This show, made famous by Siskel and Ebert, who now has 2 different guests (I didn’t care enough to catch their names), started a new feature this week called Over/Under – where they discuss movies that are overrated and, subsequently, underrated. They started with Superhero movies – and both the 2003 “Hulk” and 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk” landed on the underrated list. Particularly the 2003 Hulk. Overrated – well, that one went to “The Dark Knight”
Yes, I know, this came out last week – I just got around to reading it. It’s filled with a few short stories that I will briefly cover and then give a grade to all 6 stories. First up…
“Game Face” – Jeff Parker wrote this quirky A-Bomb story about Rick and Marlo breaking up. Rick is worried about Marlo’s safety, recounting a lot of went on in the history of the Hulk and how Betty finally died. Interesting story with a great use of A-Bomb. Grade: B
“Nobody Dies Forever” – Harrison Wilcox recounts when Bucky Cap, who had a slight case of amnesia, was working for the Gremlin and the Russians who had captured Talbot. Bucky tortures Talbot for weeks – only for Talbot to remind Bucky of who he really is. Bucky then helps Talbot escape. Pretty quick but fun story – Grade: B+
“RAM” – Scott Reed spins a tale about Glen and Betty and their old, new relationship. Also Talbot is asked to install a “fail safe” in the robot Hulk. He does – but not before the Hulk comes to life and causes all sorts of damage. But Talbot wins in the end – both by taking the robot Hulk out AND getting the girl. Grade: B-
“Heroic Efforts” – Paul Tobin writes a Doc Samson tale about how he promised a man named Bill to help out with one of the Leader and M.O.D.O.C.K.’s experiments. Samson told him he would be a hero – but instead he was made into a monster – one that was pissed at Samson. As they fight Samson recounts his fights with the Hulk and says that he lost every one because he thought too much instead of just fighting. So he just fights this time – and kills Bill. Grade: B+
“Object of Desire” – Harrison Wilcox comes back to write this Red She Hulk story. It seems like just about everyone wants a piece of her – and I don’t mean fighting her! The Leader, Samson – they all hit on her! But all she cares about is finding the one person she thought she had killed – Jen Walters – the real She Hulk! But even after finding her – she can’t do much – because the Leader and the Intelligencia still know how to take her down. And they still need to “use” her. Grade: C+
“Stupid Champagne Room!” – Another Jeff Parker tale – this one showing how Deadpool becomes Hulkpool and meets up with Bob – sort of a precursor to Hulked out Heroes. Stupid. Grade: F
Overall – this is definitely an issue to pick and read – most of the stories are very enjoyable. Now go get it! It’s been out for a couple weeks now!
Really? Don’t you think it’s a little early to consider this one of the greatest comics that your company puts out? Yeah – it sold a whole bunch – but sales doesn’t equate greatness. Time will tell just how memorable this series will be – and I will hedge bets that Loeb will cringe when handed these issues to sign at conventions. People will say “Will you sign my Hulk #1” and he will respond with “Ugh. This crap? I was way too drunk when I wrote this…” and then he will trail off into a story about how he once danced on a bar in a pink tutu for bikers who told him to dance or swallow. And then he will just start to cry…
I’ve not read many Deadpool comics – but honestly I have to say – he seems like an annoying version of Peter Parker – only, not funny. He tries way too hard to be funny. In the last issue of Hulk – Deadpool was turned into “Hulkpool”. One of the more cringe-worthy moments in the short life of the Hulk series. But far be it for Marvel to try to sweep this character under the rug, instead they give the retarded character his own mini-series.
Jeff Parker worked wonders with some of his early mini-series – but the last issue of Red Hulk fell a little flat – and this falls even lower! Hulkpool heads out with a character named Bob – Hulkpool (alright, I’m done typing that stupid name, from now on it’s BM. Why BM? Figure it out.) wants to go back in time to kill his former self. Unfortunately Bob does not know how to work the controls of Doom’s time machine so well – and instead BM is sent to a pirate ship where the Thing is now Blackbeard (the story from FF#5… You’d think with an issue so historic as Doom’s 1st appearance Lee could have come up with something better than a pirate story where the Thing is Blackbeard!) and the two take over the ship – but are soon attacked. A mystical man conjures up a huge tentacled creature that attacks the Thing and BM. This forces Bob to work quickly to save them – but Bob fumbles once again and sends them to prehistoric times.
The Thing and BM don’t stay there for long – long enough to make friends with Ape Men – but are soon sent to 1873, to the Old West. BM tries to save the Two-Gun Kid’s horse from the Dinosaur that time traveled with the party – but instead gets chomped himself. Bob sends him through time again – this time to 1945 – where Cap is trying to save Bucky from exploding on a bomb. BM says he will save the boy.
