punchout part 1

drive-by readings

Incredible Hulk #611 (Marvel) "Sons of Wrath" Greg Pak Paul Pelletier Danny Miki Frank D'Armata Simon Bowland John Romita Jr/Klaus Janson/Dean White (cover) Dale Keown (variant cover)

what we learned: monsters have hearts after all. after almost laying waste to Washington DC and Ocean City, MD (wassup, OC???), Hulk and Skaar finally come to terms and accept their past, and perhaps forge a future. am still weirded out by Banner or Hulk not aware of each other, but the days of dumb Hulk are long gone (save in Marvel Super Hero Squad), so the smart Hulk should not be constrained from Banner anymore eh? for this Heroic Age, let's have one freakin' smart Hulk/Banner and be a positive force in the MU in the foreseeable future.
oh shit moment: Banner hugs Skaar, and we can finally close the book on loose cannons. hopefully.
what's next: Hulk takes Skaar to Disney World!!!


and the snot. don't forget to wipe off the snot.

snaps: Incredible Hulk #610

... where Bruce Banner saves the world again, right before he destroys it. peace will never be in his vocabulary. also, goodbye, Leo?



oh, isn't that father-daughter thing creepy?


Amadeus Cho vs Modok for Biggest Egghead of 2010!!!



always the same mistake: too many dramatics, not enough action. boooooooo!!!


yes, you can also buy it in the Apple App Store for $4.99.


oh, now you want to do something worthwhile??

clothes make the man

or lack of it. hey, does everyone in the Marvel U have stretch costumes these days? for that 0.09% chance that the Leader can turn anyone of them into Hulks??

for War Machine, i guess he needs to have Tony modify the armor that so it can sort of stretch. wait, isn't he like a cyborg?

snaps: Hercules - Fall of an Avenger

... where Herc's old pals in the Avengers, the Champions, and the Lady Friends of the Prince of Power gather to mourn him. tales are told, glasses are raised, and tears are shed. but what we really want to know is, what the hell is the Elven Tickler??

look! Wolverine's drinking invisible mead!!


ok, that was Northstar right? but on the cover, it shows Pietro?


hey, hey, hey, who's the Asian around here?!? Amadeus, he's mocking you!


dammit, show us the Elven Tickler!!!


Amadeus has a message for the six people ahead of him on the World's Smartest List.

snaps: Incredible Hulk #606

... where i find myself confused as to what the Fall of the Hulks is all about. well, if it ends up reducing the Hulk population to 1, then that's fine. as much as i liked Planet Hulk and World War Hulk, they begat crazy shit that Peter David would cringe at. we wouldn't get any answers anytime soon anyway (unless you troll the message boards), so let's just make fun of this as we go along. Jeph Loeb contributes to this thing, so draw your own conclusions.

New Yorkers already forgot what the Hulk did a couple of years ago.


how do they get Old Power anyway? Sakaar sends a weekly supply via FedEx?


Dr. Doom is a difficult music teacher to work under.


i guess Skaar doesn't like talking to the hand.


in the last couple of months, Doom has been humiliated by Norman Osborn, the Black Panthers, and now Bruce Banner and the Leader. a dumb ray? even Reed Richards didn't think of that.


"ummmm ... Douchebag!"


we know Jennifer was a snot-nosed kid back then, but this is just ridiculous.

snaps: War Machine #12

... where once again we close the book on Deathlok Cyborg War Machine, and he commits the most stupid thing since Clint Barton failed to kill Norman Osborn.

1) haven't you heard? his favorite album is Control. duh.


2) you know as well as i do that parental abuse may create supervillains in the future.


3) who's paying their salaries again? the Maria Stark Foundation?



4) just to let you know ... Rhodes' 'cloned body' is actually Obama's.


5) yes, Jim Rhodes, you ARE a moron. you're no better than this idiot.



instead of fixing this situation right here and now, Rhodes leaves it to the Big Three to clean up. wheeeeee!

Amadeus Cho also has taste

... too bad the spinster Athena has to be a wet blanket.




the Greg Pak/Fred Van Lente home run derby continues.

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Assault on New Olympus #1

two leaps forward, one leap back

drive-by readings

Dark Reign - The List: Hulk one shot (Marvel) Greg Pak Ben Oliver Veronica Gandini Simon Bowland

now we get to Norman Osborn's "neutralize Bruce Banner" item on his list. how does he fare this time? oooohhh looks like he won, kiddies. he thinks he's taking Banner off the board by (eventually) reverting him back to Hulk, and get whacked by his own son, Skaar. but the price of that may be unleashing the Hulk again, not just on the world, but on Osborn himself (that is, if Clint Barton doesn't get Osborn first. oh wait - that never happened).

