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CBG SATELLITES
The ADD Blog by Alan David Doane
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My
first review for the previous incarnation of Comic Book Galaxy covered
The Incredible Hulk #33, one of Marvel's 2001 "Monster-sized"
issues. It featured, among other things, a fill-in story by Christopher
Priest that bookended the writing chores of Paul Jenkins and Bruce
Jones on the title. What made the story such a treasure, and much more
memorable than any other Hulk story of recent years (particularly of
any other fill-in, and there have been quite a few since the title's
1999 reboot), is that it was simply a Hulk story. Priest didn't
give us an updated Hulk origin. No new psychological motivations were
attached to the relationship between Bruce Banner and his monstrous
alter-ego. His speech pattern didn't change, his skin color stayed the
same, and he didn't eat any nurses. It was just a good, funny, touching
story about a big green guy who breaks stuff; something Hulk
readers have been denied for quite a long while. Now, you're probably thinking I'm the kind of obsessed RPG-minded
reader who frequents comic book battle message boards, and pins death
threats to the windshield of Kurt Busiek's car for letting Superman
clock Thor upside the head in JLA/Avengers. Hulk fans are
considered one of the most obsessed and hard-nosed groups of comic book
fandom. In fact, Priest jokingly expressed
some concern about Hulk fans' reaction to the aforementioned
fill-in writing, "Hulk fans are very serious about being Hulk fans.
Good thing I just moved..." Many of those readers who have enjoyed
Bruce Jones's Hulk stories likewise dismiss the anti-Jones sect's
criticisms as coming from stubborn, narrow minded Hulk-nuts who resist
any new ideas; any change. You might get away with calling Hulk fans obsessive or immature
without hearing any objections from me, but the idea that Hulk fans
can't handle change is a pretty laughable notion. For over twenty
years, all Hulk fans have gotten is change. Since Bill Mantlo's '80s Hulk stories, we've had smart Hulks, gray
Hulks, mute Hulks, evil Hulks, suicidal Hulks, psychotic Hulks,
incestuous Hulks, Hulks borne of Skrulls, Hulks that don't even have to
turn into the Hulk to get all Hulky, and Sybil-Hulks who change from
green-to-gray and smart-to-dumb every day. We've even had a Rick Jones
Hulk (who unfortunately lacked the hilarious Beatnik/Hulk lingo of one
of the early What If…? issues). Imagine if Mexican wrestlers
broke Bruce Wayne's back every few years, and Spidey endured clone
sagas bi-annually. That's what Hulk fans have dealt with for the past
two decades. I'm not heralding the return of any particular incarnation of the
green-sometimes-gray goliath, or of any particular writer. Change is
inevitable. Continuity gets muddled. That isn't the point, and that's
not my complaint. There seems to be an -- understandable, if not necessarily
accurate -- impression in the House of Ideas that you just cannot write a
compelling story about a big green guy who breaks stuff. But, he's one
of their household names, so canceling the title isn't an option. The
result is that any writer hoping to scribe the character needs a
very specific gimmick. They need to re-write his origin. They
need to change his speech pattern and his skin color. They need to make
him eat nurses and slaughter half of Manhattan. They need to drag him
through a four-years-long conspiracy thriller that reads like old
people sex. So, while the various changes in characterization and continuity in
other titles come about to help fuel the story, in the case of The
Incredible Hulk, the change is there just for the sake of change;
just to alter the face of the character and disguise it as depth. A
Hulk story simply won't be published unless it re-invents him somehow.
Other writers change the status-quo for the sake of story, while the
success or failure of Hulk stories hinge solely on that change.
Everything revolves around it. The question of whether or not the story
is actually good, regardless of the change, is never asked. Can good, interesting stories about a big green guy who breaks stuff
be written? And more importantly, can they sell? I don't know. Priest
did a fine job, but to be fair, it was just a fill-in, and the story
might not have worked for anyone who hadn't read the preceding Black
Panther stories. I guess my problem with the ongoing mess that is The Incredible
Hulk really speaks to the broader argument of whether any of
these decades-old characters have good stories left to be told in their
various sagas, or if they've ceased to be characters at all, and
instead are cold, soulless franchises. I'm not sold yet on the idea that the tales of our various childhood
icons should end, probably because there are still good stories being
told, as rare as they may be. Matt Wagner's Batman/Superman/Wonder
Woman: Trinity limited series is the perfect example of the
kind of Hulk stories I crave: good, compelling stories casting age-old
characters in an interesting light without altering the essentials of
who they are at every turn. Wagner did it. Priest did it. It's been a long time since I've been happy with my childhood hero's
title, and as such choose to consider The Incredible Hulk #467,
Peter David's last story on the title--and probably his best--as the
very last Hulk story (which worked much better as a climax to the
Hulk's history than David's brief return to the character in The
Incredible Hulk: The End--once again, the character was
re-invented; this time as a superhero parallel of Greek myth). With the
departure of Bruce Jones from Marvel and the rumors that the green
guy's saga will be brought closer to that of The Avengers, maybe
Marvel will get the kind of talent that can give Hulk-nuts like me
interesting, entertaining stories about a big green guy who breaks
stuff. Probably not. Until they do, I'll make allies of the nay-sayers
who call for an end to the superhero necrophilia and ask that finally,
and at long last, somebody will leave Hulk alone.
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