From Defenders #31:
"MEN KILLED BAMBI'S MOTHER!"
Yes they did, Hulk. The
upside is that those hunters also gave us this, one of the purest moments in
the Hulk's history.
😍
Laugh all you want, but
this page is kinda brilliant.
There's a basic
storytelling mechanism that is used frequently in these superhero yarns that we
love: Establish a bad guy doing something we disapprove of, show that our hero
also disapproves (so he's like us in a way!), and then the hero kicks the bad
guy's ass. The reader/audience gets that nice feeling of
schadenfreude at the bad guy getting what he deserved, the hero
stops/avenges the bad thing, and the result is an emotionally fulfilling story.
For example, every single
Punisher story works that way: we watch terrible people doing reprehensible
things, then the Punisher finds and kills the terrible people. The readers are
made to tolerate/applaud the Punisher's murders by having the criminals be
REALLY vile (And of course, the Punisher's real superpower is the ability to
only kill horrible guilty people, no matter how many bullets he sprays). But I
digress! The point is, this is the same basic narrative trick that's used to
make us cheer when the Thing punches Terrax.
As I was saying, this page
is extremely well done. We open with a cute reveal of the Hulk, wearing the
most adorkable smile of his life, as he sees a beautiful deer and her baby
Bambi. On the very next panel, the deer gets shot, and in the same picture we're
informed that this is an animal reserve, where hunting is illegal
(CRIMINALS!!). Then we're introduced to the pair of morons who did it, and it's
made clear to the reader that these are true assholes: not only is this
illegal, but Harry doesn't even LIKE deer meat!
😡
And that's when the Hulk
stepped in, to politely express his strongly-held opinions about illegal
hunting. The whole page has carefullly prepared the reader to welcome pretty
much anything the Hulk does to these guys, who - let's keep in mind - were
specifically designed to be hated. Their punishment will give us righteous pleasure,
that's their purpose in the story.
This is how a writer makes
the readers approve of a hero's excessive violence: give them a deserving
target. And this page delivers two of 'em, while having fun with it.
;)
Story by Steve Gerber, Art by Sal Buscema and
Jim Mooney.
P.S.: Of course I couldn't finish without showing you what happened to the men who killed Bambi's mother. That would be thoughtless.
From Hulk #253: "Hulk
is going to make an elephant fly!!"
🐘
The grey gentleman being
spun around like a hyperactive child's toy is Elephantine, a renegade from WoodGod's
tribe of Changelings (hybrids of humans with various animals).
You'll notice that the
artwork on this page is light on backgrounds, and the action is stylized like a
cartoon. Elephantine's crash against the tree looks as painless as Elmer Fudd
falling off a cliff, and this is by design: this whole Hulk adventure WAS a cartoon at heart.
This wasn't a gritty
crime-drama, where the setting's realism is essential to facilitate the
reader's immersion. This wasn't an ambitious sci-fi thriller, actually dealing
with with existential consequences of creating Changeling life. No, this was a
lighthearted romp through a goofy tribe of animal-people, who had names like
Minotaurus, Pantherus and Leoninus (they sounded like refugees from an Asterix
album). And Hulk's artist Sal Buscema treated it as such - emphasizing the goofiness, and
downplaying the violence and emotional stakes.
These were deliberate
narrative choices, in service of the story. Sal Buscema could do drama and
scenery like the best of 'em, but this moment didn't call for ANY of
that. We only get glimpses of the background, because we're meant to focus on
Hulk's over-the-top takedown of Elephantine. We're definitely not supposed to
dwell on how much that would hurt.
Normally, elaborate
backgrounds are meant to make the reader feel like he's on the scene, but
that's not a priority here; a lighter touch actually works better for the story
being told.
You wanted a "graphic
novel"? You came to the wrong place, buddy. This is COMICS! Cuss-filtered,
four-colored, fun-loving, elephant-swinging COMICS! And don't you forget it -
or Hulk may "do the impossible" to you too.👊
Story by Bill Mantlo, Art by Sal Buscema.
From Tales of Suspense #82:
"Okay, big man... intermission's over! It's time for the main event to
start!"
I'll give that smack-talk a
6 out of 10. Thor would have been more eloquent, and Hulk would have been more
concise (two words). Iron Man's pre-fight banter needs work, but his strategy
is solid: He's not running away, he's choosing the battleground.
The Soviets had launched
Titanium Man into Washington D.C. to rampage, Iron Man was fortunately right
there to stop him - and usually, that's when
several city-blocks get wrecked in a superhuman battle. But the reason Stark
was in D.C. was exactly to testify before the Senate on Iron Man's public
accountability, so our hero did the RESPONSIBLE thing, and led the supervillain
away from the Capitol before kicking his ass.
Gene Colan does a superb
job, as usual - the first three-panel sequence is all from the same
perspective, as the armored combatants fly towards us. The fourth panel is
elongated and slightly tilted, to convey Iron Man's deceleration before
landing. And the page closes with a wide shot from Titanium Man's perspective,
his own shadow looming over the defiant Iron Man. Colan masterfully builds
tension for the upcoming fight, and if this were a movie the dramatic music
would rise on that last panel. Are you ready to ruuummble?
