The Hulk: Steaming Pile of Cr*p, or Just a Massive Waste of Time and Money...?

I might be mistaken, since I ahven't read Hulk comics regularly since teh 70's, but didn't Marvel introduce a childhood abuse back-history for the character in the 80's? I have read that Ang Lee and his scriptwriters have actually tried to be faithful to various competing 'origin stories' for the Hulk (like most aging comixc characters, his history has undergone periodic revision).

I wonder how many people outraged at the movie are simply people who, like me, stopped following the book thirty years or more ago?

 

Yea...shame about that.

 

krabapple, you could be right on all counts. I quit following the Hulk back in the late 60's, so any storylines that were toyed with by Marvel after that time would've probably eluded me. Of course it's only based upon my recollections, but the movie version (i.e., with the dysfunctional family motif) did seem to shy away from the character that I remember from the 1st Hulk comic run. Note: A lot of folks may be unaware that, as originally conceived, the comic book Hulk was actually gray in color. Ang Lee's film apparently has a lot of gray areas as well!


Cat

 

The funny thing is, amid all the criticism leveled at the film, I can't recall reading one review, from either a pro or a comic fan, complaining about the revised Hulk origin (with Bruce saving Rick Jones from the gamma bomb explosion and all that).

 

RDK, that's because the basic origin was intact and it was handled in a relatively plausible manner, ...well, in a manner that is as plausible as any attempting to suspend disbelief with a comic book character. The story really didn't pose much of a problem; if anything, it was the casting and awkward characterizations which didn't live up to my expectations. That, and the snail-like pacing of the first half which strained to establish the dysfunctional family subplot.


Cat

 

I used to be an insane comic book collector, and there was a huge shake-up involving the Hulk during that time. It was so convoluted, I can't remember all the details (Peter David wrote all the issues I bought), but it climaxed with a big issue, Hulk #377 (a particularly valuable comic for awhile), when Doc Samson tried to reconcile Bruce's split personalities: there was Bruce, the sadistic grey Hulk, and the child-like, angry green Hulk. I recall this was all due to Banner's abusive father, and the exposure to the Gamma bomb triggered, if I'm not mistaken, a physical manifestation of psychological condition, not some genetic mutation introduced into Bruce.

Anyway, what Doc Samson ended up doing was combining all three personalities into a new Hulk who had the personality of the grey Hulk, the intelligence of Bruce, and the strength and power of the green Hulk, sort of like the ultimate Hulk. Since then a bunch of things have changed with the Hulk, but I had already stopped collecting.

 

That sounds awesome! You didn't tape it, did you?

 

Doesn't look so bad to me.

 

I see From Justin To Kelly did bomb big time...2.715m over the weekend for 11th place....outa the running.

 

No, I didn't have a chance. They may rerun it someday.