Here is a few more pieces from Tom’s collection – these are his picks to showcase on this site – it has a Hulk page, but it’s also starting to show some of his other amazing pieces! First up though, more Hulky goodness!
Hulk #172 Panel Page
Hulk #172 page 17: What’s not to love? Not only is this a great action page from my favorite Trimpe/Abel Hulk issue of their entire run, but I got this page for a song off Ebay. Ahhhh…remember those day when you actually find a bargin on Ebay?
Oh boy do I! I remember actually getting deals on ebay – those days are few and far between now though… sadly… Now up? Kirby – that’s right – freakin’ Kirby!
The Master on FF - doesn't get any better!
FF #198 pg 14: This page is not only a prime example of what I love about Kirby and Sinnot (powerful action and beautiful lines) but it didn’t cost me a penny. It was up on Ebay, but I knew it would easily finish out of my price range. So, I contacted a buyer that was itching to get a Battle Chasers cover and made him a straight up deal: he would bid on the Kirby page and if he won, we would do a swap. He did, so we did. He got his cover, I got my Kirby, a win-win in my book.
A special week of posts for you- featuring the amazing collection of Tom. This week you will see some of the most beautiful pieces – mostly Hulk – but other pieces that make me drool just the same! Let’s start with his best piece ever!
The Incredible Hulk #165
This is how Tom and I came in contact – because of this cover – he is the owner and I am just a lowly admirer… but here are Tom’s words about the piece:
Hulk #165 Cover: I’d been looking for a Trimpe Hulk cover for about five years, with little success when this one came up to auction. I was really after either Hulk # 163, #167 or Hulk #172, but when I couldn’t find those and prices started to skyrocket I decided I would grab whatever cover I could find before they priced out of my range. I was looking specifically for a cover during what I consider Trimpe’s best cover span (#163-187) and this one fit the bill. The art work is terrific and the piece is in excellent condition for a cover from that era. I only wish it came from a more memorable story arc ( the somewhat forgettable Captain Omen issues) and had a first rate villain, (sorry Aquon fans), but those points aside, it’s still a great piece.
Isn’t it amazing? Ironic really… the one guy who has the one piece I would kill for isn’t even a fan of Aquon… man, that burns! But I digress… Tom has a whole slew of great Hulk pages – and a whole lot more – here is another “grail” worthy piece!
Trimpe Hulk Splash!
Hulk #173 Splash: This is my favorite Trimpe piece. I was about eight when I purchased my copy of Hulk #173 at a flea market where a guy was selling comics without covers for a dime. So, for a long time this image WAS the cover of Hulk 173 to me. Even years later after I bought a crisp version with a cover, this image still seemed more like the real cover to me. It’s classic Trimpe, the Hulk surrounded by police, trashing a city (San Diego where I lived for ten years) and Trimpe inks to boot!! I can’t think of a splash in Trimpe’s entire run I would rather own.
Pak has done some wonderful storytelling with the Hulk. He gave us Planet Hulk. He even made me warm up to Skaar. But he was always pushing it with Hiro – and here is the final arc – the final showdown with the murderous villain known as Hiro: Other The Lesser Known and even Less Accepted Son of Hulk. When we last left Hiro and Hulk, Skaar had just re-materialized after being blown up – ready to take Hiro down.
K’ai is dangerously close to the Earth – ready to collide any moment – and Skaar and Hiro are just trading Old Power blast blows. Bruce is trying to save any of the innocents still around by teleporting them out of harm’s way – but he only sees thousands of K’ai people throwing themselves into the liquid magma of K’ai’s core. Hiro thinks this is destiny, what the Old Power brings out in people. Bruce sees the power of Worldmind and he gets to work in healing the people of K’ai.
Skaar shows Hiro how their mother showed love...
