The current Marvel initiative to get their characters off the ground in Japan has a precedent; there was a similar period in the seventies when they sold the rights to a bunch of superheroes to the manga publishers Kodansha, who drafted in some of the industry's biggest talents to help adapt stories to a new audience. For the Incredible Hulk they managed to convince no less a heavyweight than Kazuo Koike to spin the character in a direction that made more sense to the Japanese audience. Koike, who created and wrote such iconic series as Lone Wolf And Cub, seemed like the right man for the job. He'd made a career out of gekiga, or men's comics, that were all about dudely angst and violence. To be honest we're not sure why Marvel never called him up to have a crack at the proper title. Or, considering what he did with the manga incarnation, maybe we are. So Bruce Banner's whole deal is that you won't like him when he's angry, right? Because when he gets angry, he transforms into the Incredible Hulk and starts smashing things. He gets into such a rage that he breaks everything. It's a metaphor, we think. Well apparently the only exposure Koike had to the American Hulk was that sad Lonely Man song they played at the end of every episode of the TV series, since he decided the way Banner would become the jolly green giant was when he was really upset. Like, to the point of crying. Which meant that every time Banner Hulked out, you would be treated to the usual double-page spreads of a huge inhuman monster causing destruction, but he'd be balling his eyes out the entire time. Emo Hulk. Thanks, Kazuo.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
