Recent Hulk

[Guest gthureson]

I gave it a chance, really, I did.

 

When they brought back the Savage Hulk, and put Banner on the run from the law for something he didn't do, I thought, "Hey, I've read this before.", but I thought, it might go somewhere interesting, so I've keep reading it.

 

Well, its going somewhere, maybe, just not very quick.

 

The government/secret agency/whatever can bring people back from the dead, and they want the Hulk. They set him up by faking the death of a young boy and blaming it on the Hulk/Banner.

 

Banner is in communication with Mr. Blue via special laptop. Who is Mr. Blue? Who knows? Its not Doc Samson, even though he made a welcome guest appearance in one part of the story arc.

 

I'm betting on Reed Richards, just 'cause it'd make sense. One egghead keeping in touch with another.

 

But it just keeps dragging on, and on. Now another murder is blamed on Banner in an issue that just didn't make much sense.

 

I haven't picked up this week's yet, but this story arc feels like its on a treadmill.

 

Thats about it. Just wanted to make my opinion known.

[Guest Sassquatch]

I have said it once and I will say it again:

 

There is *no* evolution in comic books anymore.

 

The current storylines in the Hulk books are the perfect example of what I am talking about. Take a tired old plotline and use some kewl buzzwerds to make the story seem fresh and new but to remind fans that it is *your* take on the concept and no one else's.

 

Don't even get me started on Bendis's latest "great story" that has DD's identity exposed to the public along with royally fucking up the Kingpin.

 

Mr.Blue will most likely be General Ross. Having someone from another book like Captain America or Mr.Fantastic be Mr.Blue would be too witty for Jones or Marvel to think of. Plus it would be somewhat of a stretch to explain how both of the characters above had the time to give Bruce clues while they were always out on adventures.

[Guest J*ingus]

I read a couple of the recent TPBs, and to say that they were odd would be an understatement. How many times did we see some government agent get shot in the head, only to rise up again? Bizarre and unexplained the first few times, boring and predictable after that.

[Guest Sassquatch]

I'd say the biggest letdown would be Romita's Hulk. The Hulk is built up as this total badass who only comes out in a couple panels to a book instead of being everywhere in it.

 

We finally get to see this "new" hulk and all I see is an ogreish looking fellow that could have been mistaken for the Absorbing Man with a buzzed hair cut.

 

Wow.

 

Now that was unimpressive.

 

The Hulk is currently one of the most overrated books out on the market today along with Marvel's Daredevil who continues to fall into the "it's old but with a NEW~! twist" trap that a lot of books have fallen in. Nothing is "new" like Marvel has made it seem and the Hulk is nothing to get worked up about like the fans have been trained to do.

 

People wonder why Jones did not write many books after the '80's ended. Now you can all see why.

[Guest realsandman420]

wow, you all are really harsh on poor bruce jones...

i'm am loving the new storyline...hulk hasn't been good peter david was writing it.

i don't think bruce jones can keep up this storyline for much longer, but we'll see.

 

i picked up the first 2 issues of the call of duty comics that he wrote and they are really really good.

[Guest Sassquatch]

"wow, you all are really harsh on poor bruce jones..."

 

- realsandman420

 

 

I'm actually being very generous to Jones compared to other things I have said in the past. But hey, the truth hurts sometimes.

 

"i'm am loving the new storyline...hulk hasn't been good peter david was writing it."

 

- realsandman420

 

 

If I knew what you were trying to say here I would make a reply.

 

"i don't think bruce jones can keep up this storyline for much longer, but we'll see."

 

- realsandman420

 

 

Like most things at Marvel, they will probably milk this story dry until it has ran it's course and the fans that read it will be forced to suffer through the additional retreads of issues. Same old crap but with a different color.

 

I admit that I was intrigued by Hulk #34 and I was interested in seeing where the story would go. By issue #36 I was bored to tears at how bad the book was and how the book had built up the Hulk's apperance in the book as this huge event. It was nothing special and some what of a letdown but I had a feeling it would be after reading the book a couple issues into Jones run.

 

Some people dig the book and that is fine. Jones is not as offensive as a writer to the fans intelligence like some of the dipshits that are writing today (Millar, Bendis, Jenkins, etc.) and is only milking this story out for the Hulk movie that will have pretty much all of the elements in it that the comic currently has. No super villains. No Hulk-only issues. Played out rama and suspense oriented stories. Crappy second rate villains.

 

Jones has also done the unbelieveable and has made me hate Doc Samson's character even more then I did before after his latest outing with the good doctor. Samson has overstayed his welcome in the Hulk books and the Marvel Universe in general and it's time they either make fans give a shit about him or just let some needy super villain smoke him to make a name for themselves. Doc is useless in this current Hulk regime and is just wallpaper for the Hulk latest stories that make him sound integral to the story when he is really not.

