The Ages of the Incredible Hulk Sample file ALSO EDITED BY JOSEPH J. DAROWSKI The Ages of Iron Man: Essays on the Armored Avenger in Changing Times (kijn) The Ages of Wonder Woman: Essays on the Amazon Princess in Changing Times (kijm) The Ages of the X-Men: Essays on the Children of the Atom in Changing Times (kijm) The Ages of the Avengers: Essays on the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in Changing Times (kijm) The Ages of Superman: Essays on the Man of Steel in Changing Times (kijk) A\\ Wa_] MTFRa\R^U Sample file The Ages of the Incredible Hulk Essays on the Green Goliath in Changing Times Edited by J_bV`Y J. DRa_fb[Z Sample file McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Jefferson, North Carolina LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Names: Darowski, Joseph J., editor. Title: The ages of The Incredible Hulk : essays on the green goliath in changing times / edited by Joseph J. Darowski. Description: Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2015. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2015037601| ISBN 9780786497331 (softcover : acid free paper) | ISBN 9781476623016 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Hulk (Comic strip) | Hulk (Fictitious character) | Comic books, strips, etc.—United States. | Literature and society— SampleUnited States. file Classification: LCC PN6728.H8 A37 2016 | DDC 741.5/973—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015037601 BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE © kijo Joseph J. Darowski. All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Front cover image of green monster © kijo Digital Vision Printed in the United States of America McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640 www.mcfarlandpub.com To Kit, the biggest Hulk fan I know Sample file This page intentionally left blank Sample file Table of Contents Preface 1 Smashing Cold War Consensus Culture: Hulk’s Journey from Monster to Hero J_Y^ DRa_fb[Z and J_bV`Y J. DRa_fb[Z 7 Becoming Nature’s “Monster”: How the Gamma Bomb Reterritorializes the Human World JdbcZ^ LVaSVaX 24 A Globe- Trotting Atomic Weapon: Illustrating the Cold War Arms Race FVa^R^U_ GRSaZV\ PRX^_^Z BVa^b and CsbRa A\W_^b_ MRaZ^_ 35 The American Military in The Incredible Hulk During the Vietnam War L_aZ MRXdZaV 49 “The Monster’s Analyst” andSample the “Binomial file Self ” J_bs A\R^Zh 62 She-Hulk Crash! The Evolution of Jen Walters, or How Marvel Comics Learned to Stop Worrying About Feminism and Love the Gamma Bomb JV^^ZWVa A. SfRach- LVeZ^V 78 Jennifer Walters and the Savaging of American “Malaise” PVcVa W. LVV 93 A Made Man: Joe Fixit, the ’qis and Consumption as Resistance MRccYVf A\R^ CZTTZ 111 The Pantheon Era: Personal and Political Morality in Peter David’s Hulk JRb_^ SRT[b 124 vii viii Table of Contents Metafictional Powers in the Postmodern Age: She- Hulk, Canon and the Nature of Superpowers R_g T C__[ 136 Bruce Banner on the Couch: Dubious Psychologizing in the jrqis and jrris MZTYRV\ S]ZcY 156 Live and Let Die: Jim Wilson, the Hulk and AIDS in the jrqis and jrris CRcYg LV_XaR^UV 168 “You, on the other hand…”: Dual Identity and Superhero Storytelling in Dan Slott’s She-Hulk AUR] CR`ZcR^Z_ 181 “I didn’t come here for a whisper”: Monsters, Violence and Heroes in World War Hulk and Post–r/jj America Ba__[V S_dcYXRcV 193 About the Contributors 207 Index 211 Sample file Preface This is the sixth essay collection in my Ages of Superheroes series (see page ii), and the subject of this volume is, in many ways, the most perplexing yet. It is unlikely that any other American comic book superhero simultane- ously has such a clearly understood iconic identity—if brilliant scientist Bruce Ban ner gets mad he transforms into a giant, super- strong rage machine called the Hulk—and such a fractured and multi- faceted history in the comic books— gray Hulk/green Hulk, dumb Hulk/smart Hulk, telepathic links with hum ans, different causes for the transformation, wildly vacillating strength levels, and so on.j This indeterminacy surrounding the character began almost immediately as Jack Kirby and Stan Lee shifted the nature of the Hulk’s pow- ers and character several times in the first few issues. Perhaps it is due to the radical changes that occurred in these earliest adventures that a level of elas- ticity became part of the Hulk’s defined nature and subsequent writers were more comfortable stretching and tweaking the basic formula in unexpected directions. The Incredible Hulk was one of the earliest Marvel superheroes created by the prolific duo of Kirby andSample Lee. Though file one of the most fam ous super- heroes now, thanks to numerous appearances in television and film, the Hulk did not immediately find a receptive comic book