Skaar is coming. I have to admit I was losing interest in this series – but it certainly picked up in the last few issues. As soon as the Surfer came back it was a hard book to put down. Let’s just say, Galactus put the “all powerful” Skaar in his place (boy, Galactus has been busy lately, huh?) And Skaar learned that his father is alive and well on his home planet. Now Skaar is coming to let his dad know just how he feels about being abandoned.
The issue begins with Bruce in a diner getting terrible service. Skaar is coming closer and wants his father – suddenly Bruce Hulks out and starts running. Jen Walters also Hulks out and just begins running too. Reed Richards is in his lab and we read his unsent letter to Bruce. He says that he did the calculations – that he figured out that his son had survived and has been trying to track him down ever since the events in WWH. Suddenly a worm hole opens up and Skaar has arrived. The FF head out and meet up with She Hulk – they tell her that the Invisible Woman is busy trying to slow down the Hulk so that he and his son don’t meet up.
She Hulk and the FF reach where Skaar is and try approaching him – but Skaar easily dispatches them. He takes on the thing and a whole bunch of tanks – oh wait! I forgot about the warbound! Sorry, I’m doing this from memory. The Warbounds powers are going a bit out of control and they feel Skaar is on Earth. Norman Osborn send out troops to take Skaar out – but Skaar takes the troops on with his huge sword pretty easily. Then they send in the bombs. And as one of them touches ground right where Skaar stands a huge explosion goes off. The Hulk stops running and snaps out of the trance he seemed to be in. She Hulk says she can’t “feel” Skaar anymore. The issue ends by showing a young boy standing on a hill – his eyes are glowing green.
All in all pretty interesting start to what I hope is a great series. B-
Continuing with the “value product – I’ll give you an extra little post here. This set of little Hulk goodies are found at Target. The stickers are sparkly and they have the Hulk and a couple Abomination figures on them – stickers are good honest fun – unless you put them in your hair, like I did when I was a kid and they had to cut them out. I was the kid with a constant buzz cut and not because my parents liked the look of it but because I was one of those kids who never learned from my mistakes. In my opinion, fake tattoos are way more fun as you get older – mainly because you can apply them to your “naughty” areas when you go out on dates. What a nice surprise for the ladies when things get more intimate!
So, apparently I offended some people in my last review – I will try to conduct myself a little more respectfully this time. I – boy do I hate admitting this – I somewhat enjoyed this issue but their are WAY too many problems with this issue to call it any good. But let’s begin…
The red Hulk has killed the Hulk – amazingly, he truly is dead – and what has become Loeb’s calling card, the Hulk reverts back to his savage self. He again uses a Hulk personality for a matter of panels for no real reason and then just changes back. The Red Hulk says he wanted the Hulk to suffer “Suffer like I have for all the hell he put us all through” But the Elders offer the Red Hulk the chance to join his “team” to defeat the other players. So, as Psycho Man is torturing the Surfer and Terrax the Red Hulk shows up and just tears Psycho Man up. Destroys him very easily. Then he beheads Terrax saying he’s not impressed with him. Surfer is ready to fight but the Red Hulk takes him by the throat and tells him that his “power” is based on absorbing other people’s energy.
I hope that's energy coming out of the Surfer's face...
Red Hulk tells Surfer that he’s looked through Reed Richards extensive files and he found out about the time that Doom stole the Surfer’s power. He kills him off. The two teammates are dead – and here’s my real problem, real quick here, they’ve made the Red Hulk so powerful that no one should be able to beat him. He beat the surfer with such ease – I’m not sure if that is supposed to show how powerful he’s supposed to be or if it cheapens the Surfer. Cause before – and later – the Hulk knocked him out and knocks him around. So he kills the two and this is what we see:
Have you ever rode on a star - carried moon beams off where you are!
