TO RULK OR NOT TO RULK? A LOOK AT MARVEL'S RED HULK

For Chris

(a forewarning: this is a major nerd rant and at times may seem like a stream of consciousness)

If you're a current reader of Marvel Comics and have been reading them for the last two to three years or so you're likely familiar with Marvel's recent propensity for getting rid of their classic roster of characters but giving their monikers such as Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, Nova, Ghost Rider, Quasar, Captain Marvel, (...gosh there's a lot) and others to a new more diverse range of characters. To sum it up, Thor and Iron Man are still book titles but they aren't about Thor Odinson or Tony Stark.

It's nothing new actually. Marvel's has replaced classic characters in the past many times with new characters donning the old hero name. But what is new is the scale at which Marvel has implemented these changes in such a short time span. Sadly, I have read Marvel comic books for long enough to have experienced changes like this to my favorite characters already and more than once.

This article is about my particular feelings toward one such character change Marvel made to my all-time favorite comic book character. Coincidentally this year marks the tenth anniversary of this character swap. Come with me on this possibly crazy, possibly nerd rage, possible unexpectedly positive retrospective, won't you?

editor's note: for the record I support equal representation and diversity i.e. the current trend at Marvel Comics. I just don't like the characters is all.

HULK-I-PLICITY

So, around the closing months of 2007 Marvel relaunched their long running comic book series, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, in the wake of Hulk's arguably most prosperous era. The events were PLANET HULK and WORLD WAR HULK. World War Hulk had ended and the Hulk (Bruce Banner) was seemingly defeated and locked away where nobody could find him.

The Incredible Hulk comic continued but without him, the new star of the book being HERCULES. They kept the same numbering too so The Incredible Hercules' first issue was issue #113. Greg Pak, the man responsible for the aforementioned Hulk era of greatness was still writing the book too. Same issue numbers. Same writer. Looking at the evidence I had wrongfully assumed that Bruce Banner/Hulk would eventually return to the book so I kept buying it even though I had no interest in Hercules whatsoever. This was to be the first of many mistakes that would ultimately burn me bad.

The next mistake that would ultimately burn me again was due to my innate collector. A completest collector in truth. Hulk is my all-time favorite comic book character. I had a pretty massive unbroken run of Hulk from 1978 to the present (only one issue missing to give me a complete run from 1968 to the present). At the time I wasn't about to break that run. Hell no. So that led me to buying a book called SKAAR: SON OF HULK. Mistake number two as Skaar really didn't amount to anything I enjoyed or really any significance in the Marvel universe. So much wasted money... although there were a few issues featuring Silver Surfer and Galactus with artwork by Ron Lim, my absolute favorite Silver Surfer artist. That was definitely a plus within a massive negative.

THE COMING OF THE RED HULK

At the same time Marvel launched a new book simply titled HULK and on the cover was an image of a red complected Hulk. My first question was, "Why red?" I have no problems with the color red. The more red the better in horror movies, I always say. One of my best friends goes by Red. I have no problem with the color red. But for some reason to me, it just didn't look good on Hulk. If this was supposed to be fallout from WWH there were no indications of this (at least none that I foresaw).

Written by Jeff Loeb (writer of my all-time favorite Batman story: HUSH) and penciled by Ed McGuinness, issue one opens with my all-time favorite Hulk enemy, the Abomination, dead. Killed by some mysterious character (Red Hulk). (So, you're going to introduce me to a new character by killing one of my favorite characters? On top of that you already replaced my all-time favorite character with this A$$#013?) Issue one felt as if I had lost my two favorite Hulk characters. And to think that I was Marvel's demographic for whom this comic was intended. I should've quit then and there. But because I am a completest... I kept buying!

Editor's note: All these mistakes that burned me? They're all my fault for continually buying this $#1t. In short, I AM WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE WORLD TODAY!! And I hate myself for it.

Anyway, the first few issues revolved around solving the mystery of "WHO IS RED HULK?" After killing the Abomination (beating him severely and then killing him with a gun no less), this mysterious character (who still hasn't been designated a name) appears on a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, takes out She-Hulk like she's nothing, beats up General Ross and kills Clay Quartermain (a classic SHIELD agent and longtime Hulk supporting cast member).

