52 Ancestors Week 32: Free Space

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 32

The theme for Week 32 is "Free Space." Use this week to write about anything you want! Or, if you want to stick to the theme, consider someone who moved to where they had more space (land), a homesteader, or maybe someone who played a lot of bingo.

This universe is just one of many in the totality of existence

    I love writing these free space blogs. The last time we had this prompt for 52 Ancestors I wrote about the genealogy of the Incredible Hulk aka Bruce Banner since "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" had just debuted on Disney Plus. It was a fun and goofy romp and it allowed me to really exercise my comic nerd AND genealogical muscles. What do you say we do this again? Who is it going to be this time? I think you'll find this next character to be quite....amazing.

And thus a legend was born!

    Spider-Man. Spider-Man. The wallcrawler has been doing whatever a spider can for as long as I can remember and Marvel celebrated his 60th anniversary in 2022. Created by Marvel legends Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962 during the creative boom that saw the debut of iconic comic characters such as "Fantastic Four", the "X-Men", "Iron Man" and the "Avengers". What set Spidey apart from all of the other heroes at the time was that he was a teenager and back in 1962 publishers balked at the idea of a teenager headlining his or her own book. They were almost always the sidekick to the main hero. In Spidey's case, he was always his own sidekick.

    Publisher Martin Goodman fought with Stan Lee over the concept since he felt that people weren't keen on teenage heroes at the time other than DC's "Robin" and people didn't like spiders in general. Eventually, Goodman went along with Stan's pitch and put the story into the last issue of a comic book that was due to be cancelled thanks to sagging sales. The book was of course "Amazing Fantasy" and in its heyday it was known to have science fiction and horror stories for readers to enjoy. The very last issue, issue 15, saw the debut of the webhead and it is now priced at over a million dollars if the comic is in near-mint condition that is. Thankfully, it's been reprinted thousands of times over by now! 

     Sometimes taking a chance on a character really pays off.  People liked the character because he was all too human. He had faults and foibles like many of Stan's other characters. And these weren't your average cookie-cutter superheroes, either! They were people like you and me since they fought each other and illnesses as well as the baddies. Sometimes these tales to astonish came with lessons akin to the ones found in Greek mythology. In fact, the very first Spidey story came with a very important lesson that readers all over the world took to heart: "With great power, there must come great responsibility".

     Over the years, we've seen Spidey grow, fight a literal menagerie of animal themed supervillains, go into space, go to college, get married, become a teacher, photographer and scientist. Eventually, he even join the ranks of Earth's mightiest heroes, the Avengers. Not bad for a kid from Queens, right?

Such a sweet moment!

    On the genealogical side of things we learn about Spidey's family quite early on in the pages of Amazing Fantasy. Right off the bat we learn that Spider-Man is really a youth named Peter Parker and was being raised by his doting aunt and uncle, Ben and May Parker.

    Parker's parents weren't mentioned for a good while in the comic and I'll get into details on that in a bit. Over time we were given bits and pieces of information regarding his origins. He was born in Forest Hills, Queens to Richard and Mary Parker and if you were in the Marvel Universe, you would find his birth records in the New York State Archives. Benjamin was significantly older than his younger brother Richard and once young Peter was orphaned at a very young age, he and his wife took the child in and raised him as their own.

    Life was pretty sweet for the Parkers despite Ben losing his brother and sister-in-law. Ben worked as a carnival barker on Coney Island in his youth and eventually he met a beautiful young woman named May Reilly who just so happened to live in the same Brooklyn neighborhood as he did. Unfortunately, another man put a wrench into their relationship plans. In the end, Ben won her heart and the two lived happily ever after.

    Parker's last name is of English origins and while we don't know much about Ben and Richard's parents; we did get some canon information regarding their names. 

Heroes of the Golden
Age

    When Marvel was celebrating the seventieth anniversary of the company in 2009, they used the in-universe newspaper known as "The Daily Bugle" to tell stories about various events happening in the Marvel universe at the time of the company's humble beginnings in 1939. 

