So, I have decided to try and pick up at least one published page from each Hulk artist. The quest has gone well so far – and here is the page I picked up from Gary Frank – who is an amazing artist – but admittedly, he is not my favorite Hulk artist – but his line work is extremely clean and fantastic! And this page? Holy Hell! It features Hercules and Hulk in the heat of battle – but also – it has freakin’ Juggy on it!
Herc vs Hulk - Herc doesn't stand a chance!Hulk taking charge!
The shot in the middle – where Hulk and Herc are grappling – has to be the best shot of the whole page. I snagged this on ebay – Frank had at least two other pages up on the bay at the same time. The first had Hulk battling Cap – which I lost out on (but that’s alright – I wanted this one more anyways) and then there was a pretty sweet page that had Betty and Marlo on it. But no Hulk – one of the rules of mine is that the page HAS to have the Hulk on it. Anyways, leave a comment, tell me what you think!
Alright, get comfortable… this one is a doozy! First, we see Doom’s inner thoughts – and he blames Banner for everything. M.O.D.O.C.K. and Leader are collecting the smartest men on the planet – only – instead of capturing Pym – Pym comes to them. There is some smart guy banter – you know:
“I cracked you code”
“Well, I knew you would so I countered your code cracking with another code!”
“I knew about the code cracking code and cracked that code with another code!”
Pym taking his fist to the Leader... don't read into that too much...
But anyways – Pym has to help his fellow Avengers who are being embarrased by the Red She Hulk. Pym gets them stashed away – and Banner shows up with Skaar to help. Only, Pym’s not so sure about Bruce. Skaar takes on the Red She Hulk while Pym informs everyone that Banner has been dealing with the Red Hulk. At that moment Skaar has to help Spidey from not falling into a inter-dimensional door so Red She Hulk is free to attack – which she does… an attack directed at Pym – one that is designed to suck out his intelligence. This new ray is actually killing Pym – and even though Banner is trying to help – Pym doesn’t trust him.
Banner gets out Bannnered...
He calls his fellow Avengers who aren’t there – Thor, War Machine, Cap, Miss Marvel, Photon – and they come swinging… only they swing at Skaar too. War Machine goes to help Pym by taking Banner out – but Cho helps Banner save Pym instead. Banner throws Cho at War Machine and Cho sets off War Machine’s repulsors – serving as mini EMPs and saving Pym… but not his intelligence. Pym tries to turn into Giant Man – but shrinks instead and Red She Hulk grabs him and takes off.
Avengers taking on Green Conan... er... Skaar!
Banner tells the Avengers that they were in his way of saving everyone. No one knows whether or not to trust Banner – but he takes a team of Wolverine, Skaar, Cho, Namor, A-Bomb and Spidey to save the world. But in reality they are first going to save Betty Ross. Banner tells his team and they are ready to fight with him. As they attack a base – where Betty and Talbot are – 1000 miles away the Leader and M.O.D.O.C.K. are ready to set things in motion – they believe they are out to save the world.
Wolverine piggy-backing Skaar... - wicked gay...
So, yeah – there is a variant to this one that is much like the Hulk #20 variant – but I couldn’t secure a copy in the 7 freakin’ comic shops that I frequent. I had to secure one through ebay – but man, oh man, WTF? But this story is really getting interesting. With most of the 8 collected now – the Hulks return can’t be far behind! But – if anything – I can find plot holes that Loeb had written that will not be explained – even by the impressive Pak… this issue gets a B
So as I have stated – the Hulk comics haven’t been as ridiculously terrible as they had been – that’s not saying they are great by any means – but at least we’re not dealing with the Offenders anymore… knowing Marvel though – we will soon see a Offenders series start up soon. (Ugh – maybe I shouldn’t give them any ideas!) So, away we go!
