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The Hulk


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Featuring new writer Bruce Jones & veteran Spider-Man artist John Romita Jr (he's fuckin great), Hulk is quickly joinin the leagues of X-Force, New X-Men & Amazing Spider-Man of current Marvel books that really stand out.

The new creative team jumped on to issue # 34, and started it off with Bruce Banner on the run from the law, since the Hulk accidentally killed a child during one of his rampages. Tho finally returning to the classic Dr Jekyl/Mr Hyde formula, the book now feels far more like "The Fudgitive" than anythin else.

Yet another great facet of the book is, while it's only up to #38 thus far, the popularity of the title has made it pretty hard to find, so again, Marvel is keepin all but the current issue online, for all to read - free. Those interested can follow this link, look over the first few books & see what the hype is about - I can't stress how fuckin cool it is to read these hard-to-find books online at no charge; take advantage of it while it lasts.

Marvel Online - Read Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, Hulk & Elektra....FREE

hulk.jpg

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I read the issues they have online and I've gotta say I'm loving it.  No more smart hulk fighting in outerspace and cliched crap like that, it's great seeing him as a realistic (relatively of course...), complex character.  Can't wait for more of these to come out, I'll be first in line for the trade.

Oh, and I couldn't recommend teh online thing more highly, dammit these are fine books and they're FREE!

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Well, yeah, he is a brainless lug, but they finally stopped writing Banner like he's one too.   Give it a go, KOS, think ya might like it.

Junker - you read up to # 37 online, right? I just got # 38 from anime hurricane, lemme know when/if ya wanna see it....twas the "shit hits the fan" issue.

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  • 3 years later...

Newsarama says this next arc, Planet Hulk, is gonna be big, all about his next evolution & such....something to do with the Illuminati.

 

Illuminati.jpg

 

ILLUMINATING THE ILLUMINATI WITH BRIAN BENDIS

 

Most recently, they played a major role in the fate of The Sentry in the pages of New Avengers: Reed Richards, Black Bolt, Namor, Professor Xavier, and Dr. Strange. Together, the five are known as the Illuminati, and in March, Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev will show their history in New Avengers Special: The Illuminati.

 

We caught up with Bendis to talk secrets, cabals, how it starts to come apart, and similarities.

 

First off, the special was originally planned out to be an arc of New Avengers but moved into its own special as circumstances called for it to be something more than an arc. Rather than a multi-part story in an ongoing series, the special will now serve as a prelude to 2006’s major storyline that will run through the Marvel Universe.

 

Key in this stage-setting: explain the history of the Illuminati.

 

As revealed in the special, the five first joined forces after the Kree-Skrull War (Avengers #89-#97), and have had a hand in many of the major events that have rocked the Marvel Universe over the years. “We’re going to unfold their history in the special – how it happened that they got together in the first place, why it was these guys rather than other guys, say, why Black Panther isn’t in there, which is actually a very good point for the story, and we’re going to take it from there,” Bendis said.

 

Backing up, it’s easy to see that the five represent five larger groups within the Marvel Universe, Bendis acknowledged. “They each represent a certain something that is very special to the Marvel Universe – Namor, of course, is the king of 75% of the planet and represents a certain mindset; Tony Stark represents a certain type of hero – the Avenger type of hero, one who understands and appreciates that heroes can work with the government, rather than outside of it; Reed is the ‘science’ side of the heroes; Black Bolt represents the Inhumans, which are an important part of Marvel history and an important part of things that are to come, as was hinted at in House of M; Dr. Strange speaks for the mystical side of the Marvel universe, and Professor Xavier is there for the mutants. They all bring with them a unique viewpoint and perspective that isn’t shard by the others.”

 

The Sentry’s reappearance in New Avengers #7-#10 was the perfect example of why the five would gather, Bendis said. After the confusion concerning the Sentry was cleared up, the five discussed the fate of the hero, much in the same way the fate of Wanda Maximoff was discussed at the beginning of House of M #1 by the assembled heroes.

 

Secret meetings held by key power players to decide the fate of the world?

 

“The inspirations for the Illuminati came from things like the UN Security Council, as well as the closed-door meetings in the White House and other organizations and countries that are off the books – the ones that you only find out about in history books years later when things have been declassified and cleared for public consumption,” Bendis said. “We’re still learning stuff about Kennedy or Lyndon Johnson’s respective presidential terms that happened behind closed doors that was much more interesting than what made the newspapers, and better explains why history moved in a particular direction at, say, a crisis point, rather than moving directly towards the crisis. I’m trying to create that Marvel history that we didn’t know about here.