Come On… really? Whatever, I guess I’m wrong for thinking this is just ridiculous. My eyes hurt from rolling so many times from reading this issue. Every encounter pretty much goes the same – the Red Hulk fries Tiger Shark and decapitates Namor. I think he kills Dormammuu – but who knows – he just flies through his head. He also shows up to fry Strange and Mordo and faces Galactus. I was ready for the worst here – but for once it looks like Loeb decides there is ONE character that’s more powerful. But Galactus takes back the cosmic power and gives the Red Hulk a smack down. He says that the Elders should have known he was not one to be trifled with and that because of the Red Hulk insolence that he is going to eat the Earth next. The Red Hulk reappears with the elders
Yeah - you're going to hurt Galactus...
Now, this is where I have an issue – Galactus was in the time when the Surfer was first created – so how is there an Earth for the Red Hulk to return to? Galactus should have eaten it! This is why Loeb can’t write a story like this – because in the end – IT MAKES NO SENSE! It’s not even fun to read because there’s just too many plot holes and inconsistencies. But let’s finish this here. The Red Hulk brags that he won but the Elders chastise him for messing with Galactus. They tell him he has messed things up so his Offenders have been returned to their times, alive and well, as well as the Defenders who have now been resurrected. Red Hulk gets pissed at the Grandmaster and beats him to death – but the Hulk comes along and smacks the Red Hulk into the side of a mountain. – See what I mean? The Red Hulk just killed an Elder – but the Hulk just slapped him away? Does this not seem really stupid to these “fans”
Take that you crimson a-hole!
Hulk asks for Jarella. The Elder gives her to the Hulk – a dead Jarella. The Red Hulk comes out of nowhere saying that he’s leaving the Hulk broken hearted – just as Banner left him.
Either the Surfer is emarrassed or he's trying to hide the fact he's laughing...
Now, I highlighted certain things the Red Hulk says because they’re obvious clues to who the Red Hulk is – and I think those people who have been saying it’s Glen Talbot are spot on. There’s no one else it can be! Anyways, the issue itself was a waste of time – it basically did nothing but raise a whole bunch more questions that Loeb didn’t answer and tell a story that had no point. Shocker. Grade – C- (And I think I’m being generous here)
Here’s a couple more Hulk toys for you to find – the yo-yo is at Target while the water gun is at the Dollar Tree – also, the Yo-yo lights up when you use it. I love yo-yos, I even know a guy who has made a living off his yo-yoing talents. He goes around to the schools and spreads positive messages all while playing with his yo-yo. That sounds dirtier than it really is… Anyways, the water gun is a simple little toy – but mine leaks like the dickens – so, not as fun as it should be. Water guns are supposed to get other people wet while keeping you bone dry. This soaks you and an added bonus is that if you slip it into your pocket it makes it look like you’ve had an accident.
So here’s the scoop – Hulk will continue on featuring the Red Hulk, the Incredible Hulk will become an ongoing title once again starting with The Incredible Hulk #600 (The pic above the is the Tim Sale variant – which I love!). Incredible Hercules will continue on as well as Skaar – only it will be just called Son of Hulk. Big stuff in the upcoming months – with all this news – it’s time for some polls!
Another value item – also found at the Dollar Tree – these are obviously bubble packs. The first comes with wands with different designs, not that the bubbles created from these wands are actually shaped like the designs, but hey, what do you expect for $1.00? I appreciate the effort. There’s a wand with a Hulk face, a wand with a Hulk fist and last a wand with different sized holes for a multitude of bubble sizes. Each wand can be pulled out, like a Swiss army knife, from the plastic container with the bad ass Hulk image on it.
The second is a bubble pipe – hey, nothing like trying to promote smoking by making it seem like fun for the kids! I believe they outlawed candy cigarettes for this reason – they didn’t stop selling them – they just call them “candy sticks” instead now. But who actually smokes a pipe anymore? I think the last one was my uncle in 1985. These are pretty easy to find and bubbles are HOURS of fun for kids so check out getting these.
There’s a lot of $1.00 items out there right now – it’s just a matter of finding them – The Dollar Tree has a few, Target has some. This week’s posts will showcase some of the “value” pieces out there – but I will also show the newest aquisition from Sideshow this week – with LOTS of pictures to showcase it’s beauty! Here’s the Hulk snorkel, found at the Dollar Tree and is my favorite of the bunch! Why? Because of the huge freakin’ Hulk head that’s attached to it! I don’t think I’d actually use this for one big reason, I don’t trust this to work it’s sole purpose masterfully. Listen, I like the Hulk – nay – I love the Hulk, but I’m not ready to drown for the guy…
Hulk can grow gills - what the heck does he need a snorkel for?
