He's battled the Thing. He's pounded Tony Stark. But can the Hulk take on Frankenstein?
In October's Monster-Size Hulk #1, writer Jeff Parker
will pit the two against each other in a story that explores a younger
Bruce Banner against the monster of Frankenstein lore just in time for
Halloween.
"We're jumping back a bit in Hulk history, maybe a couple of years,"
Parker said of the oversized issue, which features art by Gabriel
Hardman. "Bruce Banner is being pursued as usual by the U.S. military,
and an anonymous person has been providing him with passports and
tickets to escape them in Europe. Once in Lyon, France, he finds that
his benefactor is Victoria Frankenstein, last of the famous family of
science-meddlers. She has a 'favor' to ask of Banner."
And while it may seem implausible that Frankenstein would have enough
power to go toe-to-toe with Hulk, the writer said there's a story
reason for the match-up. "You'll see! He gets a nice big monster-sized
boost," Parker said.
The writer said he can't take credit for the story idea himself. "I
wish I could say it's mine, but it was actually one of those mad
hunches of Mark Paniccia's. He kind of enjoys positing an unlikely
scenario and then making me figure out how it could happen," he said.
Fans of Parker's Agents of Atlas mini-series, a team that's returning next year in a new ongoing series,
know the writer's got a thing for talking gorillas, but we asked if
he's got a similar penchant for Marvel's monsters? "Oh yeah, I loved
the Monster, Werewolf By Night, Marvel's version of Dracula,
Man-Thing... I would be very happy if Marvel could get back in the
horror business again," Parker said. ""It's very much me and artist
Gabriel Hardman indulging in doing a Frankenstein monster story."
While superhero fans may think the Hulk doesn't seem to mesh with a
horror character like Frankenstein, Parker said it's "not out of place
at all for Hulk."
"He owes a lot to that particular modern myth," Parker said. "Look at
the first appearance of gray, flat-head Hulk. All he needs is bolts in
him somewhere and he's the Frankenstein Monster. Even Stan and Jack
always acknowledged that. Of course, he's also Jeckyll and Hyde, but
he's closer in appearance to the Monster and the theme of man meddling
with forces beyond him and loosing destructive force upon the world."
The issue's set to be released right around the time people are in the
mood for a Frankenstein story, which isn't a coincidence. "The timing
is of course right for it, but I think this will be a good one for
readers who want to get in the Halloween mood in October," Parker said.
"I always loved Halloween specials, and I'm happy to have a chance to
write one. Two actually, because Giant Sized X-Men First Class is one as well.
"In a similar vein, Giant Sized XFC is an homage to
1950s/early '60s monster movies, with Beast being the driving force in
all the stories," Parker explained. "We have guest artists Dean
Haspiel, Nick Kilisian, Michael Cho, and me and Kevin Nowlan! Also, I
crossed a line and finally turned over writing duties to someone else
on one feature: Roger Langridge writes and draws a two-pager that pokes
at Village of the Damned/Midwich Cuckoos, which was arguably a big
influence on the X-Men originally. Not as much as another book by same
author John Wyndham, The Chrysalids – but we were doing more of
a cinema tribute here. I wasn't about to write Roger's, because he's
most brilliant on his own, he needs no collaborators. And David
Williams does a spectacular double page pin-up that really has to be
seen, words won't prepare you for it!"
As for artist Gabriel Hardman's work on the Monster-Size Hulk
issue, it impressed the folks at Marvel enough that readers should look
for more from him soon. "[He] usually does storyboards for feature
film, but he loves comics and pokes into them as he has time," Parker
said. "He's a powerhouse, too. Everybody is going to want to work with
him after they see this story, but I think Brubaker already got his
clutches into Gabriel for a project next. "
