Recently in Hulk Category

Every comics company loves to give their heroes a new look from time to time.  During the Shooter-era of the 1980s, the Marvel heroes were re-designed with new looks and costumes.

Spider-Man: Black costume from Secret Wars, sans the symbiote.

Iron Man: Tony Stark designed this red and silver armor in Iron Man #200.

Hulk: Grey Hulk from Peter David’s tenure on the series.

Thor: Walt Simonson designed this new battle armor and let the Thunder God grow a beard.

Captain America: Steve Rogers put on this costume and became a free agent for a while.  Later on, US Agent wore this costume whenever a team needed a third-rate Captain America—like the current Mighty Avengers series.

Were these Marvel makeovers as bad as shoulder pads and mullets?  I liked the Grey Hulk the best out of this lineup.  Nuff Said!

What is Alan Davis' relationship to the upcoming Fall of the Hulks mini-event from Marvel?  Nothing direct, unless you count this item.

By now you've probably seen this promotional image by Ed McGuinness, showing all the various Hulks (I like to think of them as The Hulk Family) scattered about a barren landscape, utterly devastated by some unknown conflict.

McGuinness was paying a tribute 1988 poster by Alan Davis, which advertised "The Fall of the Mutants",  This event ran during the summer through X-Men, X-Factor, and New Mutants.  If you compare the two, you'll see a lot of similarities between the positioning of the foreground characters. 

Update:  I just found original black and white version of this drawing...

Nuff said!

Jim Starlin did a lot of work during the first year of Rampaging Hulk magazine, featuring work with Alex Nino and with Steve Gerber's Man-Thing.  He also painted a couple of covers which are really cool.

Rampaging Hulk #5 features the Hulk's on-again off-again ally, the Sub-Mariner, who never looked more regal than in this depiction by Starlin.  Ya gotta love the nasty expression on the Hulk's face as he looks upon Namor.  Unfortunately, Starlin did not draw the story inside.

Bonus:  here's a Marvel advertisement for this issue that appeared in other black and white magazines!

Starlin's third Hulk cover painting appeared on issue #7.  I like it the least of the three, perhaps because the Hulk isn't facing the viewer as in the other covers.  Nuff said.

While I've taken shots at some issues of Rampaging Hulk magazine, if there is any one issue that you must have in your collection--surely it is issue #4.

This beautiful cover painting by Jim Starlin is your first indication that it is very special.  The Hulk, held captive on a mystical cross, while a skeleton head spews magic in the foreground.  Starlin not only did the cover, but plotted and penciled the lead story inside.  Was it inked by Al Milgrom?  Steve Leialoha?  I say thee nay, true believers!

Alex Nino was the inker for this story.  I never would have thought that Nino's inks over Starlin would work, but the combination of the two was wonderful.  You can tell that the poses and faces are essentially Starlin, but the details and the world belong to Nino.  Look at this opening splash page.  That Hulk is unmistakably a Starlin Hulk through a Nino prism.  It's like...Starlin on acid.  As if he wasn't already cosmically aware!

In the story, a wizard named Chen K'an transports the Hulk to his world, which has been overrun by demon hordes.  He needs the Hulk attain a mystical object of power called the Star of Catalax, but he finds the "Hulk smash" persona quite irritating.  Chen K'an attempts to merge this personality along with Banner's, and winds up with a wise guy "Mr. Big" Grey Hulk persona.  Years before the Peter David arc in Las Vegas, it's great fun as you see this Hulk battle demon hordes.

Starlin's layouts provided the perfect avenue for Nino to showcase his style.  Take a look at this double page spread where the Hulk and Chen K'an fight the second wave of demons.

As far as I recall, this was Alex Nino's only collaboration with a notable Marvel artist?  Check out Man-Gods From Beyond the Stars if you want more Nino.  Nuff said.

Walter Simonson hooked me as a fan for life after I read Manhunter in those terrific super-giant 100 page Detective Comics back in the 1970s.  I followed him wherever he went afterwards.  He did a Doctor Fate special, a few issues of a Metal Men revival, and later some Star Wars stories at Marvel.

I was primed for Simonson to draw a major Marvel character.  Finally in 1977, I saw this ad for a new black and white magazine titled The Rampaging Hulk.  Simonson drew this fantastic pinup featuring the Hulk in action.  It was just plain cool.  The Hulk’s face really looks monstrous, a throwback to his early days, instead of the friendly jade jawed giant that was appearing in other Marvel titles.  I love Simonson’s lines that add shadow and depth to his drawings, and I really relished the opportunity to see a full Simonson story printed in black and white.

I dared to hope that Simonson would draw the Rampaging Hulk’s lead feature.  And indeed, he would, but when I bought the first issue and flipped to the splash page, it looked like this.

It is Simonson…inked by Alfredo Alcala.  I couldn’t fathom why the editor of this magazine (John Warner) picked Alcala as the inker.  If I had been the editor, I would have tried to snap up Terry Austin or Bob Wiacek for the job.  Had they not been available, I could think of a half dozen other inkers.  Alcala’s ink washes totally dominated Simonson’s work on this series—pretty much eradicating the artist’s original style.  You can still see elements of Simonson underneath: The Hulk’s flat Frankenstein style head, the pose of his body coming at the reader, and the spaceships flying in formation in the background.

