Superhero Girlfriends Part 3: Betty Banner My Dysfunctional Ex-Girlfriend

          Hey folks what's the latest with y'all.  I was reading some past issues of The Incredible Hulk & thought about the relationship dynamic of Bruce & Betty (Ross) Banner.  As you know Bruce turns into the Hulk whenever he's angry.  Betty is his consoling woman that is one of the few people who can calm him down in his Hulk brute form.  So after years of seeing him rage out, she's finally decided to say "Fuck You Bruce!!!"  So let's examine my opinion of Betty Banner The Dysfunctional Ex-Girlfriend.

        For the most part Betty is a supportive lady, her father is a decorated 4 star general of the U.S. Army named Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross.  She's known hardcore military structure throughout her young life.  So you wonder why would she get with a softy like Bruce Banner.  As a youngster I'm guessing she rebelled against her father by dating Bruce,  A man who didn't at all reflect military structure, yet was a certified genius.  However there was a military man that caught her eye, his name Major Glenn Talbot.  Both Bruce & Glenn were pursuing Betty at the same time.  However her father Gen. Ross didn't approve of Bruce & backed Glenn.  Betty's response was to go opposite of her father's wishes & next thing you know Bruce is in there.  Now what isn't expected is when Bruce becomes the Hulk after he saves a teen from getting hit by energy from a gamma bomb.  This event defines their relationship cause it literally makes Bruce into 2 different people.  So while one side of him is this intelligent, calm, & timid guy.  The other is this wild, angry, & dangerous man who is being hunted by Betty's own father nonetheless.  I think she became fascinated with Bruce more because of this duality & the level of danger he brings is quite exciting.  However there's another factor Betty is also quite scared of Bruce too.  Remember she can't get flip off at the mouth & piss him off.  Remember just him getting a bit angry might wreck a town or two. Bruce could literally kill her by accident & not feel guilty until he turned back human.  So now the residual anger & resentment kick in but she has to accept the choice she made of being with Bruce.

      As their relationship goes through various phases from her being Harpy (a gamma-radiated monster created by the villain The Leader), to the Hulk & Bruce being separated, & the arrival of multiple personalities such as Mr. Fixit.  It tested their relationship, Betty even married Glenn Talbot after publicly Bruce was revealed to be the Hulk. (Don't sleep on Bruce though, he went to the Microverse & got with a green princess named Jarella, pimpin' for real.)  Glenn Talbot was later killed, when he tried to kill Bruce.  However I think she decided to deal with Banner again because she got used to the effects of his condition & the fact that every day there was a danger.  Being Talbot's wife wouldn't guarantee any type of true excitement.  Remember she's spent years being Bruce Banner's girlfriend & the object of Hulk's desire.  The Hulk would the majority of the time would either get into a fight or have to rescue Betty.  How is she supposed to go back to a normal life after years of craziness.  So she may suffer from some form of "Stockholm Syndrome" or truly love bad boys.  Therefore she's gotten used to the dysfunction in her relationship & now this is "normal"  The funny thing is that after Bruce gets some psychological help from Doc Samson, he is actually able to create a somewhat "stable" relationship   Unfortunately this wouldn't last too long.

