An 'Incredible' 40 Years! Hulk-mania Part 1

In the spirit of complete anticipation for this Friday’s premier of The Incredible Hulk, directed by Louis Leterrier and featuring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, Liv Tyler as Betty Ross and William Hurt as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, I have decided to produce a series of posts on everyone’s favorite savage beast. Today I’m gonna take the time and go over some features of The Hulk’s origins, as well as give a brief overview of how the character has progressed in the Marvel Universe over the decades.

The Incredible Hulk #1 hit shelves in May of 1962, with its title star making his very first historical appearance, and was created by Marvel masterminds Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It told the tale of how Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, a scientist working on a project to create a gamma bomb, would save the life of a young boy and, in the process, become transformed into a rampaging giant green monster when the bomb exploded accidentally. Reverting to savage impulse, the misunderstood Hulk would wreak destruction wherever he went, causing him to become the target of police and military efforts, often lead by General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, in order to halt his destructive impulses. The only people able to calm the savage beast within the Hulk was Betty Ross (General Ross’ daughter) and Bruce Banner’s friend (and the boy whom he saved from the original gamma blast) Rick Jones. Rick Jones could be said to be The Hulks true sidekick.

The initial run of The Hulk was cancelled after a mere six issues. However, within a year The Hulk was re-instituted into the Marvel Universe, as a founding member of The Avengers. His run with The Avengers lasted their first two issues, where he then returned in issues 3 and 5 as an antagonist. You cannot truly ever control the savage beast. The Hulk’s run of comics began in earnest, introducing such villains as Abomination (who will be the primary focus for the villain in this Friday’s ‘The Incredible Hulk’ movie) and the Leader. By March 1966, issue #77, The Incredible Hulk became one of Marvel’s first heroes to have their alter ego publicly known in the Marvel Universe.

Over the years, primarily in the 1980’s and 1990’s, writers and artists of The Hulk began toying with reasons for The Hulk’s aggressive tendencies. In October 1984, during the series “His Crossroads of Eternity” (which ran from issues #300 - #313), the current writer in charge of the Hulk, Bill Mantlo, explored the idea that Banner had suffered child abuse when he was younger. This became a fully recognized element to help explain the motive behind the transformation of Dr. Banner into The Hulk. It was soon decided that Banner suffered dissociative identity disorder (DID), possibly stemming during his years of abuse when he was younger, which is very similar to a multiple personality disorder. This explains the different personalities of the Hulk over the years.

From a savage beast full of anger, to a ‘puny human’ doctor, to the Vegas enforcer Joe Fixit (or ‘Grey Hulk’), Bruce Banner held within him conflicting personalities. Finally, in January of 1991, issue #377, writer Peter David revamped the Hulk once again. This time, using hypnosis and the aid of one Dr. Samson, the pieces of Banner’s identities were able to become fused. A new Hulk with the vast power of the Savage Hulk, the cunning of Joe Fixit, and the intelligence of Bruce Banner; a vastly more dangerous Hulk.

The Hulk continued on, until finally, in 2006, a secret group of Marvel’s topmost heroes calling themselves the Illuminati and consisting of Dr. Strange, Professor Xavier, Sub Mariner, Black Bolt, Reed Richards and Iron Man, decided finally that the Hulk was an impending threat to humanity. With his new (and unknown to him) status as a potential risk to Earth, Hulk was sent on a mission into space where his spaceship malfunctioned, sending him crash-landing onto what was supposed to be an abandoned planet. However, due to a slight trajectory malfunction, Hulk instead landed on the planet of Sakaar. Here, with the help of a bit of muscle power, he usurps the throne of Sakaar from it’s tyrannical leader and reigns supreme over this world. However this was not to be, as the vessel he landed on explodes, destroying Sakaar’s capital as well as his wife and unborn child. With vengeance in his heart, Hulk returned to Earth to take his revenge on the Illuminati.

Once back on Earth, after causing panic amongst Earth’s people and amongst the heroes there, The Hulk was eventually subdued, and taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, much of his former anger abated. Only very recently has he escaped from imprisonment in order to fight new menaces.

