I’m not even done showing you the art I picked up from the Boston Comic Con. The October Con I picked up a sketch from Roger. If you look on the ART page you’ll see the Hulk sketch he did – but this time I went for a full commission. RA has a great cartoony style that would totally rock in a comic. He’s a pretty easy guy to talk to and joke around with and being this talented is only the icing on the cake with him. I may have to go back to get another from him at some point – I would love to see what he could do with Maestro.
Hulk is probably saying - You are one ugly mother fu-
In my quest to collect every Hulk comic I have also found quite a few Abomination appearences. Abomination has made the rounds in the Marvel Universe quite a lot including one of my favorite most laughable fights – Abomination vs. The Silver Surfer. I’ll have to show that comic in the upcoming weeks…
He even has the Abomination a little taller then the Hulk - what attention to detail!
One of the reasons I think they chose John Romita Jr. to draw the anticlimactic World War Hulk is because he drew one of the greatest battles in Hulk history. Let me give you the set-up: Betty Ross is dead from gamma radiation poisoning. For a while now Bruce has blamed himself – thinking it was his fault – thinking that Betty spending years being exposed the Hulk has finally sent her to the grave. But then, then he learns that it was in fact the Abomination that killed Betty Ross. Hulk is finally unleashed. In a page turning, brutal, over the top battle matching blow for blow the Hulk and Abomination continued to battle page after page after page.
Hulk continues to beat the hell out of Abomination – and then punches him so hard he breaks his face – BREAKS HIS FACE!:
This was such a landmark fight that Marvel Legends, when releasing an Abomination figure, released a variant with a broken, bloody face based on this issue. It even came with a reprint of this issue. AND when 7-11 released a Hulk comic for the latest movie – they chose this issue! That’s what I’m talking about!
No More America's Funniest Home Videos! Please!
This page depicts the end of the issue – where Bruce shows just what a monster he can be. He imprisons Abomination in a room and replays a video of him saying good-bye to his wife over and over – for him to watch and go crazy with for the rest of his life. That is until he was released and sent after Hulk 25 or so issues later… but this was one of the best endings ever. And how Banner just turns and walks out the door. Classic!
Shut off the light Banner! What do you think? We're made of money?
I’m on Facebook – and as I was taking one of those ridiculous but addicting quizzes, like “Which “Facts of Life” Character Are You?”, I saw a small posting on the side that said “Boston Comic Con – Free Sketch!” I clicked on the pic and this artist who was going to be at the con was giving an opportunity to get a free sketch if you just email him. The first 20 people were going to get it – so I emailed him. Heard nothing. Oh well, I tried. Then, Sunday Morning, before I left for the con I got a reply saying that there will be a free sketch there for me! Woo Hoo! Then I encountered a new problem… I had a checklist for comics I needed and different artists to check out – well my friend, Bill, lost the list. That’s right, Bill! I’m calling you out!
Do you mind coming out of the shadows, Hulk?
Anyways, I couldn’t remember the artist’s name exactly. I couldn’t remember if his name was James or something else. I asked around but – not knowing his actual name – no one could help me. So, I emailed him when I got home and he sent me the sketch anyways. What a class act! That was so genuinely decent of him I feel the only way to repay him is to tell the whole story here, to you guys, check out his website here. Commission him to do something. Tell him Ratchet sent you!
Talking to different artists can make you want some art from them. That was the case here – I spent a while discussing art with Mark Slater and he was such a nice guy I decided to ask him to draw me up a Hulk. It’s not too bad – and the color always makes things pop a little more. I’ll admit it looks like Hulk is about to drop a deuce rather than smash – but hey – it’s still pretty cool.
Did I need another McGuiness page? No. In fact there’s probably only one other page I would get – but it’s a little out of my price range right now… But I did pick this page up for one reason – it displays the Defenders. Sure it had the Defenders from one of the worst Hulk writers ever – but the pics are so pretty! Also, this is the page that we discover it’s the Grandmaster’s Brother – The Collector – who is playing a game to get the team back together.
The Defenders are Back! Kickin' it old school!