Today it is well known that General "Thunderbolt" Ross is the Red-Hulk. But while these issues were coming out we readers were trying to figure out just "who" this Red-Hulk was. Our first few clues came in issue one. He killed Abomination and used a gun despite being powerful enough to do it by hand. General Ross does have a grudge against Abomination for killing Ross' daughter and Hulk's one time wife, Betty Ross. And General Ross has always used guns and weapons to fight either Hulk or Abomination in the past. But General Ross was there investigating who this mysterious Hulk might be. Then Rick Jones shows up at the end in tattered clothes leading us to believe it is Rick (who had transformed into a Hulk-like creature in the past).

Issue two comes out and Red Hulk attacks the helicarrier and erases all of the evidence on the mysterious Red Hulk. What really screws with the readers in this issue is that Red Hulk attacks and beats up General Ross in this issue. Wait what? Red Hulk makes a chump out of Iron Man and beats She-Hulk to a pulp (even threatening to kill her) before finally attempting to murder Rick Jones, who we find out has also been "hulkified" into the new Abomination code named A-BOMB.

Having Rick become the new Abomination really cemented the whole thought that the original Abomination was dead dead dead and not coming back anytime soon (for the record it took seven bloody years for them to officially bring Abomination back from the dead ((and it was Betty Ross of all people who resurrected him!))). Anyway, I've always liked Rick Jones as a supporting cast member but the fact that they had him replace Abomination really cheesed me off. I still love Rick Jones but I hate A-Bomb. He contributed nothing to the story or narrative whatsoever.

So, I'm reading this crap and I am irritated after issue one and these Red Hulk hemorrhoids just seem to get worse as time goes on... initially (time has soothed my rage over this Red Hulk, but more on that later). Waiting a month for issue after issue to come out was horrendous for me. I just wanted this crap to finish and for things to get back to the way they were. But wouldn't you know it, the comic book was DELAYED, not just once, but again and again and again. It took a year to get 8 crap-tastic issues (just to clarify, I liked the artwork but I HATED the story. All my rage is focused on the story not the art). Starting with issue three the book was being released every other month it seemed.

When we were actually getting the comics there were a ton of guest stars like Iron Man, Thor, the Watcher, the Sub-Mariner, the Thing, and others. And Red Hulk makes chumps out of them all. Because, you know, that's the way to get readers to like your new character, by trashing every other super hero. Red Hulk even punches out Uatu, the Watcher. What the heck is the Watcher doing there anyway? Historically the Watcher reveals himself at Marvel's most significant events. Does this mean that Marvel considers the coming of Red Hulk significant? Seems awfully presumptuous of Marvel and obnoxiously telling us readers of how great Red Hulk is. Uggg... It's like Marvel is telling us how great they think Red Hulk is.

On a side note there is an episode of the show HEROES in which actor Seth Green is selling comic books and says dismally, "We have plenty of Red Hulk." Coincidentally Seth Green would go on to voice A-Bomb in a show titled Hulk and the Agents of Smash, a show that featured Red Hulk as a main character. More on that later.

When the REAL Hulk finally shows up, guess what, Red Hulk beats the tar out of him too. Strangely, Jeff Loeb's green Hulk has no continuity at all with the previous green Hulk we saw in World War Hulk. Green Hulk is dumb again and nowhere similar to how the previous writer, Greg Pak, wrote him. No explanation for this change either (this is the second time Jeff Loeb has completely disregarded Hulk's continuity, the first being in his mini series HULK: GREY ((which is a good story but doesn't fit at all in continuity))).

In issue six we get a rematch between Red Hulk and Green Hulk in which Green finally wins over Red. We learn a bit more about one of the mysteries hinted at in issue one about Red Hulk: the madder he gets the "hotter" he gets. I can't tell you how useful that power would've been in high school and college "wink" haha. Okay, that was stupid. Red Hulk's power isn't attractiveness but temperature. His body heat gets higher and higher the madder he gets. I still to this day have no idea what the purpose of such a power is. So, he doesn't have to wear a jacket in the winter? He can cook his own hotdogs? I think it's to parallel him to a nuclear reactor. Maybe if there was some threat of explosion, meltdown, and massive collateral damage it would be interesting. But no. That was never a factor. It was then and still is now, kinda ridiculous.

