Article: Incredible Hulk – Don’t Make Me Angry by Anthony Brum

Dr David Banner is a man driven by a desperate need to find answers. How do ordinary people, in times of great emotional trauma perform extraordinary feats of strength to save the lives of others? Late one evening at his laboratory, he makes a breakthrough. Banner is convinced that he has found the key to unlocking enormous physical potential and with reckless disregard of protocol, fires a torrent of gamma radiation through his own body. The result? Nothing, or so he believes. The doctor is not aware the lab equipment has received a massive power boost. Nor does he yet understand the radiation has fundamentally altered the way his body will react under extreme stress. He leaves, irritated at the lack of progress, but matters turn worse when a puncture forces the car to a halt in the midst of a violent storm. Cold and sodden, he hauls the spare wheel from the car’s trunk. David struggles with the wrench. His hands are wet and it slips from his grip. Crying out in pain and frustration he suddenly freezes, colourless eyes wide with terror. Angry streaks of lightning momentarily fill the sky. An incredible transformation is about to take place that will change the life of Dr David Banner forever.

The Hulk has had a couple of glitzy outings as the star of his own Hollywood blockbuster, and more recently affiliated with other Marvel Avengers. He is, these days, more superhero than sci-fi. But the first time we see him in the feature length TV movie on that rainy highway is when the character makes his biggest transition; from the niche audience of the comic strip to mainstream family entertainment for the masses. The success of that pilot in 1977 led to five seasons and several other feature length specials, running until 1982. In each episode, typically we find Banner engaged in casual employment, or work that enables contact with researchers who may be able to help rid him of his condition- the uncontrollable metamorphosis into a destructive savage. Despite trying to maintain a low profile, he usually is drawn into criminal activity of some description, or other circumstances conspire that his life becomes endangered. It would of course be very dull if David went an entire episode without going off the deep end, but for a man who is actively trying to avoid attention, you do wonder at quite how he finds himself in such a pickle so regularly. In an early episode, he ends up suspended in a cage above a packed arena cheering on a boxing match. Another sees him having to fly a jumbo jet full of passengers, with an unconscious flight crew drugged up to the eyeballs.

The initial monstrous transformation in the pilot really is an effective piece of science-fiction horror, not least due to the performance of Lou Ferrigno as the title character. Ferrigno, a professional body-building giant of a man, cuts a formidable figure even before the green make-up and shock of hair. He is ferocious as the Hulk, as a live-action actor without any need of your modern day CGI nonsense. Each time we see the change, the character’s rapidly expanding bulk bursts through his clothing. Presumably in the interests of decency, his trousers seem able to absorb the expansion and remain largely intact while every other item of clothing falls away in tethers. He is a being driven by anger and intent on the destruction of everything around him, but he is not a villain. The transformation leaves David with large parts of his memory absent, and he worries at the harm he may have caused in his enraged state, however because David is not a killer, the same is true for his alter ego. His ethics remain intact despite the change in body form and temperament. The pilot introduces David as a man who has suffered terrible loss in his life; his wife dies in a car accident in which he was unable to save her, hence his personal quest at finding the reasons others could do what he could not. The Hulk we also empathise with as he is as much a victim of circumstance, as David. As the initial film continues, his relationship deepens with a colleague. Together, they attempt to investigate his metamorphosis and become close. Despite having succeeded in his goal, albeit uncontrolled, of unlocking great physical strength, even this power is not enough to prevent the life of another woman he comes to love slip away. He is a lonely figure, unable to trust anybody with his mutant double life, forced to depart town, and maintain the ruse of his presumed death, to the melancholic closing piano music marking the end of each episode.

So next time you see somebody at the side of the road, struggling in the rain to change a wheel of their car, perhaps do the right thing, pull over, give them a hand, it might save a whole world of grief. Either that or get the hell out of there as quick as possible, and don’t look back.

Please check out my space adventure for middle-grade/ 9-12 year olds- “Imbrium City: Rise of the New Defenders,” available on Kindle and paperback large print.