    The "newspaper" printed stories about two of Marvel's first heroes, the android Human Torch and Namor, the Sub-Mariner and other articles referenced characters who would one day become important players in the Marvel Universe.

    Among the various articles were human interest stories and birth announcements like the ones you'd find in old newspapers today. One of the stories was one where Peter and and Ann Parker announced the birth of Benjamin Parker.

    Sadly, Benjamin Parker would show up in the Daily Bugle newspaper archives many years later when the robber his nephew failed to stop at a wrestling event murdered him in cold blood. Ironically, it was this event that caused publisher J. Jonah Jameson to take an interest in the kid. I say it's ironic because we all know how much Jolly Jonah sees Spidey as a menace.

          As it turns out, J. Jonah Jameson wasn't the only Marvel character who was watching out for young Peter in ways both large and small. Peter's parents Richard and Mary weren't your typical parents. They were actually agents of the C.I.A. and Richard himself was recruited by none other than Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Yikes. Good luck finding information on his parents. I hope you have level nine clearance.

Awww!

    Mary was already a C.I.A. operative herself at the time and the two hit it off. She was a translator and had a studious nature which complimented Richard's tendency to make jokes from time to time. Gee. I wonder which one their son takes after. The answer is BOTH!

    Eventually, the couple got married and not long afterward they found themselves involved in plots revolving several longtime Captain America villains such as the Red Skull, Baron Zemo and Baron Strucker. Since Cap was under the ice at the time, it fell on their shoulders to fill the void he left behind. 

    Hey. Someone had to help save the world while Cap wasn't around.

 

    Despite the hardships they had to endure from mission to mission, Richard and Mary were overjoyed when they learned they were having a baby boy. Fate changed their plans when they were called into service shortly after Peter was born.  After leaving Pete with Ben and his wife, they embarked on a mission to Algeria. While there they discovered one of Red Skull's goons was a mole in the F.B.I. They tried to expose him and were tragically killed in a sabotaged plane.

    To make matters worse Richard and Mary were called turncoats by that mole and their reputations were tarnished in the intelligence community until their son cleared their names years later as Spider-Man. The mole really didn't do them any favors as he broadcasted the news and papers everywhere told the same story. Ben and May tried their best to shield Pete from those stories while he was growing up. Thankfully, their names were cleared and the stories were redacted.

Totally not "Scarlett"
from G.I. Joe.

       The only thing about Richard and Mary you'd be able to find in the Marvel Universe is unfortunately the exposé on their so-called "betrayal" and eventually their vindication. You definitely wouldn't find information about Peter's sister, Teresa.

    That's right. Peter Parker had a hidden sister all this time and no one knew about it. Not even Peter! Comics are weird and let's not even get into the time when Peter's parents "came back from the dead" as robots. 

    Anyway, Teresa here claimed to be the daughter of Richard and Mary Parker. She was born in secret thanks to her parents' profession and was adopted while Peter went to live with their aunt and uncle. The two siblings eventually crossed paths when Parker was saved by two gunmen. I think Peter would have been fine, lady. Spider-sense and all that.

   

    Well, she couldn't have known Peter was bitten by that spider and gained all those powers. So, you can't really blame her.

    After a very confusing story involving several of Spidey's oldest villains she left the C.I.A. and was recruited by Nick Fury to join S.H.I.E.L.D. Like I said. Fury has a vested interest in the Parker family. They teamed up a few more times in various comics and eventually she was introduced to their aunt. However, they decided it was best to not reveal her true identity to her. Sigh. Comics. Ya gotta love 'em.

    The jury's still out on whether or not Teresa really is the daughter of Richard and Mary. You would think Peter would take an AncestryDNA test. Then again....they'd find abnormalities in Peter's spit linking him to Spider-Man. That's okay. There are other options. He and Teresa could just visit the Baxter Building and have Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four conduct the test himself. With the way Reed works, the results would be in by the time Teresa and Pete get a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, writers like to drag this stuff out at the reader's expense.

 

They actually televised this
wedding believe it or not.