I love the look of the Surfer in this shot. Looking over his shoulder and seeing the Grand Master he almost seems bored. With good reason of course – he does work for Galactus. But it’s the shot of the Hulk in a rage at the bottom of the page that I freakin’ LOVE! It’s the kind of shot that they make posters out of! I remember when Adam Kubert was drawing the Hulk and he drew a close up of the Hulk’s face for the cover of Wizard – that was such a great piece – and this reminds me of that.
Hulk Freakin' Smash Beeyotch!
UPADATE: I sold this page in April of 2010 – mainly because I had 3 Hulk pages and I kept the one I liked the most – but I got myself the Bowen Smackdown Hulk – the grey version – with the sale of this page. I wanted that statue for so long! Now I have it!
As busy as I am these days I still found time to partake in Free Comic Book day this past Saturday. One of the Comic Shops I visit, the New England Comics in Quincy, had a bunch of free comics as well as a local artist doing sketches for people AND a huge sale going on. I found quite a few things I needed – some of which I will show later – I also got a Hulk sketch from the artist there – which I will also show later, but it made me realize just how much new art I have that I haven’t shown! So this whole week will be dedicated to the original Hulk art I have starting with this piece!
Bi-Beast - mackin' on the Jade Giant! - Not you Dave...
When I asked Matt Brundage to do a commission to commemorate the birth of my upcoming daughter – due in August people! – He gave me 2 pieces. The first, which he said was just a “fun” work up, I already showed you – it was the Hulk pushing Abomination’s face while he held a Hulk baby in the other hand – if you need another refresher check out the ART page above – but this was the actual piece he did for me. It features some of the very best villains based on my favorite artist’s work – Herb Trimpe!
Is this Skaar? Nice Pampers Skaar...
Now, we see the Bi-Beast, obviously, the Abomination is in there too – although he looks like he’s hurting pretty bad – and the Leader is lurking in the background – but to be presented with such an amazing piece – especially for the reason I got it – was more than I could ever ask for! It was just perfect – all around one of the best commissions I’ve ever had done!
What's a matter Abomination? Sand in your eye?The Leader
He looked at me with those big puppy-dog eyes like he wanted to come home with me!
Last week, as I knew I was traveling a good 2 hours away, I decided to stop at a few comic shops on the way back. After my last visit to Comically Speaking was so successful I was certain I was going to stop there – and I also decided to check out Web Head Enterprises since it was about 15 minutes away from there. Well, when I arrived at the shop I was greeted by this:
Sure - Hulk lost an arm but he's still dresses cool!
Not only that – but in the store there were 2 more! My jaw hit the floor! He had 3 of these bad ass life-sized Hulks! How does one get so lucky? After talking to the owner for a bit you can see that there is damage to 2 of them – nothing he couldn’t handle though – he’s going to fix one of them up – and the other was already traded. Not too freakin’ shabby! But even more promising was searching through some back issues I found quite a few gems that I needed!
Hulk #2 - Complete and Bad-Ass!
So it got me thinking… I have visited SO many comic shops in MA – and a few out of state – I decided to create a whole new page that is dedicated to those shops. I have included some ratings and even a small blurb to tell you what I thought of the shop – so anyone who lives in this wonderful state – and anyone that may visit – can check out that page and see what great shops are available, and a few that you may want to avoid… So click on the STORES page above – and tell me what you think!
Hulk #3 - busted up and with an overbite only... but not a total loss! Wait till this guy gets all fixed up!
So, here’s the deal with this series. It’s a lot of build up. A lot of build up. We have one issue left to find out if it’s all worth it – but the delay certainly didn’t help how people feel about this mini. It’s trucking along swimmingly – but the jury’s still out on how I feel about the direction this is going. This issue starts out with Wolverine talking to his spirit animal – a Panda – which he scoffs at thinking his spirit animal should be a wolverine… obviously. I liked the Panda’s response in saying that wolverine’s have no interest in being spirit animals. Wolverine himself then insults his spirit animal by calling it “cuddly”. The Panda tells him not to say anything to the man about what he heard Banner say. Wolverine asks who he would tell. The Panda says “the man who cut off your head” and BAM we see Wolverine, or just his head sitting on a table, in a room with Fury. Fury asks Wolverine what happened. Wolverine doesn’t tell – he’s a little more interested in where his body is – and how they knew cutting off his head wouldn’t kill him.