Bruce walking around with Skaar kinda reminds me of the Banner/Hulk representation in Earth X (or the current Hercules/Amadeus Cho team up). and he's walking around with personal force fields, uber-hacker class PDAs, pocket teleporters, and "Bannertech nanoparticulates" (since when did he have his own brand?). even Nick Fury wasn't this hooked up! a year ago he was wrecking NYC, and now he's like Bill Gates crossed with Wil Wheaton with a weapon of mass destruction.

also to reference other books, in Hulk #602-603, Bruce hangs out with Skaar in the hopes of getting him straightened out, and at the same time get him some combat practice (like he needs it!). so when Skaar pops the Juggernaut into space, this necessitates a visit by the ol' Canucklehead, whom Skaar promptly slaps around. Bruce sets up a meeting with Daken and both sides get bruised and battered in the process and nothing seems to have been fixed on either side (both sons still want to kill their fathers at some point - such adorable children!). then in Wolverine Origins #41, Banner (working as night watchman - hah!!) crosses paths with Wolverine (again) in his quest to one-up Romulus. and it seems like Skaar doesn't even remember a single thing about Wolverine. somebody get their stories straight, as these books were all released right about the same time.

and now Victoria Hand is becoming a combat specialist too? what in the world?

drive-by readings: Incredible Hercules #133

Incredible Hercules #133 (Marvel) "Road of Trials" Fred Van Lente Greg Pak Rodney Buchemi Emily Warren Simon Bowland Rafael Albuquerque (cover) Salva Espin (variant frame cover)

Greg Pak unites with Fred Van Lente to continue chronicling the Hulk's supporting characters (Herc would kinda take offense to that), and they probably should have called this The Incredible Amadeus Cho, as Herc does not exactly make an appearance (owing to the fallout they had last issue). there is a reason that the Choster (hey, i didn't make that up) is only the 7th smartest person on Earth - the one above him (the tastefully-named Pythagoras Dupree) has him in his sights. but if he succeeds then the eight smartest person would move up the chain, no? anyway, not sure how this Dupree can back up his words because he only looks marginally better than Stephen Hawking. but he may have something to do with the murder of Cho's parents or the disappearance of his sister Marie Curie Cho (at this rate, i should start calling myself Galileo Timberlake). hmmmm. what would Herc do? yes, ask you to pull his finger.

drive-by readings: Skaar Son of Hulk #12

Skaar Son of Hulk #12 (Marvel) "Skaar: Son of Hulk" Greg Pak Ron Lim Greg Adams Elizabeth Breitweiser Jeremy Eliopoulos Ed McGuinness (cover)

booted out of his own book, i barely kept up where the hell the real green Hulk was. there was a Red Hulk (Rulk) running around and they fought a couple of times. then there was Skaar, his child with Caiera, now artificially-grown to manhood and ready to take on his dad. ho-hum. well, do you expect anything less than earth-shaking fistfights? of course not. maybe this could be World War SkaRulk! where is Norman Osborn in all of this? shouldn't he be laying the law down on these two?

maybe Hulk #600-601 would renew interest in the character, as the unbeatable partnership of Hercules and Amadeus Cho trumped their old pal on the popularity scale.

"and for my next trick ..."

"... I will become The Sentry." so announced Hercules today, continuing his Powerhouse Impersonation Tour, after usurping the Incredible Hulk title (to rave reviews, natch!) and now aping Thor. [via Mayjah Spoilers]

Gods get dumped too.

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Incredible Hercules #125

pick me ups

wandering through a bookstore chain the other day, i left it with these in hand. yes, apparently, no matter how hard i avoid the regular comicbook shops, i am not safe from plunking money for these babies. dammit.

seriously, how can you go wrong with these? World War Hulk was a far better slambang actionfest than Michael Bay's Transformers, and equally mindless. wait, not really. there was a point to all that fists flying. it was the perfect excuse to destroy New York for the nth time, and since the Hulk didn't get to pick a side in Civil War, hell, let's have everyone take on him.

then we have the much-hyped (and deservedly so), JLA/Avengers, the crossover that everyone was waiting for their whole childhood. if anything, its always a treat to ogle George Perez' pencils. always.

last but not least, i couldn't resist picking up the latest Iron Fist TPBs. these things come out much faster than DVD releases (and its no wonder the trend has been, for years now, writing a story arc that would hold up well as a collected edition). no matter how much the Revolution has been whipping Matt Fraction on his new gigs (maybe deservedly so), i always be grateful he and Ed Brubaker teamed up to bring back one of my old faves, Danny Rand, to respectability. and what else can i say about David Aja's art? wow.

hope these babies will be Hancocked in the next few Comic-Cons. hoooohaaaaaaaaah!!!

(NYCC '09 back to dead of winter? boooooooooo!)

mag max

alias: Magneto

was known as: Erik Magnus Lehnsherr

real name: Max Eisenhardt

just as we had the pleasure of Wolverine: Origins, we finally get Magneto's backstory (the real one).

