I went to the West Tennessee Comic Con in Jackson, Tennessee last Saturday and met a childhood hero of mine. Lou Ferrigno. The Original Incredible Hulk! I talked to him briefly at his merchandise booth and got a signed photo of him in his classic “Hulk”ing Out pose. I had known that he suffered from severe hearing loss from the age of four and had just a few years ago gotten cochlear implants that had changed his life. In the past couple of years my oldest son, Chris, has experienced an eighty percent loss of hearing and it’s been a dramatic change on his life. I asked Mr. Ferrigno if he would recommend the implants, and if they truly helped him. He was very sincere and soft-spoken about it. “It changed my life” he told me. “He should definitely get with his audiologist and see if he qualifies.” The interaction was short, but he was a genuine guy about it. I thanked him for the input and the autograph and moved out of the line. Later that day I got to see him again. My daughter, Candice, my nephew, Joe, and three of my four grandkids (Ian, Chelsea and Cayde) had our picture made with him. I’d talked to him at the table (he was sitting, of course) but didn’t realize how big he was until I was standing right beside him. In my best awe-struck, fanboy voice told him “You’re much bigger standing up!” Indeed. What a wordsmith am I.
Meeting a childhood icon is humbling. I could’ve talked to the guy for hours, if I’d been able to get the lump out of my throat. He was kind and attentive, but also aloof. I imagine it’s not easy to have hundreds, sometimes thousands, of individual interactions with people during an event like this one. People expect you to live up to the image in their heads. I was by no means disappointed but meeting him really got me thinking. I’m sixty. He’s seventy-three. A mere thirteen-year difference. As much as I idolized him back then, I never imagined that I could ever meet him or shake his hand and have a conversation with him. Hollywood is on another planet and his character lived there, but I didn’t meet the Hulk. I met a great man named Lou who took time out of his job to talk to me. Yeah, I was buying his stuff (pictures and signature) but he was still a great guy. He could’ve been cold and distant, but he wasn’t. I appreciated that. It makes me feel good knowing that one of my heroes is a nice guy.
The Comic Con was a blast, and I’d encourage everyone to go next year. You can dress up any way you like. I took a selfie with Shaggy from Scooby-do, Candy got to wear fairy wings and elf ears, Chelsea and Ian got pockets full of stickers and do-dads (none of which I recognized), and my nephew Joe snagged a cool new Funko Pop “Ghoul” character from Fallout. Oh yeah, Cayde spent about an hour in the bouncy house and had a long conversation with “Elmo” and PeterPrankster of TikTok fame. Aside from meeting Mr. Ferrigno I purchased a Superman #75 “Here lies Earth’s Greatest Hero” and a Howard the Duck #16 “Deadline Doom” which I shall actually read and cherish. Nerd for life. Yup.
Even if you’re not a nerd like me you’d enjoy the Con. It’s not just anywhere you can walk around looking at everything from samurai swords and custom painted skulls to hand-made fairy wings and comic books as old as you are. You’ll pass superheroes, fairies, elves, transformers, ghostbusters, horror icons (Freddie and Jason) and all sorts of bizarre and wonderful people. Go. You’ll have fun. We sure did. See you there next September!
God Bless Y’all!
Rolling Stones 