Home Wrecked Home

Whether you're a new homeowner, or one who still has a ways to go in paying off the mortgage, or simply someone who's thinking about home ownership, you'll have to give some thought to things like plumbing repairs, or fixer-uppers, or location and property taxes, or at some point getting a new roof. But your worst nightmare by far will be opening your door one morning and discovering a drifter in your neighborhood, which normally wouldn't be a cause for panic--unless this drifter were a product of gamma ray exposure and could potentially level your most important structural investment with one blow of his trip hammer fists.

Since the Hulk's reputation for destructive behavior and being out of control generally precedes him, rather than those rare occasions where his interactions with humans have been benign, George's alarmed state is understandable; but while the other parents have kept their distance, George assumes the worst when the Hulk approaches his daughter and relates to her in a way that George is unfortunately unaware of out of earshot. Yet George and the Hulk share one thing: they act accordingly when responding to a perceived threat. Which one of them is justified in doing so in this instance is a matter of perspective.

Of course, by virtue of his incredible power, the Hulk has a way of settling a domestic dispute to his own satisfaction without doing much soul-searching regarding his methods.

Nevertheless, both parties suffer as a result. As a homeowner yourself, you may think it's obvious which of the parties here has suffered more--though again, perhaps that, too, is a matter of perspective.

That's not to say that homeowners don't have a case against the Hulk; on the contrary, the Hulk has uprooted enough lives in suburbia as well as whole towns and cities to merit his own dartboard in HOA meetings as well as insurer offices across the country. For those who have found their homes in the Hulk's path, the Hulk can represent not simply terror and destruction, but devastation. Imagine, for instance, feeling a little more secure in your homestead when the Hulk received a presidential pardon during the time when Bruce Banner's mind was in control of the monster--only to have that security, like your home, ripped apart when the Hulk reverted to an even more savage state and passed through your zip code.

Even when it seemed Banner had licked his problem for good, many who lost their homes and livelihood to the Hulk's rampages weren't willing to forgive and forget. Yet as he arrives at Kennedy Airport, could even Banner have ever expected the outrage still felt by some of those whose lives were shattered would lead to attempted murder??

Case in point: Sam Burgh, former resident of Hadleyville, RI. His sudden attack doesn't harm the man who quickly changed to the Hulk--but as he's taken away by the authorities, his words hang in the air not only for the assembled press, but most assuredly for Banner.

Eventually, Banner's curiousity--and conscience--compel him to pay Burgh a visit in jail, in order to find out the root of the man's anger toward him. It's then that Burgh speaks of Hadleyville, a town that no longer exists--one of any number of locales which, like Burgh's life, was left destroyed by the Hulk.

How many Sam Burghs are out there, left with nothing and forced to start all over again with their families? And how can you rebuild a man's dreams?

Banner thinks he has an answer, after first seeing to it that the charges against Burgh are dropped. And while Burgh has cause to be skeptical at a silver lining, he'll have a hard time dismissing the evidence of his own eyes.

Considering that Burgh is descending to what amounts right now to a ghost town, he may indeed be dreaming that he can put his life back on track and regain what he's lost--but time will tell. Maybe by some miracle he'll make some headway in contacting his former neighbors and convincing them to repopulate New Hadleyville (my own name for the town, but it's got a good ring to it, eh?). Let's hope that Banner also made sure he included electricity, water, and phone service in his reparations.

As for George and his family--well, that's a different story. When the Defenders track down the Headmen and confront them in Arthur Nagan's home across the street from George's lot, he still hasn't learned to leave well enough alone.