I’m sticking with Ross as the Red Hulk – and completely yawning my way through the reveal – but here’s a different point of view – I don’t agree with his assessment – but it’s fun to read anyways. Click on Clay above…
A Week of the Thing – Giant Sized Superstars #1
This is a tough comic to find. This is also the ONLY Giant Sized Superstars issue to ever come out – the title was changed to Giant Sized Fantastic Four after this… this is a classic Rich Buckler drawn issue. Pick this issue up when you can – but take a look at this cover! The Thing is actually whopping Hulk’s butt! What?!? But this is a really fun issue – take a look here for a closer look inside.
A Week of the Thing – The Thing #3
This has got to be a for sure comic to seek out – there’s the Hulk, the merged Hulk, Fixit, Maestro and… is that the clown Hulk? From issue #3? Did they run out of Hulk personalities that quickly? Anyways, sweet cover for sure!
Hulk Cling (1978)
Alright, this was found at a comic shop – it was on the wall, hanging there for years probably, I pointed it out and asked how much. The guy behind the register chuckled a bit and said “Oh man, I don’t know. It’s a stupid little Hulk toy thing. I don’t even know where it came from. How about 2 bucks?” I totally would have paid $3.00 for it! So I feel like I got a deal! It’s a bit dirty – and ripping on the chest – but this little guy has been ignored for too long – now he has a nice home with all of the other Hulk stuff in my room. It was almost like the ending to Harry and the Hendersons. I’ll tell you – I cried a little.
Variants…
I’d like to hear some opinions on this – I have my beliefs of what a true variant is – but in the spirit of creating a checklist for the Hulk fans I need your advice. There are certainly variant comics which feature a brand new cover – but I have been faced with a few “variant” comics that I’m not so sure are actually worth posting…
For instance – do you consider the following actual variants?
- Price Changes (for example: TIH #212-216 have a 35 cent variant)
- Reprints (When a comic comes with an action figure – like the ML line)
- Different Language Comics (like the German #181 that is all over ebay)
I mean, I’ve started to add 2nd prints and such – but are these others actually considered variants? Check out what this guy thinks too: http://mysite.verizon.net/psmerolle/35variantlist.htm
Would you bother seeking these out to complete a collection? Or do you consider a collection complete without them? Let me know what you guys think! Thanks! – Ratchet
A Week of the Thing – Fantastic Four #12
The funny thing about this pair up is – even from conception they knew who was going to be the stronger one! Yet, this match up is one of the most frequented and revered by Hulk fans! The only time the Thing actually had an upper hand was in FF #320 – which we’ll maybe see later… I do have this issue – believe it or not – just haven’t gotten around to showing it off yet. It was one of those bad ebay transactions – come to think of it – I’ll make sure I will post it in the future because it’s a pretty good story…
And just for fun – No one re-creates a Marvel cover like Hembeck!
Fantastic Four: Nightmare in Green – The Review
I was able to catch this episode this morning – I was psyched because I heard about how good this was. No worries, I did think it was good too – especially with how many cameo appearances there were. But let’s get into what this episode was about.
First off – Alicia and Thing are sitting in the park discussing the latest issue of Cat Fancy… wait, no that was me – sorry – they were talking about Reed creating a cure for Grimm and having a Dr. Banner coming in to help him. Some purse nappers with impeccable timing steal Alicia’s purse. As Thing catches up to them and the crooks begin to squeal like little girls it catches the attention of the Hulk and he leaps into action. The Thing and the Hulk begin to battle – although… it’s more like the Hulk hands the Thing his rocky ass. (Note that the Hulk wears purple pants during the fight – but suddenly is wearing blue when he jumps away) It only ends after Alicia comes and asks the Hulk to stop. We also see that Doom has been watching the whole time and intrigued with the powerful Hulk and thinking about using him to destroy the FF. We also see that Rick Jones is there with Banner as they try to discover a cure for the Hulk.
All the reports say the Hulk beat the heck out of Thing sending the Thing fuming around the Baxter building. As Thing and Johnny Storm banter about the fight, Grimm finds out that Reed has actually been working on a cure for HIM. Reed is also very sick – and as Banner and Rick Jones shows up Reed faints. Banner gets a contraption ready to help Reed get better – meanwhile he goes back to the hotel. As Rick drops him off he and Johnny Storm take the air cycle out for a spin. What follows is a pretty fun, cool set of cameos including the X-Men, Juggy and it was either Spiderman – or maybe even the Scarlet Spider – take a look for yourself:
Doom comes to Banner’s hotel room and kidnaps him. He brings Banner to his lair and turns him into the Hulk where he tricks the Hulk into thinking that Doom is his only friend. He also tells him that Rick Jones has turned against him and the only way to get him back is to destroy the rest of the FF. This time as the Hulk leaps out of Doom’s lair his pants turn from blue to purple… the animators obviously needed a chart to keep the issue of the Hulks pants straight.
