Brian Doherty visits the set.
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Secret Origin of the Hulk
That Stan Lee and Jack Kirby have offered conflicting testimony as to which of them came up with the idea for the Hulk is not exactly news. But what I didn’t know before was the specific incident that Kirby claimed gave him the inspiration for the Hulk – namely, seeing a mother demonstrate extraordinary strength by lifting a car to free her trapped child.
What’s striking about that example is that in the (surprisingly good) 1970s-80s tv series – though not in the comics – the experiment that originally turns Banner into the Hulk is part of his research into cases of ordinary people demonstrating extraordinary strength in emergency situations – with the case of a mother lifting a car to free her trapped child being the main case study focused on.
Assuming this isn’t a coincidence, then either Kenneth Johnson (who wrote and directed the first Hulk episode, as well as being responsible for a few other shows you may recognise) got the idea through conversation with Kirby, or else Kirby’s memory is mistaken and inadvertently drawing on the tv show.
Between Lee and Kirby I’m ordinarily more inclined to trust Kirby. But this mother-saving-her-child-by-lifting-a-car idea is so central to the tv show and (as far as I recall) so non-evident in the original comic that I’m left scratching my head.
Cordial and Sanguine, Part 29: Groundpounders at More War
The BHL land symposium continues with new contributions from Kevin Carson, Eric Mack, David Schmidtz, and Fred Foldvary.
You and the Moon
So, Lockout is what you get if you cross Escape From New York with It Happened One Night. (Well, sort of.)
Milestone Icon
I’ve blogged before about the late Dwayne McDuffie, a leading voice for African-American writers, artists, and characters in contemporary comics. Go read it, then come back.
What is evidently McDuffie’s final work, the direct-to-dvd animated film Justice League: Doom, has just been released (a follow-up to his earlier, likewise excellent Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths). It’s terrific, of course; but the 2-disc version comes with a great bonus: a fascinating documentary on McDuffie’s life.
You don’t have to buy the dvd to watch the documentary, though; here it is in three parts:
Cordial and Sanguine, Part 28: Groundpounders at War
This land is your land
this land is my land
looks like one of us
has a fake deed to this land
— Dave Barry (?)
This is a fertile land, and we will thrive.
We will rule over all this land,
and we will call it … ‘This Land.’ — Wash
In addition to the Cato Unbound symposium on bleeding-heart libertarianism, there’s also a symposium on land rights going on over at the actual Bleeding Heart Libertarians site. So far there’ve been contributions by Eric Mack, Hillel Steiner, David Schmidtz, Fred Foldvary, Zachary Gochenour, and now your humble correspondent.
And there’s more to follow, including an upcoming contribution from our own Kevin Carson.