Skaar’s battle with this brother is FAR from over and they continue to trade blows. Skaar grabs a hold of Hiro and shows him the past actions of thier mother. When Caiera banished Skaar off of Sakaar. He tells Hiro that he has changed – and that Hiro can do the same. Banner saves the people of K’ai with the Worldmind’s help. Bruce is teleported back to Hiro and Skaar where it’s Hiro’s turn to show what his past was like. But as he shows them he hears none o the words his mother once said to him. And for a good reason. It was all a dream. A lie that he convinced himself of so that he could live with what he has done. Hiro freaks out but this time Skaar seals him inside of a rock cocoon.
Hiro accepts his fate...
K’ai is so close to the Earth that there is only seconds to react when Bruce notices. They release a blast that turns K’ai off of it’s course and it narrowly misses the Earth. As Banner looks to Hiro again, looking to get him home, the Worldmind tells him that he will stay on K’ai – to try and heal the planet again. The stoneship takes the Hulk family back to Earth. On the way back Betty rushes to Hulk to congratulate him on saving everyone. Hulk looks back and says “Everyone?” and lashes out at Betty, screaming in her face. She Hulk tries to console her – but Betty Hulks out and says “Some people are meant to be alone.”
Hulk - are you really still whining?
This is a touching way to end the storyline. Bruce and his “family” wins – but not really as Bruce had to leave his other son behind. The arc resonates with classic Hulk tales and you have the sweet with the sour – the only real lacking thing is – well, Hiro. Hiro was such an uninteresting character. We saw him help destroy world after world and learn about his father and even enslave an entire planet to carry out his plans of destruction – yet it still was hard to connect with him. I wanted to hate the character – but all I was left with was boredom. Like I said – it ended almost perfectly – I just could have cared less about Hiro. Grade: B-
Here’s a funny thing – and tell me if you agree or not – they catagorize a half splash page as a panel that takes up at least half the page width wise – but not length wise. That’s what you have here – but I disagree – this looks to me like a half splash! Not that I am complaining, you see, because I snagged this page for a panel page price! And take a look at it! How perfect of a page can you get? One side is Planet Hulk in full warrior mode, the other side is the classic Hulk leaping through the air with a young Rick Jones holding on tight!
The new and the old! Together on the same page! This page was drawn by the fantastic Leonard Kirk – in my quest to try and collect all of the artists who have drawn the Hulk is not only just getting a page from the artist – but it’s getting the best page for your money! And this in one of those instances – this is certainly one of the best pages offered from Kirk – for an excellent price AND portraying a great scene!
I should have posted this WAY earlier – but I forgot – call it a brain fart or whatever – but there is a damn great review by one of my favorite issues of What If? reviewed by site visitor Zeno – originally posted on Daily Pop’s site!
Lasermatch made this Keown inspired sculpted piece of metal. They made it for Marvel’s 35th anniversary in 1997. I actually didn’t pick this up in 1997 – instead I waited. And the wait was worth it – I picked this up for $10 on ebay. Retail for this back then? It was either $39.99 or $49.99 – either way – glad I picked it up on ebay years later!
I see the Keown influence - do you?
I think this is a unique piece – maybe not all that rare – but certainly something that grabs your attention when you walk into the Hulk room. Even with all of the Hulk in there – this piece stands out. I just saw the FF one they did – I am thinking about picking this one up because it’s just so incredible! Galactus vs the FF – it doesn’t get much better than that! Well, except for Hulk, of course!
This trip to NJ was a blast – and one of the things that actually made me remember being a Hulk fan! Quite a few things happened this week, by the way, I hope every US fan of this blog had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well! Now, last time I posted I told you guys that I was able to snag a bottle of the 2003 Hulk Hershey’s Syrup off of ebay. I told you of my intent to partake in a glass of 7 to 8 year-old chocolate milk with one of my closest friends, my friend Corry.
This is a $2.00 Bottle of Happiness!
The seller contacted me about the syrup – saying he was going to mail it Friday and that he was not sure it would make it to my house by Tuesday. I was bummed but I understood. I was thinking that winning the auction was a waste now – but oh well. Amazingly, the syrup showed up in all it’s glory on Monday! I was so psyched! I even snapped a photo with my daughter:
Alexandra and the Bottle of Hulky Syrup!