Wow – this was the worst, biggest waste of time, atrocious issue yet. I am sorry Parker, but this should never have been released. BM is an idea that should have died upon inception – not actually starred in his own mini. Terrible! Grade: F
Also – I know there is a variant – I have yet to pick it up – but from what I’ve heard it’s a reprint of the end of Hulk #21 – which is cheap. And before I end this blog I would just like to say – the art from Ramos (huge fan) is fantastic! I feel bad for him that he had to use his talents to tell this story.
On another note – a more positive note – I did get some pretty fantastic art on Sunday from all sorts of artists! Some of the art I will showcase next week – but for now I will just finish up and let you know how the rest of the con was. First off – if you are ever looking for a key issue – this is where to go – comic shops seem to bring out their A-list stuff. Most are very willing to haggle on prices – which is nice – but sometimes I would like to see more “unique” comics – stuff that people don’t see everywhere. It seemed like every shop there had an issue of #181 showcased. There was a few impressive comics to see – a CGC 6.5 Incredible Hulk #1, a CGC 9.9 Rampaging Hulk #3 (I mean, a 9.9? That’s still pretty sweet!), a few beatiful copies of Avengers #1, and one of my favorite covers of all time Avengers #3!
Every vendor was a joy to talk to – I was also VERY close to getting a CGC 9.6 Hulk #393 signed by PD and Keown – but ultimately passed. A few art dealers made a showing there – saw an original Kirby page that I will never own – a TTA page I’m still considering contacting the guy about… ooohhhhh, so tempting…. but also – missed out on getting a piece of art from one of the biggest talents there – Starlin. I couldn’t find his table at first – and by the time I did – I did not have much money left.
All in all, I’m glad that the Boston Comic Con seems to be growing in popularity – seeing Jim Lee was pretty damn cool – and the con bringing in bigger names surely brought out the crowds! People were waiting in the cold for 2hrs just to get in on Saturday. Another reason why I go on Sundays – smaller crowd – and I get there early to make sure I can get in and not have to wait in line for long!
Soooo… I spent my Sunday in Boston at the Westin Hotel – the new home of the Boston Comic Con! I’m not sure if it will stay here – but there sis seem to be a bit more room in this space for both the vendors AND the artists. Jim Lee was the big draw… I saw him – but my sights were set on seeing Mike Mignola of Hellboy fame. For those of you who don’t remember Mignola was one of the artists who had the thankless task of taking over the drawing responsibilities after Buscema departed.
Mignola has a reputation for pretty much doing what he wants at conventions, if he feels like sketching, he will – if not… well, he won’t. Which is fine – except, to me, it doesn’t show respect to the fans who helped you become a huge success. I know most of his money was made from Hellboy – but he made a name for himself drawing quite a few Marvel books before that… which is why I thought he’d appreciate that I was an admirer of some of his early Hulk work. But that didn’t seem to be the case.
The couple ahead of me in line asked him if he’d do a quick sketch of Hellboy – he smiled and said “Sure!” I thought I was in luck – Mignola seemed to be in a great mood – perfect! Well, it was my turn, I walked up and pulled out one of his Hulk comics – I said “I have sort of a blast from the past for you…” and he didn’t crack a smile. He said “Ah, yes.” rather flatly. I continued praising him with a few compliments and told him about my quest to acquire art from all of the artists who have contributed to the history of the Hulk. I asked if he would do quick sketch – even if it was a quick Hulk Head sketch. Without missing a beat he says “I don’t do sketches at conventions”
But he had literally just done one! Right in front of me! I later realized it was because I asked for the Hulk – a character he had done before – but not the one he made his “FU” money off of. At least that’s what I assume the reason to be. I’ve heard others have had similar experiences with Mignola. Too bad – he seemed like a pretty nice guy – as long as you were only admiring his Hellboy stuff…
Now here is a chance for anyone looking to get the Hulk comics – to do it in one fell swoop! Here – the seller has alomost every issue, including a lot of the guest spots! Even if you aren’t interested in bidding it’s pretty cool to see an auction like this!
Bowen really has outdone himself this time – and I don’t even have my PH yet! But my favorite thing about statues are the little things that tell a story – for instance, the Marvel Milestones Hulk statue has a base that shows off a huge robotic hand – that to me is just bad-ass – I don’t know about you, but my mind begins to swim with scenarios that showcase the Hulk destroying the enormous robot. This is one of those statues – and mainly because of the base!
I will get into the statue itself in a minute, but let’s get this out of the way, shall we? Here is a list of the many relics found on Maestro’s base:
This statue is out of control! Randy has also said that not everything has significance – so don’t go crazy if you can’t figure it out! But I think a perfect mini-series would be how the Hulk finally went nuts and killed all these heroes and became the Maestro – how come this story has not been done yet? I’m sure PD has it in the back of his mind somewhere… they could highlight how Rick and Bruce became enemies and I would love to see how the Hulk took down some of the heroes!