    Aside from a family deeply entrenched in the espionage racket, Peter has had numerous girlfriends whose names would definitely be in various articles and magazines.

* Former Receptionist turned Reporter Betty Brant.

* Gwen Stacy, the daughter of a police captain. She was killed by Spider-Man villain Green Goblin and her death signaled the end of the Silver Age of Comics. Her death would definitely be in various newspaper archives in New York.

* Felicia Hardy aka the Black Cat

    And most famously of all, supermodel/actress Mary Jane Watson who he eventually married. Despite the intervention by various interdimensional entities claiming to be the Devil, I like to think their marriage record is STILL being held at City Hall in New York City. Yeah....I'm not a fan of "One More Day" a comic which saw the end of the Parker/Watson marriage in the lamest way ever. I won't go into details here. Let's just say it was......BAD. Very bad. Check the Wikipedia article for details. I am not a fan.

    Don't worry, friends. Peter and MJ still have an on again/off again relationship and she still remembers him being Spider-Man. There are even versions of Peter in the multiverse (Or Spider-verse if you prefer) who have had children with MJ. My favorite is Mayday Parker aka Spider-Girl.

MAYDAY!

    Named after her great-aunt. May comes from a world where MJ had a baby with Peter and that child was kidnapped by one of Spidey's villains. She was rescued by one of Peter's many clones. (I really don't want to go into too much detail on his clones. They're basically his brothers if you think about it.)  

    Anyway, she developed her spider-like abilities at an early age and upon becoming a teenager she decided to follow in her father's footsteps as a spider-themed heroine. She joined her universe's Avengers and had many adventures with other spider-characters within the Spider-verse.

    Peter and MJ had a second child in that universe named Ben. It remains to be seen if that kid will be crawling on the walls like his old man. She has met the Spider-Man of Earth-616 who is "our" Spider-Man and like many of Marvel's other children of heroes from alternate realities she tries very hard not to compare him with her father. Though....would Earth-616 Spidey still be her father? Try explaining that to Ancestry.com.

   

    As you can see, the family history of Spider-Man is quite the web of intrigue. We've got CIA agents, secret sisters, daughters from alternate universes and all kinds of drama involving the loves of Peter's life. Through it all, fans all over the world still love the adventures of our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Are the stories convoluted? You betcha. They're still fun and in the end that's what comics are all about.  

   

    Despite the crazy tales I mentioned in this week's blog, Spidey is one of the most grounded heroes in the Marvel pantheon. His tales of tragedies and triumph make him one of the most beloved characters of all time. And hey there are probably some family stories out there that make this tame by comparison. I think that's what makes Spidey so relatable. If you take away the fantastical elements, his life as Peter Parker is still a family story well worth checking out.

'Nuff said!

See you next time, true believers!

Spider-Man and related characters are property of Marvel Comics.

    

52 Ancestors Week 52: Looking Ahead

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 52

This week's theme is "Looking Ahead." Who do you want to find more about in 2023? Now would be a good time to write up what you know (or what you think you know!) and consider what your next steps are. (Of course, feel free to interpret the theme in other ways!)

Not sure what I was going for with this spray paint font.

"This year a lot of things of come to pass. Raise a glass. Raise a glass."-- New Lang Syne by Jim's Big Ego.

    Another year has come and gone and as 2022 winds down, I can't help but reflect on the amazing discoveries I've made in my genealogical adventure. I can honestly say it's given me new hope in finding the answers to various questions that have been nagging me for some time. What will I find in 2023? I'm not sure. But, I can tell you what I HOPE to find next year. When I do make those discoveries, you can bet I'll be reporting them here as I always do.

1950: The year of the beatnik art.

    Since April 2022, we've been able to finally look at the genealogical gold mine that is the 1950 census. Inside, I've managed to find my parents and various other relatives like my 2nd great-grandmother's brother, Paolo Coppola. His daughter Beatrice unknowingly confirmed his birthplace as San Pietro a Maida in the "additional questions" section of the page. This may not seem like much to people reading but this is huge because you don't usually see an Italian town listed on the census page. Usually people just write "Italy" for the birth place and were done with it.

