Here we have another Toon Tumbler – the second Hulk one, in fact! How great is that? This company knows the characters that sell – because look at this bad boy! The classic Buscema illustration – this time they picked a better picture than they did the last time. Not that the last one was terrible – it was just a little strange to choose an image that was hard to make out Hulk’s whole face. But this one is classic Hulk – in fact I would say one of the most classic images of all time! I found this one – first – at a comic shop in Worcester, MA. Since I first found it almost 3 or 4 months ago, I think, I have seen it popping up everywhere. I hope they continue this line to the point we start seeing Hulk’s enemies!
These really are beautiful books. I swear, I don’t know these people who read comics on line, because I hate reading anything off of a computer screen – except my blog, that thing is just plain awesome! Anyways, the newer books aren’t ever really going to be worth diddly but the silver-age books are not only hard to come by but will be worth more and more over the years. My point is – you don’t want to ruin those books. Try to keep them in the condition they are in – because you know what their enemy is? Air. That’s right, air makes these books deteriorate. The same thing that keeps you alive and supplies your entire body with an essential element is killing your books! Damn air! And light! Keep your books out of the light as well – and heat! these suckers are worst than having children! Anyways, that’s why books like these are so great – now you can read the classics without damaging your precious books.
I have an affinity for a certain color and sculpt of my Hulk items. Sometimes, just sometimes, a Hulk sculpt lends itself to both colors very well. I have the grey version of this bust – I love it so much I made it a personal quest to acquire the green version. Funny enough… the green isn’t as easy to come by. I found the grey and got it for a present and then set out to get this one. Every time I found one or one popped up on ebay it quickly climbed to a price that I wasn’t comfortable paying.
Back
Then this auction came up. Funny enough it had a unique twist to it. It seems that the owner of this bust took it to get it signed by Herb Trimpe. Not the bust itself, mind you, just the box… Why would someone get just the box signed? Boxes are always nice to have, sure, but usually you put them away in your attic or your basement, but the point is… it’s not something you display… so… why? Here’s a shot:
Herb Trimpe Signature
So, yeah – Trimpe signed the box. That’s awesome. I guess. I could really care less because now the box is in my attic where no one sees it. The bust, however, is displayed right next to it’s grey partner. Notice the green version has the book turned upside-down. That’s because the green Hulk is actually stalking a girl across the room and trying to hide behind the book – but he’s not good with details. The girl is totally going to look over and see the him. She’s going to be like “Oh my God! Is that the f@*$in’ Hulk? I totally have a restraining order against him!” Hulk’s busted.
Close Up - look at the Book!
Actually, I love this bust. It’s so great – I am psyched to have both versions of this beautiful sculpture. Dynamic Forces hit it out of the park with this one. DF didn’t always have the best product (What? Abomination bust anyone? People have a real hate for that bust. I’m just saying…)
So here is the first of 3 movie Hulk Regener8r’s. This is a great one with the Hulk face being the top of the car. For some reason it reminds me of Carrot Top – the comedian – and don’t ask why because I have no idea. Maybe it’s the teeth. So, you’re probably thinking… Hey! Have I seen this car before? And the answer is yes. Yes you have. The original Regener8r’s was this exact car – except they added a Hulk movie image to where it says The Incredible Hulk. And yes, that is the ONLY difference to this toy. Almost not even worth picking up. But I did anyways…
While picking up a couple pages from the new series I picked up both pages 20 and 21 – this page features the Red Hulk tossing the green Hulk off the bridge. If anything – Mcguinness can make a page gorgeous. The three long panels on the page – each of them span the entire length of the page – the first has the Rulk pushing Hulk off the bridge – the second has the green Hulk tumbling down practically through the bridge – and the last panel has the Rulk celebrating “King Kong” at the top. We all know what came next of course… Thor shows up. I have been thinking that I should’ve gotten one of those pages instead – but hey, I want them all.
Rulk Kong!
UPDATE: So, I sold this page in April of 2010 – for a really nice chunk of change – much more than I paid for it – and it will be going toward a great page from an artist I don’t have! In fact, the only McG page I kept was the page before this one – Page #20.
I was given this watch by the guy who sold me his Hulk kit. It’s pretty sweet – except the band. No one’s into fake alligator, are they? I will replace the band with one worthy of a Hulk watch. I’ve seen a few Hulk watches that interest me – but usually when I have one of something I don’t feel the need to get another. That doesn’t always apply of course, but I was looking at purchasing the 1976 Hulk watch that I’ve seen a few times pop up on ebay. But now that I was given this little bad boy – I think I’m all set with getting another Hulk watch… oh, well there is this watch I found…
Digital Hulk Watch
But this was a simple kids watch I found at a Kaybee toy store. But, when I was purchasing the movie Regener8er’s (which I have not got around to posting – sorry – this may be the push I need to start posting some of them next week) I walked up to the cashier and these little bad boys were sitting on the counter… how could I say no?
Chris Giarrusso is the artist that draws the Marvel Mini cartoons at the end of most of the Marvel Comics. They are usually quick, funny mini-stories that sum up what has happened in the Marvel Universe. I met Chris at the NY Comic-Con – he was in pretty high demand as his sketches are great – he was a gracious artist who seemed to like what he does. I am in the mood for vs. pieces lately – so I asked Chris for a Leader vs. Hulk – which was only an issue because he’s never drawn the Leader before. He asked for reference material and I went with the modern Leader because I already had another artist doing a classic Leader commission (I will post that one soon) and I think the modern Leader fits in well with the Marvel Mini style.