audience when he first appeared in jrok. The character’s comic book series was canceled after only six issues. However, Lee, Kirby and other creators began having the character guest- star in other titles and join various teams, and before long the Hulk’s adventures again were published in an eponymous comic book series. The issues from the early jrois are fascinating to read due to their inconsistencies, which are sometimes explained through the narrative, and other times simply left for the reader to puzzle over. Glenn Greenberg makes the forgiving asser- tion that “the first few issues of The Incredible Hulk showed that Stan was bursting with ideas for the book, and readers never knew what would hap pen next to the title character” (j). In a more critical tone, Pierre Comtois asks, “Did Lee and Kirby have any idea where they were going with the strip?” (kr). j k Preface The truth is probably somewhere in between; Lee and Kirby’s stories are inconsistent and unfocused, but overwhelmingly imaginative. One of the most famous unexplained alterations to the nature of the Hulk happened between the first and second issue. In the first issue, the Hulk appears as a gray creature but in the second issue, without any explanation, he appears as green. In many subsequent reprintings of the first issue Marvel would recolor the Hulk as green to provide consistency with the now- iconic look of the character. Different explanations for why the creators and pub- lisher changed the character from gray to green have been given over the years. It has been reported that there were issues with the printing so that “gray could not be produced consistently” and the Hulk’s skin tone varied too much (DeFalco qn). Other explanations of this sort note that it was “the poor paper quality” in combination with the “four-color separation” style of coloring that made the gray color problematic (Cronin jkj). In answer to a letter asking about the color change, Marvel claimed that “the gray coloring was made in error” (Comtois kk). And Lee himself, writing almost three decades after the change in question, explained that he “thought that gray would be a heavy, dramatic, somber color” but wasn’t pleased with the way it actually came out. “So, exercising a writer’s prerogative, I changed it to green” (vii). Similarly, the reason for Hulk’s transformation (from lunar cycle, to ray guns, to choice) varied, as did the nature of the transformations (in one issue Bruce Banner’s head remains on top of the Hulk’s muscular body). Charles Hatfield notes that problems of narrative and tonal shifts were not unique to The Incredible Hulk: “to reread the formativeSample Marvel Comics, file circa jroj–ol, is to see just how unsteady the beginnings of this universe were, and how raggedly and unselfconsciously it grew” (jij). The Incredible Hulk would be canceled after only six issues, but the char- acter became a key part of the connective tissue of the burgeoning Marvel superhero universe, with guest appearances in most of the ongoing titles. Soon, Hulk would again have his own adventures published and a growing cast of supporting characters would appear. Among the most important new characters would be one of the last Stan Lee would co- create for Marvel Com - ics, the She- Hulk. Though She- Hulk, Bruce Banner’s cousin Jennifer Walters, who develops Hulk- like powers after a blood transfusion from Banner, began as a female analog of a pre- existing male character, she has gone on to develop her own unique characteristics and stories. The essays in this collection cannot trace all of the unique eras of the Hulk comic books in the past five decades, but they do highlight many key periods of the Hulk and She- Hulk comic books. The contributors provide Preface l new insights and scholarship for one of Marvel’s most iconic characters, but ideally future scholarship on Hulk and She- Hulk will build on the foundation found here. The essays span from the first Hulk comic book in jrok through kiip’s World War Hulk storyline. John Darowski and Joseph J. Darowski examine the Cold War influence on the first run of Hulk comic books created by Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Steve Ditko. In “Smashing Cold War Consensus Culture: Hulk’s Journey from Monster to Hero” readers will learn how these issues are not representative of the more unified view of America from the jrnis but not yet indicative of the emerging counterculture. In “Becoming Nature’s ‘Monster’: How the Gamma Bomb Reterritorializes the Human World,” Justin Lerberg offers an alternative and intriguing interpretation of the early Hulk issues, considering them as narratives not just influenced by the Cold War, but also as stories that examine emerging dichotomies of human/monster and other/self.