    The timing of the discovery couldn't have been any better because my cousin in Switzerland told me about how her grandmother would talk about her brothers and sister in Haverhill. I would think that she missed them and I honestly hope there were letters back and forth. Sigh....Wouldn't that be a cool discovery? Focus, Chris. One thing at a time! Right. Where was I? Confirming where Paolo was born gave me a brilliant idea. I could ask the commune office in San Pietro for his birth record.

    However, it might be easier for me to get his death record at Haverhill City Hall. You might recall my successful adventure there a few months ago. You KNOW I am going to go there again. They were so nice and helpful. I just wish they'd let me into the back where the magic happens.

    In 2022, I found out you could fight City Hall. Well, if you ask politely, I guess. What do I hope to find in my second trip? This time around I plan on asking for:

1. The death certificate for Caterina and Paolo's brother, Giovanni whose grave I found this year, too.

2. The death certificate for Lucie Cadran-Legault.

3. The death certificate for my dad's cousins Joe and Dennis's paternal grandfather, Florindo Villanucci.

    That's a tall order isn't it? Not to mention a bit macabre. Asking for a bunch of death records? Really, Chris? Well, yeah. Haha. Most of the birth records I have thanks to finding them on Familysearch, asking the commune office or in our own storage. I know it sounds grim. But, every story has an ending and regardless of how sad it makes you feel, closure is a part of life. We make our ancestors come back to life on WikiTree and various other pages. Why not see how things ended?

2023 will also be their 110th wedding 
anniversary.

    Not everything has to be doom and gloom of course. In genealogy, one must take the good with the bad. In the coming year, I'm looking forward to potentially solving a few DNA related puzzles which had been vexing me for some time. To do that, I need help and a 2nd cousin on the Legault side is going to take an AncestryDNA test. 

    When she told me she was planning to take it, I was excited! Who wouldn't be? I love seeing established family members show up as DNA matches. Naturally, I told her about the DNA match I had been having issues figuring out. Solving the puzzle isn't the reason why she's taking it of course. She's legitimately curious to see how she and her daughter connect with me and practically all of the Legaults that are on Ancestry. I still need a scorecard to keep them all straight!!

    In 2023, I also plan on returning to the Haverhill public library to not only look up newspaper articles but to check out some cemetery records. I'm hoping to find the records for St. James Cemetery so that I can find Antoine Legault's final resting place.

   I also plan on continuing my work on the various one place studies I have under my belt. Currently I have these three projects:

1, San Pietro a Maida

2. Haverhill, Massachusetts

3. Gesualdo

    Next year, I think I'll be adding a fourth One Place Study for Newburyport. Why not? I have two One Place Studies for my dad's side of the tree. Why not add a second for my mother's side? Creating one on WikiTree is pretty simple. Just announce your intention, create a space page and boom. You're all set. The cool thing is that these One Place Studies all get added to the official directory!

    I do have that other project that isn't really a one place study per se. But, it links to the Haverhill one so it counts. I am of course referring to the Italians in Haverhill study I've been working on. So many more people left to add from that book. That's what "Connect-a-Thons" are for!

    Speaking of books, I got "Haverhill's Immigrants at the Turn of the Century" for Christmas. It's a book that's basically along the same lines as the "Italians in Haverhill" book I have and it's a great companion piece. While it has obviously has some Italians in it, there are also many French-Canadians, Lithuanians and other cultures represented in pictures. 

    This book should be very helpful in the One Place Study and I'll be sure to usr that to the best of my ability. Once I look through it and see if I can find anyone I recognize. I haven't found anyone, yet. But, you never know. Something might just leap off the page and get my attention, you know.

    At this point I should probably get the rest of the "Images of America" books about Haverhill. I think I'm missing a couple. They do go a long way to helping me flesh out the old one place study and of course the pictures add faces to the names. That is so important to me and to genealogy in general!