At the end of issue six we see Red Hulk laying unconscious on the ground with General Ross standing over him! How the heck are we readers supposed to guess that Rulk is Ross with crap like this going on more than once?! So, with General Ross firmly ruled out as a possibility that leaves only someone who mirrors General Ross' connections, tactics, and motivations. Glenn Talbot is the perfect candidate and makes perfect sense with everything they've presented us so far.

But no, it turns out to be General Ross all along. WHAT?! How does that work?! They were in the same room together... twice! We're told later that those times we saw General Ross that it was an L.M.D., you know, because L.M.D.s were so prevalent in Hulk comics of the past (they weren't). For those of you unfamiliar with Nick Fury, L.M.D.s or Life Model Decoys are robots identical to human beings. They are a fairly common story element with Nick Fury stories. Never before have they turned up in a Hulk comic, one in which Nick Fury has no part of. Had the presence of L.M.D.s been established in the story then it would've been a feasible option for readers to guess at. What I'm saying is that the L.M.D. thing was a cheap device in a poorly constructed mystery. Just another lame aspect of a story you could tell Jeff Loeb was phoning in every issue.

The next story arc was split in each issue, one half of the issue being a solo green Hulk story and the other half being a solo red Hulk story. The green Hulk story was illustrated by Arthur Adams, a wonderful artist, and the story had him facing off against Wendigos. The less said about this story the better. Again, Loeb doesn't adhere to the continuity or the rules established for the Wendigo. And grey Hulk shows up for what looks like a new plot development with Banner but is never fully explored, developed, or resolved. It just kinda happens and is dropped from then on. And when Hulk is transformed into a Wendigo he calls himself Wendy-Hulk. "spits" C'mon, Loeb! Say it out loud! Are you hearing how that sounds? And besides, when the Wendigo curse is transferred to a person it's still Wendigo, not Wendy-Cody or Wendy-Jeff or Wendy-Rebecca. Those all just sound dumb. "sigh" At least Art Adams artwork looks great.

The Red Hulk half of those issues centered around She-Hulk calling in all her fellow female heroes and getting some Lady Vengeance on Rulk's butt. This story is merely a footnote in the overall narrative as it doesn't add to the plot whatsoever. It really only serves to showcase Frank Cho's skill at drawing women, which is excellent. This was back in the day when it was okay to have attractive women in comic books (thank you, current budding female readership, for letting us males know how wrong we were for liking to look at sexy women. Thank you for inserting yourselves into this once all boys club and making us take down all our hot chick posters from the walls of our tree house).

ridiculous, no?

editor's note: societal progress is hard when you have @$$#0!355 like me around clamoring for attractive women. God, I really am what's wrong with this world!! For the record, I wholly support equal rights for women and equality for all.

Then there's a story arc with the Grandmaster and the Collector, plucking Hulk, Red Hulk, Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange, Namor, Tiger Shark, Terrax, and Baron Mordo from different points in time and pitting the heroes against the villains, Red Hulk is on the side of the villains (which he really has been this whole time. But General Ross isn't a villain?). It's the classic line-up for the Defenders Vs... wait for it... the OFFENDERS! "groan" Ughh (I can't decide what the tone of this book is supposed to be, much like the tone of this article). This story amounts to nothing as eventually the characters are all put back in their own timelines with nothing changed or altered at all. This story arc does nothing to move the narrative forward.

Then there's the special INCREDIBLE HULK #600! This issue finally comes out and says that Red Hulk is General Ross (where does his mustache go?! Another vital plotpoint that is never really resolved). Red Hulk calls Banner a "Milksop" at the end, which if you recall from forty years ago, is what General Ross called Banner in the very first issue of Incredible Hulk. Wow, Loeb actually got some continuity right for a change... huh.

And the crapfest of this book continues with the next story arc entitled: CODE RED (side note: I really enjoy Code Red Mountain Dew soft drinks). (Seriously, look at the names here: Red Hulk, A-Bomb, Offenders, Code Red... Who at Marvel approved these?!) This story has the 2008 X-Force team (one of the raddest X-Men groups ever!) going up against Red Hulk and his team of... red costumed anti-heroes? Really, that's it. They all wear red. Brilliant! Deadpool, Crimson Dynamo, Elektra, Thundra, and Punisher (okay, he's not red, but he's an anti-hero, whatever... shut-up, Mitch). This story had me excited for one thing: the artwork of Ian Churchill. His artwork is incredibly amazing and he drew a mean Hulk way back in the day for an issue of Cable in the 90's.

