Won't the Real Hulk Please Stand Up? The Infernal Hulk comic series grants Bruce Banner his wish of separation from his monster, but the progression of the story reminds us to be careful of what we wish for. One of the most unsettling ideas in The Infernal Hulk is not that Bruce Banner loses the Hulk, but that losing him doesn’t bring relief. Banner is free of the monster, yet he is weaker, disoriented, and haunted by something that refuses to stay gone. The Hulk persists, not as a body, but as an absence that still shapes Banner’s life. This dynamic closely mirrors what philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty describes through the phantom limb. Amputees often continue to feel sensations in limbs that no longer exist. For Merleau-Ponty, this happens because the body is not merely a physical object, but a lived structure, a body schema through which we orient ourselves in the world. When something is removed, the body’s orientation does not immediately adjust. Banner’s condition in The ...
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Vagabond is an enthralling and visually stunning manga from the beautiful mind of Takehiko Inoue and inserts itself as yet another stellar medium for representing Japan’s proud history and culture. The unassuming title houses a thoughtful biopic of one, if not the greatest swordsman in the nation's history. The name, Miyamoto Mushashi, should ring with a slight degree of familiarity given his immortalization into popular culture, as well as his contribution to military strategy in his magnum opus, The Book of Five Rings. However, if none of these ring a bell for newcomers, then Vagabond will serve as a great introduction to one of the genuine exemplars of the martial way.
Born as Shinmen Takezo to an otherwise uncaring and unnurturing family life, Takezo would find mother nature to be a suitable stand-in for an uninterested father and neglectful mother. Indeed, the harsh landscape of the mountains would steele Takezo against the hardships of life to come, and he would eventually grow into an adult tasked with finding meaning for his life beyond the family and clan. After he and a childhood friend survive a bloody battle, the two would set out to make a name for themselves as Ronins - masterless samurai committed to mastering the way of the sword, with Takezo standing out to be more physically and mentally up for the task.
The eventual return to his home village would not provide him with a hero’s welcome, or any welcome for that matter but would instead be the appropriate starting point for a rebirth into a life that was injected with a newfound purpose. Naming himself after the very village that had scorned his existence, the newly christened, Miyamoto Mushashi, would travel from one town to the next to test his strength against the best that his country had to offer. Vagabond thus invites readers on a journey of self-discovery that encourages perseverance through hardship, and the dogged determination to be more than what one is.
An impressive addition to an otherwise modest resume, Takehiko Inoue is certainly an artist who appears to place quality over quantity. While manga has a small learning curve given that the stories are read from right to left, it is well worth the effort to be rewarded with intricate storytelling and unrivaled artistic depth. The use of black and white in this and similar titles, penetrates directly to the heart and soul of the piece, providing a richly diverse reading experience that regular comics may not always provide. Vagabond thus positions itself as both a visual feast and an engrossing representation of the swordsman's journey that deserves a spot on any and every collector's shelf.
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