Changed w/o discussion: Cooldown Hug

This article's image had been changed on July 20th, 2014 from this◊ (source K-On!) to this◊ (source Incredible Hulk). Of course, I wanted to know why; so I checked its history for a reason — It wasn't there. I then looked in the Morgue history in case anybody else had been for or against this change — no thread from that time frame had this trope as its topic.

I seriously do not like the new image for several reasons:

• It is absurdly high; the vertical length is almost as long as the page is!

• Its visual quality is not enticing to me at all, especially when compared to the old image.

• There is no real indication that the Hulk as he is seen here had been on one of his infamous rampages.

It's the last bullet here that really has me confused: the Hulk in several other mediums has canonically appeared as a literal jolly green giant (minus the vegetables), yet not return into being his human identity. By contrast, the K-On! image to me works because...

• The girl at the top (Azusa Nakano) is clearly admitting the fact that she's frustrated and upset. The facial expression is consistent in this regard.

• The quality is aesthetically pleasing — eye catching and clear without being too distracting.

• It's short, sweet, and to the point.

My only real gripe with this image in particular is the black bar and text indicating how much time passed between the two frames which (while accurate) feels forced on.

What are your thoughts? Should we revert to the old image?

Addendum: I have made my own version◊ of the old image, which while having 3 frames, captures the moment of the hug in question instead of skipping it over like the old one did. I'm currently looking for a better quality source in case it needs to be remade.

edited 19th Apr '15 9:29:41 PM by aNinjaWithAIDS

I actually like your reworking of the old pic better than either it or the Hulk pic...in the old version, the sparkly effect obscures the hug.

Still, I'd like to have the best/purest quality possible. If you compare my reworking with the old pic, there is some definite saturation issues in the source I screen-capped from. I plan to have it redone sometime within the next few days.

I prefer the Hulk image, but I agree that it is currently absurdly tall. What about...

edited 20th Apr '15 4:53:20 PM by rodneyAnonymous

Where is the anger or anything requiring a cooldown? So many times in his history the big green isn't mad or anything like that and that image looks exactly like that. In addition to the fact that you have to know everything about who he is and what Big Green is about in the continuities he is angry.

I for one flat out love the K-On image for this, she is shown to be quite pissed off yelling then the hug gets rid of all that with Love Bubbles for added effect.

edited 20th Apr '15 1:17:12 AM by Memers

The K-On picture doesn't do it for me. I prefer the Hulk picture, specifically 's edit of it because it actually shows the transition, not a before and after.

It's not a JAFAAC if the image clearly shows that her calming down is caused by the hug.

I prefer the Hulk image too. Someone turning from a huge monster to a man seems better than pacifying a child.

Here is my suggestion redone◊ from a higher quality source like I said. Compare it with the previous version◊ and you should notice the desaturation from the other source.

Again, the issue with the Hulk picuture is that there is no indication of anger, rage, or frustration prior to the hug: a major part of the trope at hand. I don't care if said monster was Godzilla instead of the Hulk; depression alone cannot display the full impact of the trope.

edited 20th Apr '15 7:52:07 AM by aNinjaWithAIDS

I prefer the Hulk suggestion.

I prefer the Hulk one, in Rodney's version. Unless you're a die-hard follower of the Hulk comics, I think most people aren't aware of the variations where he is always big and green without also being a raging monster. I didn't know about it until it was mentioned here in this thread. To me, Big Green Hulk is either in the process of raging out, rampaging, or just finished rampaging.

edited 20th Apr '15 10:41:18 AM by Madrugada

You could work with the last panel here or the large central panel here.

But if you're not a follower of the Hulk comics at all, there's nothing in the image to suggest he's ever a raging monster. To someone who doesn't know the source, it's just a woman hugging a big green guy who turns into a smaller brown guy.

So address that with a caption. (Though "monster to man" seems pretty good, if you don't know The Hulk.)

How about...

edited 20th Apr '15 12:37:43 PM by rodneyAnonymous

^^Nonsense.

You don't have to have followed all the Various Hulk comics to know about The Hulk as "Little normal guy who goes all big green rampaging monster when he's mad, then reverts to little normal guy when he calms down."

Hell, that was the whole premise of the TV Series. It's the way he's handled in the recent movies. There are far far more ways to know about The Hulk than only by religiously reading all the comics.

edited 20th Apr '15 12:13:20 PM by Madrugada

As someone who avoids comics like the plague (I don't know why, I just can't bring myself to like most of them), even I know that the Hulk is some kinda rage monster man. Even if you don't, a monster turning into a man after a hug seems much more effective than the others even with minimal context.

I just prefer the K-On! one. And the Hulk does already look calm when he's big and green, but I like the K-On! look more, anyway

edited 20th Apr '15 12:39:07 PM by lakingsif

That and trope images need to fit the trope without the need for prior knowledge. I know I have prior knowledge of both works in question here, but I already gave my reasons why one works and the other doesn't without having to touch the premises of either story.

Any thoughts on the couple I posted?

I think that there are often claims of "you need to be familiar with it to get it" from people who are familiar with it, and they are often wrong.

The Hulk looks completely calm to begin with in that picture. It depends entirely on character recognition.

The girl in the other pic is visibly upset and calms down after the hug. No need to know who any of those characters are at all.

edited 20th Apr '15 1:27:56 PM by DiamondWeapon

or just keep ignoring me that works too◊

To answer your question from a long while back, I don't think a single panel/frame is going to work. The trope image require 3 things: an emotional outburst or Freak Out, the hug itself, and an immediate postitve response to said hug. This is on top of being a decent quality image that's easy to glance at and/or speed-read without being distracting. The Naruto panels fail in that last regard (at least to me), and the lack of an emotional outburst from the receiver in said panels.

edited 20th Apr '15 2:11:40 PM by aNinjaWithAIDS

Pope, your suggestions are kinda just an angry guy and another guy saying "please stop". It's not very illustrative.

If people ignore a suggestion it's generally because they think it's not good enough to be worth commenting upon.