Ian Churchill at his best.

Churchill's art should've been the highlight but NOPE! He decides to not employ his usual style (which I love and which he used for the cover of issue #14 in what ultimately amounts to a vicious tease) opting instead for a muddier cartoony style that is less than satisfying. He revealed in an interview that he had begun penciling the issue in his usual style but then started over trying something different, to which he said was more in keeping with the tone of the book. A bad choice in my opinion (it's like being known for serving the best vanilla ice cream you've ever tasted but then, when you go to buy said vanilla they serve you a new chocolate flavor they're testing and it tastes chalky, kinda sour, and leaves a bad aftertaste that you soon try to forget altogether).

Speaking of tone, what the heck kind of tone is this book supposed to have anyway? Do Loeb and McGuinness even know? At first it seems serious, people are dying, and it's even scary at moments when Rulk attacks the helicarrier. But then it goes completely comical with Iron Man screaming "Oh, the humanity!" as the helicarrier is going down. I get the reference, but that doesn't make it less goofy. Red Hulk's persona is virtually humorless, beating up women, threatening to kill people, killing people, and then they have him punch out the Watcher?! Another completely hilarious moment that doesn't at all fit tonally with what they have going on. But then artist Ian Churchill changes his realistic, intense art style for something puffy and cartoony because "it's more in keeping with the tone." Ed McGuinness' art style is also puffy and cartoony, which may have worked had Jeff Loeb's writing tone remained consistent but moments like Rulk punching the Watcher just stick out in your mind because McGuinness is so good at cartoony images like that. Make up your mind, Loeb! Pick a tone!

The Ian Churchill art we actually got. Can you see the difference?

The topping on this Crap-cream sundae is the introduction of a new character! RED SHE-HULK! So, you thought Red Hulk wasn't enough so Red She-Hulk sounded like a good idea? REALLY?! And on top of the mystery of Red Hulk they add the mystery of Red She-Hulk, you know, because the mystery of Red Hulk was done so well. And once again the brilliance of Marvel's marketing department farted out the inspired character name of... Red She-Hulk. Do you think that was the result of one or two whole days work at the office? How do I get a job there? I can easily crap in a box and sell it to completest collectors like myself!

Then they kill off Doc Samson, who apparently was in on the whole Ross/Red Hulk thing, because why not? He's only a classic supporting cast member of the Hulk's. Nobody will miss him. Then we finally build to Jeff Loeb's Red Hulk magnum opus, a massive event titled FALL OF THE HULKS. We discover that M.O.D.O.K., the Leader, Dr. Doom, the Red Ghost, and the Mad Thinker were all responsible for creating Red Hulk, Red She-Hulk, A-Bomb, and soon to come Hulked-out Deadpool, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and more! The title of the event changes to WORLD WAR HULKS and it builds to Red Hulk taking over the White House and an army of Red Hulks marching on Washington DC. And finally, in the second to last issue of this event, we are told the origin of Red Hulk.

The connection between General Ross and M.O.D.O.K. goes way back in Hulk continuity and that's cool that someone drew upon it for inspiration. It's actually a great throwback to us old-timer Hulk fans. But that doesn't mean it makes any more sense. It makes less sense actually. General Ross was at an all-time low when he allied himself with M.O.D.O.K. and it cost him his job, pride, the respect of his daughter, and then there's the famous cover with General Ross holding a gun to his head. He was THIS close to killing himself after realizing what he had become by allying with M.O.D.O.K. Those Hulk issues are Incredible Hulk #288, 289, and 291. Why would he ever go back to M.O.D.O.K after what it cost him the first time?

Issue #24 comes to a head with green Hulk facing off against Red Hulk and General Ross getting thoroughly beaten. The badguys plans are foiled and the goodguys win the day. Yay! The only good thing to come from this issue is the goodbye and good riddance to Jeff Loeb's tenure on Red Hulk.