This issue opens with Banner and Red Hulk having another conversation about how smart Banner is and how awesome the Red Hulk thinks he is. But then the Red Hulk cuts the chatter short and jumps from the plane. The Intelligencia, meanwhile, are discussing their plans and are continuing to collect the 8 smartest men and send Ghost out to collect McCoy…
Storm... looking all hot
We join McCoy at Storm and Black Panther’s castle where Storm is showing off her hotness. The rest of the X-Men join the party just in time for the lights to go out – and as Panther is captured and dragged away by the Ghost. The Red Hulk is about to take care of business when the X-Men misguidedly attacks him. What they don’t see are Ghost’s Super Apes – who take care of the X-Men rather easily – letting Ghost get away with Panther… well almost… Beast comes swooping in to save Panther – but he too is sucker punched by a Super Ape.
Ghost taking Panther being scared by Red Hulk!
The Red Hulk comes to the rescue once again – actually ripping the jaw open of one of the Super Ape’s – enraging Ghost who reaches into the Red Hulk’s chest and squeezes his heart until he passes out. When he wakes the X-Men are there asking him all sorts of questions – but he answers none and jumps off to get chewed out by Banner. Banner’s mad that Red Hulk killed an ape. Ghost is even more angry as he is telling the Leader he wants the Red Hulk dead. But the Leader refuses – saying that, soon, their enemy will soon their ally once again.
Hulk #20 Variant
They really need to come up with a decent name for the Red Hulk if they are going to keep him around. I refuse to call the character Rulk – not only does it sound stupid – people sound stupid when they use it. But you can’t have two characters calling themselves Hulk – not to mention, the Red Hulk isn’t the Hulk! Anyways, I’m enjoying the stories a bit more – the series does seem to be picking up. It also really helps that both TIH comes out in the same week as Hulk… this issue gets a decent B-
The week is busier than I thought – but I still made it to my LCS to pick up my Hulk comics! I promise to post my reviews this either tomorrow and over the weekend. The good news is – it really seems to be taking off. I’m thinking this series was almost like LOST. And by that I mean – when LOST became a huge hit ABC wanted the creators to extend it’s story – so a great idea suddenly became a little muddled and slow – that’s a lot like this series. It was meant to be a 6 issue mini series – and because it became a huge hit Marvel made it into a regular series – and that was a mistake – because that decision brought us the “new” Lady Liberators and the ridiculous Offenders. Now that the story actually seems to be heading somewhere – it’s a whole lot more interesting and fun to read – although my gripe is – and will always be that they took away my Green Hulk! LAME!
Sorry everyone! Feb. Vacation from schools around here – which makes me a VERY busy man. I will make sure to posts the reviews of the new Hulk comics coming out this week – but that will probably be it for this week – I will make it up to everyone next week though! I have a few things planned that I think you’ll really enjoy! Until Thursday – enjoy this overly sexy pic of Samson… ugh. Cheers!
In all of the Thing/Hulk fights over the years – this two issue Hulk appearance has to be one of my favorites. So many things happen it’s just a fun read from beginning to end. I’ll give a basic overview of the story – see, in these issues the government is after the Hulk – big shock – and the FF are trying to help – Reed may have a way to get rid of the Hulk for good. But the Thing is all pissy from the beginning – he’s all down on himself being called a monster and all – and after the Hulk IS captured and even as Reed is curing him the army doesn’t live up to thier end the deal to release Banner. The Thing takes this personally and breaks Banner free prematurely, which in turn makes the experiment fail and the Hulk returns – but this time free and teamed up with the Thing!
Fantastic Four #167
As the Thing turns on the army and his former team mates he helps the Hulk escape the base. The head to St Louis and the FF catch up to them – trying to talk sense into Grimm, who is not feeling all that well and keeps getting dizzy – but Hulk keeps attacking – telling everyone to leave him and his new found friend alone! It’s only after the Hulk is about to severly beat down Reed that the Thing finally jumps into action to help his superhero family. But all the dizziness that Grimm had been feeling suddenly has a turn for the strange as he turns from the rocky hyde to his former human self!