The next part is pretty interesting because he talks about how Wolvie’s healing power isn’t so much about healing and maybe more about surviving. He tells him that he’s still breathing – only right now he’s breathing through his skin. That was actually kind of cool – I liked that – because I’ve always wondered what these healing powers were capable of and what the limit was. Apparently, in the Ultimate universe anyways, there is none.
So Wolverine tells Fury that the Hulk and Betty fought… or screwed each other – he couldn’t really tell – and then they saw the nuke coming. The Hulk leaped into the air at the last second and Betty shouted that she’s always loved him. He yells back – but we don’t know what he says… yet.
Wolverine is pieced back together and placed in a cell where he paces around, that is until he smells something – or someone – lurking around the plumbing. He calls out the mutant and Forge comes climbing out of the toilet. This mutants “unique” power helps him and Wolverine escape the prison. Forge creates a collar to subdue a person and Wolverine asks for him to make a “his and hers”. Then, as Wolverine gets ready to head out to find the Hulk once again Forge asks where he is going. We see the flashback of Betty screaming out to the Hulk that she loves him and the Hulk shouts back “Meet me in Casablanca!” As he tells Forge we see that Fury is listening in and hear him order troops to get to Casablanca.
One more issue, just one more – and it looks like it may be a very promising final curtain. I’m enjoying this series so far – this issue was less exciting but still interesting. Grade: B-
Make sure to check back in on Friday – I am debuting a new page that I have worked very hard on – that I think quite a few people will find VERY useful! Also, I am working on putting together a new Comics Page – but that’s not going to debut Friday – that’s going to be a lot longer… sorry.
With a lot of Planet Hulk merchandise finding it’s way to Hulk fans everywhere Sean, as always, took it upon himself to create a masterpiece. This custom looks better than any figure created… ever! I think real cloth goes a long way. That’s why Mego’s are still so sought out – they look like they are made with the utmost quality – and part of that is getting the outfit right.
Turn to the Right! His Right!
You can see that Sean paid attention to the most minute detail to make this PH very accurate – including making the sandalls and toga from genuine leather. Sean, you are severely talented! Thanks for sending me the photos! Be sure to send a link if you ever decide to sell these because I would tthink there are plenty of Hulk fanatics on here that want some of your incredible work!
A cereal bowl that I found while grocery shopping. I have to admit – I didn’t even see it – my friend had to point it out to me. I haven’t eaten anything out of it… yet. It pretty much just went into the Hulk room storage. Funny thing, I once ate cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner for an entire week. Just to say I did. I was probably in my early 20’s and I had a hankering for Honey Combs – but I did switch it up a little with some Raisin Bran and my personal favorite – Cinnamon Life. Man, that stuff is delicious! I know some people love the sweet cereals like Honey Smacks or Lucky Charms – but I just can’t handle those! They are way too sweet. You know how I have a distaste for candy – these cereals are like eating a whole big bowl of candy for breakfast! Gross…
Here’s the second set of commissions. Yes, I’m sure you’ve guessed – that’s fixit above there. If you click on Fixit above you will be taken to Rob’s web site. He’s always interested in commissions – so if you like what you see – the guy seems to be able to do any character. Now I saved some of my favorite pieces for this post – mainly because it has some solid villians including,
The Leader:
The Leader - Who Can Tell Where the Quote is From?
Bi-Beast:
Bi-Beast
Wendigo:
A Very Graphic Wendigo! One of the best commissions ever!
And I chose to get one of the most important, driving forces in the Hulk comics – one Miss Betty Ross:
Betty Ross Banner
And now a shot of all 10 commissions!
Can't wait to get a frame for these!
UPDATE: I just brought these to see what a frame would cost – they quoted me $485.00 – needless to say I passed on the framing. I’ll see what I can do about maybe finding a cheaper way to display them.
Who can guess where the Hulk in the header is from? What # and what series does this Hulk come from? First to answer correctly gets the no prize – Good Luck to all!