This is also the cover to Incredible Hulk #377 – the comic that has the first appearence of the merged Hulk. The cover is better than #379 which shows the Hulk’s face – people love that cover, but this one is freakin’ sweet! I bought this shirt at a comic shop… somewhere. It was a while ago. I can’t remember – so sue me – but it was a choice between getting this shirt or one of the Red Hulk. Exactly, there was no choice – obviously the only reason to get a Red Hulk shirt is to burn it.
My wife came home with this framed poster for me. She got a call from her friend that Blockbuster had one of these – so she went and bought it – isn’t that sweet? Not only that she bought it but also that her friends all know I collect the Hulk and let her know if they see something. And to tell you the truth – this is not something I would purchase myself. It’s nice – don’t get me wrong – it’s printed on a thick canvas and textured to look like it was painted – but it’s not something I would have bothered picking up myself. So the fact that she got it for me makes it that much better – because without her I would never own this!
When, oh when, can we expect a Hulk story NOT written by Loeb. I don’t know too much about the Ultimate Hulk – how he differs from the Hulk in the regular universe – but in the Ultimate Human mini-series the Hulk was completely badass! Everything that they threw at him he handled and more! So, Loeb takes over and… well the Hulk gets beaten up.
So we begin with Zarda beating the heck out of four super soldiers who were holding hostages for ransom. Cap intervenes and saves the life of one of them telling Zarda that the Ultimates don’t take the life of anyone – including villains. Zarda didn’t think that human lives were worth anything. Cap tells her to take a trip and live life a little – wait… wasn’t that the plot of Coming to America? Anyways, Zarda takes off and we join her in a diner as she eats dinner.
Before we continue – I have to tell you that the first 9 pages were drawn by McGuinness – the rest of the book was drawn by Marko Djurdjevic. While both artists are incredible and really make the book worthwhile, I always find it distracting when more than one artist draws a book. Here it’s not too bad – it’s almost as if the book is split in two anyways.
So, finally, the Hulk shows up in this book. The Hulk annual and the Hulk doesn’t show up until half way through it. But now that he does he’s looking to eat something at the same diner Zarda is at. The only issue is… he’s naked. They refuse him service. Of course they do. Hulk gets mad and starts to smash. This is when Zarda gets involved. She battles the Hulk – but more like hands him his a$$ – then drags him to a Big and Tall Men’s shop and buys him pants. They go back to the restaurant and eat – then, for some odd reason, Zarda asks the Hulk if there’s anything else he’d like to do… then they go to a motel and do it. Yup – they do it. And I mean the naughty it.
This story, unfortunately, is a waste of space and time. Was it entertaining? Yes…? Just slightly. Still not a great Hulk story – I’m thinking Loeb doesn’t even LIKE the Hulk character. Look what he has done to him! This story gets a D
Let’s start the year off with a HUGE Hulk bang! How about original art from McGuinness?
It’s the truth – the horrible horrible truth… even though the story is crap – the art is AMAZING! So how can you pass up picking up original art from the new series? Especially when there was a great sale on it. Take a look at this page here. You might remember this scene – the green Hulk bites right through the gun that the Rulk is threatening him with. Then he knees the nemesis in the nether regions. Great stuff – this is the scene right before Thor shows up – actually there is another page – which I have! Which I will show a little later… stay tuned in!
My friend and I remember going to Comic Cons a few years back. McGuinness was always sitting by himself without a crowd. Who knew? Then came his run on Superman – all of a sudden you couldn’t get anywhere near him! That goes to show you – try to search out the new talent – the undiscovered masters. Having art from the masters is always exciting – well could you imagine getting art from George Perez or John Byrne BEFORE they blew up?
Here’s to a new Hulk Year! With plenty of surprises to come this year! I have a lot more art and a few fun Hulk items to show. With a pretty dry year though… no new Hulk figures or toys on the horizon – just the Bowen statues and SS’s Planet Hulk dio – we will see what ’09 will bring!
Back in the late 70’s View Master ruled the children’s entertainment world. Before there was Nintendo – there was the View Master! Take a disc, slide it into the top and pull the little arm on the side – and wheeeee! – you’re off into a magical world of still pictures that repeat after the 8th or 9th picture… Well, understandably, View Master had to up the ante – and up it they did! They invented the TALKING View Master! Slip the disc into the top, there’s also a small record type thing attached to the disc – and as you look at the tiny still pictures you can also hear a story that goes along with it! But not regular old pictures – 3D pictures! – but not real 3D pictures, just ones that look 3D. These sets had 3 discs and came with a little booklet. The booklet has a small story – Herb Trimpe images – and tells you how to hear the rest of the story. Man, the 70’s had the greatest toys ever! EVER!
The Whole Set!
No post tomorrow – have a good New Year! See you in 2009! Man, I can’t wait for Bowen’s 2009 run!
Tom Palmer. The name alone means so much to Marvel fans. Don’t believe me? Check out this list of Greatest Inkers of American Comic Books. That’s right. Also, I have one of the classiest and best friends ever. Tom Palmer frequents Zapp Comics in N.J. where my friend, Corry, works. Corry asked for a sketch of the Hulk to be done for a Christmas present. Tom Palmer did so much more.
Close-Up
This is a full, beautiful, inked piece by an absolute master. Look at the detail in this piece that screams classic Marvel. Everything about this piece makes me giddy. I would have never acquired such an amazing piece had it not be for my friend – so thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have collected a lot of art at this point – but this one, even signed to me, is my favorite. Check out this other blog if you want to see just how revered Tom Palmer is in the industry.
Ratchet's Hulk Collection 