All the Hulk Feels
By Dan Santat
Abrams Fanfare/40 pages/$19.99
This Mighty Marvel Comics Picture Book, aimed at 4-8-year-olds, conveys a wonderful message about managing anger. This is a particularly challenging age for kids who act out when they lack the vocabulary to express their feelings.
Visually, Dan Santat, known for his work on The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend and Are We There Yet?, presents a Hulk that’s not too frightening to readers. This is a fascinating blend of the more childlike jade-jawed giant and the angry behemoth seen most everywhere.
Across the story, the Hulk and his alter ego, Bruce Banner, exchange messages about how they’re feeling and how neither fully understands what the other is going through. It nicely resolves itself while in the background, the Leader is working to free an assortment of deadly threats, including the Abomination and Juggernaut (not your typical Hulk foe).
However, the story makes little sense. Banner transforms into the Hulk while driving because he dislikes a song on the radio. After punching the console, he walks out of the car and leaps away, winding up at a fast food restaurant where the Leader happens to be there, disguised as an employee.
The Hulk is scaled down here but is still too large to comfortably fit in the car (which should be shredded) or on a restaurant table (which should not perplex him but further enrage him). We also have Hulk and Banner sharing their feelings via notes on the same sheet of paper, which can’t possibly contain all those words. We’ve never known the Hulk to read or write (let alone spell). Instead, this entire exchange needed to be in their shared conscience, which would have also provided Santat with some great visual opportunities.
The climax, with the villains escaping, is resolved off-panel.
While well-intentioned, the story does not serve the message particularly well.
English (US) · 