As you can see – the bottle is (sorry – was!) still sealed. My first thought is “who the hell kept a sealed bottle of this syrup for almost a full decade?” But my next tought was just excitement about ripping it open and tasting the green deliciousness! Oh, that’s right – for all of you who did not know – let me explain.
Corry Before the Tasting!The Thanksgiving Feast!
The 2003 Hulk may still remain as one of the most merchandised Marvel movies ever. When the 2003 movie was released the Hulk was everywhere! You could not go anywhere without seeing the green hue of the menacing monster. It was awesome! Hershey’s did a promotional syrup for the movie where, instead of the regular syrup turning milk into delicious, brown chocolate milk, this syrup turned your milk into a tall glass of GREEN chocolate milk! Green! And it tasted exactly like regular chocolate milk!
The Opening!The Pouring!
I haven’t had a glass of this treat since 2003 – but there was no way I was going this alone! And I knew there was only ONE person who would want to be part of this moment with me – Corry Brown! And the perfect setting for our experimental tasting of 7-year-old chocolate milk… was of course ZAPP Comics in Wayne, NJ! I have had a relationship with this store thanks to Corry – and met the owner many times, a great guy named Ben (who was in his own excitement for the holidays – but more business wise than the impending food coma) who chose not to take the green plunge with us – but wished us luck all the same.
The Mixing! Look at that Emerald Hue!
So the moment of truth came – I snagged a half-gallon of milk, a nice batch of cookies and some cups – along with the Hulk syrup and we poured ourselves a nice heaping glass. Funny enough – I like to pour the milk first – Corry chooses to go syrup first. That’s a mistake in my opinion – you should always go milk first – simply because, when you pour the syrup first it clings to the side of the glass, but milk first allows the syrup to sit on the side of the cup! It’s the truth! Try it yourself!
Me, laughing at how really gross the milk looks!
Anyways – let’s just say the green goodness was as delicious as we both remembered – yet neither of us finished our HUGE glasses of green milk. I did get close as I dunked a few cookies into mine – they came out stained by the emerald sludge – but damn they were good! I was also hoping regular site visitor and fellow Hulk enthusiast Gammapup might even stop by – but alas we were not in such luck. Mike, you should count yourself lucky – Corry and I would totally have made you drink a glass as well!
The Tasting #1!The Tasting #2!
Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope everybody got to do something original and hilarious and memorable! I know I won’t forget this year! – Ratchet
As you could have probably guessed – no new posts this week – taking time for the family and all! I will be back next week to finish off this month with some more RARE pieces. I will tell you – just to get you salivating – a couple more Hulk pages, a couple more Hulk kits, as well as a few more surprises!
Also – just wait till you see the pics of this: I found an unopened bottle of Hulk Hershey’s syrup on ebay, that’s right – the stuff from 2003! My friend Corry and I will be toasting over our turkey with green chocolate milk!
So – apparently the header on the blog has made a little ripple with one particular Hulk fan. The one and only Sean Anderson. If you remember, Sean is an amazing customizer who has shown his amazing work on this site over and over! He asked about the body of what looks like a Hulk statue above… well, sadly, it is not a statue – and even worse – they put a big goofy head on it! But I had the same reaction that Sean did when I took this out of the box. I thought the body was fantastic – but why did they waste the sculpt for a bobblehead!?!
It is a heavy, heavy piece – but all the same – it’s a freakin’ bobblehead! This was scored on a trip to a comic shop where I walked into the shop and the person behind me walked in with a box full of stuff to sell – this was in the box. I offered the guy $5 for it before he even had a chance to talk to the owner of the store – and I snagged it! Sorry if this dissapoints you Sean!
So, we have the Red Hulk series which has improved a lot since Parker took over – but the sales are in a steep decline. What does that tell us? People like flash over substance. It’s too bad – it’s like people wanted to be treated like idiots. Pandered to like a group os 5th graders. (Just to let you know – The Incredible Hulks are also bleeding readers like it’s going out of style)
Here comes Thor to save the day!