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Magneto Testament #1

Hulk charged with child abuse

ok, nahh ... pictures can be deceiving. TSAKAA (the smartass known as Amadeus) is alright, proving his point that the Hulk is not a killer. which only extends this crossover before the payoff. we are about to be bored ...

how green is your planet

World War Hulk sightings:

too many insects

Humbug is now more-than-half-bug, less-than-half-human. he thinks his mission is to make this world safe for his insect friends, hence he has to wipe out this new alien infestation. trouble is, his pals are overmatched against the Hulk's pals. much worse, the Queen Brood seems to have Humbug's number, including his secret blog. lest you think this is dragging on for far too long, next month is the one you've been waiting for!

Dugan talks to objects

after the beatdown T-Stark got from the Jolly Green Giant, S.H.I.E.L.D. is in almost total disarray. where's that bulldyke Maria Hill now?? anyway, Tony manages to give instructions to loyal service guy Dum Dum Dugan via his Extremis shit on one final Hulk-beating solution, but it involves lot of collateral damage.

the friend of my friend is my enemy

Rick Jones vs Miek! or not. this one is more of a philosophical battle and not much of a physical one (guess who wins! let's just say we all hope the Miek shall not inherit the earth, heh heh). those who wanted a lot more punch in their funny books best just skipped to the next one below ...

the Hulk beats up old guys

with the supposedly-Hulk's-friend and most-powerful-being-ever Sentry not answering Dubya's summons to join the fray, we have to endure the geezers General Ross and Doc Strange (well, not really a geezer yet, but in terms of seniority yeah) taken down by the Hulk. but wait! don't count the Doc out ... he's bringing out the Zom.

so yeah. who else is left? we need Nick Fury here asap! or Thor! we need Thor! (too bad, Thor#1 seems to take place after these events)

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Incredible Hulk #108
Greg Pak, Leonard Kirk, Scott Hanna
Iron Man#20
Chris Gage, Butch Guice
World War Hulk #2
Greg Pak, John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson
Heroes For Hire #12
Zeb Wells, Clay Mann, Terry Pallot

hulkamania 2

World War Hulk sightings:

Hulk Destroys the Marvel Universe
i mean, wow. it was almost as if, to a man, the Marvel head honchos said, "ok, how do we top our heroes kicking each others' butt? well, let's have the Hulk kick all their butts! and really good!" the Hulk has never been written this powerful and menacing, and he has control of all his faculties. means bad news for all his former friends, who wish they still had the original dumb Hulk leaping around.

She-Hulk? for once, blood is not thicker than water.


Ares? i think he has to give up this 'God of War' thing.


Human Torch? you must be kid-ding.


Ben Grimm? definitively the ass-kicking of his life.


and Mr. Smarty-Pants Reed Richards himself? well, you know what they say about good intentions. hopefully, he still has a third honeymoon in him.

that's Black Bolt, Iron Man, the Avengers (the supposedly mighty ones - how does this tie-in with New Avengers?), the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four ... including give or take a few of heavy hitters. the last remaining hope is Dr. Strange, who couldn't complete his spell, and the enigmatic Sentry (which for the life of me, i don't know why he's sitting at home watching Food Network). wait ... who's that approaching? is that General Thunderbolt Ross? seriously!?

Iron Man gets Screwed

by one of his Initiative recruits, no less. it didn't take long for sneaky government types to meddle with the super-army Tony Stark built. Hardball, an immature loose cannon who hasn't really revealed the full extent of his powers, has been coerced to sell the one thing that could have brought the Hulk down for family security. security, pfah!

New Yorkers have an Attitude. Even The Young'Uns.
if i were Daredevil, i'd have smacked the shit out of this kid. i'm just saying!


CSI Alienation

an android under the command of the AWH (aliens with Hulk) gets "killed" and the outerworlders are out for blood. what do we humans do? why, conduct an investigation, of course. easier said than done.

Ghost Rider Cops Out

and i mean the Ghost Rider, not Johnny Blaze. Dr. Strange said it well - Blaze was the one limiting the Rider's powers, because if not, you'd have a much more powerful entity unleashed on the world. however, that might be the one thing needed to beat the Hulk.

can you imagine the Hulk being mischievous? (straps a 7 train to the unsuspecting GR's chain)


after dropping a building on Hulk (cool) and expanding a huge blast of hellfire (how is NYC still standing?), it all comes to this staredown and ...


... nothing. Ghost Rider drives away because he only avenges the innocent.

which most certainly, our so-called protectors (Iron Man, Reed Richards, etc.) haven't been.

but ... but ... what about the innocents killed in this attack? you mean there's no body count? are you kidding me?

damn you, Daniel Way!


i knew the continuity was breaking down. for those who haven't read it yet, sorry for spoiling it for you, but you'd better read this thing from beginning to end when its all said and done.
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World War Hulk #2
Greg Pak, John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson
Avengers: The Initiative #4
Dan Slott, Stefano Caselli
World War Hulk: Frontline #2
Paul Jenkins, Ramon Bachs
Ghost Rider #13
Daniel Way, Javier Saltares, Scott Hanna