This card comes from a set of 4 that included Iron Man, Spiderman, Wolverine and this guy right here! While I have only this card – I will give a No-Prize to anyone who can tell me who drew this image AND where it’s from…
With 465 back – good luck to anyone who answers this before he gets to – because he already knows the answer and I haven’t finished typing it yet…
They did something REAL interesting for this set. While each character still had their own card – they made it so that each 9 cards made up a bigger scene together. Hulk takes the #1 position in this set as well – just like in 1993’s Marvel Masterpieces… kind of odd… but Samson also gets his first spot in a card set as well!
There are many Hulk vs. cards, including the Hulk vs Leader, Hulk vs. X-Factor and Hulk vs. Hulk. The art for this set is pretty nice – although, the chase cards for this set left something to be desired. Mostly they were Red foil cards of the 2099 characters – none for Hulk 2099 even – but the major card to snag in this series… which I have… was the Spiderman vs Venom hologram card. There are even variations on those cards… but hey, they aren’t the Hulk so I don’t care…
While I do have this whole set and am not looking for any – I do have a couple extra 2099 chase cards – if anyone out there need them. Email me and we’ll talk! Maybe you have something I need! Next up?!? Ummm… the new Marvel Masterpieces? I’m not sure – I’ll have to look and see what I have posted and what I have left!
Avengers #5 still has the Future Hulk – playing a bigger and bigger part. Also Skull Kickers #1 by Image Comics does a great homage to Incredible Hulk #1! Check them out!
In the first few pages of Hulk #25 – you know you are dealing with a new writer… dare I say, a better writer. You know you are dealing with a new Red Hulk too. And you know what’s funny? The people reading the Hulk now – are Hulk fans – it won’t sell like hot cakes (which is too bad) because it has two strikes against it. #1 – Loeb left. Believe it or not this guy has a following. People who will buy anything of his – even if it’s 5th grade level fluff like Hulk #1-24. #2 McGuiness is out too. Ed couldn’t stay though… I mean Parker’s style and his wouldn’t mix well. There isn’t a whole lot of opportunity to showcase splashy page action – but what there is is a whole lot of great storytelling going on!
I’m not sure how in depth people really want me to go with these issues – and I hate just doing a basic recap – but within the first few pages Parker sets up the reader to let you know this is not going to be the same comic with little one liners and convenient “new” powers popping up. Basically, you’re not going to see Red taking a ride on the Surfer’s board and killing much powerful characters for no reason – and more so – you’re not going to see Red arbitrarily punching out a Watcher.
In fact, in the first few pages, Bruce does some surgery on Ross that removes the absorbing power all together. Ross thinks Bruce is jealous of how powerful he was – when, in fact, Bruce was saving Ross’ life. The power was a fail safe, explained by Bruce, to kill Ross within a year. Wow – see what Parker just did there Loeb? He EXPLAINED what happened! It’s what good writers do! They don’t just keep writing crap that he will HOPE to explain later, leaving a whole bunch of plot holes that people will explain by saying “It’s tongue in cheek!” “It’s light and FUN!” Man, I want to kick those people in the temple.
Let’s move on, shall we? With the Red de-powered and ready to help out Cap – not to mention a thousand monsters now attacking the Earth – they send Red out to California to take on a bunch of people infected with a replicating alloy that is spreading. Cap says that he’s sending a partner along with Red – Red tries to deter that idea and jumps off – but Cap already sends Iron Man out. He also sends a message that the Red Hulk will be there to help him – but that message doesn’t make it!
With Red at the scene, beating down the replicating diseased people, Iron Man assumes he was sent to take Red out. He attacks – and he attacks HARD! And as he has Red on the ropes he is attacked by the real threat – and they start replicating through his armor! By the time Red gets up all he sees is an empty Iron Man shell…
Thank you Parker for coming out of the gate swinging – and really knocking it out of the park! I’m really interested in a character I had nothing but contempt for for the past 2 years. This storyline is fun – and actually makes sense so far! Hardman does a fantastic job – but I feel like people are going to be down on his art – mainly because they are going from McG to Hardman. But the truth is – this is the way to go when you switch artists – going with someone in a totally different style that still looks pretty damn great. The only gripe I have is wanting to know where this all falls in continuity. Before – or AFTER Dark Son? Grade: A
So, we’re going to have to do a little catch up here. I was planning a huge review on the life of Hiro-Kala, Hulk’s other son, but with this new storyline, I may have to do it a lot sooner than I thought. See, really quick here, Hiro is Skaar’s twin brother. He witnessed everything that happened on Sakaar – he witnessed the great devourer, Galactus, destroy his home. And in one of the coolest twists – he then lured Galactus to another world for him to devour – except this time he poisoned the big G. It was quite the moment. Anyways, Hiro then set out to find his brother – but landed on K’ai – Jarella’s world. Hiro saved the planet – with the assistance of the Worldmind – a mystical force on the planet. But Worldmind also sees Hiro’s true intent and he tries, unsuccessfully, to help Hiro see the error of his ways. Instead Hiro enslaves the whole planet and heads to Earth to confront his brother and long lost father…
Whew! Now, we join the Hulk gang where we last left them. With Hulk and Betty fighting it out. But Skaar suddenly feels the presence of his brother. Hank, Reed, Stark and Cho all are alerted to a new planet in our solar system. Betty continues to press Bruce’s buttons in telling him that his son is the biggest Monster on the planet – the Hulk comes back with – “No, I am.”