I am convinced – anyone who is still in favor of this series thinking that the story is “fun” or “tongue in cheek” is just simply retarded. I’m sorry – but after reading this I am SURE that Loeb has completely lost it. What the hell happened to my favorite comic? Loeb can’t even keep continuity from issue to issue – for example; the last issue ended with the Hulk excited about battling the Red Hulk to the death – this issue begins with the Hulk saying he doesn’t want to fight him… wait, WHAT? That makes no sense! Loeb owes McGuinness a hug for keeping this series going as the art is freakin’ fantastic – but McG owes Loeb a punch in the face for making him draw his ridiculous plots – if you can call them that!
Wait... what the hell is Namor doing? Is that how he runs? How uncomfortable looking...
So, like I said, the story starts with the Grand Master (GM) informing us that each group of fighters have been split up and sent to an unfamiliar territory to duke it out to the death. Ummm… – what the hell was the point of gathering a whole team together just to split them up to fight? This is what I’m talking about – ridiculous! Whoever reads that and thinks “Cool!” needs to be hit in the head with a tack hammer. So, as I told you before, the Hulk tells the Red Hulk that he doesn’t want to fight him – instead they should team up and take on the GM. The Red Hulk calls the Hulk a “milksop” (another diversion into thinking who the Red Hulk is – are we now supposed to think he’s Ross? But the was there at the end of issue 6 looking down at the defeated Red Hulk! What the hell?) and says he’d never fight side to side with him. By the way, they are fighting in Namor’s kingdom.
Surfer fights Terrax – but the Surfer has no idea who he is fighting – he just wants to save the love of his life as they battle in the Microverse. Whatever, this fight is boring… moving on, Namor is fighting the Tiger Shark (who has a new dentist and has fitted him with brand new adamantium teeth!) in the dimension of the Mindless One. And, this is so beautifully illustrated! Especially the splash where TS takes a bite out of Namor’s neck!
Namor will have a hickey after this!
The Surfer and Baron Mordo fight on Surfer’s home planet. That’s all I have to say about that. Anyways, back to Hulk and Red Hulk – they continue to throw punches as Banner tries to convince Red to fight WITH him. The Hulk seems to be dominating the fight at this point. The GM and his brother the Collector are watching in dismay as each battle seems to be too evenly matched. They decide to spice things up a bit. So, Galactus, angered by his missing herald, demands to have the Surfer back or he will not only eat his planet but he will also travel to Strange’s and Mordo’s planet and eat those as well. TS and Namor have an unexpected guest as Dormammu demands that they take him back to their dimension so he can take over the Earth. If you don’t know who Dormammu is then you need to read more Defender comics… Alright, let’s not forget about Surfer and Terrax who is visited by the Psycho Man who is driving them insane.
Back at Namor’s kingdom we see that the Red Hulk has taken control of the fight with Banner. The Red Hulk takes a trident and skewers the Hulk with it. He announces “Mission Accomplished. The Hulk is Dead.” Can you imagine that IS it? I wouldn’t put it past Loeb to kill off my favorite character at this point.
Hulk is dead? I wish it was the Red Hulk... or Loeb...
Like I stated before, Loeb can’t write through an entire issue without contradicting himself. I started reading at 2:31pm and I was finished reading at 2:33pm – that’s even harder to swallow when the comic is now $3.99. Yeah, Marvel I noticed the price hike. Thanks for finding yet another way to screw us over… Oh yeah! Don’t forget about the amazingly innocuous “Wolverine” variant cover. That was sarcasm by the way. Grade: D-
When I went to the Boston Comic Con I checked out a lot of artists there. One of the more fun commissions I picked up was from a nice guy named Rob Reilly. His cartoony style captures the eye and fits really well with the Hulk. When I asked for a Hulk piece he said “No Problem”. I came back a little while later and he had the Hulk above ready for me. I LOVED it! His style is unique and impressive – so I went home and visited his website here and then quickyl contacted him about getting a whole slew of pieces, all of characters in the Hulk universe. So, I will show 5 in this post and then post the next 5 tomorrow:
Hulk Freakin' SMASH!
So, including the Hulk above, we have – Thunderbolt Ross:
Thunderbolt Madness!
The Abomination:
Biggity-BAM - Abomination!
Bruce Banner:
Bruce Banner
And Aquon, of course! Did you think I would forget about my favorite chacter?:
Ratchet's Hulk Collection 