Issue(s): Hulk #406
Cover Date: Jun 93
Title: "American pie"
Credits:
Peter David - Writer
Gary Frank - Penciler
Cam Smith - Inker
Matthew Morra - Assistant Editor
Bobbie Chase - Editor

Review/plot:
"Marlo lovers - don't dare miss this issue!"

Marlo continues to be comatose, and Rick refuses to take a break from trying to wake her up. This results in a scene where Rick and Betty end up kissing.

Betty then calls Bruce/Hulk, telling him that Rick needs him. Hulk is still trying to mediate the Pantheon disputes after the end of last issue, and he says that he's done enough damage there and might as well go home.

Meanwhile, we see that Marlo's brothers and their lawyer Elaine Schoenfeld have gone to the police, but the police captain doesn't want to cause a dispute with Rick Jones, so he's called in Captain America.

Doc Samson is also converging on the scene. He's in the process of ruminating about the revelation that Rick assassinated the ruler of Trans-Sabal.

Captain America is a great choice for this story. On one level, he's a friend of Rick Jones. But on another level he represents doing what's legal over what's "right".

Of course, what's right is a matter of perspective. If this was issue #406 of the Chandler Brothers, we wouldn't be questioning their right to take custody of their sister.

Anyway, this is also just a great opportunity for a fun fight between Cap and Hulk, nicely drawn by Gary Frank.

While the fighting is happening, Marlo does come out of her coma, so we don't really see a resolution to the philosophical fight, and i guess Captain America doesn't press the issue of Hulk obstructing justice.

As the police captain noted, Rick's home has become a tourist attraction, and during the fight we see a pair of Japanese tourists.

These tourists will appear again, and they cause some controversy. Here's what Peter David wrote about it in a Nov 93 But I Digress column (reprinting a big chunk because PAD's website seems kind of messed up):

Peter the Japan basher: I was concerned that the Specialist, a Samurai assassin also created for Spider-Man 2099, would draw fire from Japanese readers, as might the notion that a Japanese conglomerate had bought out Stark Enterprises.

I was wrong.

Who attracted the ire of Japanese readers?

Hiro and Larry.

Who are Hiro and Larry? The two camera-toting Japanese tourists wandering through the pages of Incredible Hulk.

First there was a petition against them. And then the editor, Mr. Bob Chase (not to be confused with Ms. Bobbie Chase) received a letter of protest from the Japanese American Citizens League, "this nation's largest Asian American civil rights organization," citing poor Hiro and Larry as being "inappropriate," "insensitive," and serving to exacerbate "negative stereotypical characters" that ultimately lead to "anti-Asian sentiment and violence committed against Asian Americans."

I read this letter and couldn't believe it.

I mean, I hope I'm not sounding insensitive here--but has anyone in the JACL walked down the streets of New York during the tourist season? I can just see it: JACL reps running up to Japanese tourists and saying, "For God's sake, put that camera away! Don't you know you're a stereotype?" For that matter, there was one comics convention where, about half a dozen times, I ran into the same two Japanese guys, carrying cameras. And they posed with me every time, chattering excitedly in Japanese. Am I supposed to look down my nose at them because they don't fit the image of the Japanese that others have decided they must adhere to?

OK, I could see their point if Hiro and Larry were speaking pidgen English or something. ("Rook! Rook! Eetsa big gleen guy!") But we had them speaking Japanese (not the greatest lettered Japanese, true, but our letterer gave it his best shot). And the dialogue, for anyone taking the trouble to translate it, was completely off the wall. The second time they showed up, one of them said, "Look! We're making our second appearance! One more time and we get our own limited series!") If that's not going to great extremes to show respect, I don't know what is.

The point of all this is that special interest groups or oversensitive readers act as watchdogs, and do it with such zeal that it becomes overkill. A character with any ethnicity is going to be watched carefully, motivations and actions pored over to make certain that it all fits in with the notions of what is politically correct.

The argument will always be made that, because there are so few representations of (fill in your preferred group here) in the media, then those that do appear should be free of blemish and possible insult. But it's a vicious cycle, because so much potential aggravation awaits anyone who dares enter the realm of (fill in your preferred special interest group here). Easier to stick to WASPs--which means (fill in--oh, you get the idea) is going to continue to complain about underrepresentation, and here we go 'round the Mulberry Bush again.