In the midst of the fight former Cap and Cho show up with a rocket. They ask the Hulk to take the lead and to get in the rocket and check out the new planet, that the Hulk happens to know very well, that has appeared in our solar system. In one of the best scenes ever in a Hulk comic, the Hulk considers the opportunity. “You want me to get into a shuttle. So you can shoot me into space.”
Cho tries to explain that it’s legit – but the Hulk looks to Skaar – and Skaar pleads for his father not to do it with a simple “no”. The Hulk destroys the shuttle. Rick asks why they didn’t help Cap – and Betty says to ask Skaar. Meekly Skaar tells his father why the planet appeared – and who is on it. The Hulk slams his fist on the ground. “ANOTHER Son…” but Skaar corrects him “No… another monster.”
Holy Hell! Could this get anymore exciting? This is what reading comics is all about! Pak really shows you what the build up of Planet Hulk, Skaar and Hiro, everything was all for! He’s even taken the horrid writing of Loeb’s Red Hulk opus and made it work! Thank you Pak – you have me riveted! Grade: A
Gary Miller has done a bang up job interviewing Parker – which you can read right here on a great site called Daily POP. I am somewhat excited to read what Parker’s take on the Red Hulk is – and hopefully he can get fans to stop calling him Rulk – because that sounds so freakin’ stupid!
Remember – Hulk #25 comes out THIS Wednesday!
Look above – you will see a page titled ARTISTS – that is a page that I will be adding to when needed – and I will also be linking any pages that I have from the artists I have art from. If I don’t have an actual page then I will link it to my favorite commission – and I will be working on putting up the inkers too!
There are a few great things about this set – and I will say this – one of the best things is that they have both a Green Hulk AND a Grey Hulk card. 1990 was certainly a big year for the Hulk – that saw the return of the Green Hulk after years of Grey Hulk stories, even if it was for one issue – and the end of the year was the beginning of the merged Hulk era!
One of the worst cards in the series… the Leader! Look how freakin’ BIG they made his head! While I see that in these early series they tried to get the whole character’s body in the limited space – the Leader’s greatest quality is that awesome porno ‘stache of his! Instead they gave him a noggin’ 3 times the size of his actual head and… is it lighting up? What’s up with that? Why are there ray of light shooting out of it?
There are also a few “Battle” cards – Hulk vs Thing, Fixit vs Spiderman, Hulk vs Wolverine. Again – I will say it again, I don’t get what was so great about the Wolverine vs Hulk fight – I mean, I know that’s where the world was introduced to Wolvie – but really – most people don’t even know what happened in the fight. Mainly because the truth is – Wolvie was beaten and inconsequential. And the Fixit/Spiderman fight? Another boring fight! We’re not talking the Cosmic Spiderman/ Grey Hulk fight – because that one was awesome!
Alright, let’s move on. There was another small series of cards dubbed the MVCs: Most Valuable Comics. Some of them actually were the valuable comics – while some were recently released and hyped as “going to be valuable”. Lastly, the last half dozen cards were “joke” cards featuring Spiderman interviewing other heroes.
The chase cards were 5 holograms – off the top of my head here – Magneto, Cosmic Spiderman, Punisher, Wolverine and Spiderman vs Green Goblin. Nothing Hulk here – so I didn’t post pics – but I do have a complete set – including the Wolverine hologram which was missing when I got the set.
And – before anyone asks – yes, I will review Hulk #613 this week. First I have to read it! Expect it on Wednesday!
This set was an interesting one. While it was very light on the Hulk side there are some exceptional pieces of art in the set! Hulk is the very first card, and while I think he looks maybe a bit too skinny, he shows a fantastic rage. A screaming anger – or an emotional pain – that really sets this piece aside.
The other pieces are Abomination – which I am not a big fan of this card – and the Absorbing Man – which is fantastic! This set uses different artists and it works well here. I usually like when they commission a specific artist to do the whole series – but here the variety is refreshing.