The Hulk has taken on many changes since his original creation in the 60’s. He has gone through multiple style changes, personality changes and has even fought on both sides of the field. There are few other heroes on the Marvel Stage that have made as large of impacts onto regular continuity as The Hulk has. He has also had a very impressive list of film and television appearance. A TV series from 1978 – 1982, a movie entitled ‘The Incredible Hulk Returns’ (TV film) in 1988, ‘The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (TV film) in 1989, ‘The Death of the Incredible Hulk’ (TV Film) in 1990, a segment in ‘The Marvel Superheroes’ (an animated series) in 1966, a full animated series in 1982, and an updated animated series in 1996, a movie entitled ‘Hulk’ in 2003 (directed by Ang Lee) and now, on Friday, ‘The Incredible Hulk’.

Quite an impressive resume - we’ll see how this pans out!

‘C’ is for Comic Books - An Encyclopedia Blitz!

I think it started sometime in 2006. Yes, that’s when the Marvel Encyclopedia was published by DK Publishing. I have a handy copy of it right here, and as I flip through I can tell you that this is a pretty in-depth look at the Marvel universe and her characters. More than a thousand articles in here.

I’ll agree with a friend of mine and allow that Deadpool doesn’t get nearly the page space he deserves... still a very comprehensive look, however.

The Marvel Vault, published by Running Press, followed suit in 2007. The ‘Museum-In-A-Book’ did extremely well during the holiday season, and traced the history of Marvel from the Golden Age all the way to present day. Nearly 70 years of history and over 30 pieces of removable memorabilia – such as old trading cards, reprints, artwork, etc. – all in a book. Makes you feel like a kid again just by opening it and exploring the treasures inside.

This is why Running Press will be releasing ‘The DC Vault: A Museum-In-A-Book’ this October! Following the success of its predecessor, The Marvel Vault, Running Press has ordered a huge first printing of 100,000 copies of this new Vault collection. There will be tones of extras to be found in this vault, such as exact reproductions of early sketches, memos and even a working model of a 1942 Junior Justice Society of America Decoder!

How cool is that?!

Look for that one in stores in October for roughly $50.00!

DK Publishing won’t be missing the boat this holiday season
either, as they will be releasing a thoroughly informative collaboration to follow up on the Marvel Encyclopedia! DK’s The Vertigo Encyclopedia ($30.00) will be a 240-Page, full color hardcover edition will be out for the holidays and will most definitely be a top seller. In here you will find all of the primary Vertigo labels such as Hellblazer, The Sandman, Preacher, Swamp Thing, Fables, and Y: The Last Man. That’s not all, there will be tones of other articles on other Vertigo properties. Look to the shelves this holiday for this one to add to your collection!

But DK’s not done yet! With the success yet again of its Marvel Encyclopedia, DK is coming back with Marvel Chronicle (roughly $50.00)! It’s a 352-page, year-by-year accounting of the history of the Marvel Universe! From its early days all the way up to the recent events of Civil War and Secret Invasion! Along the way it will also note the key events of our time to coincide with what comic books were being published in those years. This book will be a great idea for those who wish to find out just how Marvel found themselves in the position they are today – how they and their characters built up so much steam to become the true marvels they are today.

So a bunch of encyclopedic knowledge about comic books will be out for the holidays this year. So throw away your Encyclopedia Britannica – there wasn’t much in those anyways – and make some shelf space for a whole new set of books containing all you need to know about the comic book titans of history!

Movie on tap for Witchblade

It looks like another comic is on the slate for movie production. Witchblade - a comic that's been around since 1995 and has become wildly successful around the world (it is now printed in over 20 languages), has been dished out for production via a partnership of Top Cow Productions, Arclight Films and Platinum Studios.

The Witchblade is a jewel encrusted gauntlet that, when wielded by someone worthy, forms a symbiotic relationship with it's host. Those unworthy, however, lose their arm.

The gauntlet itself is alien in origin, and is the offspring of the universes two opposing aspects: Light and Dark. The gauntlet is male, and in order to balance, it must have a female host. When wearing the Witchblade, it has a tendancy of ripping one's clothes off and surrounding it's host by expanding in size to protect her in a sort of armor - the amount of armor depending on the threat level of a foe.

So... to summarize... a very scantily clad woman kicking a lot of ass, wearing anywhere from huge amounts of armor to barely anything at all. Just wanted to make sure I got that...

The gauntlet itself has many many unique properties as well, including forming into different forms of weaponry. It also has the ability to heal wounds, even those that would certainly kill a person.

A two-year TNT cable network television program ran shortly after the release of a made-for-TV movie in 2000. This, however, will be the first silver screen appearance of the Witchblade.

It should be noted that the poster you see posted is merely a teaser poster released by the production companies. Casting has not yet been completed, so the woman you see there is simply a stand-in.