    It looks like 2023 is going to be a busy year for me. Not only will I have these projects to work on. I also have my webcomic over at Starbolt Productions and I'll be helping WikiTree with whatever project they need me to work on. The new year represents endless possibilities. It's up to all of us to make it a good one. I will say this about 2022. Thank God it's over! Chapter 2022 is about to draw to a close. Let's look forward to the future together.

See ya next year!

Editor's note: In April of 2023, I found that Giovanni Coppola was not the brother of Paolo, Caterina and Concetta Coppola. He is likely a first cousin of the three. Look for details in a future blog post.

52 Ancestors Week 35: Free Space

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 35's theme is "Free Space." I intended for this to be a week for you to choose whatever you want to write about. (Though that's true every week!) But also feel free to riff off of the theme -- maybe an ancestor who went West for land, going to a family vacation spot, or a bingo-playing ancestor? Have fun with this theme!

Can't get more wide open than this.

    If you're following me on Twitter, you might see where this is going. "Free space" or "open mic" nights are where I tend to get more creative than usual. Whenever we would have a "#genchat" and an open mic night is the topic of the evening, I would offer up random topics and sometimes I would bring up superheroes. Shocking, right? Hear me out before you click away from the blog! Comic book characters and their stories have long been considered to be the modern mythology since their humble beginnings in the late 1890s/early 1900s. Since the 1960s, they've evolved into characters with faults and foibles thanks to the creative minds of writers such as Stan Lee and artists like Jack Kirby. Over time, many of these writers would develop extensive family trees for the characters in order to fill out the world in which they live and make it seem like our own reality. Other universes have dabbled into this idea too like Star Wars, Star Trek and especially Game of Thrones.

    For this week's blog, I thought I would transport ourselves into the world of comics and figure out how we might research one of the characters inhabiting the pages. In the real world, I highly advise against creating a tree linking yourself to the mighty Thor or someone mythological. The Allfather looks down upon false genealogy and may smite you! Big talk coming from him, I know. Wait. No. I'm confusing him with Zeus. You know. That OTHER thunderous character. Odin has far more chill. ;)

That's right. Hulk was GRAY
in his first appearance!

    There are literally millions of characters out there who we could turn our attention to. You could research the Kents and learn about how their ancestors were some of the original settlers of Kansas. You could research the parents of Bruce Wayne and learn about how they came into their vast fortune. You could even learn about the parents of Peter Parker provided you have a level nine S.H.I.E.L.D. authorization code and access to the C.I.A. database. Spidey's parents were really important. Whew knew? Let's make it simple on everyone and research Bruce Banner aka the Incredible Hulk.

   

    Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the pages of "The Incredible Hulk" #1 in May of 1962, the character has seen many iterations over the years from the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno television series to his appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he was portrayed by Mark Ruffalo. Like in the comics, Bruce is a charter member of the Earth's mightiest heroes, the Avengers. He was bombarded by gamma radiation when he pushed a teenager out of the way of a nuclear explosion and now whenever he got angry he would turn into a gargantuan green....well....hulk. 

    If you were a genealogist in the Marvel Universe and you were researching Banner, his superhero origin would be well known. It's not like he has a secret identity or anything any more. In fact, Bruce is actually considered to be one of the greatest minds on planet Earth. His intelligence matches those of his contemporaries like his science bro, Tony Stark, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four and noted geneticist Professor Charles Xavier to name a few. Not too shabby, huh? Marvel is not short on royal smart people. Benevolent or otherwise.

    Bruce was born in Dayton, Ohio to atomic physicist Brian Banner and his wife, Rebecca. Thanks to the Marvel sliding timescale, no specific date has ever been given. In the current comics, it's been almost twenty years since Reed and his family took to the stars and received their fantastic powers. Back to Bruce. This is where things get a little heavy.

