Digital DeconstructionAmazing anatomical drawing of Marvel Comics’ Incredible Hulk skull
Scientific American‘s science artist Glendon Mellow has posted a refined version of an anatomical drawing of the Hulk’s skull he originally created in 2002.
Mellow on his creation:
At the time, I tried to draw on not only my mother’s nursing school anatomy textbooks, but also gorilla and hominid ancestor skulls (such as Paranthropus, though my murky text identitifies it with the outdated Zinjanthropus name), inspiration for things like the cranial ridge and large jaw muscles. I included details such as 3 scars on the bone (I’m Canadian: Wolverine wrecked his face a few times and I wanted to document that) and perfect glowing teeth. If anyone has perfect shiny teeth, it needs to be Hulk.
The folks at i09 loved the piece as well and have posted the text from the poster to provide additional insight into the Hulk’s skull anatomy:
TOP LEFT
The Hulk Reviewed
Points of interest concerning the osteological and muscular systems.
TOP LEFT: The Skull
Note muscle-anchoring protuberances and ridges not found in average frontal and zygomatic bones.
Enlarged and bifurcated nasal cavities; see Appendix 3.1 for discussion and speculation of respiratory efficiency. See also; ribcage and spinal cord sinuses.
Note disproportion of maxilla to mandible.
TOP RIGHT: The Skull
Grossly enlarged frontal fontanelle, similarity to Zinjanthropus found in 1959.
Three scars unhealed grazing left ocular cavity; unusually, no traces of foreign molecules present.
Connective tissue spurs above eyeteeth at gumline.
Note complete absence of tooth decay or erosion.
Analysis of blood vessel to marrow ratios reveals skeletal system itself surprisingly fragile relative to comparisons with muscle and tissue tensile densities.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Musculature
Layers of cartilage and dense marrow-like tumours surround blood vessels; protecting both vessels and braincase simultaneously.
Jaw muscles extend to skull ridge homologous to gorilla.
Note muscles allowing subject to shut nostrils: unheard of in primates. This trait normally found in desert-dwelling ungulates such as dromedary camel.
Jaw may lock while mandible is at any degree of extension.
Elasticity of muscle tissues allows striations and contractions on 4-axis per muscle. Eyes and mouth can close using enormous, continuous pressure.
Super impressive work.
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