Within this comic is 2 stories – and the one I’m focusing on is called “Puny Little Man” – brought to us by the team on the regular Hulk book, Loeb and McGuinness. While that may be a deterrent for some others may be enticed to check this issue out. It was released almost 2 years before the utterly horrible “Hulk” title and showcasing the Wolverine’s first appearance in the comics. Loeb’s pencils are flat out amazing in this issue and his regular inker Vines makes his images pop – while the coloring was done in an old school way – dare I call it pixilating – if my memory serves… I could be wrong though.
Look at how gorgeous that is!I would love to track this art down
The story is quite simple, The Wolverine just remembers what that first fight with the Hulk was like. He wonders why he talked the way he did, why he was working for the Canadian Government, why he was wearing such a ridiculous costume, and why he even thought he could take on the Hulk and Wendigo – although they really don’t mention or even show Wendigo in this story (SHOCKER! Loeb is leaving out obvious and important plot points in a story!) but the fight with Hulk is great to look at.
When will Wolvie learn? He's no match for the Hulk!
Wolverine slashes over and over until the Hulk finally gets a hold of him and then rips him apart – and Loeb takes on the now classic art of Hulk tearing Wolverine in half – man, I would LOVE to own this piece of art! – but the end of the rather quick story has Wolverine waking up and thinking it was all a dream.
I wish I had this much talent in my pinkie toe...
All in all – not too bad – but a very quick and fun story that packs in so much beautiful art it’s worth picking up. Grade B+
I have been trying to track down all the issues that Hulk has appeared in and am well on my way so check out the COMICS page – I added a whole lot more comics onto the page – also I added a few more comic shops that I visited to the STORES page so check that out as well!
Hulk: MythosBruce - you're looking pretty creepy right now
Here’s a slight variation on the origin of the Hulk. It’s still pretty faithful – to a point – then branches off in it’s own direction. Let’s talk about some of the changes: Bruce Banner is a little more outgoing, he’s not afraid to flirt with Betty or stand up to Thunderbolt in a more aggressive way. A lot of the same – for example; Igor is still Bruce’s assistant and Rick Jones still makes a stupid move of being at ground zero at the wrong time – except that this time Jones in an Intern who wasn’t informed of the test.
Look at the shot of all the Hulk villains! Can you say classic?
Bruce asks for the countdown to be stopped – but it can’t be – he heads out to the bomb site and saves Jones… again. But a big change is that that is the last we see of Jones in this story. Instead we hear Thunderbolt tell Bruce that not only is he pulling funding for the project, mainly because Bruce is still alive and well – thus proving the bomb doesn’t do what was intended – but Bruce tells Ross it was never meant to be a weapon – but Ross also tells Banner to stay away from is daughter.
Bruce freaks out and he calls Betty to tell her everything. She tries to calm him down but to no avail – Bruce gets more and more angry thinking that the Army just wants to steal his bomb and that Ross scammed him – he blames Betty and says that she knew it all along. He gets so angry that he changes… he turns into the Hulk
Biggity BAM!
That’s when Hulk releases the fury. He destroys the base camp – destroys EVERYTHING – he throws jeeps and helicopters, fires break out, things are exploding all around. Then the Hulk captures a glimpse of his reflection. It stops him right in his tracks as he stares into the mirror and sees himself – and then his other self, Bruce Banner.
THOOM! That's also the sound I make when I go #2
In the morning, Igor stands over ruins and tells Bruce that everything is gone, the research is lost, it’s all in Bruce’s head now. Bruce tells Igor he’s leaving – he’s disappearing and he gives Igor a letter to give to Betty. The last page shows Betty reading the apology from Bruce and an explanation on why he’s leaving.