I understand David's point but i don't really agree with him, and i'm resisting the urge to tear it down line-by-line. I think the crux is that these characters don't really have any purpose. They might be funny to Peter David, because he ran into these guys several times at a convention. But it's the ultimate in-joke; why is that funny to anyone else? Unless the idea is that Japanese tourists with cameras are inherently funny for some reason, which is what the protestors were upset about. I don't think Peter David meant any harm, but i think he should have been more open to hearing the criticism instead of jumping on the 'political correctness sux!' bandwagon. (And to be fair, i also have the benefit of another 20 or so years of discussion of these topics.)

Anyway, ignoring that (and this being their first appearance, it's not particularly egregious yet), this was a very fun issue.

Quality Rating: B

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Next issue begins with Marlo still in the same clothes and her brothers still there, but Cap is gone. So it probably begins soon after this but not necessarily directly. But the MCP drop a number of other Hulk appearances, including all of Infinity Crusade, after the opening pages of #407, so i will cover the entirety of #407-408 later.

References:

• Rick killed the ruler of Trans-Sabal in Hulk #392.
  
• Captain America reminds Rick that he once protected him from the Hulk, a reference to Captain America #110 (no footnote).

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

I guess PAD doesn't like it when he's in the wrong and refuses to admit it?

"he represents doing what's legal over what's "right"." Really? Doesn't "Civil War" disprove that notion?

"Born Again" is another example. But Cap isn't infallible, and he shouldn't be.

As for the camera guys, it seems like the joke is that they're treating a superhero battle as a sightseeing attraction.

I honestly saw two Japanese guys taking photos and nothing else. I only wondered if they were speaking proper Japanese or the letterer lettered some random characters. I see lots of Asian people in London take photos just like any other tourist no big deal. Forgive me if I'm being insensitive, I just don't see the problem.

Just from the panel, I would agree, but Peter David's defense actually makes it seem sketchier to me. It almost seems like he's saying, "c'mon, you know that's a thing Japanese people do."

Not that I would demonize him over it. Like I said, even Cap isn't infallible.

I think the tourist thing is pretty funny. especially their meta-commentary.

I guess the whole prob is that they are Japanese. Were they white, we wouldnt even be talking about them. Again, I understand why writers are so shy to have any non-white characters. Unless minorities are shown impeccably, its dog-pile on the cultural ignorance.

Japanese and cameras isnt even an offensive stereotype.

On another note: I really don't like this Gary Frank art...

Just be glad that PAD didn't throw in Romani crippling their children so they can be better beggars.

I guess, I mean crippling kids or taking photos...both equally offensive I guess?

@Kveto- I was making a reference to PAD's remarks about Romani last month:
http://www.theouthousers.com/index.php/news/136398-nycc-peter-davids-in-depth-story-about-romani-people-from-his-blog-in-2010.html

Gotcha

Wasn't aware of the Romani controversy & it's disappointing if PAD based his whole view of them on a short visit to Romania (if I understood right, it sounds like PAD was getting mixed up between Romani (i.e. Roma) and Romani (i.e. Romanians' own term for themselves)?).

Personally I don't see the Japanese tourists as offensive, though I'm open to the idea that they could be. PAD he set up that Rick Jones was a tourist attraction as a reason why the police would get Captain America involved for a legal dispute, so it makes sense that he would then have some tourists outside Rick Jones' house, and he happened to make those tourists Japanese. Then he decided to make it a running joke that they would appear where the Hulk did.

Frank's art is otherwise great, but why the bizarre decision to give the Hulk such a teeny tiny head?
He looks like he ran into that shrunken head guy from Beetlejuice while sitting in Juno's waiting room.

Bob: I think it was a bit of a 90s trend to make heads smaller in order to make muscular bodies seem larger.

My Japanese is very rusty and I had trouble with some of the kanji, but this is what I think the Japanese tourists are saying.

"Look, it's a new cartoonist drawing the Hulk!"

"It's too early to take photos."

I don't have any problem with the tourists. Yeah, they don't add anything to the story and are a lazy in-joke, but many writers do this. How many ridiculous intrusions has Roy Thomas done over the years with his varied interests? Or references Chris Claremont made to airplanes or musicians he liked? Their portrayal was neither mean nor offensive. Yes, it is a stereotype, but a lot of Japanese tourists do look and act like that. This is not Al Jolson eating a watermelon.

I think the main reason he included them is that he liked the idea of making fourth wall breaking commentary, but hiding it in a format most readers would not get. He thinks this is humorous.

But I do agree the letterer is horrible with his kanji, hiragana, and katakana. He obviously does not know his stroke order.