As he is turning, the Hulk lands a sweet puch knocking him off the St. Louis Arch way and into the FF’s waiting arms – where they give Grimm the good news – that he is no longer the Thing. Grimm can only think of one thing – to get back to NY to tell Alicia (what a horn-dog!) and the Hulk just leaps away. One of the best things about this two page epic is that it is drawn by a young Mr. George Perez! I have actually seen one of the original pages at the Comic Con in Boston. I was in talks about purchasing it – and still may – but ultimately, it’s pretty expensive. Maybe if the seller knocks off about a grand I could consider it again. But out of the early Hulk/Thing interactions – this had a lot more to it than two powerhouses brawling through the streets. This 2 issue arc has been collected in the Fantastic Four Visionaries: George Perez – Volume 1. Pick these up and check them out! Grade: A-
I just picked this up yesterday! I was pretty psyched to snag this because I wasn’t even aware it was out yet! I have been waiting for a classic Abomination SHS figure since the FIRST Hulk came out. We now have something like 7 different Hulks – one Leader, a Zzaxx – but no Abomination to speak of… until NOW! I love how big he is *that’s what she said* and think that this figure certainly is in scale with the whole line. To pair the Abomination with Thor is pretty perfect – since it reminds me of one of my favorite Thor covers ever:
Thor #178 - The Abomination takes on a God!
I hope they make another version with Abomination broken face – that would rock! I don’t actually think it will happen – but how awesome would that be? But what would be better – Abomination with the broken face when they fought in TIH #25 or Abomination with the melted face from when Hulk threw acid on him in TIH #364? I want the broken face – cause I enjoyed that issue a whole lot more!
Hulk vs one of his best enemies!Another day another HulkThe Leader and the Abomination... oh the horror!
Alright, I read this almost a week ago so… if it’s missing something please let me know. Now, last time we saw Hiro, Galactus had delivered a smack-down and left his right side a little… crispy. Hiro was on his way to see his brother – and on the way he is”beamed” onto Jarrella’s dying world where the people are still honoring the Hulk. The pray to him, hoping for his return to save their world. But the Psyclops have another idea – and that is to destroy the remaining people there – ingesting their souls.
Hiro breaks free from inside of the Hulk statue and, using the Old Power, he begins to destroy the Psyclops. By the way – I’m not so sure I’m a fan of the new look that the Psyclops have. No legs or feet – they seems to fly through the air – I much prefer the skinny arms and legs. A probe from the HMS Endeavour has seen the Psyclops invasion – and when reported to Princess Marionette she frantically tells her Commander – who could care less.
The Psyclops continue their raid and try to get into Hiro’s head – which is a mistake – because Hiro releases his rage and not only destroys the Psyclops themselves but the mother ship as well. Hiro’s can feel that he is on the world that his Brother inhabits – but he also knows that the world he is on is microscopic in turn… this miniseries seems really interesting – I enjoyed the first issue and will be waiting for the next issue to see where it leads. Grade B+
A whole new set of Marvel Transformers have been hitting the shelves recently. I found this at my local Target about 2 weeks ago – haven’t gotten around to posting it – sorry. This time the Hulk transforms into a Bulldozer – which is much better then transforming into a tank. The only real downside to this series is the price point. I mean, $17 for a toy is too much – which is why I have never bought a double to open up. But keep an eye out for a Grey variant – I haven’t heard anything yet – but if I had to put money on it…
I will put up my review of the Skaar one shot tomorrow – so make sure you come back and visit!
A bit ago someone, I believe it was 465, asked me if I had the Hulk Mini-Comic from Hostess – and I didn’t think I did. I should have known better than that! I went back and checked out my collection – turns out I have all but ONE of them! There were four in the series – and I’m missing issue #4.
Fox and Friends Hulk vs Abomination!
I do have a few others including the Fox Kids Video mini-comic with Hulk vs the Abomination released in 1997. Also, there is one with Hulk vs the Leader that was released by Bubble Yum in 1981. Each of these have new – stand alone stories – that are quite enjoyable. I wish I had the final Hostess comic – not only to have it but to know how the story ends… if someone knows maybe you can shed some light on it…
Well, we all know the story – which has been brought to the, well… little screen. This is a new Hulk classic – a tale that will be remembered and talked about in the same breath as the origin, Mr. Fixit and the Merged Hulk – as well as Jarella’s World and Future Imperfect. They did change a few things from the original epic – I mean, they had to… one of the biggest omissions from the story is the Silver Savage. Replaced by a worthy Beta Ray Bill – although, it would have been much nicer to see the Surfer – BRB and the Hulk’s brawl was both brutal and bad ass! BRB was left practically broken in the end. But instead he used his power to free the rest of the slaves.