I’ve never been a big Alcala fan anyway.  I always cringed whenever he worked on Tales of the Zombie and other Marvel magazines.

I remember thinking this was all a mistake made to meet a rushed deadline, and that by issue 2, Marvel would find a better inker.  Nope, there was Alcala in the second issue and the third one as well.  Simonson moved on after issue 3 and Keith Pollard took over.

To be fair, we can’t know how tight Simonson’s original pencils were to begin with.  I think I recall reading somewhere that he drew layouts. I will always look back at this as a tragically missed opportunity.  Nuff said.

I've been leaning towards the theory that the Red Hulk is none other than the Clay Quartermain.  After reading the latest Hulk #14, I'm absolutely certain that Rulk is the S.H.I.E.L.D.  agent--who appears to be seemingly dead!  Let me present my case to you, fellow Marvelites.

1.  Clay Quartermain has a history as Hulk supporting character with intimate knowledge of Bruce Banner.  He first appeared way back in Hulk 187 (1975) when Nick Fury assigned him to work with General T-Bolt Ross as SHIELD liaison.  I never really cared for Quartermain--he smiled like Dudley Do-Right all the time in these early appearances.  And he was far too handsome.  I'm sure later appearances tried to make him more realistic.  However, if Jeff Loeb is going to transform a former Hulk cast member into Rulk--no one is going to cry over Quartermain switching from good guy to bad guy.

2.  Quartermain makes a brief appearance in Hulk #2, alongside T-Bolt Ross in the helicarrier.  We're not supposed to think anything of it--Quartermain worked with Ross many times before on Hulk related matters.  Only this isn't really Quartermain, it's a fake, possibly an LMD (Life Model Decoy) that no one can detect.  The real Quartermain can't be seen at this point, because he has gamma irradiated green hair.

3.  Rulk's attack on the SHIELD helicarrier, also in Hulk #2.  How did a freaking red giant monster sneak onto the helicarrier undetected?  SHIELD security can be pretty loose, but even the dumbest agents would notice the Rulk getting off a carrier plane.

4.  It's very simple--Quartermain put on Samson's jacket as a disguise while in human form, and snuck around the helicarrier.  Quartermain has green hair now, and from a distance, he might resemble Samson.  He transformed into Rulk and attacked Iron Man and She-Hulk.  His intimate knowledge of the helicarrier allowed him to sneak through the helicarrier's passageways.

5.  Quartermain's corpse is discovered in Hulk #4.  As I said, this is an LMD and not the real dude.  Somehow, SHIELD can't detect that it's an LMD.  This is a red herring to throw you off track--but if you remember Batman: Hush, Jeff Loeb used this trick before.  Halfway through the story, it appears that the Joker has killed Tommy Elliott.  Tommy can't be Hush, right, because he's dead?  Wrong.  Same deal with Quartermain.  Loeb has said all the clues were in the first six issues of the new Hulk series that lead to Rulk's identity. 

6.  In Hulk #14, we learn that Rulk can shift back into human form, just like Jen Walters--it's under his control.  Domino sees a glimpse of Rulk through her sniper scope.  We see the square-jawed shape of his head, crew cut hair that is tinged with green.  It could be Sampson, but that is just another red herring.  Sampson is involved in this scheme somehow, but he ain't Red Hulk.  Compare the shape of the head to Quartermain's picture in Hulk #2.  It's the same guy.

7.  The Rulk's first person narration in Hulk #14 really makes this case concrete.  He talks about the USA going downhill, SHIELD collapsing, and Captain America's death.  When Rulk encounters Deadpool, he immediately recognizes the "freshman S.H.I.E.L.D. LMD's" that Deadpool is using for sparring practice.  All of this adds up to the fact that Rulk was former SHIELD agent Clay Quartermain.

I rest my case.  I've seen other fans on the internet point out other clues to Quartermain as well.  I'll have to eat my words if this turns out not to be true.  If it is true, I think the bigger mystery is with Ross and Sampson's involvement.  Nuff said.

The Cup of Joe panel at San Diego Comic Con 2009 has started off with a bang!  What’s next after the identity of the Red Hulk is revealed in Hulk #600?

Red She-Hulk!  This is the cover to Hulk #16.

In Hulk #17, it’s Red She-Hulk versus Dark Wolverine.  Cowabunga!

Bruce Banner won’t be able to turn into the Hulk for a while.  There will be Red Hulks all over the place, as well as Skaar.  Time for another World War of the Hulks!  Let’s see what happens.  Love this Red Hulk cover by John Romita Jr.  Nuff said.

Update: Here’s an interview that Jonah Weiland did at CBR TV with Jeph Loeb.  They cover the new status quo in the Hulk books and the plan that was cooked up with Greg Pak.

In California, we have earthquake insurance.  In Hawaii and Florida, residents can buy hurricane insurance.  What type of protection does a homeowner really need in the Marvel Universe? 

Hulk insurance!

Great faux insurance ad, drawn by Dale Keown during his merged Hulk period, from the 1992 Marvel Swimsuit special.  The Hulk from this period of time was always one of my favorite versions of the character, and only Keown could draw that wicked look on his face.  Nuff said.