What a great story – a perfect re-imagining of a classic character – my only complaint is that they didn’t make this into a Hulk series. I would’ve loved to see more of this. They did do a story for each of the major players in the MU – but this one was totally the best! Grade: A
Here we have the second book of this series – the first I liked very much, well, certain stories anyways, and this book… well, it’s not as good as the first. There are 2 good stories one mediocre story and one waste of time. The 4 universe’s we visit in this book aren’t as memorable or exciting as the other book. So, let’s get on with the review, shall we?
The Age of Apocalypse: Bruce Banner, Gwen Stacy, Victor Von Doom and Tony Stark are the only chance the human race has. Gwen’s a little bad ass and Victor Von Doom likes to place blame and whine a lot. Kind of like normal continuity. Their ship is being followed by a whole crap load of nukes. This was Tony’s plan – to have the nukes follow them so the Armada can escape – and they are able to have the nukes explode, except the big one. There’s no way to shake it. Banner recalls what got him to this point. As everyone stood against Apocalypse Bruce secretly aligned with him, basically because he wanted to know more – and Apoc. was giving him all the support and supplies he needed. But Banner’s research just led to the creation of the Hulk. Then Apoc. betrayed Bruce. Thinking about this makes Bruce turn into the Hulk (The Grey Hulk, by the way) and he jumps out of the space craft to take the nuke down. The Hulk finds the nuke to have a Gamma core and ready to explode – and explode it does. Bruce is at ground zero of the detonation – and lands on Earth – but what comes climbing out of the rubble? That would be a pissed Green Hulk! B+
Gamma Charged Hulk
Mangaverse: Let me begin with the fact that I have absolute no interest in the Mangaverse – I read the story and got nothing from it – let alone cared about it. I’ll put it another way – I like the Hulk 2099 more than the Mangverse Hulk – and we all know how much I like him. As always, if anyone cares to review it – please feel free – but as for me, I’m leaving it with an F.
Battling Foom!
Son of the Dragon: This was a good story – taking place in the 1602 Universe. The Banner, living amongst monks to find peace, sees a whole swarm of villagers coming his way. He Hulks out and confronts them – but realizes very quickly that it was not him they were after – but Fin Fang Foom. They battle – and of course the Hulk beats the snot out of him – but the villagers, who were once afraid of him, now made him their King. Really fine story and I have to admit, I LOVE Hulk vs. Fin Fang Foom – B+
Foom - you in trouble!
Out of Time: This was my favorite story. Banner is acting Doctor in a Mutant concentration camp to a whole slew of patients, patients like a man named Darby who is dying. Darby asks Bruce about his wife and Bruce remembers her. Darby has a journal that he’d like his wife to have. So the next day as the train drops off supplies and begins to head out Bruce jumps aboard and snaps his collar off. He gets the collar off and Hulks out – taking out a helicopter trying to take him back – and a whole Sentinel. It was great. Anyways, Hulk lands on a postal truck and then goes to visit his wife’s grave. He soon gives up and is taken back to the internment camp. He tells Darby that he made sure the journal was delivered – which he did. A-
Wow – it’s been a little while since the last in this series… and maybe that’s a good thing! Look at this guy! The mullet alone tells you all you need to know! But this must be the Rick Jones Hulk making a rare appearence. Let’s keep the appearences even more rare, okay? Thanks Rick…
What a great match up! Hulk vs. Rhino! I mean, I know some of you are saying “Who cares about the Rhino?” and I tend to agree with you – but come on! Two brawling powerhouses going toe to toe? Almost as good as Abomination vs. Hulk… almost. This issue starts where #103 leaves off and that’s Bruce Banner being arrested and in prison. The two riff-raffs (yeah, riff raffs, what do you call them? Ruffians?) that made the Rhino suit are hard at work in creating a new suit that has more power and can withstand a lot more punishment. Why? Because the two guys want the Rhino to kidnap Bruce Banner. Yeah, that’s going to go well…
The Rhino is Back!
