When life throws wolverines at you,
you get up,
and try, try again.
I started collecting comic books when I was nine years old. I was in my senior year of high school when purchasing and collecting became consistent. There were specific storylines that I wanted to follow. That was decades ago. I don’t collect them anymore. Sometimes, on rare occasions, I pick one up at the library and read it.
I have heard that the Hulk and Wolverine have fought each other many times over the decades, but I only have one comic book in which they did that (Incredible Hulk #340). This issue was drawn by artist Todd McFarlane.
The message I took from the comic is that there are struggles in life and that one should persevere past difficulties and continue onward toward our goals. I have not reread the comic in over 20 years. I probably should. I could just be making up a moral lesson that was not intended to be in there.
The Hulk did say, “Let’s …... Let’s try that again.”
Here is a description of the scene.
Wolverine and the Hulk came across each other in a forest, and eventually, there was a fight. Wolverine had been holding back but gave in to a berserker rage in which he gained the advantage and then stabbed the Hulk repeatedly. The Hulk was dead as far as he knew. He gave a howl, and as he walked away, he thought to himself that he should not have surrendered to that animal instinct, but he did nonetheless delight in the triumph. He continued to walk away, and then his heightened senses registered the heartbeat. He thought it should be impossible. He turned and saw the Hulk standing, holding his hand on his chest over the gaping wound. The Hulk was healing at an accelerated rate. He possessed a healing factor. As he walked toward Wolverine, he said, “Let’s …... Let’s try that again.”
A clear message of never give up and try, try again.
Okay. The night before this article was published, I looked at a video of the comic book and read a little of it, and now I think that maybe that is not what the comic book is saying. Perseverance might be in there somewhere, but it might be a message of “You think you’re better than me, but you are not.” Hahaha.
I like my original message. Anyway, think about it if you want to. I might go into my old stash of comic books from the 1980s just to see what is there. I am also going to listen to superhero movie soundtracks.
Below is a link to a YouTube video of an abridged version of the fight between the Hulk and Wolverine. The speech bubble dialogue is missing, the story is condensed into 90 seconds, and some form of rock music is the audio background.
Grey Hulk vs Wolverine (Todd McFarlane): Grey Hulk vs Wolverine
Here is a link to a YouTube video version of the comic book. It is around 9 minutes long and includes the speech bubbles and dialogue that were present in the print version.
Grey Hulk vs Wolverine (Todd McFarlane) - YouTube Link: Grey Hulk vs. Wolverine
A digital copy of the comic book can be bought on Amazon: Incredible Hulk #340