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

This might sound pretty stupid, but is Hulk a good guy or bad guy?

[Guest gthureson]

Hulk is a good guy. He was framed~! by gawd.

 

I love the green guy. He is up there with my all-time favorites, but I'm seriously bored with this story arc.

 

I liked the Samson guest spot in the those two issues, because at least it broke the monotony it had been going through.

 

I could live with Samson getting smoked though. Hey, I'd let Bruce do it and bring Betty back.

 

Betty > Samson.

 

Here is the thing though....if you are going to have the Savage Hulk....then you need to have the Savage Hulk.

 

If I was Banner these last few weeks, I don't know if I ever would have been calmed down enough to *not* be the Hulk. He must have been studying Yoga for the last while, 'cause it seems to take getting shot or something to set him off.

 

Waking up in bed with a dead woman would made me hulk out.

 

Just me, though. What do I know?

[Guest Sassquatch]

Believe me pinnacle, in this day and age, that type of question is asked quite often in regards to the super heroes running around.

 

Currently the Hulk is someone who is on the run from "conspirators" who are trying to kill/capture the Hulk while having him framed for muder as well it seems.

 

So at the moment the Hulk is a good guy in the sense that he is saving Banner's life whenever Banner needs him. But other then that the Hulk has not done anything of note to suggest that he is really a hero. Ironic due to the fact that the world thinks he was responsible for the death of a small boy that was apparently fathered by Doc Samson.

 

I'm sorry but a big brawl with the Wendigo, Rhino, Juggernaut, the Absorbing Man, or even the fucking Glob would be nice right about now.

 

Of course Marvel can't do anything that might confuse the fans that will watch the movie who did not see any of the Hulk's rogues in his movie. They have all of this wonderful technology at their hands and all we get are fucking Gamma dogs from the military to fight the Hulk along with the military.

[Guest Sassquatch]

Banner is boring.

 

I never thought I would initially say that but Banner is just mindfuckingnumbingly boring right now. Either shit or get off the pot Bruce. Find these creeps instead of them coming after you all the time or just let them capture him and do whatever they want with him.

 

I don't give a shit about a junkie cop because she won't mean shit 10 issues down the road and instead an entire issue was devoted to her and some fucking lame hold-up at the local 7/11.

 

If Doc revealed that it was him the whole time (continuity be damned) that had Bruce's life turned into shit then I might be willing to let Doc stay alive for a while longer. It sure would give him something to do rather then be the Hulk's personal bitch with no self respect.

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

For some reason I'm under the impression that Hulk just runs around tearing shit up.

[Guest gthureson]

That'd be welcome at this point.

[Guest Sassquatch]

You're thinking of the old Hulk from issues #1 - #12 of the second series...

 

The Hulk only comes out when Banner needs him which is not often due to Bruce trying to not have the feds know where he is. Chances are the Hulk will fight a group of Gamma Dogs in the next couple of issues rather than actually letting the Hulk pound the shit out of a couple super villains and giving Banner a personality.

 

I can not *stress* how much I loved the Peter David years where he had Betty, Marlo, Rick and smart Banner Hulk under one roof. It was like Friends except with a big ass gamma monster who had the IQ of Einstein. Compared to this X-Files-lite crap that is being served up today, I'd give anything to go back to 1994 Hulk just because David made all of his characters interesting and *gasp* easy to relate to.

[Guest gthureson]

"You can wear this Bruce, people won't know who you are."

 

"This is a fin."

 

"Yeah. You put it on your head."

 

"You know what people are going to say, Betty? Hey, there goes the Hulk with a fin on his head."

 

Nah, PD never took shots at anyone.

[Guest Sassquatch]

That was actually funny due to how Larsen made a comment about how the Hulk (in '94) was ripping off the Savage Dragon's attitude back then. David zinged Larsen one in an issue of Hulk (#431) and Erik did not say anything else afterwards.

 

After Banner lost control of the Hulk persona in Hulk #425 and went berserk and reverted back to a crazy Banner I started to loose interest in the book. I had grown to like the Hulk and the Pantheon stories and I was saddened to see the Hulk move on from the Mount. The stories after the "Fall of the Pantheon" storyline (#426 - #474) were hit or miss for me with most of the books being miss until Adam Kubert took over the artist duties for the Hulk with issue #454. Adam was a nice change of pace from former artist Liam Sharp. I did not get into Liam's art and add that to David's crappy issues, the Hulk was a book that I found hard to enjoy at times. Adam's Hulk just had a nice look to it and David's storytelling also picked up and from issue #454 - #466, the duo were on fire.

