Newsarama just published a Q&A with Brian Bendis regarding The Illuminati. Although it mostly dealt with Black Bolt’s reaction to the Super-hero Registration Act (He didn’t like it. Surprise, Surprise.), an interesting side-issue developed along the way.
One reason the book citied for launching the Hulk into space - setting up the surprisingly entertaining Planet Hulk arc - was the number of civilian deaths caused by the green giant’s rampages over the years. Although a small aside to the larger story, it contradicted long-standing continuity that stated, plain and simple, that the Hulk has never taken an innocent life.
The point was stated most recently in She-Hulk #4.
Asked about the discrepancy, Bendis replied (Keeper’s note - Guess which spots were edited…):
Remember in the Hulk movie when the Hulk threw a tank with a guy inside it across the desert and it crashes and the guy gets out of the tank unscathed? Didn’t that seem like complete and utter @#$% to you? It did to me. I’m not saying the Hulk is a squeezing-a-guy’s-head-until-his-eyeballs-pop-out murderer but when Hulk smashes #$$! gets #$$%ed up and people get hurt. You can’t knock down a building and everyone inside brushes off and goes to lunch. It’s ridiculous.
Naturally, Bendis’ statement set off a mini-firestorm on the Newsarama boards, prompting She-Hulk writer Dan Slott to chime in (Keeper’s note - edited for length):
The Hulk has never taken an innocent life. I don’t care what a SHIELD agent told Iron Man. That’s just my take.
Because the second the Hulk’s responsible for the loss of innocent life– pfft– the character is over.
In Bruce Banner’s eyes, no innocent life is more-or-less important than his own. If an innocent person did die by the Hulk’s hand, he could never live with himself. He would FIND a way to end his life beforre that would happen again. It can’t really be rationalized away by saying he’d TRY to kill himself. Bruce is smart. He’d figure out a way.
It doesn’t matter how ludicrous that supposition is. It’s an apogogic argument. The fact that Bruce hasn’t killed himself MEANS that he hasn’t taken an innocent life.
Well… What about all of those buildings that Thor’s knocked the Absorbing Man through? Or all of the buildings that Iron Man’s knocked the Titanium Man through? And so on, and so on… If you’re going to play by THOSE rules than the entire Marvel Universe is populated by heroes with buckets and buckets of blood on their hands. And WHO wants to read about THAT?
“Oh,” you might say, “I’m sure that Iron Man and Thor are REAL careful about whose living rooms they plow through or what buildings they knock down.”
And to that I’d say, “Then just use that same kind of No-Prize-thinking to explain the Hulk. That there’s some sliver of Bruce Banner’s subconscious that makes SURE that he doesn’t take an innocent life while he’s rampaging.” That’s no more-or-less feasible than the Iron-Man-&-Thor-are-just-being-careful argument.
Does all of this seem a little silly? Like the “Hand of God” protecting that soldier who crawled out of the Hulk-thrown-tank in Bendis’ example? Yeah. But guess what, it’s comics. Comics are silly. And the mainstream Marvel Universe does have a “Hand of God” that protects its character’s integrity. It’s been there since FANTASTIC FOUR #1– when the Human Torch melted his way through jet planes… and all the pilots bailed out in time. And, hopefully, that “Hand of God”– as silly as it is– will still be around when your grandkids are reading Marvel comics.
So? Could the Hulk be responsible for the “logical” deaths of hundreds (or thousands)? Could the Punisher ever shoot down innocent bystanders? Sure. In my mind, that’s what the Ultimate Universe and What Ifs are for.
For the purpose of clarification, both Bendis and Slott took great pains to note there was no personal animosity between the two. It was no more than a difference of opinion regading everybody’s favorite rampaging beast.
Their points do, however, highlight a deeper question that has often crossed the Keeper’s mind: How realistic should comics be?
It makes perfect sense there would be fatalities following a rampage by the Hulk. But, as anyone who read Alan Moore’s Miracleman can attest, a truly realistic depiction of any super-powered battle would show horrific civilian casualties. A world like that would need to register super-heroes - if not ban them altogether - for the sake of its own survival.
To take matters further, a realistic depiction of the Hulk’s very origin would result in Bruce Banner’s disintegration, rather than mutation.
Since the concept of super-heroes itself is not “realistic,” the Keeper is willing to believe Banner’s subconscious prevents the Hulk from taking innocent lives - just as he is willing to spend time reading about Robot Woman and Xeen Arrow.
Although the genre has been used to tell moving and meaningful stories, at their core, super-heroes are simply ridiculous and fun. That’s why the Batman TV show worked so well, and it’s also the reason why so many collectors indulge in Silver- and Bronze-Age nostalgia.
It’s all in the name of four-color fun. Murderers - even those who wear spandex - just don’t provide the same kick.
Besides, as Slott said, there’s always The Ultimates for those who prefer a Hulk who not only kills, but eats, his victims. If that’s your idea of fun, then by all means go knock yourself out.