Iron Man vs. Batman

I know many others out there have already caught the eerie similarities between Iron Man and Batman. Alright, maybe not so eerie, however it is oddly coincidental for the top two grossing superhero movies this summer. Let me assure you, Batman: The Dark Knight WILL be a top grossing film this year. Sadly Hulk will have nothing on these two.

I mean let’s go over the facts, here.

Iron Man is a billionaire. Batman is a billionaire.

Iron Man is a playboy socialite. So is Batman.

Iron Man has Jarvis, his butler (though in the film they basically gave Pepper his role and made Jarvis into the AI in his suit and lab). Batman has Alfred, his butler.

Both don’t actually have superpowers. They merely… use their money and go traipsing around flaunting the fact they could become heroes because they were rich and had some time on their hands.

Iron Man lost his parents. Batman lost his parents.

Iron Man has his sidekick, War Machine. Batman has his sidekick, Robin. War Machine > Robin.

Iron Man has the Avengers. Batman has the Justice League.

The only thing Batman has that Iron Man does not is an extra 30 years and 4 more movies.

In total, Iron Man did 100.8 million dollars not including international sales. Indiana Jones nabbed 126.1 million dollars. How will the Batman sequel do in the box office? You can bet it will land somewhere in between. I doubt it will beat out the almost 3 decade’s worth of hype and anticipation of Indiana Jones, however it does have a lot of free advertising surrounding the death of Heath Ledger. My money down on 119 million, give or take 2 or 3 +/-.

A friend of mine showed this little clip to me a little while back. It’s basically everything I just talked about in the form of a PC vs. Mac commercial. Enjoy!

The Golden Avenger

What can I say about that movie? I know it’s been out for quite some time now, but I was in Mexico so now is the time to post my personal review. Marvel bet the bank on this production, and it marked the first Marvel superhero movie to be completely controlled and produced by them. Literally they put their own intellectual property on the line if the movie went south.

They needed to make this movie all that it could be. They certainly succeeded.

The script was nothing less than phenomenal. It was quick, it was witty, it was funny yet not childish and it was serious when it needed to be. I’ve realized, though, that any script given to Mr. Downey Junior automatically becomes excellent merely through how he reads his lines. To say that Robert Downey Jr. was destined for this role as Mr. Tony Stark… would be quite accurate. The cosmos MEANT for him to play this role, and he did it justice.

Then we had quite a few supporting actors/actresses who also did their part to make this movie great. I was very skeptical about Gwyneth Paltrow playing Stark’s secretary, Pepper Potts. Although I am sure I am right when I say that she was chosen simply to drag in Paltrow fans who would not normally see a superhero movie (above many other more qualified actresses who would have fit the role, I digress), I found I actually enjoyed her in the role. She did good, though a few of my friends would say different.

Is it just me, guys out there, or did she look smoking hot for a good chunk of that movie? I’ve never thought that way of her before…

Terrence Howard held the role of Rhodes, and I found his voice a bit too… soft. I looked past it. He’s going to be awesome in the next film anyways as War Machine. Jeff Bridges did very well as Tony Stark’s corporate partner-turned-bad guy. I like that dude’s voice. Very intimidating.

I didn’t go into Iron Man with extremely high expectations, because my heart might have shattered if one of my favorite superheroes was destroyed much as Spider-Man was. I came out of that theatre brimming with new hope for ALL of the upcoming Marvel-made superhero movies.

And now for a couple of ***SPOILERS***, to round this off.

I’m sure many others caught the allusions toward the Mandarin’s rings? Because that terrorist group was one of (I’m assuming) 10 groups calling themselves ‘The Ten Rings’. Raza (the leader of the group that captured Tony) would always be casually stroking the ring on his right hand ring finger – a massive red stone.

Alright folks, time to geek it up a notch. Bonus points if anyone can remember what that ring was supposed to be able to do…

It was a ‘Disintegration Beam’ ring. It has the power to literally destroy the links between atoms of anything it hits, at a recharge time of 20 minutes. Powerful stuff! Perhaps we’ll be seeing more of the 10 rings terrorist groups in the upcoming Iron Man 2, as well as The Mandarin, who in the comics gathered all 10 rings to control ultimate power and summon the dreaded dragon, Fin Fang Foom!

And that scene after the credits? Marvel Entertainment is definitely pushing their comic book genius. Tying together movies as they would comics… You can bet that Mr. Samuel L. Jackson will most likely make an appearance in the Incredible Hulk movie later this summer, recruiting yet one more member to the Avenger Initiative.

