Sample File ALSO EDITED by JOSEPH J

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)

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Sample file The Ages of the Incredible Hulk Essays on the Green Goliath in Changing Times

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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

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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 Banner 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 famous 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. The next couple of essays consider the Hulk comic books in light of American military issues that were occurring at the time the creators wrote and drew the issues. In “A Globe- Trotting Atomic Weapon: Illustrating the Cold War Arms Race,” Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns and César Alfonso Marino look at Hulk narratives just before the character made a turn for rel- evance in the jrpis. The stories from the late jrois and early jrpis remain deeply rooted in the Cold War conflict, with the Hulk viewed as a chaotic weapon of destruction that both sides wish to control. Lori Maguire’s “The American Military in The Incredible Hulk During the Vietnam War” traces the evolving portrayal of theSample United States militaryfile in Hulk comic books and links the shifts to changing public attitudes towards the Vietnam War. While the military is never a hero or ally of the Hulk’s, the manner in which the armed forces are treated in the pages of the comic books is far from unwa- veringly consistent. In “‘The Monster’s Analyst’ and the ‘Binomial Self,’” José Alaniz tackles issues of The Incredible Hulk that introduced a significant level of psycho- analysis to the character. Tracing the history of various types of psychological diagnoses for various issues, Alaniz positions the storyline within the con- temporary cultural discussion. Also, Alaniz argues for a consideration of the Banner/Hulk character as a “binomial self ” rather than the multitude of pre- vious interpretations. Two essays look at the creation and first run of She- Hulk comic books. Comic book publishers have had a long and troubled history of presenting female characters, often relying upon stereotypes and relationships with male characters in order to create personality and purpose for the women in their m Preface publications. Jennifer A. Swartz- Levine examines Marvel Comics’ launch of The Savage She- Hulk, a female analog of the Hulk that was designed to pre- vent the television adaptation of the Hulk from introducing such a character and retaining the copyright. In “She-Hulk Crash! The Evolution of Jen Wal- ters, or How Marvel Comics Learned to Stop Worrying about Feminism and Love the Gamma Bomb,” Swartz- Levine considers the significant feminist implications for the evolution of the series in this early run. Peter W. Lee, in “Jennifer Walters and the Savaging of American ‘Malaise,’” looks at the same run of She- Hulk comic books, but with a different interpretive lens. Lee con- siders the series as reflective of efforts to break out of a general malaise that marked the American identity following the turbulent jrois. Matthew Alan Cicci provides a fascinating interpretation of the Mr. Fixit era of Hulk comic books that were written by Peter David and drawn by John Purves. In “A Made Man: Joe Fixit, the ’qis and Consumption as Resis - tance,” Cicci argues that these stories are indicative of many of the stereotypes of the jrqis, including obsession with materialism, but also reflect emerging cultural theories about meaning- making through consumer choice. “The Pantheon Era: Personal and Political Morality in Peter David’s Hulk” by Jason Sacks looks at a stretch of stories in which the Hulk was a more stable character with a seemingly stable surrogate family. Sacks high- lights several elements of the storyline that blend the fantastic, high drama of the superhero genre with the troubling complexities of real world inter- national relations. Roy T Cook exploresSample John Byrne’s runfile on Sensational She- Hulk as a postmodern take on the superhero genre in “Metafictional Powers in the Post- modern Age: She- Hulk, Canon and the Nature of Superpowers.” While the initial Savage She- Hulk series had been interesting, it had followed the tradi- tional style of Marvel Comics. When John Byrne launched The Sensational She- Hulk series he introduced many postmodern and meta- fictional elements to the character and stories. Michael Smith’s “Bruce Banner on the Couch: Dubious Psychologizing in the jrqis and jrris” explores Hulk storylines that added new trauma to Banner’s backstory in light of new types of psychological theories that were emerging at the time. Cathy Leogrande also uses contemporary news debates to highlight the possible influence on the story found in The Incredible Hulk comic books. “Live and Let Die: Jim Wilson, the Hulk and AIDS in the jrqis and jrris” considers one of the first times AIDS was addressed in mainstream comic books. “‘You, on the other hand…’: Dual Identity and Superhero Storytelling Preface n

in Dan Slott’s She-Hulk” by Adam Capitanio considers the plight of contem- porary narrative demands of Marvel Comics. Slott illuminated these concerns in clever meta- fictional aspects of his series, and Capitanio considers Slott’s commentary in light of the evolution of the superhero genre in a mainstream comic book universe. Finally, Brooke Southgate identifies the influence of r/jj and the sub- sequent shifts in American society on the World War Hulk storyline. “‘I didn’t come here for a whisper’: Monsters, Violence and Heroes in World War Hulk and Post–r/jj America” is an insightful finale to the collection, examining a recent story in light of one of the most defining events for American identity of the current century. As the Hulk and other comic books continue on in their never-ending battles there will undoubtedly be new insights that can be gained by looking at the stories with a critical eye. The contributors to this collection have pro- vided some insights and provocative arguments, and as the field of comic book studies continues to grow it will be fascinating to see how these essays are put into conversation with emerging scholarship.

Note

1. The volume on Wonder Woman had the most similarity, in that the iconography of Won- der Woman is well- known, but her characteristics in the comic books have varied significantly. However, the nature of the Hulk has shifted much more frequently and with wider variation than what is seen in Wonder Woman comicSample books. file

Works Cited

Comtois, Pierre. Marvel in the 1960s: An Issue by Issue Field Guide to a Pop Culture Phenomenon. Raleigh: TwoMorrows, kiir. Cronin, Brian. Was Superman a Spy? And Other Comic Book Legends.… Revealed! New York: Plume, kiir. Print. DeFalco, Tom. “jrois.” In Marvel Chronicle: A Year by Year History, edited by Catherine Saunders, Heather Scott, Julia March, and Alastair Dougall. New York: DK, kiiq. Greenberg, Glen. “Gamma Grams.” The Incredible Hulk: Transformations. New York: Marvel Comics, kiij. Hatfield, Charles. Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby. Jackson: University Press of Mis- sissippi, kijk. Lee, Stan. “Introduction.” In Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk Vol. 1 Nos. 1–6, edited by Cory Sedlmeier. New York: Marvel Comics, kiir. This page intentionally left blank

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