 

“As with any alliance like this, it’s a stressful one. They’re not getting together to play cards. Whenever they get together, something really bad is happening, and one of them is probably to blame.”

 

Case in point, Tony Stark lying to Reed Richards – who said he’d heard rumblings about the Avengers in the Savage Land – telling the leader of the Fantastic Four that nothing is going on.

 

“No matter how good the intentions of a group like this is, when something that bad happens – something like what happened to the Avengers in the Savage Land, where they were attacked by SHIELD and saw SHEILD committing atrocious acts against the natives of the Savage Land while stockpiling condemned weapons – from Tony’s point of view, who can he trust?”

 

And hence the other part of the special – along with showing how the Illuminati came together, the story in the special will show how it all falls apart. And that doesn’t bode well for the larger Marvel Universe. Is this related to the “Whose side are you on?” slides Marvel has shown at panels over the past few months?

 

“Yes,” Bendis said. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to say that, but I’m going to say yes.”

 

The schisms shown in The Illuminati spread through the entire Marvel Universe, Bendis said, with the special serving as a prelude to Marvel’s 2006, which Bendis isn’t writing (smart money is on Mark Millar, who’s said he’s tied up with lots of research for his next big Marvel project).

 

And yes, large groups of heroes seeing schisms between them and splitting off into factions – it does sound familiar. DC is playing along the same themes in Infinite Crisis. Is this an answer? The Marvel version?

 

“I can only speak for us,” Bendis said. “I don’t know what inspired the stories DC is telling, and I don’t know how that story is going to end – it could be all happy at the end of it. In this instance though, I see the themes of what’s going on in the world being reflected in what we’re doing. The Marvel Universe is much more real-world than any other superhero or comic book universe, and has always represented a certain kind of culture and view that was shaped by the real world. This isn’t anything new; most of Marvel’s main heroes were products of the Cold War or nuclear paranoia, and look at the ‘70s when Captain America was railing against the world when society was angry.

 

“I’m not saying that the real world is about the split in half, but you can definitely feel ideological chasms between groups. It feels that people are ready to stand their ground at a moment’s notice anymore, and the differences run deeper. That’s the kind of real world feeling that you’re going to see expressed. I’m not looking to preach or anything – it’s something that you’re not even aware that you’re doing when you’re writing until you’re done, and you see just how much the world has affected you through your story.

 

“It’s always story first. It’s not like anyone is sitting down and saying, ‘Let’s tell a story that relates to our society,’ and then map it out so that this character equals this real world person or viewpoint. That’s not how it goes. If you sit down and decide that you’re going to change eth world with a song, you never do. After the story was done, I was able to look back on this and realize that I wasn’t untouched by the world, or something like that. It happens on its own, and you can’t shoehorn it in, otherwise, it looks and feels clunky.”

 

So – wrapping things up, where do the tendrils of this story with a real-world feel spread?

 

“What you’re going to see is something coming for people who crave deep continuity within the books – you’re definitely going to see payoff,” Bendis said. “Secret War, House of M, stuff from Joss’ X-Men stories, stuff from Mark’s Wolverine story, stuff from the Hulk – a lot of it is building and building. You can enjoy every story on your own, but if you’ve been paying attention, you’re going to really get something major out of it all.”

 

The tendrils of The Illuminati will be met by the changed tenor of the Marvel Universe as a whole, Bendis concluded. “Not only did House of M happen, the world knows something happened. There’s still tension around the world. The anti-mutant people are now furiously anti-mutant, because they think the mutants did this. The pro-mutant people think they’ve been screwed with. Something happens in the Secret War – it’s coming, and yeah, there’s something major. Things have been cooking and cooking and cooking. This book will consolidate everything that’s happening, show how it affects all the big players, and starts the divide.

 

“All the threads are pulled together and it then goes out from there across the entire Marvel Universe. It’s going to touch nearly everyone in the Marvel Universe – and it’s going to start with the Illuminati.”

 

illuminati.jpg

 

..except, Xavier's gone, and these guys were the ones who failed to prevent the House of M...

With the exception of Black Bolt, the only one at that table who prolly has enough power to destroy Hulk....

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  • 1 year later...

