Science is a fickle beast. Sometimes it works how you want, other times not so much. For Bruce Banner, science turned him into a giant green anger beast that only gets stronger as he gets angrier. In other words, he turns into a Hulk.

The incredible Hulk first appeared in the Incredible Hulk #1 in May of 1962. Interestingly, he stared off as a Grey behemoth, but due to the cost of ink, he eventually became the jaded giant we know today. Also, the reasons for this change in color have been given canon reasons in the comic. After the change, the comic stated the Grey Hulk was another aspect of Banner’s persona, and since then many different Hulks have been created, and each has a unique personality. At the moment, the comic has a “merged Hulk” one made up of several of the previous iterations, and more competent than his predecessors.

According to Stan Lee, the Hulk is inspired by Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Obviously, the monsters in both these stories were created through science, almost exactly like Banner became Hulk. Because the Hulk is not really a hero or villain, he does not follow the hero’s journey unless he is paired with another super hero. The stories he is part of focus less on the journey of the Hulk and center more around the perils of war and its terrors.

Critics believe that the Hulk is a metaphor and reaction to war overall. He is a raging beast fueled by anger. Some people would say that a country at war acts in a similar way to the Hulk. As fear and anger surface, the people will become more zealous and conflict hungry. It is an almost unwilling transformation that people will take when they are thrown into conflict. Hulk acts in the exact same way, so the comparison is extreme, through justified.

Hulk, alongside the web-slinging Spider-man, has also been ranked one of the most influential and revolutionary characters of the modern era. During the atomic age, he represented the fear of possible atomic annihilation. An unstable atomic fueled beast, he illustrated the public fear that atomic annihilation is inevitable, and very, very scary. During the 70s, he was a caricature for anger and rebellion during the time. In the early 2000’s, many Asian-Americans identified with the angry green giant, comparing him to the expectations of society for them to be something “useful” like doctors or lawyers. Jeff Yang, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, extended this self-identification to Asian American culture, arguing that “the passive-aggressive streak runs deep among Asian Americans—especially those who have entered creative careers, often against their parents’ wishes.”

Overall, the Hulk is more a metaphor than a character. He represents anger and war, contempt and animosity. Whether you like it or not, the story of the Hulk also evolves with the times. He changes color, shape and personality often, even taking on new names with his shades.

Since I talked about the Dark Knight last time, I feel it is appropriate to talk about the Red and Blue Boy Scout, Superman. Superman, alter Ego Clark Kent, made his first appearance in Action comics #1 in 1938. He is considered the first American comic hero, and has appeared in games, shows, movies newspapers and even radio shows since his first appearance.

Superman is certainly an interesting character, considering he is almost a god in terms of human standards, but chooses to act as a man. This has led to a lot of readers to dislike the character, since they consider him to be so completely over powered, and therefore lacks a really interesting character. Because Superman knows that he could probably kill anybody whenever he wants, he acts in a very Boy Scout fashion.

Ian Gordon suggests that the many incarnations of Superman across media use nostalgia to link the character to an ideology of the American Way. He defines this ideology as a means of associating individualism, consumerism, and democracy and as something that took shape around WWII and underpinned the war effort. Superman, he notes was very much part of that effort

Of course, Superman is not that original in terms of his story and abilities. The John Carter of Mars series is almost identical. John Carter comes from Earth, ends up on Mars and is more powerful than the inhabitant of the red planet. Superman, in a similar fashion is an alien from Krypton who is significantly more powerful than any human, and saves the population from various threats. The creators of Superman, John Siegel and Joe Shuster, claim that other characters like Popeye, Zorro and Robin Hood influenced the character. Superman’s story also mimics Moses’ story, a baby found by a new family who raised him as their own, and he ultimately became a hero. Also, interestingly enough, Superman’s Kryptonian name “Kal-El” resembles the Hebrew “קל-אל, or “voice of God”.

In terms of the hero’s journey, Superman is very predictable and not new. He follows the steps in a rather predictable fashion, so the more interesting part of the character is how he has influenced pop-culture and the implications of the character.

According to Gerald Clarke, Superman represents man in the 20^th and 21^st century. “Only the man with superpowers can survive and prosper.” Andrew Arnold, writing in the early 21st century, has noted Superman’s partial role in exploring assimilation, the character’s alien status allowing the reader to explore attempts to fit in on a somewhat superficial level.

Superman has an unoriginal origin story, a rather boring character, but is sill considered by many to be the best hero of all time. On the flip side, many readers view him as a boring hero who is too over powered to have any real character. In the end, it’s really up to you who he best of the best is.

To some, he is the Dark Knight, to others, the bat. For the most part, people know him as Bruce Wayne, the “Batman.” The man in black has an interesting history and an even more fascinating cultural implication. He represents more than a rich guy with a pointy eared cowl.

Batman first came into existence in 1939, appeasing in Detective Comics #27. Since then, he has become a pop culture icon and most people see him as either unbeatable or invincible. Keep in mind, he doesn’t have any real powers, he is literally just a dude with a cape. Plus he has a lot of money, which helps.

But why has Batman stood the test of time so well? His survivability lies in how the character is able to evolve with the times so easily and the interesting psyche that the character holds. Batman’s character is just so interesting and deep that he can fit into any time and most people can enjoy seeing him. Batman has appeared in comics, movies, television shows, and even radio dialogues. From the lampoon adventures of Adam West as Batman to the dark trials of the animated Batman (voiced by Kevin Conroy) Batman has taken all forms of media up without a skip of the beat.

To most readers/watchers, Batman is the stark opposite of the man in blue and red, Superman. The two fight for justice, but Batman is manipulative and cold when Superman is caring and hopeful. There are several interpretations of what this means, but eh most interesting one would be how they represent the United States. Superman is how we see ourselves: we want to save the world and spread “freed, justice, and the American way” to the entire world. Batman is how the world sees us. We wipe out those who oppose us without blinking, and will go to the ends of the earth in the name of justice. To be frank, neither of these are particularly good ideologies to have, but the Batman one certainly is much more menacing compared to the Superman one.

Batman also has a slight homo-erotic tone to it, depending on how you read into his relationship to his protégés who take the name Robin, and other pieces of dialogue. Professor of film and cultural studies Will Brooker argues the validity of a queer reading of Batman, and that gay readers would naturally find themselves drawn to the lifestyle depicted within, whether the character of Bruce Wayne himself were explicitly gay or not. He also identifies a homophobic element to the vigor with which mainstream fandom rejects the possibility of a gay reading of the character. On the flip side, writers like Alan Grant have said “The Batman I wrote for 13 years isn’t gay… everybody’s Batman… none of them wrote him as a gay character.” Now, in 2005, painter Mark Chamberlain made some paintings that depicted Batman and Robin in suggestive poses.

Whomever Batman is to you, he is a world known vigilante who wears black and grey. His character reflects our society, and he has had such a long life time that chances are we will continue to see the Dark Knight for a long time to come.