LESSONS LEARNED FROM FRED DUKES: YOU DON’T NEED TO BE THE HULK

 

I absolutely understand enthusiasm as it relates to the topic of physical transformation.  That should be readily apparent: I’ve been writing a blog for 11+ years now where, once a week, I write at least 1000 words on the very topic, and often time I have to restrict myself from writing MORE or more frequently than that.  I’ve expressed how one of my earliest cognizant memories or thoughts was relating to wanting to be big and strong: how I would watch Popeye cartoons and see the commercials for the Marcy all-in-one fitness machine and would try to frantically copy down the 1-800 number to order it, thinking that they’d just send it to me if I managed the phone call (spoilers: you have to PAY for that).  When given a free moment, I’ll read about physical transformation, or go for a walk while listening to a podcast (2-birds with one stone there).  And, of course, I love ALL media relating to those beings that are big and strong, which meant that growing up with the X-men cartoon, playing cards and comics was like having an IV-drip of pure dopamine (quite the heroine problem, eh?).  And from there, I was introduced to Fred Dukes, aka “The Blob”, and from there I feel like we can all stand to learn a lesson from this portly gentleman: we don’t NEED to be The Hulk.

"Don't worry Hulk: this happens to lots of Superheroes..."

 

Who is “The Hulk”?  For those living under a rock, The “Incredible” Hulk, much to my disdain as a forever Juggernaut fan, is consistently ranked as the physically strongest creature in the Marvel Comics universe.  He is the barometer of which we evaluate all other “heavy hitters” in Marvel Comics.  He’s big, green, angry, and he smashes.  I honestly never cared for him, but credit where credit is due, he’s “the Strongest”.  Who is Fred Dukes?  He is, “The Blob”: a mutant in the X-Men universe, which was a BRILLIANT universe because characters no longer needed an elaborate origin story to explain their superpowers: they simply had a mutated gene responsible for it!  In the case of Fred Dukes, his mutant powers included “superhuman strength, endurance, and great resistance to physical injury”, and whereas Juggernaut claims “nothing stops the Juggernaut”, the Blob’s claim to fame is “nothing moves The Blob”, based off an ability to alter the gravity beneath him (which, fun fact, the Blob HAS been moved by Juggernaut, Hulk and Strong Guy, but that’s another story).  But let’s key in on that superhuman strength.  How strong is The Blob?  Well…

 

In the world of Marvel, strength tends to be divided into classes based off how much the character can lift.  The previously aforementioned Hulk, as “The Strongest”, is in the 100+ tons class.  His strength is considered limitless, so he can lift over 100 tons.  That is, of course, unfathomable.  A “lower tier” heavy hitter, like Strong Guy, was capable of lifting 50 tons at base level, which a potential of getting stronger based on circumstances.  Where does Fred Dukes rank?  5 tons.  10 times “weaker” than Strong Guy, and over 20 times “weaker” than The Hulk.  In the world of heavy hitters, The Blob is a lightweight…but in the world of humanity?...

 

If any of us tried to bitchslap Colossus, we'd have a liquified hand

Can you IMAGINE how you would respond if you woke up one day and could live FIVE TONS?!  For a true blue meathead, this would be like having all 3 of your genie wishes granted at once.  Your prayers have been answered: you are the strongest being to have ever existed.  You quite literally transcended humanity and became “something else”.  And if it meant looking like The Blob to get there, who cares?  You’re quite literally a god amongst humanity now: you can decided if you’ll use your powers for good or for evil.  The Blob may be used as a punchline of a villain in the Marvel Comics universe, because there are SO many more powerful beings out there that can kick sand in his face, but perspective needs to be maintained here: he’s STILL a villain IN a universe full of heroes, primarily because, objectively, he is STILL a superpowered being capable of great accomplishments, either in the realm of good or evil (and if you dig deep into the comics, he HAS worked both sides of that coin).

 

Which ties everything back to the beginning and the title here: I GET that we would all LOVE to be “The Hulk”: the absolute most strongest being there ever was, top of the heap, absolute clear number one.  BUT: we must keep perspective here: simply being in the SPECTRUM of heavy hitters is, in and of itself, an accomplishment.  Fred Dukes may be “only” in the 5 ton class, but in doing so he’s established as having SUPERHUMAN strength.  On any team, he IS the “strong guy”: that’s his role.  Others might have superspeed, projectiles, flying, energy manipulation, control of the weather, etc etc, but Fred Dukes is the strong tank of the team.   He works to HIS maximal capability and is able to leverage those abilities to accomplish his end.

When you rank among these dudes, you've "made it" as far as a heavy hitter goes

 

In turn, we don’t need to worry about being perfect or optimal or the absolute most very best: we can simply be “good enough”.  Because, in truth, when we spend ALL of our time trying to be the absolute most best we can possibly be, we end up spending so much time trying to figure out HOW to be the best that we run out of time to actually enact the plan to get there!  We exist on a definite and finite timeline: eventually, we will simply get too old to continue achieving our goals, and as we march toward that timeline, often our ABILITY to achieve these ends ALSO diminish.  A “good enough” plan violently executed today is SO much more valuable than a perfect plan executed next year, to say nothing of the fact that, as we execute that good enough plan, we can CONTINUE to grow and learn to refine our craft, in much the same way that Fred Dukes actually DID grow stronger from his initial 5 ton capability.

 

And hey, while I’m talking about X-Men, why NOT bring up genetics?  The X-Men serve as a perfect example of just how unfair genetics can be.  Fred Duke’s mutation got him 5 ton class strength, whereas Colossus started off around an 80 ton class and advanced up to the 100 ton class over time.  Both were simply humans that had mutated genes: one simply was “luckier” than the other in terms of how these genes manifested.  But do you ever see The Blob call out Colossus of Strong Guy or Warpath or any of the other heavyhitters for being “unfair” and being genetically blessed?  NOPE!  Fred just does as much as he can with as much as he’s got.  AND he’s given all those dudes trouble in turn: taking the hand he was dealt and playing it for all it’s worth. 

This is seriously an awesome comic

 

If EVERYONE was The Hulk, then the Hulk wouldn’t be special.  There are always going to be outliers out there that are just absolute and total freaks that NO ONE has a chance of ever catching no matter how hard they try.  YOU aren’t that person.  I know that, because you’re reading my blog, and therefore none of this stuff comes naturally to you (because people who are naturally gifted about being big and strong don’t need to read about it: they can just BE it and go do something else).  BUT, you can STILL work as hard as you possibly can for YOU and get yourself to the point that you rank AMONG the heavy hitters.  Do you genuinely imagine you’ll somehow turn out WORSE if you were to invest 100% effort into training and nutrition?  No matter WHAT genetic hand you’ve been dealt, vesting the time and energy into attempting to transform yourself is going to result in you being an objectively BETTER version of your current self.  You won’t look like Cain Marko or Pitor Rasputin, but you ALSO won’t look like Arcade or Mojo if you push yourself in pursuit of transformation.  We need the Hulk out there to be our barometer, sure, but the universe ALSO needs a whole pantheon of heavy hitters so that we can have interesting stories, a variety of teams, different personalities AND so we can sell more merchandise!

 

You don’t need to be The Hulk.  If you can be Fred Dukes: be the best Blob you can be.