Now, let’s get to this issue. Red’s about to be sucked into a black hole. And the Watcher is there and can do nothing but watch Red get sucked into it. For some reason as Red does get sucked into the black hole he screams out his own name. I kid you not – he yells out “Ross!” I wonder if he does the same thing during sex? Red remembers his past – way back – but just as he reaches the black hole Thor comes out of nowhere and saves him. Back on Earth Banner wonders where the back hole came from. He wonders if it was the Watcher’s way at getting back at Red for striking him. Then Thor has the best line ever:
Madness Indeed...
Ross, back at the secret base, wonders when he can see Betty. Banner tells him that it’s not totally up to him. Ross’s face drops – realizing that it is Betty who doesn’t want to see him. He asks when the next “Scorched Earth” plan was going to happen and when he can get back out there. Sure enough it wasn’t too long…
The threat is... a huge eel?
Steve and Red head down under the sea, deep, into Namor’s territory. They tell the ruler what is happening and he is ready to jump into action. See, two forces are ready to collide – I can’t remember exactly – I am doing this from memory – but a water source and a heat source are about to meet and that’s bad news. Namor says he will handle the water threat – that turns out to be a huge eel powered by sound. Namor tries to destroy it but to no avail… Red gives him a way to destroy the eel – go inside and get the power source. Namor fails.
Red to the rescue!
Red comes out of nowhere and snags it instead – just as the heat is coming out of the sea walls! Red stops the lava seeping out as well. His thank you? Namor striking him as hard as he can ready to kill him for conspiring with Leader and MODOK to destroy the world. Dun Dun Duuuuuuhhhhhhn!
Namor's a little mad...
This is truly a fun series now – something even better is that Parker seems to throw Loeb’s ridiculous events back in his face. I did like this issue better than the last – I said the last seemed a bit too rushed. This issue was an improvement and I love me a good Namor fight! Grade: B
So, the big showdown is here! Hiro vs Hulk – Hiro vs Skaar! Can the Hulk’s new family really save the world? Can they stop K’ai from crashing into Earth and killing billions? Can they stop Hiro – someone who seems to revel in making others die? Can the Hulk really kill his son? The answer, surprisingly… and not so surprisingly… is yes. And no.
Hulk vs HiroHiro vs Hulk
Let me explain – The Hulk is out to save his son – but realizes that he is a monster. He kills the children of K’ai and smiles while doing it. The Hulk tries to knock some sense into Hiro but Hiro returns by blasting him with the Old Power. Skaar wants to come and help fight his brother – but the Hulk denies his request – and continues to fight Hiro on his own. Meanwhile Korg, A-Bomb and Skaar are facing another threat… they have to direct the explosion, but now they also have to try to stop killing the thousands of K’ai people who have been brought to the site.
Hold it together Skaar!
Betty and Jen are facing their own issues. While searching for Hiro’s power they do come across another ally – Axeman Bone – who helps Jen and Betty find the Worldmind. In doing so they discover the Worldmind can also bring the people of K’ai back to life. Now, this is where Skaar takes over. Instead of directing the explosion Skaar tries to contain it. He also stops the planet from hitting Earth. Litterally STOPS the entire planet! He tells his father that he wants to help face his brother – but he’s also not able to hold the Oldpower in and… well, BOOM!
No More Skaar!
Skaar is gone. In a rage, Hulk charges Hiro and has the moment to rid the universe of his son… but he still can’t do it. He even says he is too weak. He says “It’s up to you” Hiro asks “Me?” and Bruce emerges and answers back “No. Me.” He takes his Old Power Taser and blasts Hiro – which releases the Old Power. Hiro says it will now destroy them all – Bruce says that won’t happen – Hiro says it’s destiny. Bruce responds my saying there is no such thing as destiny – and from behind them Skaar returns saying “Don’t be so sure about that”
Banner takes over
So, the Hulk is too weak to stop his son -so he releases Banner? I know Pak has done a lot more for Banner’s personality than most other writers – made sure that readers know they are dealing with a more aggresive and caculating Banner – but is the Hulk really coming to grips enough to rely on Banner to do the dirty work? Something about that just doesn’t sit right with me. The issue itself wasn’t bad – but I am looking more for some classic Hulk tales – to rid himself from this “family” of angry characters that he’s collected. Grade: C+
Speaking of Wolverine… overseas they released what they called the Mighty World of Marvel – and what that was were black and white reprints. I have not been able to track down #198 – the reprint of Wolvie’s first (really second) appearance. I did get this one though – #197, Wolverine’s cameo (first real appearance). The cover is absolutely bad ass! Wendigo is one of the best Hulk villains ever – and this is true Trimpe style!