    If you looked up newspapers in Dayton, you might find articles where young Banner was praised for his scholastic achievements. Since Brian was semi-famous, you could go to the Dayton city hall and libraries and research Bruce's birth, try to find his parents' marriage certificate and dig up all kinds of information about the Banner family. He had a grandfather who was also named Bruce and his ancestors worked with gamma radiation similar to how Marie Curie worked with radium. That's honestly an interesting spin on things and it's clearly a recent revelation as writers have spiced up Banner's backstory. Sometimes this works in a character's favor. Sometimes it just adds more confusion. Look up Wolverine: Origins for example.

    Banner's ancestor, Samuel Sterns studied the then unknown gamma radiation around the turn of the century (Again. Just like Madam Curie!) A crafty researcher would be able to dig up some information on him. There was apparently sordid affair involving him, his brother Robert and Robert's wife, Beatrice Banner. Gotta love all this alliteration, right? Information on the Sterns and the Banner families may be a little hard to come by because they haven't been too fleshed out in the comics so far. For example, there is a brief snippet about an ancestor who fought in the first world war.  You could possibly find that ancestor's draft card. Writers haven't given him a name. He was probably Brian Banner's grandfather. I really wish they had a link to Captain America and his adventures during the second World War. But, that would have been too convenient since a lot of characters already connect with Cap. Let's go back to Bruce because his life, was about to become anything but sunshine and rainbows. 

    Young Bruce was a victim of relentless abuse brought on by his own father who was actually jealous of his son since his wife showed the child more affection than she showed her abusive husband. To make matters worse, Brian felt that his work in radiation somehow made his son a mutant. (Oh, boy. THAT would take way too long to explain. Let's just say people born with their powers in the Marvel Universe are umm...looked down upon, hunted and feared just for being born different. It's an allegory for racism and prejudice in general.)

    Since Brian was a noted atomic physicist, that information may not be widely known and hidden in Bruce's S.H.I.E.L.D. file somewhere. His wife may not of filed for divorce or anything for fear of her life. However, this next part would have definitely made the papers in Dayton. In a fit of rage, Brian murdered his wife and was sent into an institution for his crime. Articles would be written and of course there would be court documents, and records at the institution where Banner would live for a good portion of his life. Yes, he was eventually released. This is comics. Everyone escapes from institutions somehow. I swear there's a revolving door at a few of them. Looking at you, Arkham Asylum. 

    After his mother's death, Bruce was sent to live with his father's sister, Susan. There's not much about her in the comics aside from her marrying a man with the last name Drake and eventually getting divorced from him. Chances are good those records would be available. She apparently never wanted to deal with Bruce's father after what happened in Ohio. She did try to undo what happened to Bruce and she was not alone!

   Brian's sister Elaine and her husband, L.A. Sheriff Morris Walters lived out in sunny California and did what she could to help young Bruce, too. Also helping Bruce to deal with his trauma was his cousin, Jennifer who would one day become She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. (Now playing on Disney +!).  Bruce's aunts did their best to help the young boy grow and even though he was withdrawn and angry it was found that he was in fact a child prodigy. 

    Bruce's scholastic achievements wouldn't be too hard to find. There's no stigma attached to success after all. So, you can bet the newspapers covered everything from his time at Science High School (Yes. That's the name.) to when he began studying Nuclear Physics at "Desert State University" in Navapo, New Mexico. At this point, a genealogist in the Marvel Universe could look up his yearbook photos if he or she desired. Just look for the nerdy looking kid with the glasses and the alliterative name.

    Young Banner still had unresolved issues from his childhood. So, chances are good that you would be able to find medical records as his aunt tried to help him cope with the years of abuse at the hands of his father. You would also find more articles about this next big milestone in Bruce's life. In fact, you could even argue that it was the one event that changed his life forever.

    

That's gonna leave a mark.

    After college, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross recruited Banner as he saw potential in the young man as he excelled in the field of nuclear physics at CalTech, one of his many alma maters. Ross gave him command of a nuclear bomb testing facility and things were going well until teenager Rick Jones wandered onto the test site when a bomb was going to go off. (Rick actually went in on a dare.)

