Questions

[ClarkKent_DC]

As a reader who doesn't buy everything (unfortunately, neither money nor comics grow on trees), I'm not current with all of the major and minor developments in the Marvel and DC Universe, and am often startled by an offhand remark (What?  Loki became male "again"?  Green Lantern quits the Justice League, and Green Arrow -- who is newly wed to Black Canary -- joins him, choosing his best friend over his wife?  The Parasite impersonated Lois Lane and Superman couldn't tell?  Nightcrawler is dead?  Colossus is dead?  The Wasp is dead? Mockingbird is alive? 

The question has even been raised, why do I care?  I care because I do, and that's good enough for me.

Anyway, here are some questions about other developments that have passed me by:

* Through excursions into the discount bins, I've picked up many (but not all) of the past two years' worth of the Superman titles, featuring the New Krypton saga. Although the reviews here are mixed, I've liked them and certainly feel like I got my money's worth (although I did pay only 50 cents each for most of them).

Anyway, the storyline called for Superman to live on New Krypton for a year -- so how was Clark Kent's absence explained? 

* A similar question for the Batman titles. Batman is believed dead, seemingly killed during some interminable crossover I had no interest in reading. We readers know now that he was lost in time. But how was Bruce Wayne's absence from Gotham, his business and his jet-set life explained? 

* Every now and then, I see something on the newsstand with the title "Son of Hulk." I know, you're thinking I'd say, "What?  The Hulk has a son? " No. my question is, "What?  The Hulk has an ADULT son?  How can THAT be?  I know there was something about the Hulk getting shot off into space and becoming a warlord on some planet or somesuch, but that was just within the past couple of years -- in Marvel Universe time, about six weeks ago. So how can the Hulk's kid be more than a toddler? 

I appreciate any and all answers, especially if they are kept simple; I don't want to divert any headache medicine from Louisiana if I can help it.

[Randy Jackson]

Well, I can address one of these.

Bruce Wayne is seemingly alive and well in Gotham. In fact, for a period of time he seemed to be trying to outdo himself as one of Gotham's greatest philanthropists. Heck, he was giving away money left, right and sideways.

Of course, it's not really Bruce Wayne. Nope, it's Tommy Elliott--aka Hush--with plastic surgery to look like Bruce Wayne. Oh, and he got caught by the Bat-Family, who are allowing him his masquerade but also making sure he's accompanied 24/7 by a trusted colleague. So, yeah, it's hardly as if Gotham is missing Bruce Wayne, seeing as he's popping up all over town.

[Figserello]

They decided that Bruce being dead would be a straw too far if he was gone the same time as Batman. I've just read the Batman RIP era Robin collection "Search for a Hero". In it they manage to convince the public that Bruce is in Dubai(!?) during it.

Although, did the Batman and Robin issues show us Damien throwing his weight around in the Wayne boardroom, as if he was nominated heir to Bruce's estate?

And what did the gravestone say that Green Lantern Hal visited at the very start of Blackest Night? Was it Bruce Wayne's grave?

The Hulk story Planet Hulk is great in a pulpy sort of way, Clark, if you see it in the 50c bins. I too asked on the old board how Hulk got a grown up son, but I don't recall the answer if I got it.

The question about Clark in Metropolis did cross my mind too.

[Alan M.]

CarkKent_DC said:

* Every now and then, I see something on the newsstand with the title "Son of Hulk." I know, you're thinking I'd say, "What? The Hulk has a son? " No. my question is, "What? The Hulk has an ADULT son? How can THAT be? I know there was something about the Hulk getting shot off into space and becoming a warlord on some planet or somesuch, but that was just within the past couple of years -- in Marvel Universe time, about six weeks ago. So how can the Hulk's kid be more than a toddler?

Basically (and it's been a while since I've read the stories in question, so I may have some of the details wrong), the Hulk married an alien named Caiera who was imbued with the magic of her people, and got her pregnant. She died in the nuclear explosion that compelled the Hulk to want to come back to Earth and seek revenge, but unbeknownst to him, their son survives due to a combination of gamma-irradiated Hulk genes, Caiera's "Shadow Strength" power, and just plain ol' alien biology, and quickly develops, again due to those same three factors.

While he looks like an adult, when he calms down (which almost never happens), he can de-Hulk to a "puny" form, which looks more like a scrawny kid.

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

Yeah...Son of Hulk is sort of Captain Marvel (the Shazam! one) with a really bad attitude.

[Chris Fluit]

You didn't ask it but Colossus is currently alive. He was resurrected by Joss Whedon in his first arc of Astonishing X-Men (2004).

[ClarkKent_DC]

Figserello said:

They decided that Bruce being dead would be a straw too far if he was gone the same time as Batman. I've just read the Batman RIP era Robin collection "Search for a Hero". In it they manage to convince the public that Bruce is in Dubai(!?) during it.
Although, did the Batman and Robin issues show us Damien throwing his weight around in the Wayne boardroom, as if he was nominated heir to Bruce's estate?

Wait a minute -- Damien is a public figure in Gotham? He is publicly known as Bruce Wayne's son?

That is, Bruce Wayne, jet-setter and one of the world's most eligible bachelors, is publicly known as a father? Were the celebrity magazines and tabloids all over this? Wouldn't they look under every rock and tree for dirt info on the mother, especially as, so far as they know, the boy was born out of wedlock? We readers know that Batman was married, after a fashion, to Talia -- in Ra's al-Ghul's country, whereever that is, the consent of the father is enough for a marriage. Apart from the questions of its validity in the United States, is it public that Bruce Wayne was/is married -- and to, of all people, Talia Heed, the former CEO of LexCorp?

And why is Damien throwing his weight around in the Wayne boardroom? He has no more claim to the Wayne fortune than Bruce's other sons, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd and Tim Drake. The fact that those three were adopted (yes, all three -- Dick was adopted in a story in Gotham Knights, one of the few things Devin Grayson did that nobody can complain about) has no bearing on their rights as heirs.

Although, you have to figure Jason was probably written out of the will ...

[ClarkKent_DC]

It occurs to me that, as Batman's wife, Talia would inherit the bulk of the Wayne estate anyway ...

[Dagwan]

Hulk has 2 sons. Both via his wife on Sakaar. The one described above by Alan M. is featured in Incredible Hulk along with his de-powered father. The other one is the star of the "Son of Hulk" series, after the title changed from "Skaar, Son of Hulk." I didn't read that one, so I can't tell you much about him, except that he was last seen on Jarella's world in a Realm of Kings tie-in mini. Both sons aged extra quickly via the same time effects soap operas use.

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[Jeff of Earth-J]

I've got a question of my own...

Why is the Black Widow (in Captain America) called "Natalia" instead of "Natasha"?

[ClarkKent_DC]

Jeff of Earth-J said:

I've got a question of my own...

Why is the Black Widow (in Captain America) called "Natalia" instead of "Natasha"?

I think "Natalia" is supposed to be closer to being authentically Russian.

[ClarkKent_DC]

So, nobody knows where Clark Kent has been for a year?

[Alan M.]

Jeff of Earth-J said:

I've got a question of my own...

Why is the Black Widow (in Captain America) called "Natalia" instead of "Natasha"?

I don't remember the answer, but this was addressed in Paul Cornell's recent Black Widow Origins mini that came out last year, so there definitely is an answer out there...