Haven't been reading any Hulk titles, but just finished Incredible Hulk 100 (it was supposed to be a Civil War tie-in,

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

 

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Edited by Lycaon
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  • 4 months later...

Shit.

 

did anyone else read "Planet Hulk"? That was the most enjoyable hulk book since Jones' early run, or some of Peter David's work in the day. Whodve thought a simple story about Hulk rising as a gladiator on a planet he's not the strongest on would be so awesome? I thought itd be hard to top the fight with "The Silver Savage" but shit, it got there, and then...

 

anyway, i just read the finale to "Armageddon"....everything went full circle in an interesting way i didnt see coming, and im surprisinly hyped about "World War Hulk"...i wanna see if even the Sentry can handle this. He's not the same stength as when he left.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

Ok, so following Planet Hulk (awesome) and World War Hulk (not so awesome), i pretty much dropped off of the Hulkverse which somehow turned into like 3 books or something, and frankly i wasnt that interested in Hercules or son of Hulk or anyone's plight, really.

 

but after a random recommendation, i checked out the new Hulk book, the one with the Red Hulk. and the black nailpolish.

 

hulk01mcguinnesscover.jpg

 

ok, so its a big beat-em-up book with Mcguiness on pencils, which was a fun choice. the other bit is that Red Hulk's true identity is a mystery...the 6th issue just came out this week, tying up the first arc but not all its questions, but it had a lot of fun getting there, between putting green hulk vs red, as well as red vs Ares (kinda), she-hulk, iron man, and even Thor. Shit was insane, but again, usually fun - book's worth checking out.

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Marvel compiled & rereleased the first three issues and while it really is just Hulk: Hush, I can't see past my terrible prejudice established by Avengers 3. Someone just tell me when Red Hulk's ID is revealed. Between

Rick Jones becoming the new Abomination long enough to take a giant bullet

and sure 'nuff, EmoHulk(somehow credited as being the first cagey hulk when Mr Fixit was doing it so much better under David 15 years ago), this book is less interesting than something like Allstar Batman & Robin uncensored.

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I've now given this a tad bit of critical (yet undeniably drunken) thought.

 

The Samson theory is the first thing that popped into my head. But it just seems too obvious. A pretty perfect Red Herring (see what I did there? Red? Ah, nvm). The hair even looks the same, as well as pretty much everything that guy in Skeet's link mentioned. They also found Samson's shredded and highly irradiated clothes in an issue (#3? #4?? Doesn't matter).

 

Here's the only hole I can find in the T. Ross theory: I've never seen Ross NOT rockin' a 'stache that I can recall. If it was Thunderbolt Red Hulk would have one too.

 

What if Red Hulk was created in that energy burst at the end of WWH and it's Banner?

I've heard speculation that it's Samson's doppelganger from another dimension (remember dark Beast from the Age of Apocalypse? I try not too.)

 

If it's Ares, I quit.

 

He's prob'ly just a Skrull...

...or an Ape (sigh).

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joel's idea - based on what gen ross and samson said at the end of last issue - might not be far off the mark, though shenanigans would likely have to be called in such an event.

its obvious though that whoever it is, has battle experience - possibly from having fought these guys before - and hates the hulk for "not thinking".

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  • 5 months later...

So it seems this thread died off without resolution, I figured I'd pop in and point out that amid all our crazy theories, Arch turned out to be the closest to the truth.

 

 

Turned out Rulk was created by Thunderbolt Ross and Doc Samson in order to take out green Hulk. Not exactly a clone (I think), but it's still closer than any ideas I came up with.

 

 

Stupid fuckin' cop out.

"Who is The Red Hulk?!?"

Nobody.

Bah.

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So it seems this thread died off without resolution, I figured I'd pop in and point out that amid all our crazy theories, Arch turned out to be the closest to the truth.

 

 

Turned out Rulk was created by Thunderbolt Ross and Doc Samson in order to take out green Hulk. Not exactly a clone (I think), but it's still closer than any ideas I came up with.

 

 

Stupid fuckin' cop out.

"Who is The Red Hulk?!?"

Nobody.

Bah.

Well, he's "somebody." I'm sticking w/ the series. I liked the dual stories w/ dual artists. I hope they go back to it. Cho drawing all the Marvel hotties pounding on Rulk was a pretty good back-up story--too bad it had no real resolution. Fucking Jeph Loeb! Come on!

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