Entertaining a child at Starbucks.

“Put the tablet down a minute and check this out. Do you like comics?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you like the Hulk?”

“Yeahhhhhh.”

I took out my lead clutch. I have just started experimenting with soft lead (2mm). A quick sketch, maybe it was ego but i thought there would be fascination for her to see an image appear out from under the lead.When she saw that it was not the Hulk from the movies, unimpressed and without saying another word her head bowed back into whatever the tablet had to offer.

The original Hulk is often talked about in relation to a type of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In truth he was, in his nascence closer to folklore Golem &  Frankenstein’s Monster.

A cursory glimpse of his history online and it seems like every decade he was interpreted  via that time’s problems & fears.

Originally he seemed to be feared because he was different and misunderstood. The revulsion he caused partially on account of physically bringing to the fore the part of ourselves kept tucked away out of sight.

I do not read comics but if in keeping with the trend of him representing aspects of each era, i would imagine that now he is loathed not out of fear but because he is a hindrance to some desire/ambition (“The Hulk is rampaging across the city, the airport is closed but I was supposed to go on my vacation!” “He is stomping on my new car!” “He got in way of perfect instagram moment i was about to create.” ) Or he could be the reality discordant with how someone/place/society envisions itself. (akin to when people use really old photos of themselves in some online function despite no longer resembling it. The ideal still what they see in mirror contrary to the truth otherwise visible.)