primarily collecting at the moment. For me, that’s “Conan The Barbarian.” For my wife, it’s “Sensational
She-Hulk.” I’ve written enough about
Conan in the past that you know that I love Robert E. Howard’s stories, Roy
Thomas’ adaptations of the character for Marvel, and why. My wife recently discovered She-Hulk, and
“Sensational She-Hulk” is a fun series.
In the story, Jennifer Walters, aka She-Hulk, is a smart, well-dressed, professional woman. In the issue I read (Issue #2), author John Byrne and company worked hard to keep
the tone light. Every few pages, they
placed a sticky notes placed over a panel.
On these sticky notes, Byrne, artist Bob Wiacek, or other Marvel folks
would comment on the story thus far.
She-Hulk even breaks The Fourth Wall, and
speaks to them. She’s always big and green—in other words,
hulkified—yet she’s a thoughtful, reasoning person, not a rage-filled,
instinct-driven animal.
I grew up watching Kenneth Johnson’s live action TV show
“The Incredible Hulk,” and have seen the two recent Hulk movies, as well as
“The Avengers.” In these stories, we see
Bruce Banner 95% of the time. The Hulk
is a creature reluctantly unleashed, with little ability to think or
reason. When he emerges, the destruction
he causes may be out of proportion to the threat he faces. He follows his instincts, is driven by rage,
and a monster to be feared. Yet, as I
grow more familiar with comic books and the various Marvel universes, I’m see
far more stories that depict the Hulk as a thinking, reasoning creature, and
rarely see Bruce Banner on the run from the authorities, trying to repress his
anger, and searching for a cure to permanently banish the Hulk from his life.
In Marvel's new animated TV show “Hulk and the Agents of SMASH,” (shown on Disney XD in the United States), you
never see Bruce Banner. He's 100% Hulk--all the time--and he’s a team leader. He constantly
tries to reign in Red Hulk’s excesses, he’s protective of his young friend
Rick, he relies on She-Hulk’s expertise in certain areas, and welcomes Skaar, a
Hulk-like sword-wielding barbarian (shades of Conan?) who initially joins the
team as a double-agent. Hulk is smart
enough to design and utilize weapons, assess the strengths and weakness of his
team members, and formulate strategy. He
recognizes when people say one thing but do another, allows situations to play
out before he acts, and even apologizes when he realizes that he’s treated
someone poorly, or misjudged a situation.
In other words, the Hulk becomes someone we can all learn from. While it seems odd to admit this, I take this responsible monster's messages to heart, and hope the children watching the show learn from his wisdom.
Needless to say, I find the dichotomy in the various ways the Hulk is portrayed interesting. More on that tomorrow.
Dragon Dave
P.S. You knew I'd have to sign my name in green today, didn't you? Don't worry, I'm not angry at you! (Unless, that is, you're a Toad Man).
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