"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

The Totally Awesome Hulk, Vol. 3: Big Apple Showdown (2017)


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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