Saturday, May 20, 2006
Comic Art
Forged in the same gamma radiation fires that birthed the Hulk, Samual Stern was transformed not into the over-muscular mass of strength that is the Hulk, but into the intellectually superior Leader. The Leader is our stop this week on this tour through the villains.The symmetry between Banner's high intellect transformed into mindless muscle and Stern's making a living with his muscles transformed into the world's smartest man cannot be missed. Unfortunately, from a story standpoint it has never quite worked, although from an art point, I think the Leader incredible.
This image of the high-foreheaded Leader is actually from about the early '70's and does not do the character the complete justice that his earliest renderings in the '60's did. As I child I took one look at a Hulk cover with the tall-headed guy on it and just had to have it, even though I wasn't a big Hulk fan.The character disappoints, I think, because while the Hulk is "strongest one there is," the Leader never seemed to quite match up - Reed Richards, Tony Stark, even Peter Parker all seemed smarter somehow - in some cases a lot smarter. Maybe it was because all that mental energy kept being pointed towards world domination, who knows.
But the stories kept coming because that image on the cover of a comic sold that comic, a lot.
In recent years, the Leader has gone through a lot of changes, just as the Hulk has. First he morphed into the bubble-headed Leader you see here. Probably a good move for today's audience who would find high-foreheaded Leader somehow quaint, but I miss the old guy. Eventually his body shrivelled leaving a huge bubble-head which eventually transcended physicality. Who knows if he will be back?Maybe it was the fact that the Hulk kept winning that prevented the character from ever really reaching his true potential - I mean every one knows that in the end, brains is supposed to beat brawn. Maybe it was the fact that the image sold the comic so the writers didn't work very hard - who knows? But when it comes to looks, you have to hand it to the Leader.
Related Tags: comics, comic art, comic books, Leader, Hulk