Hulk and Caiera’s fight was also one of the best parts of the movie – the first big blow from Caiera knocks off all of the Hulk’s armor. Some of the most important parts of the storyline are still there – the initial gladiator scenes, the spikes, and Caiera’s realization of the Red King’s betrayal… all in all this is a movie for the ages!
They also change the Red Kings death – although – the movie’s was way better! One of the biggest changes, which I thinks works better for the movie, is that they end things on a happy moment – the moment before one of the saddest of Hulk’s history. The moment before he went back to Earth and Loeb took over the writing. 🙂 – Sorry, couldn’t resist! Anyways, like I was saying, they end Planet Hulk on a happy note. This leaves thing open to make a sequel – and hopefully this is popular enough to make one… which would be WWH!
The New Hulk vs. Slipcover
Also, they released the Hulk vs. movies with a new slip cover – which I was able to pick up without having to buy the whole movie again – but it’s pretty sweet!
I’m pretty confident that IF the owner of this classic cover ever decided to sell it – it would cost more than I can spend in a single decade – so I did the best next thing. I found an artist that does amazing cover re-creations. His work is fantastic – and was gracious enough to give me discounted price for my first piece from him. When I opened the envelope I was stunned at the awesomeness of what I saw. Tom Smith is an amazing artist that everyone should check out – here is his website:
He can do any cover – it will looks as stunning as this one does. I asked Tom about his process – and he said this:
“Hi Ryan, So glad you like it!!! I basically do what an inker does… I take the reference I have of the original art through a process so when I am done I have what is similar to the pencil art and then I ink it on a light table just like an inker would. I have always had extremely good control of my pens and brushes which is the key to getting the nice line quality you see, I learned that control as an animator over 20 years. I also draw the title logo and whatever I can but I want to make sure that the word balloons look like the comic so I usually print them out on the same bristol board that I draw on so I can get it as close as possible to the original. Most companies just use a Xerox of the title Logo and paste on paper stats for the word balloons but I take the time to do the title logo by hand. Word Balloons are tricky and if you aren’t a pro letterer it looks cheap and ruins the recreation in my opinion. I see many people doing recreations but they try to draw even the comic code and that is NEVER drawn by hand so I don’t think it should be on a recreation either 😉 If there is anything else you would like don’t hesitate to ask. Thanks, Tom”
Thought it was interesting enough to share. I love this huge piece – glad I got it – I’m not sure I would pick up another one… and if I did which cover to pick… but I am glad I got this. I will be back tomorrow with my review of the Planet Hulk DVD!
Yes, I know – there was no post yesterday. I have been busy putting the Hulk room back in order. After about 4 months the construction is almost finished which means I can put the room back to it’s Hulky glorious ways! Pictures will follow shortly… But, a while back I showed you the Koto bust, telling you that I was able to snag TWO busts for an amazing deal. This was the other bust – a bust that I swore I would never own… mainly because of just how ugly it is! But I am happy to say, I picked this up for a basic steal! But I am happy to have picked this up – I can’t say it’s a favorite – but it’s the only bust of it’s kind as it’s the only bust I know of showing the Hulk in mid-transformation.
I can’t imagine the kind of stretch marks Banner must have… you know, from transforming back and forth all these years – not to mention how loose the skin must be – like a fat guy who loses 300 pounds in a month. Ugh… that’s so gross…
Stretch to the right! Your other right...
Anyways, the bust was a Tower Records exclusive – but maybe it was decisions like this that inevitably made them go out of business. I mean, they really didn’t think this would sell, did they? The other problem is that they made a TON of them. I mean, the days of 5,000 releases are over – and thank goodness! That’s hardly limited, considering the amount of people who collect comic related merchandise.
But here it is – the other bust I had to show off – I know, it’s not that impressive – mainly because it’s so ugly – but it’s still a piece of the collection. So enjoy! I wonder – how many other Hulk fanatics out there bought this bust? What are your thoughts on it?
Ratchet's Hulk Collection 