 

But then David was given the shaft by Marvel as they told him they wanted David to make the Hulk a mindless beast again and have the army chase him. David was furious after all the years of work he had out into his Hulk series and the copious amounts of building David spent on revamping the Hulk persona. Marvel tried to strong arm David by telling him that Marvel would blackball him from the company and David threatened bodily harm on several Marvel suits. When you're 6'4" and 250 pounds, not a whole lot of people are going to stop you from doing things if you are pissed off.

 

Luckily David and Marvel soothed things over and David remains employed at Marvel Studios. After 12 years of being the Hulk's head writer, David had stepped down amongst a sea of controversy and pissed off Hulk fans that were shocked and pissed off at the debacle. Unfortunately David has stagnated as a writer and has become involved in petty publicity feuds with Marvel CEO Bill Jemas and EIC Joey Quesada (David is 2nd place in the number of issues that a writer wrote (137) and is only matched by Dave Sims 280 Cerebus issues).

[Guest realsandman420]

man...me and Sassquatch can't really agree on anything for the most part....

 

we both agree that peter david did an incredible job on hulk....he did it for 12 years. and did it better then them all.....

 

after peter david...the hulk went to shit...midless adventure after another and lame storys....it was just bad.

 

no bruce jones comes in...adds some intruge...story and very little hulk in the hulk book....but the thing is, is that you always know he's there....you can feel him, even though you don;t see him.

jones is doing something that hasn't been done in many years....made the hulk readable.

 

but he riding a thin line....he has to keep the story moving or has a good chance of getting stale and repative.

 

 

and whats wrong with bendis?

[Guest Sassquatch]

"man...me and Sassquatch can't really agree on anything for the most part...."

 

- realsandman420

 

 

It takes time to be able to pick out the crap that is made to look like something good and see though it's facade of something good and then see it as the contrived and rehashed shit that it really is.

 

"no bruce jones comes in...adds some intruge...story and very little hulk in the hulk book....but the thing is, is that you always know he's there....you can feel him, even though you don;t see him."

 

- realsandman420

 

 

What in the fuck are you talking about?

 

You just described how a fart works.

 

This book is called "THE INCREDIBLE HULK." Not "The Incredibly Boring Bruce Banner" book, which is what it, has essentially become since Jones took over the reigns of the title.

 

I explained why the Hulk book sucks right now and why Bruce Banner and the Hulk are boring and unimpressive to read about. Banner is masturbating in a corner while trying to hide from these kidnappers of his when he should be going after them. The Hulk rarely shows up and after his last outing by getting taken down with a *tranquilizer* of all things, the Hulk has done jack shit except save Bruce from getting mugged and beat up Doc Samson. At least Samson was actually trying to figure out what was going on instead of running away like Banner has so far and actually laying out a plan to counter-attack these fucks who want him dead/tested.

 

The dead child plot has essentially been lost in the sea of lame and pointless stories like the 3 part storyline with the junkie cop who will not mean shit later on down the road and it also had the Hulk get beat by a fucking tranq. The Hulk can take multiple missile attacks but he falls to a weak ass tranquilizer? This is the same man who withstood numerous attacks from sharp objects such as buzzsaw's and knives. Yet he bends over for a tranq.

 

Yeah, the Hulk is really scary now.

 

He can take Wolverine to the limit and yet a tranquilizer defeats him.

 

Talk about being made out to look like a giant pussy.

 

The Mr.Blue mystery has also been put on the backburner so that Bruce can continue to runaway from his weird alien kidnappers. We still are not clear as to why the fuck they want Bruce in the first place or what their role is in framing him for the murder of Doc Samson's kid. That is about as contrived as you can get with lame plotlines which is to throw out the "family member we never knew we had but doesn't mean shit" card that is easily forgotten down the road. This storyline has taken on several directions now and we still have not advanced in the first storyline which is to find out what the fuck happened with the Hulk and the kid that was supposedly killed by him.

 

"but he riding a thin line....he has to keep the story moving or has a good chance of getting stale and repative."

 

- realsandman420

 

 

Maybe if you read the fucking posts above you can actually see that this "neew" and "kewl" storyline that the Hulk is currently in is just rehashed garbage. Old shit but with a different color now. The book is already stale because the Hulk and Banner have done *nothing* in regards to actually going on the attack and finding out what the fuck is going on. The book is "repative" already with it's rehashed "Hulk runs from "x member of organization" storyline that was ran into the ground for years by Marvel before they finally got a clue and let the Hulk *evolve* as a character and give the guy a new fucking direction. We are now back to square one with the Hulk by him hiding out and running away from the bad people that might want to try and hurt him. Throughout this whole clusterfuck of a story, we get to listen to Banner say nothing of note that might actually make the story go forward and move onto something that would lead Banner to finding a solution to his troubles.

