This is
the arc that first drew my attention to The
Totally Awesome Hulk, a team-up extravaganza featuring a bevy of
Asian-American Marvel heroes. Even as I
enjoyed the first two volumes of the comic, I still had the anticipation of
knowing this was coming, and now, I’ve caught up to it!
We start
with a shorter story involving Amadeus teaming up with another Asian-American
superstar: Jeremy Lin. A chance encounter at a neighborhood
basketball court crosses Amadeus’s path with Jeremy’s, and after some quick
basketball, bonding, and video games, Jeremy invites Amadeus to join him in a
pan-galatic novelty game.
Unsurprisingly, the game is set upon by a giant robot. A similar pattern emerges in the larger arc
of the volume – after various Asian-American heroes are assembled to draw
crowds for a a charity event pushing for bone marrow donors from the community,
they (and a small chunk of the city) are abducted by aliens. Millions of miles from Earth, with their
weapons and most of their powers shorted out, the heroes have to figure out how
to defeat the baddies and protect the civilian hostages.
“Celebrity
cameos” (I know it’s a comic book, so Jeremy Lin isn’t really there, but still) and crossover events
are both gimmicky, and both tend to be heavier on geeky fanservice than solid
plot, but overall, I’d say these volume does reasonably well with the two
stories. In both, we resume our ongoing
theme of “Amadeus is a cocky bastard who needs reminders that a) he doesn’t
always know best, and b) ‘Hulk smash!’ isn’t a plan equally well-suited to every
scenario.” At this point, it is starting to feel a little
lather-rinse-repeat on that front, but even if the storyline is repetitive, it
continues to be done well.
The
Jeremy Lin story is an enjoyable romp. I
like when superhero stories mix in real-world stuff, and I love the idea of a
hero meeting a non-powered famous person, with both geeking out as mutual fans
of each other. But, c’mon, let’s be real
– this volume is all about the Asian-American hero team-up. Joining Amadeus are fellow heroes Ms. Marvel,
Silk, and Shang-Chi, with bonus appearances from S.H.I.E.L.D. badasses Jimmy
Woo and Jake Oh. Having them get
together for a charity event is cool, and having all these heroes “who just
happen to be Asian-American” then saving the day in space is a blast.
As with
any crossover event, it’s all about the character interactions, and as such,
while I enjoy the aliens and the ass-kicking and whatnot, my favorite part of
the story is the calm before the storm, the post-donor-drive, pre-abduction
portion of the evening when the heroes simply hit the town together for Korean
barbeque and camaraderie. As they inhale
good food, trade parental-expectation stories, and have literal battles over
the check (as Silk notes, “Mad Asian-Dad action up in this piece,”) it’s so
much fun to watch them having fun and relating to each other. I feel like every big crossover needs a
chill, unabashedly-enjoyable scene like this.
Warnings
Comic
book violence and thematic elements.
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