Reed gets worse as Grimm and Johnny drop Jones off. But Hulk arrives and starts a fight. The Hulk takes on thing and the Torch with ease – notice Hulk’s pants are BLUE again! As Rick is ready to stop the fight Doom comes to knock Rick out. Sue sees the report on TV and goes to join the fight. Seeing that everyone has left Reed alone Doom goes to take care of business. Sue gets to the fight to help Grimm – by turning him invisible.
The Thing finally gets the upper hand in the fight – until Sue is knocked out of the Fantastic Car. At that moment Doom shows up to Reed’s room (how did he get in?) to kill him – by shooting him with a Gamma Ray Gun. Rick is there to help Reed and they throw Doom’s Gamma Gun back at him causing an explosion and knocking him out the window.
Meanwhile Sue’s force field is the only thing stopping the Hulk from beating the heck out of the Thing. When she falls Alicia shows up to calm the Hulk down. But Ben, exhausted, faints. Everyone explains to the Hulk that Rick is still his friend and the Doom is the enemy – only in time for Doom to show up to congratulate Hulk on a job well done. As he is about the land the killing blow on the FF the Hulk attacks Doom and – even though Doom tries to escape – Hulk brings his transport down in the ocean.
They all think the Thing is dead – even Reed, the genius, – but they are wrong and the Thing gets up. Reed is fine and the Hulk and Rick Jones leave – with no one the wiser…
Pretty good episode. I picked up the DVD set with this episode on it – found it for a pretty good price. With the coin – certainly this is one of the better FF cartoons that has been released. Episode: B- Whole Set: B+
A Week of Iron Man – Iron Man #304 & #305
It’s hard to believe that Hulkbuster Armor wasn’t always a part of Iron Man’s artillery – but here was the debut! The first time Stark pulled out the stops and created a suit of armor specifically to take on the Hulk! Not that it worked per say – sure there were a whole new slew of tricks up his sleeve – but ultimately, the armor was unsuccessful in stopping him.
At the end of WWH stark had a new Hulkbuster Armor – but it was still crap compared to the damage the Hulk can inflict. Stark really needs to admit that he has no idea how to beat the Hulk.
Universal Hulk Figures (2003)
I can’t tell you much about these figures. I have been searching all over but haven’t come up with much. So here’s what I do know… I won a lot of about 30 figures in an ebay auction. I scored a few gems – but most of the lot was beat up and pretty destroyed. While looking through the figures I came across these two Hulk figures I haven’t seen before. I immediately went to my go to Hulk-atics on this – you might know them, (they host these sites here and here) but the unfortunately these guys couldn’t shed any more light on these figures. That’s when I knew my searches were fruitless – if my Hulk peeps didn’t have any info – then no one would.
So, these two figures feel like soft, cheap rubber. They are light, hollow with extremely limited articulation (only the head and arms move), but I must say I kind of like the paint application. The figures look somewhat like the 2003 movie figures – just a crappier version of them. My best guess is that these figures were exclusive to the Universal Studios Theme Park – they were released during the 2003 movie and last but not least – they were probably WAY over priced when they were released. If anyone knows anything else about these figures please feel free to leave a comment below or just email me the info!
A Week of Iron Man – TIH #361
Fixit against Iron Man – what cound be better? Honestly, this wasn’t the cover I was going to post – it’s a request I got today – and hey, I’m not above showing people what they’d like to see! Especially if it’s the best man from my wedding. So Bill, here it is – TIH #361. This is a two part story – the second issue is Iron Man #247. Right below. Stricly cover art speaking – I prefer TIH cover.
Giant Size Wolverine: Old Man Logan (2009) – The Review
Old Man Logan was a welcoming surprise – a futuristic vision of the future that has the villains in control of the country. As cool as that seems – they also made our favorite Jade Giant one of those villains. On the one hand it makes a lot of sense to have the Hulk as one of the remaining Marvel characters in control – because when it comes down to it – who can beat the Hulk? …Well, we’ll have to get back to that question. But they made the Hulk family an inbreeding clan of hicks that bully their territory into paying them rents. The original storyline ended with Wolverine’s family being slaughtered by the Banners and Wolverine, who hadn’t popped his claws in a life-time, ready to get some payback.
