Virile Body

Compared to their presence in World War II narratives, superheroes played a minor role in the mythologizing of the Cold War. An exception was the Hulk, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Debuting in May 1962, the Hulk was a response to fears inherent in the atomic age. After accidentally absorbing massive amounts of radiation, Dr. Bruce Banner undergoes a monstrous metamorphosis as the Hulk. At the time, little was known about the effects of atomic radiation on the human immune system. As the terrible by-product of nuclear science, the Hulk represented an escalation of this uncertainty to paranoiac proportions.

Beyond Cold War paranoia, however, the Hulk is also an embodiment of hegemonic masculinity. Indeed, the Hulk, in all his overstated supersolidity, incarnates adolescent fantasies of physical empowerment. Massively muscled, this stiffly posed pinup is forever frozen in a display of bodily strength. He also personifies pubescent metamorphosis. While phallic symbolism is implicit in the representation of most superheroes, it is made explicit in the case of the Hulk. With his thick neck, bulging tendons, and throbbing veins, he suggests the turgidity of male arousal.

The Hulk as a metaphor for male potency finds many resonances in fashion. Walter van Beirendonck created a series of jackets with air pockets that inflated to establish an immediate and exaggerated musculature. Part of his spring/summer 1996 collection entitled "Killer / Astral Travel / 4D-Hi-D," they were shown on massively muscled models, with the resulting impression of indomitability. Naoki Takizawa played with a similar concept of the pneumatic physique in his spring/summer 2001 collection. One ensemble included inflated horizontal rows of padding to create the effect of rippled abdominals. Another featured inflatable pectorals and had the ithyphallic distension of a football player in his padded uniform.

Other designers have been more directly inspired by the vigorous masculinity of the American footballer. Bernhard Willhelm's autumn/winter 2004–2005 collection featured garments puffed up to Hulk-like bulk through protective shoulder pads. Presented by a football team, the collection included ensembles with digital prints on the themes of "fire, ice, and brickstones," the title of the collection. The brick-printed clothes, in particular, evoked the craggy, stone-like appearance of the Thing, another rock-hard, tumescent superhero who was a founding member of the Fantastic Four. The Hulk's cousin, She-Hulk, is also presented in a state of obdurate minerality, a paradox of masculine power in feminine form. Created by Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, her Amazonian appearance resonates in the ensemble by Alexander McQueen, which also relies on football shoulder pads to convey an image of sexual power. The brute force and invincibility of the Hulk, the Thing, and the She-Hulk coalesce in the ensemble by John Galliano. With its padded shoulders, fetishistic hardware, and enormous hosepipe phallus, it both reflects and represents the pulsing force of the virile body.

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