Issue 25 starts with a new creative team and for the first time ever the book starts becoming enjoyable. Jeff Parker takes over writing and Gabriel Hardman takes the duty of art. Issue 25 shows Iron Man getting his revenge on Red Hulk and beating the snot out of Red Hulk. Issue 26 show Thor getting his revenge by beating the crap out of Red Hulk. And issue 27 shows Namor: the Sub-Mariner getting his revenge by beating the hell out of Red Hulk. Watching three heroes I like beating the living piss out of a character I truly hate three issues back to back was amazing. Those three issues mark my favorite section of the Red Hulk comic book, issue 27 my favorite single issue.

Overall the book becomes enjoyable with Jeff Parker taking the helm. But it never got great. Due to no fault of Jeff Parker or any of the amazing artists he collaborated with in the 27 issue run of his that I read (that's right! Jeff Parker had a longer streak on the book than Jeff Loeb) but I could never get past my hatred for the character. Loeb did such a good job of making Red Hulk a villain, and making me loathe said villain, that when he was cast as the hero in issue 25 I never got to the point where I liked him. At best he became tolerable.

I finally quit buying the damn book at issue #52... 52!!!! That's 51 issues I knew I wasn't going to like! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!?!

editor's note: There are many answers to the above question. Overall I think it's that I am just a terrible human being.

The book changed titles and central character just five issues later. With issue #58 the book became... wait for it... RED SHE-HULK! (because that's what this book needed) I didn't read any of this but Jeff Parker kept writing up until the cancellation ten issues later with #67. The crazy thing is, this ten issue section from #58-#67 boasts perhaps the best artists the book had ever had. A masochistic part of me wants to go back and buy issues #53-#67, complete the collection (because I am, once again, a total freakin' idiot who needs to be shocked back to reality with a swift kick to the gonads and slap to the face), and see if that section is as good as the artists (meaning to see if it is actually the best part of the whole fricken thing... which it very well could be for the simple fact that I don't hate Red She-Hulk half as much as I hated Red Hulk).

At this point I vowed no more Red Hulk! I was done with him.

But Red Hulk wasn't done with me...

editor's note: Geeze! Isn't he done yet?!

Years went by and I successfully avoided Red Hulk for quite some time. After his book was cancelled he reappeared in a team book for the MARVEL NOW rebranding relaunch thing. He was with a team that was essentially his Code Red crew only now they were the THUNDERBOLTS. I am actually a big Thunderbolts fan and have nearly every issue of theirs! Do I have any issues containing Red Hulk? HELL NO! (three years sober and counting).

editor's note: Hey everybody! I'm on the road to becoming a better person! Eeeeiiiiii (little girl giggle)

That Thunderbolts volume with good ol' Rulk was eventually cancelled and Red Hulk actually vanished for a while. In the meantime the extraneous Hulk titles were cancelled one by one and merged into one book, the core Hulk title by Greg Pak, the Incredible Hulks. Despite having all those characters like A-Bomb, Skaar, She-Hulk, and Red She-Hulk, the book was actually pretty good. I really enjoyed it (and you guessed it, Red Hulk did not show up). The Marvel Now Hulk volume that followed by Jason Aaron didn't do anything for me except give me something new to complain about (I should've stopped getting that book once Marc Silvestri left art duties about half way through issue #2).

editor's note: And now we're back to supporting stuff we hate and have become a horrible person again.

Mark Waid did the next volume which was "ho hum." He also started the following volume, finally resurrected the original Abomination, and then handed off the writing duties to Gerry Duggan with Mark Bagley on art. Gerry Duggan began an arc in the story in which Hulk, now calling himself Doc Green, goes about curing Skaar, A-Bomb, and Red She-Hulk of their "hulkitus." Duggan dehulked all those hulks I hated including... RED HULK!! Yes, I bought new issues with Red Hulk in them but those issues were cathartic for me. I was finally witnessing someone doing what I had longed to do all those years ago: GET RID OF RED HULK. General Ross was now just General Ross again. No more Red Hulk... or so I thought.

After my son was born I started watching this Disney XD cartoon show called HULK AND THE AGENTS OF S.M.A.S.H. Red Hulk, Skaar, and A-Bomb were a part of the main cast in that show. But the show was for kids and a comedy so it didn't bother me as much. Red Hulk was voiced by the great Clancy Brown and was your basic annoying hard-headed jerk. You weren't supposed to like him which was perfect.