     After years of being around various gamma-radiated folks, Betty became ill from all of the exposure.  So here's the "final insult"  from supporting your man.  After all the battles, transformations, & near death experiences Bruce can't help her.  The ultimate insult is that one of Bruce's enemies The Abomination learns of her illness & manages to poison Betty with is irradiated blood while she's in a hospital.  She is reported dead (but in comics no one stays dead, trust.)  In the meantime of her death Bruce goes through a whole bunch of problems from being transported off Earth by fellow superheroes to being on a war-torn planet, & becoming it's king.  He even ends up having 2 kids, & declaring war on Earth particularly the superheroes that sent him off-world.  Betty ends up coming back through the super villains The Leader & M.O.D.O.K. as the Red She-Hulk, yeah as fucked up as that sounds she's back.  Just like a spiteful ex-girlfriend you haven't seen in a while, how do you think she feels after seeing Bruce all the years,  She hits him in the face, BAM! POW!, WHACK!  I'm guessing all that residual anger decided to come back & say hello.   Even one of Bruce's sons Skaar (whom he has another dysfunctional relationship with) looks on & says "Damn, pops what did you do to this chick for her to hate you?"  At first Bruce didn't know it was Betty & was ready to beat her, but after finding out who she was he wants to work it out.  Betty at this time didn't care for Bruce for 2 reasons: 1.  He got some chick off-world pregnant  2. She thought her ex Glenn Talbot was back in her life (later revealed to be an android)  So she could really care less for Bruce & now she has the ability to fight Bruce on an even plane.  So there's no reason to really work things out.

         Bruce is still trying to make things work, cause this is what he's used to. He thinks Betty rode it out for so long before, but now things are different.  When she just had to accept what it is, he was comfortable with that.  She's done with being the troubled maiden, but her Red She-Hulk form showed some inner issues that she has.  I think the dysfunction in her relationship with the men in her life took a toll & now is manifesting.  She enjoys releasing the rage in her form (this could be the anger she's had since a child or when she was dating Bruce in the early years of his Hulk condition).

        So fellas what have we learned, if a relationship starts in recklessness it will end in recklessness.  Betty could've left long ago.  This however would have proved her father right, so she decided to "cut off her nose, to spite her face" by staying in this very dysfunctional relationship.  Now that she's got a new body, she's trying to get back on the market & see what's out there.  But what dudes you know that would date a chick that could kill them if she has an aggressive orgasm. I'm not f*ck that.  Ladies reading I hope y'all understand that patience in dysfunction will only get you in trouble or worse, KILLED.

The Reasons Why Doomsday Is Actually A Runaway Slave

Shouts to all my comic fans who've been waiting for the latest assessment of comics.  Today my subject is the "villain" from Superman comics, Doomsday.  As you know this character was first introduced in the "Death Of Superman" story.  This massive creature threatens Earth & the only one who can stop him is Superman. Superman dies trying to stop this creature.  I just noticed that Doomsday reminds me of the undying spirit of the black man fighting white supremacy.  Now some of y'all  are wondering how does this dynamic work.  Well there are a few reasons why Doomsday represents the "Black Struggle"

1.  Strength - He's stronger than the "white champion of Earth" who is Superman.  When he's first introduced he's bound by cables & is still a scary threat.  He defeats a few heroes with just one arm.  Doomsday is so strong that Superman bleeds & has whelps all over his body.  His resilience is also unwavering, because he has a goal to destroy no matter what.  Just like a slave who's trying to escape & will kill to get freedom.

2. Experimented & Manipulated - In his creation, he was a Kryptonian experiment to create the perfect being.  He was thrown into the wild, killed then cloned from the dead flesh. This experiment was done over numerous times to the point that Doomsday detested all life, due to being killed so many times.  After dying & re-dying so many times he was able to evolve past needing to eat or sleep.  He eventually killed his creator after realizing he was behind his agony.  However he would become the pawn of other characters such as Lex Luthor & Darkseid.  Have you ever noticed how some folks who control a person & when the person becomes conscious of this they rebel?  Doomsday rebels against who controls him & his controllers feel betrayed, just like slave masters.  The whole notion of "Look at what I've given you." comes into play.  The master always feels betrayed when the slave becomes conscious of their surroundings & plight.  When the slave wants to emancipate themselves, it's a threat to the master's control.  Then the slave becomes the threat & must be eliminated.

3. Appearance -  It's the first thing you notice about him, his size & color of skin.  He looks like a man of color.  Doomsday's hair is white suggesting some age, & even has hard bone shards protruding out of his chin.  The bone shards look like a beard.  His size reflects the old "field slave" or "Brute" as they were referred to.