The Rhino catches the van that’s transporting Banner and tears it up stealing Bruce Banner and Betty Ross. Just as a helicopter, flown by the two riff-raffs, touches down and the Rhino is loading the captives in that’s when Rick Jones shows up and drives his car right into the chopper, knocking one of the goons out. He almost knocks Banner out as well – but the Rhino catches him. But hanging out of a helicopter makes Bruce turn into the Hulk. As the helicopter goes out of control the Hulk holds on and helps it safely land. As the Hulk tries to gain his bearings the Rhino comes out with a vengeance. The two begin to battle as the other goon tries to take Betty away. The Hulk easily takes the Rhino out and saves Betty, leaping to the top of the tower and getting her out of harms way.
The Rhino... FACED!
When the Hulk jumps back down he is faced with the Rhino. The next few pages have the Hulk and Rhino battle pretty brutally. It’s one of the best things to flip through over and over as the Hulk man-handles the Rhino so easily. The Rhino picks up a car and throws it at the Hulk – who catches the car and then slams it over the Rhino’s head! Just plain awesome! The car explodes and the Rhino whines about not being able to see, being trapped and dying – so the Hulk saves him – only to have the Rhino taunt him once again. The Hulk refuses to fight him but the Rhino attacks him from behind. The Hulk gains the upper hand again and pronounces the Rhino dead (which we all know isn’t true-!)
Rhino - did you drop this?
The Hulk returns to Betty only to see Thunderbolt Ross and Talbot have already taken her down from the tower. The Hulk jumps down and takes Betty away.
Last week I had fun showcasing a week’s worth of art that I hadn’t shown – believe it or not there’s still a few more pieces – but this week I decided to showcase a few of the rarer comics I have have that feature the Hulk, or – in this case – the Hulk’s supporting cast. I also have done a whole lot of work gathering information for the COMICS page – check it out – I have been compiling a check list for all who have asked and am on my way. It’s far from being finished – but it’s certainly off to a good start!
Anyways, Stan “The Man” Lee wrote this issue – and it’s such a great one! It’s a basic story but it starts with a group of Wizards and Warlocks that are all upset at how the outside world treats them. They hate the fact that people think they are a joke so they plan on showing the world just what they can do. Surfer meanwhile, is pining over his lost love, and while he attempts to try and break the force field he hits it so hard he knocks himself unconscious. He hurtles toward the earth with a cluster of asteroids and lands right where the head warlock is heading home. The warlock takes the knocked-out Surfer to his house and when the Surfer regains consciousness the warlock once again knocks him out with a spiked tea. (The Surfer likes tea? I wonder what kind… was he like “Is is English Grey? I love English Grey!”
Did the Abomination really think he could win?
The group of Warlocks and Witches decide to raise a demon of some sort to defeat the Surfer. They think that if they show the world that they have beaten the Silver Surfer then the world will take them more seriously. Unfortunately the monster they raise is the Abomination, releasing him from “The Stranger’s” imprisonment. He immediately tells them that he doesn’t work for anyone – and to prove it he beats the heck out of the head Warlock and kills him. The Surfer arrives and refuses to fight a fight that is not his but he does bring the warlock back to life. The Ab0mination, meanwhile, is destroying the nearby town. When the Surfer sees this he goes to fight, but is weakened from using his powers to revive the dead warlock and as he swoops in Abomination hits him hard and knocks him off his board with one hit.
Abomination rejoices and celebrates a little early because as Surfer regains his bearings he comes back strong. He literally takes the Abomination down in a few panels. In fact the Surfer doesn’t just want to win – he wants to stop the rage – so he uses the Power Cosmic and suppresses the Abominations rage. He returns him to the Warlock and his group – all of them stunned to see the Silver Surfer victorious.
Fantasy Masterpieces #12
This is such a classic match up. Shows why the Surfer is such a great character when written correctly. This whole issue is just a whole lot of fun. This is Silver Surfer #12 – but also a cheaper route is to find Fantasy Masterpieces #12 where this story is reprinted. Grade: A-
Alright, so the last one was too easy – I wonder if this one will be the same… It’s simple: Guess which cover this Hulk is from. Bonus if you can guess the artist and why this question is kind of a trick question…
Ratchet's Hulk Collection 