I have the Planet Hulk coming – and after seeing this I am even more excited to see that when it comes – because Maestro exceeded all of my expectations! Yes, there are things I could pick on… such as what the Maestro is wearing – how great would have it been to have added the bad ass crown:
I also would have loved to see his hair and beard be a little more disheveled – not like he just came out of Fantastic Sam’s. But I can’t complain too much – how many people thought we were going to get a Maestro FS in the first place? I am psyched to have it in my collection!
So, here’s the thing – some of you have noticed some of my Hulk pages on the bay… I am trying to focus my collection a bit. See, my new goal is to have a published page by every artist that has drawn the Hulk. I am on my way – and even made a really nice snag with this Ron Garney page! Back when they re-titled the comic just “Hulk” Garney was there handling the drawing duties. I really enjoy a lot of his art – but this page was a fantastic find – on the bay – and I couldn’t believe I was the only bidder! After I had won and posted it on Statue Forum a few of the people there admitted that they were also watching this auction – and missed the end of it to bid.
That makes me all that happier – because it’s all mine now! Even the last owner told me he hated to let it go – but had to. Let’s take a gander at my lovely page shall we? Heck, this is almost a splash page – the Hulk on the bottom, menacing over the Police Chief – holding the little girl – it’s just a great page to look at! Much like my action figure wall – I want to try to create a art wall. But that’s something I am missing… wall space. Anyways, if you haven’t noticed I have re-designed the ART page and separated the published pages from the commissions – easier to navigate that way.
Last but not least – tomorrow I will be posting my Maestro statue! I just finished uploading all the pics – and there are quite a few! So don’t miss out! Make sure you come back!
I told you before that these 2-packs were done right by Marvel. You get 2 figures – really well done figures – AND a comic to go with it? All for $12.99. Yes, thank you! Now, I know Hulk really has nothing to do with this package – but let’s look at it this way – in every Hulk line of toys they have had an Absorbing Man. The Absorbing Man was in the 2003 Hulk movie. Hulk has sort of adopted this great character – so in turn – I have added this to my Hulk collection. Not to mention that he comes with one of the best Marvel villains ever – Dr. Doom! So, how can you say no to this?
Not to mention – it comes with a third figure – a teeny tiny Wasp. Although, a lack of a face is a little disturbing!
Hope you all have a nice, lazy, relaxing Sunday – and even if you don’t celebrate Easter – you can still enjoy the candy!
Alright, I was just told I can let the cat out of the bag – I can’t give too many details – but basically Marvel contacted me about 6 months ago saying that they were looking to acquire some of the best “character driven” websites. They said that mine was in the running to be the official Hulk website! I was thrilled – especially since it comes with monetary gain!
And I was just informed that they unanimously chose this website, right here, to be the official Hulk website! From what I’ve been told – nothing will change right away – but Marvel will be putting up advertisements and banners of their own on here. I’ve also been told that they would like me to not “bash” their creators on here… so… well, Loeb wins this round! But, I’ve also been told that I will be getting free Hulk swag! Not to mention the money 🙂
Anyways, check out the announcement on Marvel’s page right here
I usually wait to post things until I have them all – but this new wave is so elusive! I can only find them at Toys R Us – and wave 2 looks exactly like wave 1 – except for the figures inside, well… some of them. They have re-released some of the Wave 1 figures in new colors – but the exciting part is…
There are 8 – that’s right 8 new Hulks! There is a Professor Hulk, a Mindless Hulk, an All Ages Hulk (whatever that means), a regular old Hulk, a new WWH, a Dark Hulk, Hulk as War AND a Maestro! Not to mention… the villains? Oh yeah – we’re talking Bi-Beast, Zzaxx and Madman! Freakin’ Madman! Wow!
I am not in possession of them all… yet – but rest assure I will be! Here is a shot of all the figures released – and thank you Gamma Pup for bringing these to my attention! I actually like these little things!
I was planning on about 20 of these posts – and since this is the last day of March this is the last of the Leader posts! Hope you enjoyed the month! I know I have mentioned an exciting announcement – and I was just told that I can tell everyone tomorrow – so get ready! Now, this month was showcasing some of the best Leader stuff – above is a personal favorite cover – the Leader and Maestro! Man, that team would be unstopable! And – in the 96 cartoon they had an episode that featured the Leader finally getting the Hulk’s power – it was kind of cool – although short lived, and if memory recalls, it was Gargoyle’s fault! Great episode – even better toy!
I can’t believe the month is almost over! It’s sad in a way! So… here’s a shot of the TTA #64 – and the Dynamic Forces Leader bust – I really like the Leader bust – I think it should have been more sought after – but what do I know? I was sure the Bowen Abomination statue would kick ass on the secondary market – and it’s not!
Ratchet's Hulk Collection 