Here's some pics to help illustrate my point:

Notice his skin, & him breaking the chains of his "oppressor"

The early appearances, notice how he's trying to
escape his bondage,  Notice that you don't
see what he looks like

I must stop your Negro domination.

4. The Mental State - As you know Doomsday has the mental state of an animal when he's introduced.  Meaning he lives solely by instinct & nothing more.  Remember for years black men were considered like wild animals.  However were still aware of their surroundings, so that means with each new experience Doomsday became smarter.  At one particular point Doomsday become sentient & is able to communicate with others.  His new intelligence along with his immense strength makes him extremely dangerous.  Now the "slave" has come 180 degrees by now being the master of himself.  Now the white power structure in the book represented by Lex Luthor & Superman must put him down.  However now that Doomsday has become sentient, due to genetic tampering. Now Doomsday has some Kyrptonian DNA so he has a weakness from Kryptonite like Superman. This weakness along with his intellect, means he knows pain & fear. In turn having fear empowers the White Power Structure, because now they can manipulate his fear.  Now that they know Doomsday can only go so far for what he desires, he will have limitations.  Before when he was introduced he was a fearless engine of destruction.  Now he's just a shell of what he was.  Same as black people in America.


Synopsis - So if you look at these similarities I've pointed out, the writers might have been subconsciously talking about race relations.  Maybe the writer & artist feel that people of color have "invaded" the U.S. or if we get out of control we must be reined in.  This is just me looking at imagery & how it plays out in race relations.  For some folks their racist notions can manifest in creations, even though it's on a subconscious level.  I could also be reading too much into it, but there are sometime too many factors supporting my theory.  Especially being conscious of race, true black history, & race relations in America.  Just take time to  look closely.  To any of the millions of comic readers that take offense to this, you need to chill.  It's my opinion & you love it.

Residual Anger (Part 1) - The Source

   One night I woke up from a dream that really scared me.  It was me just walking around a big city, Philly I think & some cats stepped to me just cause.  So I actually tried to avoid the confrontation, but they persist & I end up shattering one of the guys' jaw.  I'm then in handcuffs trying to explain to the police why it got that far. When I see the guy's face he's all bloody & swollen.  I woke up just thinking about where was all this rage hidden.  I'm guessing that my subconscious still has a lot of old anger from my childhood that I suppress & the situation in my dream was a classic scene. This wasn't first time I've had a dream like this.  I just rarely talk about it

     As a youth I was quite innocent & non-confrontational.  However you can't really go through life without confrontation.  So as a youth I did get bullied & picked on cause I didn't really know how to fight.  I also felt that I was good kid, so what did I do to deserve this. I'm guessing that some just didn't like me or resented my positive outlook.  I just wasn't the confrontational type.  It started from junior high into high school.  I lost the respect of some folks as a youth, & that really hurt me.  There was some self-loathing on my part.  I just didn't understand why God would put me through this.  That in itself created some resentment & I would act out around my parents.  I think it was training for dealing with the harsh reality of a world.  I was quite naive in a lot of ways, cause my parents allowed me to be a kid. 

    

      

    Sometimes I just wonder why I was given this life.  I always thought you do good, you get good.  That was a lesson I learned as a kid.  Some folks just don't like you period.  They would want to see harm come to you just so they could feel better.  So my mind had some ease, but yet I would still want to see certain folks get hit in the head with a bat.  I know that's wrong to say, but it's honest.  Have I not paid my dues for vengeance??  I think a source of my anger is me being angry at myself for not fighting back.  Sometimes I was afraid to just try for fear of retaliation.  So these feelings are self-inflicting wounds on my psyche. 

   This is just a blog for me to work out the source of my anger.   The next blog will focus on my triggers & how I can counter my anger.  The 3rd blog will focus on the people & things that help with my anger issues.  I hope you enjoyed this reading & you get to understand who I am.