Hulk-Lin? How Jeremy Lin inspired the story of the new Hulk

Jeremy Lin is featured in the latest issue of the Totally Awesome Hulk, out this week. He notes the impact of the current “Hulk” — a 19-year-old Korean-American named Amadeus Cho — has for Asian-Americans, often portayed in the media as arch villains or nerdy brainiacs.

"I feel that there have been a lot barriers [for Asians in entertainment roles], but this is a big step in the right direction,” said Lin.

“In terms of just making Asians more mainstream [and] not just in the stereotypically Asian way where it is almost like the token Asian guy... being made fun of with an accent or something like that. It's awesome that [Cho] is this really prominent and masculine figure as well."

Greg Pak, the artist who created Cho, says he was inspired by Lin ... and Linsanity ... and included him in the comic.

"I was a nerdy kid who didn't really care about sports," Pak told ESPN. "But I was living in New York when Linsanity happened, and it was a mind-blowing experience. I totally got sucked in. I mean the whole city was happy. It was a really kind of an amazing phenomenon. You would see random people start talking about it [all over the city].

"The more I came to learn about Jeremy Lin, the more I came to admire the guy. He has got a tremendous fortitude and dedication, and he is an incredible underdog story. And I love an underdog story."

Just as Amadeus Cho is now breaking stereotypes replacing Bruce Banner, Lin broke stereotypes with Linsanity and now again with his return to New York as a starting point guard, team leader. And he got on the cover of a comic before his comic-crazed teammate Brook Lopez.

"Oh, I can't state how jealous I was!" Lopez said repeatedly. "I didn't even find out about it until I read my comic book websites ... It was spot on. Great stuff. There were panels that I swear that [Pak] was behind me (with Lin and the Nets) looking at Jeremy while he drew it. And it was pretty true to his voice.

"[Lin and Cho] have a lot of similarities. Both Asian American, same haircut, both geniuses -- genius-level intellect. They get along very quick. It's a two-parter, left me on a cliff-hanger."

• How Jeremy Lin went from the Garden to the pages of the Hulk - Ohm Youngmisuk - ESPN