Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Hey, look who meets up with the Asian/American Hulk! Jeremy Lin!

Panels from The Totally Awesome Hulk
YEP! NBA STAR Jeremy Lin has hit the big time.

The real-life professional basketball player is featured in the Marvel’s “The Totally Awesome Hulk” #13, which was released last month.

It turns out that writer Greg Pak is a huge fan of the Brooklyn Net point guard ever since Insanity occurred a few years back.

“I was here in New York when Linsanity happened and it never stopped for me,” said Pak, who’s Korean/American.

“I just love the guy. And at a certain point, I just found myself thinking, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if the biggest Asian/American superhero met the biggest Asian/American sports star?’” he told amNewYork back in September.

In this incarnation of the Hulk, the Green Giant is the alter ego of 19-year old Amadeus Cho, who, unsurprisingly, is Korean/American. Cho has taken the place of Bruce Banner from the original Hulk.

It is too bad that Lin couldn't borrow some of the Hulk's superpowers. A series of injuries have plagued the Chinese/American basketball pro preventing him - so far - from being at his Insanity best.
RELATED: It's a bird, a plane ... it's an Asian/American superhero
Marvel not only received praise for representation in its stories, but it also got props for its step in extending diversity to the creative team. With Cho as it's main character, the comic has been able to delve into other aspects of the Asian/American world, including Korean barbecue and Karaoke.

What does the Harvard-educated Lin think about being included in a new medium?

"I feel that there have been a lot barriers [for Asians in entertainment roles], but this is a big step in the right direction,” said Lin, who has had to overcome barriers and stereotypes in his own life.

“In terms of just making Asians more mainstream (and) not just in the stereotypically Asian way where it is almost like the token Asian guy ... being made fun of with an accent or something like that. It's awesome that (Amadeus Cho) is this really prominent and masculine figure as well."

So you tiger parents who might have a kid who loves comic books; don't follow the urge to take them away from your child.

“This little Asian-American kid came up with this wrinkled, big poster that he had had on his wall, and it was the Amadeus Cho Hulk poster,” said Pak in the amNewYork interview. “This is his favorite book, and so he brought this poster from his bedroom into the shop for me to sign and he also had these books and everything. My heart grew three sizes.”

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