The chase cards were VERY disappointing in this series. There were 9 Dyna-Etch cards – another word for pretty! – of the 2099 X-Men. You read right, the 2099 X-Men! Who even remembers them? Who wants to?
Grey, a loyal visitor to this site, is doing something cool on his site – he’s doing a Casting Call for your perfect Hulk movie! I sent him my idea and he posted it – so check it out!
http://theredhulk.wordpress.com/
The pic above? That’s my pick for Marlo! Laura Pepron – hot intensified!
I have a bunch of extras of these cards! This series had some of my favorite artists, Larsen, Kieth, and there were 162 cards in the base set! Which seems like a lot, but this series showcases the heroes, villians, team ups, storylines, origins… everything! The Hulk in the set is the merged Hulk – in his brown jumpsuit – not my favorite Hulk to be showcased, but it was the most popular at the time.
Abomination also gets a card – dressed in a trenchcoat living in the sewers – with his melted face. Classic stuff! There should be cards for the Secret Wars and the Infinity Gauntlet storylines in every series! As much as I like the Marvel Masterpieces lines I would’ve liked to see some cards like that!
My favorite card in the series by far is the “All Hulks Unite” card. It has an illustration of Banner, the Savage Hulk, Fixit – and right in front, the merged Hulk! Love it or hate it this storyline will remain one of the most memorable in Hulk’s history.
As an early set goes, the chase cards were cool. There are just 5 holograms – Wolverine, Venom, Thing, Ghost Rider and Hulk. Funny thing is – I found a box of these in an antique store. I bought it – even though all I needed was the Wolverine Hologram. I went through each pack – there were something like 36 packs with 12 cards in each pack – and amazingly, I only found 4 holograms in the whole box. There were 3 Ghost Riders and a Thing. I was so mad!
Then, a bit later, I went into Bedrock Comics in Framingham. There was another man walking in behind me who the owner knew. He said “Hey, I have a hologram you might be interested in!” and he pulls out… you guessed it! The freakin’ Wolverine Hologram! The one card I needed to complete the whole set! I waited patiently, hoping the guy was going to pass on it and practically jumping out of my skin, but alas – the man bought it. Foiled again. I finally broke down and bought it off ebay. So, like I said before, I have a bunch of extras of these cards – including some of the Holograms – email me if you have anything to trade with any other sets.
Here’s another very popular Marvel Series, although not very Hulk heavy… in fact, there is just one Hulk character – and it’s the Hulk. The Hildebrandt brothers created the whole series in this set – each of the characters look larger than life and amazing! The Hulk is pretty well done – although looking at some of their other characters I think it could have been a bit more imposing! But each of the cards in this series has 2 issued base sets – one is regular and the other is the “signature” series where the brothers signatures are in gold scrolled across the image. While there is no other characters in the Hulk Universe to speak of – there are some chase cards… yes, I said chase CARDS.
This series has Powerblast Cards and Holofoil Cards. The Powerblast Cards are made up if the 9 X-Men and not of consequense at the moment – although I do have the complete set of them. But the Holofoil cards are quite interesting. There are 10 cards – Captain America, Carnage, Daredevil, Hulk, Iron Man, Punisher, Scarlet Witch, Spiderman, Venom, War Machine – and they are silver. But there are a couple of rarer sets.
The Gold Holofoil cards came in Jumbo packs of Marvel Masterpieces and are somewhat rarer. Jumbo packs apparently were filled with 14 cards – the regular packs had 10 I think – and the Gold Holofoil were only in the jumbo packs and only in 1 per 4 packs.
Even Rarer are the Bronze Holofoil cards – the bronze holofoil were in packs exclusively sold at WalMart. Back in 1994 WalMart wasn’t everywhere like they are now – so it was harder to obtain these packs. Single Bronze Holofoil sell for somewhere in the area of $50-$80. Sets sell for as high as $460-$500. I have to thank a reader of this blog who wanted to remain nameless who not only turned me onto the fact that these exist – but was generous enough to actually send me one! Thank you!
Here is a set that I didn’t think I was going to be crazy about but I was wrong! I love this set – although mine is not complete yet… I have the 75 base cards, I have the 9 tribute cards, I even have all 9 of the character cards – what I am missing are 3 of the “Clearly Heroic” cards and a bunch of the freakin’ stickers. I would totally be willing to trade whatever I have for anyone’s doubles of the cards I need… Let me know soon – otherwise I have to hit the ‘bay again…
But if it’s one thing that Marvel has learned with these card sets it is about the chase! While I have the base set, there are 2 versions – one set is on a thin, cheap feeling cardboard – the other is a shiny, thicker card – guess which set I have completed? I would like to get at least the Hulk cards on the shiny cardboard, but alas I have none yet…
These cards feature covers from the 70 years that Marvel has been putting comics out. The Hulk has a few, including a TTA – Hulk vs Herc cover – The Defenders 1st appearance, the Secret Wars #1 cover, Issue #340, and a WWH cover. The one cover omitted that I think should have been included? You guessed it, TIH #165! I know, I am living in a dream world…
The Tribute cards feature Cap, Human Torch and Namor. Like I said – I have those – on the thinner cardboard. But let’s get back to Hulk! There are 9 character cards, on the front you see an image underneath the word Marvel. On the back is the same image, unobstructed, with the year they first appeared. I have all of these cards – and actually an extra Hulk.
