Ray Ray Ray

by Clifford Johnson     Department: Science & Society

In other gamma-ray related news: Are you dreading the new The Incredible Hulk movie as much as I am? I can't resist, however, and will go along to see how they've realized it. Perhaps, like a few weeks ago with another film in the same genre, I might be pleasantly surprised. But I'm not holding my breath. I'm setting my expectations really low. I hope that at least they restore the old origins story and have gamma rays be the reason for Bruce Banner's transformation and not try to lamely update it using genetic modification and other 90's mumbo jumbo. Nothing wrong with the old early 60's mumbo jumbo.

I love the way gamma rays (and other rays of various sorts, real and imagined) were involved in so many of the "accidents" that gave rise to so many of the Marvel superheroes of that time. Hulk - Gamma rays, Fantastic Four - Cosmic Rays, Spider Man - Radioactive spider, Daredevil - blinded by a truck carrying radioactive material of some sort, and so forth. Radioactivity was all the rage at that time, one must conclude. Discussions of bombs of unimaginable power being detonated and so forth. Clever writing to try to add to the drama by tapping into the plausibly-weird-scary thing of the moment.

...Or was it just that Stan Lee* was obsessed?

-cvj

(*And collaborators such as Jack Kirby...)

Tags: gamma rays, superheroes