Hot make angry

Nothing would please me more right now than to craft a wonderful and insightful blog post for you to read and enjoy. Something that might edify as it entertains, inspiring you, dear reader, to explore a book or perhaps a whole genre of fiction or non-fiction, possibly providing you with new knowledge or a fresh outlook, or maybe rekindle a faded interest in something you may have once enjoyed.

I would like to do that but it’s too hot. It’s just too hot. The AC is going full blast and it’s barely making a dent. When this posts on Monday there may be a slight lessening in the hot front straight from the yawning, fiery chasms of perdition, but as of right now, it’s too hot.

When I get hot, when I suffer under the blazing sun and swim though stagnant, humid air, I get angry. It is a primal sort of rage, an anger directed at the universe in general, so it’s no wonder that recently I have been reading reams of comic pages dedicated to one of my favorite superheroes, the Hulk. Not surprisingly, CLP Main is well stocked with  graphic novels starring the green goliath.

For some retro fun you have to check out this reprint of the first ever Hulk stories. In his very first incarnation the Hulk was gray. I had no idea. Even if you are not a diehard comics fan these old school collections are tremendous fun.  For a new look at Hulk’s origin, Hulk: Gray  is a great book for any reader, especially people who may like to pick up a graphic novel now and again but are put off by decades of torturous comic book continuity.

More recent Hulk books are well represented. I picked up Hulk: Abominable last week and was treated to an incredible slug fest between Hulk and the Abomination, one of his oldest foes.

Tim Roth turned in a yeoman performance as the Abomination in the 2008 Hulk starring Ed Norton and Liv Tyler. It’s a solid movie, punching above its weight as yet another big studio superhero flick. I don’t know if Ed Norton needed the money or he had signed some pact with the devil in order to fund more serious work, but he was great as Bruce Banner regardless.

Who can forget the old Hulk TV show?  Joe Harnell’s piano piece, Lonely Man, has to be the saddest TV theme ever. Unfortunately much of the pathos of fugitive Bruce Banner’s life was lost on me and my brother as we waited impatiently, counting the minutes until Lou Ferrigno finally showed up, ruined a set of clothes, and started wrecking the place.

—Sky