 

Banner himself is about as interesting as watching paint dry right now. An entire issue with the Hulk and only the Hulk pounding the shit out of something would be a welcomed change up from the crap we have endured so far with him prancing around like a clueless pussy. It might also make this story move ahead instead of stagnating with Banner's current shit. Just make sure to hide the tranqs from all of the super villains from now on.

 

I've outlined my reasons above for why the Hulk book currently sucks and why Jones is a hack as a writer. Three times now actually. The current Hulk book sucks in the direction (a term I use loosely) that it is going in right now and is all because of a cheap attempt at trying to cash in on the Hulk movie which more or less follows the same outline that the book is using.

 

"and whats wrong with bendis?"

 

- realsandman420

 

 

How about you fucking read what I wrote in my first post. It's should not be too hard to figure out why I feel the way I do towards Benids:

 

"There is *no* evolution in comic books anymore.

 

The current storylines in the Hulk books are the perfect example of what I am talking about. Take a tired old plotline and use some kewl buzzwerds to make the story seem fresh and new but to remind fans that it is *your* take on the concept and no one else's.

 

"Don't even get me started on Bendis's latest "great story" that has DD's identity exposed to the public along with royally fucking up the Kingpin."

 

- Me in my first post in this merry-go-round thread

 

 

Most of today's writers are fanboy hacks who want to go back and live out their younger days by writing the same rehashed tripe that their heroes/mentors did 15/20 years ago. Except they put some k00l buzzword in front of the story to give readers the impression that the idea is "new" or "totally different" from the other 5 stories that were told before using the same plot.

 

Just replace "Hulk books" with "Daredevil books" and you have your reason as to why Bendis is an unoriginal and mastubatory writer who would be more suited writing crime novels rather then comic books.

[Guest gthureson]

While I'm not saying Bendis is a genius of any sort, I'm enjoying his Daredevil run if only because I remember the revolving door of writers, including 'Alan Smithee' who were on it for a few years, and how bad the book could be.

[Guest Sassquatch]

Today's DD makes me yearn for Ann Nocenti who had a better idea of how to utilize and write DD then any other writer to come down the pick up the pen in the last 10 years.

 

Ann's run on DD is very underrated and showed fans that chicks *can* write comic books and tell good stories.

[Guest gthureson]

You have to admit though, that for awhile it seemed like Daredevil was the punishment book.

 

"You pissed me off....you have to write Daredevil for three months!"

 

Writers came and went so quick is was always a trainwreck. One of the reasons I quit comics for a few years. Everything I liked either got cancelled or was just horrid.

 

Picking up Rucka Detective is what got me back into it again.

[Guest Sassquatch]

After Ann left the book (DD #250 - #294) the book just stagnated under new writer Dan Chichester who was a lamb led to the slaughter. Dan left the book in protest after Marvel (mainly Tom DeFucko) told Dan that Marvel would not promote the book after the "Fall of the Kingpin" storyline because Marvel was going to concentrate on the core books (X-Men and Spidey). Dan knew that he was going to get nowhere by working on DD and he departed the book after his contract with it ran out.

 

After Chichester left, the book became the revolving door for writer’s that were never given any support by Marvel. The book became a poison to sales due to no fan interest because of how the book had no consistency in any element.

 

The book finally gained some stability when Karl Kesel took over (DD #353) as the head writer. Kesel made the book readable again and it showed in the high sales that the book had gained while under Kesel's watch. Daredevil became fun and interesting to read again and you could tell that Kesel cared about the character due to the great lengths that he went to in making the characters a force in the MU after years of getting shit on. Sadly Kesel left the book (#367) after he and Marvel could not come to a compromise in how DD should be looked at by the Marvel offices as either a franchise that sells or a filler book that played second fiddle to the X-Men and Spider-Man books.

 

I take back what I said about Ann. Kesel was the last great writer that the book had and his stories were a welcome addition to a creatively bankrupt Marvel at the time.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Today's DD makes me yearn for Ann Nocenti who had a better idea of how to utilize and write DD then any other writer to come down the pick up the pen in the last 10 years.

 

Ann's run on DD is very underrated and showed fans that chicks *can* write comic books and tell good stories.