Who here plays Hero Clix?

I'm a personal fan of the Marvel series of HeroClix, though WizKids produces three separate 'Clix' lines: DC, Marvel and Indy. I've been playing for a few years now, and when a new series comes out a friend of mine and myself find our ways back to the old comic shop to purchase a brick - to later sort through them meticulously and select our new team members draft-style. Marvel Comics and WizKids have announced a new collaboration for the upcoming release of the newest Marvel series of HeroClix: Secret Invasion.

The Secret Invasion themed release will, of course, primarily focus on the recent events occurring in the Marvel Universe, where not long ago we discovered that Skrulls may have been infiltrating our world for a long time now. Skrulls, of course, have the technology and ability to assume the shape of other beings, and have used this ability to wreak havoc amongst earth's heroes. No one can trust each other as the struggle to protect Earth's inhabitants is waged amongst the heroes of our planet.

In a push to expose customers in game stores to the comic book world, Marvel and WizKids have teamed up to produce cross-promotional material and packaging for this new set. The displays for the sale of HeroClix boosters will also sell pamphlet comics to coincide with this new release.

The thing I'm wondering about is what the exclusive figure will be with purchases of a brick, because I already know that most of the figures in this series will be crazy strong as it is!

The Triumphant Return of Earthworm Jim

You may have already heard this, but the magnificent Earthworm Jim looks to be suiting up once again. Interplay Entertainment Corporation has announced a partnership with MR. Doug TenAppel. Doug TenAppel created the popular character for a video game in 1994, and it went on to become a massive success with 3 video games and a fun-filled animated series with 23 episodes in 1995 and 1996.

The story revolves around an earthworm who, unexpectedly, has a super suit fall on him one day. The suit enabled him to become the inter-galactical crime-fighter (kinda) feared by villains everywhere. With such memorable baddies as Evil the Cat and Professor Monkey-For-A-Head, Jim had his work cut out for him.

I personally remember drawing Earthworm Jim portraits on half the papers in my binder in elementary school. You can bet I'm pretty excited for what's to come from Jim's galaxy. Look to the future to bring a new animated television series, a new video game and even a feature film!

Stan Lee and Virgin Comics Ultimate Team-Up!

Mr. Stan 'The Man' Lee has opted to form a partnership with the guys over at Virgin Comics! Their mission? To create a new universe of superheroes, unlinked to anything out there in the market. Stan has, in his time, created or had a hand in creating some of, if not THE most, memorable characters in comics history. Spider-man, the Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man... all of these and many many more fall under Stan's imagination.

"What a dream assignment!" enthused the always-ebullient Lee. "I can't wait to start pitting my newest, most exciting superheroes against comicdom's most powerful, diabolical super villains and then have the fun of tossing them into far-out, thrill-a-minute adventures to challenge the readers' imagination! And who better to share in the fun, creating wondrous new worlds without limit, than the incredibly talented and dedicated guys at Virgin Comics!"

Hold onto your hats, everyone, this is gonna be one hell of a thrill ride.

The comic series is due out sometime in 2009, so look forward to seeing more and more news about the project in the months to come! Our friends at Comixology has more to say on the matter, so head on over at this link here!

Create Your Very Own Hero!

Allow me to introduce you to Captain Awesome! He's really awesome! What are his powers you ask? His powers are AWESOME! However I have not yet decided what his powers are!

He does, however, have swords and brass knuckles. And a utility belt.

You are now completely baffled I see, yet - by reading the title - by now you no doubt surmise the topic of this post. Yes, I did create this fancy little hero. All the detail you see here, all the stunning equipment features, the colors, everything was done in a completely painless and extremely addictive process.

This fine character was brought to you by the good people of Under Ground Online. Besides many other cool time-busters on their site, they have a hero creator. Whether you play Dungeons and Dragons or just wish to create a visual guide of some of your favorite characters from books, etc., the Hero Machine V2.5 is the way to go! In relatively no time at all I have created over 10 characters. And I still want to make more.

The program is flash driven and requires no downloading for the program (It's all online), short of the latest version of flash! It also features an easy print feature so you can show off your creation to your friends, and be the envy of all your questing buddies when the DM gives you bonus experience for that really swanky character portrait!

So get out there and create for yourself the superhero you've always wanted to be! Be imaginative! Goliath!? commands it!