The “Clearly Heroic” cards are clear cards that have two images of a certain character. I have the Hulk, the Thing and Iron Man – I need the Spiderman, Wolverine and Captain America cards. And they have yet another set to chase in this series – they have stickers!
There is a set of 18 stickers – I have a few of these, including the Hulk, but don’t have them all. So, this is a great set – some ebay seller was selling a complete set – and I mean complete! It had the base set, the foil base set, the tribute set, the foil tribute set, the character cards, the clearly heroic cards, the stickers and a box with the promo cards. Insane! And it’s just over a hundred bucks! Anyways, if you need any cards, have any that I might need, want to trade – just email me and we’ll talk!
Lastly, this set had sketch cards inserted into the mix. One sketch card per box – and I have to say, I was lucky enough to obtain 2 of them a Dr. Doom and a Human Torch. I sold those already – as I would only have been interested in a Hulk card- but some of these sketch cards are selling for insane prices! You can get a full sized commission for the prices of these cards! It’s ridiculous! I’m not sure if people have just gone off the deep end or what – but they are paying upwards of $100-$200 for these!
Pak is out of the World War Hulks constraint and can now get back to his storytelling. Much like him – Bruce Banner is looking to get things back to normal. Well, as normal as they can be when you’re best friend has turned into a blue monster, your son is a half alien that no longer wants to kill you, but also needs looking after now since he’s inside a child’s body, and your wife… is… well, a Hulk of a different color… and no longer your wife. Bruce wants normal again – even with all of that going on.
He goes to Betty with a promise… and a ring. Her ring. From when she was once Betty Banner. She tells Bruce no – but Bruce, being Bruce, doesn’t listen. He tries to slip it on her finger and that sets her off. She Hulks out and says the Hulk’s famous catch phrase:
Bruce goes after her – but she just beats the Hulk out of him and then acts as though they are playing a favorite game. Skaar even tries to come to the rescue – but gets swatted away like nothing – and when Betty jumps off Skaar apologises to Hulk. But Hulk takes it all in stride and says “We’re Hulks. You know something’s going to get broken.” and he shows off the twisted piece of metal in his hand that was once the wedding ring of Betty Banner. Grade: A-
One of the most memorable things about this whole set is the amazing artwork on the Hulk card. In fact, this is the card that lined practically EVERY Marvel book that year – they used it as the promotion for the whole series! And while there wasn’t a whole lot of Hulk loving going on in this set – we have a Hulk and a Leader card – and one chase card featuring the Hulk – it still is one of the most impressive to me.
This set came out in the craze of the collector years – comics were selling by the millions, cards were worth SOMETHING, people were buying comics for investment – not even reading the things! Some people believed – and some still do – that actually reading the issue will decrease it’s value. Well, do you want me to tell you what REALLY decreases a comic’s value? It may shock and offend some – so if you want to be left in the dark then stop reading here!
Alright, I think the pansies are gone now… here is what really decreases a comics value… I mean besides condition… it’s… HAVING MILLIONS OF COPIES OUT THERE! Remember that “Collector’s Item” they called X-Men #1? Remember that the young, hot artist Jim Lee was drawing it? Yeah – you can snag one for a buck on the bay. This series had 350,000 boxes released – and we know this because every box was stamped with it’s own personal number. But, if there is 6 cards in a pack – and each box had 36 packs… that’s 216 cards per pack and… hold on, having to punch it into my calculator… that’s 75,600,000 cards out there! Divided by 105 (A complete set with chase cards) that’s about 720,000 sets! WOW!
But this set does something I like – it has one artist make every card! I know some people who enjoy the diversity of other sets – but sometimes it’s great to see the same artist take on each of the characters. The chase cards in this set were called “Spectra Etch” cards – which is a fancy way of saying they are shiny! But they also released some comics featuring the artwork of these cards, like so:
There were 4 of these comics with 5 new paintings in each one. A cool little tidbit if you were not aware… alright, I am tired and am heading to bed! Later, you Hulk fanatics! It’s good to be back! I will be posting my review of TIHs #612 this weekend sometime…
Ratchet's Hulk Collection 