    Naturally, Bruce ran onto the site and pushed the teen into a ditch, saving him. However, his life was never going to be the same ever again. Banner was bombarded by what should have been a lethal dose of gamma radiation! However, something inside his body prevented him from dying and now whenever he got angry, he became the rampaging jolly green giant we all know and love. 

One of Smilin' Stan's final creations
for Marvel!

        From this point on a genealogist in the Marvel Universe would have no trouble looking up information on Banner and his alter ego, the Hulk. Bruce did not stay out of the news and honestly you can't really miss a seven foot tall fighting mad rage monster. It also didn't take long for the government to put two and two together and figure out Banner was the Hulk. It's hard to keep THAT a secret!

  

    The Hulk's exploits were common knowledge for the most part and Banner tried hard to live as normal a life as possible. All further information can be found in various newspapers. Banner even attempted to reconnect with his cousin, Jennifer at one point during his self-imposed exile. That event nearly turned tragic and Bruce had to save her life using his own blood.

   Thanks to Jennifer and Bruce sharing the similar "mutation" that saved Bruce's life when the gamma bomb exploded, she was transformed into the sensational She-Hulk!  I'm not sure if that story is widely known in the Marvel Universe. However, Jennifer IS a very famous lawyer  having been a member of the Avengers AND the Fantastic Four. 

    Though, as a researcher, you could conceivably use Jennifer's own interviews as a way to research her cousin. I think she even has an in-canon book about her life. She never lost control as a Hulk. In fact, she can control her Hulk form most of the time and embraced her "Gammazon" lifestyle as a lawyer and as an adventurer. That's something Bruce was not always able to do unless Hulk had Banner's brain in control. This is attributed to the abuse Bruce suffered.  This is a debate about that is best left to a psychology blog.

Language.

    Despite all of his adventures and wanting to be left alone, Bruce has found himself in many romantic relationships. From General Ross's daughter, Betty to even aliens from other planets. As a genealogist working in this universe, you probably would have no idea about that relationship or The Hulk's children. And man did he have many! You'd have to go into space to research those kids or other realities. These are his known children:

1. Skaar, a son he conceived on Sakaar while being a gladiator.

2.Lyra, a daughter from an alternate future. Comics have a lot of those types. A lot.

3. Two children who claim to be Bruce's. But, they haven't taken a DNA test. Of course they could just ask Bruce to administer it himself. I mean he IS qualified.

     If you really want to get down to it, researching Banner or any other superhuman would be no different from researching a celebrity. Information would be widely known and you could find various tidbits of information in newspapers, records, biographies and everything else. Comic writers have always strived to make their characters as human as possible and characters like Bruce Banner have decades worth of lore to dive into as different writers have added into the mythos. Some bits may have also been retconned. Some may have been added onto in order to spice up a character. It's all about how you can hook the reader in with the story and it's been working for over half a century at this point!

    Banner's family history is definitely not one for the faint of heart. But, it is interesting to see how a genealogist could find out information on how his family has always worked with gamma radiation. At the same time, you can only hope Bruce broke the cycle of abuse that plagued his family for generations. Of course that really depends on who is writing the Hulk at the time. Banner has gone into therapy for his issues and there have actually been different forms of the Hulk himself. It's complicated.

    I've only covered a small portion of  Banner's family history here. There are tales involving alternate futures and what happened with his offspring. Comics are weird. But, they have been entertaining us haven't they? Can't say they aren't creative!

    I've had fun delving into the genealogy of a character I sort of like. If I'm going to be honest, I like She-Hulk a bit more than Bruce. But, that's more because she tends to break the 4th wall and has been doing so for a decade before Deadpool came around. If you're going to do genealogy on fictional characters, I suggest you try it because it can be fun and you never know what amazing things you can discover when you look into a character's family story. The stories have been written and there are definitely more stories to come. So, pull up a couch and start reading, true believers!

See ya next time! Excelsior!

The Incredible Hulk and related characters are property of Marvel Comics.

(Man, this was fun. I hope we get a chance to do a free-space blog again. I want to tackle Captain Picard, next. I mean there is an autobiography of him....)