Story by Stan Lee, Art by
Gene Colan and Frank Giacoia.
From Journey Into Mystery
#124: "-- License?? I have no license! I am THOR!"
"-- I don't care if you're Mother Hubbard! You're not gonna do any
hammer-swingin' on MY beat, mister!"
In the Marvel Universe's
NYPD, having balls of steel is apparently a basic requirement. Thor was getting
ready to spin his hammer in a busy street, and this cop stepped in to say
"hell no". This guy didn't care if you were a norse god or a nursery
rhyme, laws are for everyone.
The God of Thunder abides
by this reasonable objection, and politely takes his hammer to the nearest
building's top floor. And that's why Thor is a hero.
Kirby plays the scene
straight, because it doesn't need more than that to be funny. The civilians are
surprised but these are urban creatures, so it's a restrained reaction; nobody
bothers Thor, and we only get a glimpse of their impressions through the lost
art of comic-book thought-bubbles (without thought bubbles, this would be a much
more boring scene).
It's important to note that
his whole page could be cut, and the story would still make sense. The previous
page's last panel was Thor preparing to swing his hammer and take flight, and
this page's last panel is basically the same thing. But this is an important
character moment, that SHOWS the reader that Thor is genuinely more humble than
most of his Asgardian peers. Yes he's the Thunder God, his power is vast and he
doesn't suffer fools lightly, but he's not a jerk about it. Thor understands
that being mighty does not give him the right to step on the weak, and in this
page he demonstrates it through his actions.
"Show, don't
tell" is a classic advice for aspiring writers, and this is what they mean
by that.
Words by Stan Lee, Art by Jack Kirby and Vince
Colletta.
From Uncanny X-Men #100:
"Wolverine... ye bloody homicidal maniac... what have ye DONE?!"
This was apparently the first time the All-New X-Men realized what Wolverine
used those claws for. Or at least, the first time they saw him do it. None of
the X-Men had ever seen a superhero do ANYTHING like this - and neither had the
readers.
😮
In retrospect, the fact
that the opponent Wolvie had slashed was an android probably softened the blow.
The other X-Men would have plenty of time to get
used to the idea - Wolverine wasn't the star of the company yet, but he would
be, and this was definitely one of his earliest defining moments.
To be fair, Wolverine had
been VERY restrained up to this point; Canada's Department H (that runs Alpha
Flight, his previous team) did a solid job on curbing his worst impulses. But
it really was just a matter of time until something made Logan lose his temper
and cut some fools. Even so, Wolverine would only cut loose on human foes
on-panel several years later, during the "Hellfire Club" storyline.
Younger readers have to
keep in mind that at this point in history, superheroes killing or using lethal
force was a HUGE taboo. There was no Deadpool, no Lobo, and even the Punisher
was still years away from his first regular series. Wolverine was very much the
trailblazer of these lethal anti-heroes, a wave that would engulf the whole
genre during the '90s (with Wolverine riding the top of that wave all the way
to the bank).
At this point in the
character's evolution, Wolverine was still a mystery, and the readers were
being fed small pieces of the puzzle each month. One month we'd learn that
Wolverine liked to hunt non-lethally, just touching deer without scaring them
away; and on the following month we'd learn about Logan's previous jobs, or the
fact that he spoke japanese. This was one such moment - the first time Logan
actually sliced an opponent like sushi. Wolverine's mystery was unfolding before
our eyes, and it was awesome.
👍
Story by Chris Claremont, Art by Dave Cockrum.
From Captain America #110:
"A dull, muffled pounding... getting closer! Growing louder each second...
behind that wall!"
Building suspense sometimes
seems like a lost art in superhero comics. This story begins with Cap chillin'
in civilian clothes, and smoking a pipe (it was considered cool at the time).
🤨 We actually jump into the action pretty fast
(the Hulk promised by the cover is here and we're only on page 2!), but it's
still enough time for a strong storyteller to "milk" the anticipation
for all it's worth.
We get a wide shot framing
Cap between his poster's eyes, then a sequence that slowly zooms in, as the
tension rises. After a brief moment to brood about the loneliness of the
Captain America lifestyle, we get to hear Cap's thoughts through that OTHER forgotten
art: word balloons (why did mainstream comics abandon one of the best
comics-specific narrative tools, one of the very things that make comics
distinctive from film?).
Steve briefly wonders about
a distant pounding noise. In this page, Cap's thought balloons serve the same
purpose of the special music that they use in Wrestling, to hype the
guest-star's upcoming entrance. When the Hulk shows up, it's almost gratifying.
We are ready to ruuuumble!
💚
And again, this is page 2!
The economy in Steranko's storytelling is remarkable. It's not a matter of how
much space you have, it's a matter of what you do with it.
Words by Stan Lee, Art by
Jim Steranko and Joe Sinnott.