I HATE Ann's work. She is amazingly preachy and her bullshit subtext. (Which manages to crop up in EVERY fucking conversation the characters have) Made me quit DD for GOOD. She ruined an awesome issue by constantly talking about non-violence and how evil nuclear weapons were. Consider that my favorite writer, Denny O'Neil had recently finished a run with Ol Hornhead and you can see why I wasn't too thrilled.

[Guest Sassquatch]

Since you did not continue to read DD after Nocenti left the book then you do not know how much better her work looked compared to the shit that was served up later on.

 

Karl Kesel Daredevil > Kevin Smith Daredevil.

 

Any day of the week kiddies.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Since you did not continue to read DD after Nocenti left the book then you do not know how much better her work looked compared to the shit that was served up later on.

 

Karl Kesel Daredevil > Kevin Smith Daredevil.

 

Any day of the week kiddies.

I HATE Kevin Smith DD.

 

That is all.

[Guest Sassquatch]

I am *so* looking forward to Bendis' "fresh" and "new" take on the Kingpin being a bottom feeder in the upcoming new storyarc of DD.

 

Yeah, it's starting to look like crap all over until Marvel finally decides to give the Kingpin back everything he lost (ala "The Fall of the Kingpin" storyline from DD #297 - #300)

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

I am *so* looking forward to Bendis' "fresh" and "new" take on the Kingpin being a bottom feeder in the upcoming new storyarc of DD.

 

Yeah, it's starting to look like crap all over until Marvel finally decides to give the Kingpin back everything he lost (ala "The Fall of the Kingpin" storyline from DD #297 - #300)

Bendis fails to realize that the best DD stories don't even need some major character to be butchered, or DD's world to change forever. That gets old fast. *COUGHspideyCOUGH* He needs to take a significant portion of time to tell stories that explore DD's mind, that make us even more fond of the supporting cast, and furthur the DD muthos.

 

See, this is what I hated about Smith. He had 8 issues, and in the only two memorable ones, he needed to kill off two important characters.

 

Bendis' problem is he's so worked up about sales that every other month is a "SPECIAL EVENT". See: USM 33 where we get Venom 200 issues early. If he had introduced the cast gradually instead of in 14 issues, he wouldn't have this problem.

[Guest Sassquatch]

"Bendis' problem is he's so worked up about sales that every other month is a "SPECIAL EVENT". See: USM 33 where we get Venom 200 issues early. If he had introduced the cast gradually instead of in 14 issues, he wouldn't have this problem."

 

- MrZsasz

 

 

Blame TPB's for the long and drawn out storylines.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

"Bendis' problem is he's so worked up about sales that every other month is a "SPECIAL EVENT". See: USM 33 where we get Venom 200 issues early. If he had introduced the cast gradually instead of in 14 issues, he wouldn't have this problem."

 

- MrZsasz

 

 

Blame TPB's for the long and drawn out storylines.

I don't mind the length of storylines as much as the rush to get to certain characters who the writers feel will boost sales. (Venom, Wolvie) As well as the need for every month to be a SPECIAL EVENT instead of trying to consistantly tell good stories.

[Guest Sassquatch]

" don't mind the length of storylines as much as the rush to get to certain characters who the writers feel will boost sales. (Venom, Wolvie) As well as the need for every month to be a SPECIAL EVENT instead of trying to consistantly tell good stories."

 

- MrZsasz

 

 

Welcome to the age of shock style writing and useless filler that takes up 8 books to tell when the story could have wrapped up in less than 4 issues.

 

Ultimate Venom is most likely a by-product of Marvel's desire to have him in the next Spider-Man movie and since Ultimate Spidey is Marvel's hot book, it all comes down to pandering to the movie and mainstream audiences.

 

There has been no definite word on who the next super villains will be in the sequel but Venom's name has been making the rounds in the Marvel rumor mills and it would not surprise me at all if he did make his movie debut in the sequel.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

" don't mind the length of storylines as much as the rush to get to certain characters who the writers feel will boost sales. (Venom, Wolvie) As well as the need for every month to be a SPECIAL EVENT instead of trying to consistantly tell good stories."

 

- MrZsasz

 

 

Welcome to the age of shock style writing and useless filler that takes up 8 books to tell when the story could have wrapped up in less than 4 issues.

 

Ultimate Venom is most likely a by-product of Marvel's desire to have him in the next Spider-Man movie and since Ultimate Spidey is Marvel's hot book, it all comes down to pandering to the movie and mainstream audiences.

 

There has been no definite word on who the next super villains will be in the sequel but Venom's name has been making the rounds in the Marvel rumor mills and it would not surprise me at all if he did make his movie debut in the sequel.

Dr. Octopus is definatly in the film. AICN reports that the FX crew is working on the tenticles, and has mentioned Dr. Ock by name.