A side note: After Gerry Duggan finished cleaning up the Hulk-verse they cancelled that volume and relaunched the book for their ALL-NEW ALL-DIFFERENT rebranding as TOTALLY AWESOME HULK. And wouldn't you know it, Marvel is doing the exact same freakin thing as they did with the first issue of Red Hulk. They've replaced Banner/Hulk with a new Hulk that's a different character but calling himself Hulk anyway (like Hulk is a title and not a name). I read one flippin' issue and said NOT AGAIN! NO THANK YOU! I haven't bought a Hulk book in nearly two years.

editor's note: Yay! I'm almost a decent human being! There's hope!

During the last year sadly I have seen a return of Red Hulk in the pages of U.S.Avengers (and he finally has his mustache in Hulk form!). I have learned... kinda... from my mistakes and have not touched that book at all, not even to flip through it or get it out of my way. So I have no idea how or why General Ross (if it even is still General Ross) has returned to being Red Hulk after being cured by Banner. It's a mystery I don't care to solve and probably never will unless someone tells me randomly. I will admit to feeling greatly disappointed at seeing Rulk on the cover of U.S.Avengers but that cover also had Squirrel Girl on it so... looks like a winner to me!

editor's note: I think I am well on the road to being a somewhat decent human being. Oh, and I fully support those who love Squirrel Girl and your basic right to love Squirrel Girl. I actually have her first appearance!

It used to kill me when I'd hear people say that they liked Red Hulk. Now I just feel like spitting when someone says they like Red Hulk. When General Ross reappeared in the movie CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR there were a ton of people speculating whether Red Hulk would make his film debut or not. All I gotta say is THANK GOD he did not.

Now that I've had time away from Red Hulk I now have some perspective. When I was bitching about Red Hulk as it was coming out, one of my friends who worked at the comic shop I was frequenting voiced that it was no different than when Peter David introduced the grey Hulk into comics. My friend, John, admitted to hating that direction for the character, especially the Joe Fixit persona. He sited how this Red Hulk stuff was basically a repeat of that.

Him saying that made me take a step back and check my self-awareness. You see, as a young impressionable reader of Hulk, I really loved the grey Hulk section of Hulk's history. Maybe, when that grey Hulk stuff was coming out, older Hulk fans were feeling the same hatred for grey Hulk that I was feeling for Red Hulk. Maybe, the young and impressionable readers of Red Hulk, thought that Red Hulk was the greatest thing to happen to Hulk just like I thought about the grey Hulk stuff. Do I have a right to go on about how terrible Red Hulk is when someone older than me can go on about how terrible grey Hulk is? Is it horrible of me to write a terribly long blog post about how much I hate Red Hulk?

Maybe.

Truth is, I never cared much for General Ross to begin with. But I never hated him. I guess it's really Jeff Loeb's writing of Red Hulk that I hate. Maybe I just didn't get it. Maybe I am too old and set in my ways. And why red of all colors? It's so garish. Maybe readers thought the same of the green color switch in Hulk's second issue way back in the sixties. I still don't like Red Hulk and it seems most of the current readers aren't clamoring for his return too intensely. So that's good.

editor's note: I bought all of this crap with my hard earned money. I worked so I could support Red Hulk... How does society permit a person like me to continue living?! Such a mismanaged use of money. It was a hard lesson to learn but today I have given up my completest collector ways and have become a somewhat better person.

I guess if Red Hulk taught me anything it's that being a completest means taking the good and the bad. It taught me that being a completest collector can be a very bad thing and a major waste of money. My dollars went in support of something I hated. I can't believe how foolish I was. But it also taught me that just because I dislike something doesn't mean others do and doesn't mean you're at fault for liking something I don't. And I have no right to tell you what to like and what to hate. That's just wrong. So go ahead, voice your love for the Rulkster "snicker"... oh c'mon, people! Rulk?! Seriously?!

I'm sorry. I broke for a moment. Anyway, if you have, by some miracle, finished this insane yammering of a post then what is wrong with you? I hope you enjoyed it at least for you just had a brief glimpse into the twisted mind of me.

And for the record, if you've read as much Incredible Hulk as I have you will have it in your head that General Ross' hatred for the Hulk runs so deep that he'd never ever consider becoming the very thing he hates most in all the world! NEVER! At least that's how I felt about the character and still do.

But maybe now I can finally get over it and move on.