And payback he gets as page after page we are treated to gruesome shots of Wolverine taking out members of the Banner clan. He is on a rampage so brutal I can’t even show some of the pictures… but man, it’s freakin awesome to see! So Wolvie uses the Fantastic-Car and a bomb to take out most of the brood. Then he calls Banner out of his cave. Banner strolls out of the cave and the two “heroes” begin to punch each other. Banner says that he wanted Logan to come all along – he’s missed their fights. But Wolverine remedies that real quick when he skewer’s Banner right through the chest.
But that only infuriates Bruce and makes him Hulk out. He grabs Wolverine and eats him. The only problem is Wolverine’s healing factor. As Hulk’s last remaining adult offspring (there is little Baby Bruce left as well) arrives at the cave the Hulk begins to double over in pain. Logan comes slashing out of the Hulk’s innards. The issue ends with Wolverine heading off to take on all the other villains left – with Little baby Bruce strapped to his back.
This storyline was too entertaining to not love everything about it! I’m excited to see if they continue to follow Logan’s return and where this series goes… Grade: A
The Incredible Hulk #602 (2009) – The Review
So on we go with Bruce training Skaar to take on the Hulk… when the Hulk eventually returns. So, in preparation Bruce has the Juggernaut show up. Skaar shows no interest in fighting Juggy at first. Juggy turns his attention to Bruce and starts to pound on him – with only Bruce’s electronic shields to protect him. Skaar finally begins to fight Juggy – and Juggs gets the upper hand pretty quickly – but then, in a shocking turn, Skaar transforms into a child.
Juggernaut stops fighting – but that gives Skaar the opportunity to use his Old Power to knock Juggs into the air. Skaar transforms back and goes after Juggy. They land deep in the earth – into liquid magma where Juggs can’t use his power. He laughs it off saying he’s going to watch Skaar burn – but Skaar informs him that he was born in fire – right after the Hulk abandoned him. He uses his Old Power again to take the two of them out of the magma (I so like to say “magma” in a Dr. Evil voice – I can’t be the only one, right?) but tricks Juggs and at the last moment he hits Juggy so hard he knocks him right into space.
Reed Richards and Beast have been talking the whole time – questioning Bruce’s motives. Reed has been supporting Bruce but Beast has called in other help. The issue ends with Skaar and Bruce at a comic shop looking up Conan – to see why Juggy called him that – when Wolverine shows up…
Not a bad issue – although I can’t say I’m still so happy that these comics are Hulk-less – these issues are really good. I can’t wait to see where they are going with the story. Grade B-
A Week of Iron Man – The Invincible Iron Man #76
Believe it or not – this is the cover to not only IM #76 – but this cover first appeared in IM #9! Look here: Cover Browser and this isn’t even the Hulk – nope, just an android! Now, I just bought #76 – I don’t have #9 yet – so I’m not sure if the stories inside match as eaqually as the cover – I’ll have to get back to you on that – or maybe someone who reads this blog knows…
Marvel Universe Red Hulk Figure (2009)
I wasn’t sure if I should post this… the comments I will get… but the truth is that I’m hoping the Red Hulk, in the hands of a better writer, will become a cool Hulk foe. Of course they will have to explain the color and tone down his powers a bit. I mean, he took on the Silver Surfer and didn’t even break a sweat. But the figures made are pretty sweet!
The Grey Hulk seems to be the rare one of the three Hulks made in this line. I found two of them first… chalk it up to my Hulk loyalty – but only the Hulks seem to be gaining any value in this line. Funny though – I got this at a comic shop in Salem. I found this figure, a few other comics including FF #25. It was supposed to be $180 – but I asked about a discount off of the FF issue. I got everything for $150 – the actual price of FF #25. So it’s almost like I got this figure for free – which is how I like to look at it! They re-used the Hulk body once again – WOW! 3 figures – one mold. That’s some smart business!
A Week of Iron Man – TIH #131
Some of Marvel’s Heavy Hitters have tangled with the Hulk and have lost. Iron Man has never bested Hulk – at best he has fought him to a standstill – but that is a far cry from a win! This is my favorite cover with the 2 frenemies. You’ll remember that they were part of the same group – the original Avengers – and according to Loeb they even met before that in Hulk: Gray – but that was Loeb. Loeb doesn’t seem to care about continuity…
Ratchet's Hulk Collection 