Wendigo vs Hulk - one of the best fights ever!
While #198 is basically the same as the cover to #181 – #197 looks nothing like #180. That’s because #196 does! That’s right – the trilogy is actually spread out between 4 different issues in this series. #196-#199. I have every issue on its way… except #198. Damn Wolverine.
The Money Shot!
The art inside is all the same – just no color – and there are some pin ups, like the one below. This is a pretty great series to have – if you want to -but if you HAVE to choose to get the US series and this – absolutely get the US series!
So, WordPress has retired my old theme. I am a bit bummed too because I thought it was the perfect theme for this blog’s… theme. It was simplistic, yet eye catching. It made you focus more on the blogs and gave me plenty of widgets on the sides that allowed me to give all of you guys plenty of links to keep you busy for hours! Iam not all that crazy about the new theme – but oh well – it’s close to what the other theme was and I get to keep my links and such… so not really complaining – just explaining.
2010 #181 Hulk Hallmark OrnamentThe 3-D portion of the ornament!
The new set of Hallmark ornaments have hit the stores – I first saw them back in early October – and I was going to wait to display it but then I thought better. I figures if people didn’t know about this then showcasing it now would be for the best. It’s actually an amazing little ornament – I mean it even opens up to display part of the story from #181!
Comic comes to life!The battle rages on!
It is inevitable that this issue will forever be remembered – I mean, in the pages of the Hulk they introduced one of the most popular characters of all time! And not to mention Wolverine too! Ha! See what I did there? The best part of this story is that Wolverine comes to take down two enormous beasts – and doesn’t do much… yet he still becomes this wildly popular character!
And... the Wolverine Falls!
Even these days, even after Logan has survived beheadings, being at ground zero of a nuclear explosion, being eaten alive… he still has a hard time facing the Hulk. In fact, if you go to the great site Leader’s Lair he chronicles each of their fights. Amazingly, even the 1 win Wolverine has is not so much due to Logan himself.
Here's Logan!
So, the best part of this ornament is the 3-D style they made the cover in. Wolvie’s claws are poking out of the cover as Hulk’s arm is jutting out after swiping at him!
I wasn’t as interested in picking this one up as I was the green version – I mean, the green is just too beautiful! They grey is nice too, it’s just that, this sculpt is absolutely perfect in green! It practically has popped right out of the pages of the comics! This isn’t to say the grey is not worth getting…
If the Hulk were real and you're looking at this face... it's already too lateThe Foot!
In fact, I love this sculpt so much, I would even get it in red! I know, crazy, right? But this is Bowen’s best Hulk statue – even better than any of the Hulk’s released in 2010! I like those Hulks, the sculpt is great, but the smackdown Hulk is just the Hulk to a tee! Now the grey variant was limited to only 500 – making it Bowen’s rarest Hulk statue – besides the faux bronze (350) and the real bronze(100).
Uh-Oh - Stark's in Trouble!You don't have a chance Stark!
The only Bowen Hulk statues I am missing are the ones mentioned above and the green version of the 2003 statue. I’ve seen that one go for pretty cheap on ebay and will eventually get it – but for now I have a very special Hulk purchase to make. One that I know Sean is snatching up as well. I am sure JG and even Steve are picking it up as well. When I finally post it you will see what I am talking about – it’s gorgeous!
"And your back! It's worse then your front!"
Anyways – back to this statue – I picked this one up from another poster on Statue Marvels. If you haven’t checked out that forum, you should! It’s a great place to see all the upcoming Bowen sculpts as well as interact with Bowen himself!
Ratchet's Hulk Collection 