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| New Indestructible HULK added to the spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D in Marvel Now comic book edition |
The old saying goes, "Hulk smash!" — not "Hulk quip!"
When Mark Waid was offered the chance to write Marvel Comics' green-skinned muscular monster as part of the "Marvel NOW!" initiative, he didn't know if he had it in him. He wondered if he could replicate the success he had with Waid's recent swashbuckling Daredevil reboot.
"There's not a whole lot of room for humor with Hulk smashing things. It's not as cerebral a book as Daredevil can be," the award-winning writer says.
Then Waid figured out the key to what makes his new Marvel Comics book Indestructible Hulk hum: take Bruce Banner, a man who's hit rock bottom, and have the Hulk's alter ego join the spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D. as both a scientist and weapon of mass destruction.
Featuring art by Leinil Yu, Indestructible Hulk gets its title from Banner finally coming to grips with his very large, clothes-ripping id. In recent comics, the genius has fought for survival in a turf war with the Hulk, wanting to rid himself once and for all of the monster he transforms into when angry, but no resources in modern science can help him.
"So rather then treat it like a curse that he has and spend 24 hours a day to eradicate, he's decided to treat it like a chronic condition like cancer or diabetes," Waid says. "And the way you live with it is you learn to manage it and you learn to make some sort of peace with it instead of it becoming the sole focus of your life.
"It's a little different than diabetes because if left unchecked, it can devastate half a city block."
Waid also started thinking about Banner as a scientist, although it's been a long time since he's been shown in a laboratory doing anything but trying to stop the Hulk. And after the event series Avengers vs. X-Men showcased science saving the day while Banner/Hulk's job was punching stuff, Banner's realized this, too, and decides he doesn't want a tombstone that reads "Hulk smashed."
"He wants to rededicate his life to the idea that he can contribute something positive to the world," Waid says.
Enter Maria Hill, director of S.H.I.E.L.D. She's been tracking the Hulk but Banner finds her first and makes her a deal in Indestructible Hulk No. 1 (out today).
He gets S.H.I.E.L.D. funding and resources to build things to help humanity and will do his best to keep the beast in check. But when stuff happens and the Hulk roars to life, then S.H.I.E.L.D. points him at a situation where finesse isn't paramount — if there's a Hydra insurrection in Montana or a terrorist act in the Midwest — uses him like a living cannon and then picks him up after the damage is done.
"Lather, rinse, repeat," Waid says. "That's the new status quo."
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