Freeze frame, my poster collection, part 1...

As I continue to organize my apartment I have been cataloging my collection of random things. Toys, comic books, game magazines, etc. I've been meaning to focus on my posters for a while now. I finally brought them in out of the garage so I could do a photoshoot, and figure out what I had. Over the next few weeks I am going to be sharing posters from my collection. Some came with game magazines, some I got at conventions. Many were from comic book stores that no longer exist. Some of the posters I found were over 30-years-old. I forgot I had them until I unraveled them. They each have a story, they each take me back to a favorite memory. I hope that there are things you collect that mean something to you too. I'm starting with something simple. Some Aquabats items. 

I've got a lot more unique posters, and prints to share with you. For now I'd like to find out what things you like collecting. Or if you have any favorite bands, that also double as a superhero group. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Generations of Hulk creators, final part...

I hope my rambling series on the Hulk has kept you entertained these past couple of weeks. I had fun researching, putting it together, and sharing my thoughts on the best way to present the character. I hope it helps budding writers, and artists think about the approach they take when working on their own stories. I also wished it helped non-Hulk fans understand the appeal of the Jade Giant. He was certainly much more complex than has been presented in the recent Marvel live action films, and television shows. Today I’d like to talk about my favorite artists to work with the character. Let’s pretend that only one living artist allowed to draw the character until they retired. Who would I choose, and in what order?

In the number one spot is Dale Keown. In my opinion he is, and remains the best Hulk artist ever. He’s illustrated countless iconic moments thanks to the writing of Peter David. His sense of scale, proportion, and strength is so great it should be studied by all comic artists. Especially those trying to make memorable strong characters. His style simply works whether the story involves the classic “Savage” Hulk, the street savvy Joe Fixit, the genius Professor Hulk, or the tyrannical Maestro. He is adept at drawing epic battles, horror stories, alien monsters, heroic team-ups, and dramatic arcs equally well. He is additionally good at drawing normal-sized heroes, and villains. This allows him to frame them alongside the Hulk so we get a sense of scale. To me Dale Keown is the standard that every modern Hulk artist is measured against. It is a well deserved honor.

My second choice to draw the Hulk forever, and ever is Arthur Adams. Just about all the same praise I heap on Dale Keown applies to Mr. Adams as well. The major difference between the two is that Art knows monsters better than any other living artist. From the largest kaiju to the smallest imp, from pulp monsters that appeared only once in an obscure book, to the world famous Universal Horror monsters. Mr. Adams has drawn all of them at least once in his career. Drawing monsters is absolutely in his DNA. He has been rendering highly detailed pieces for 40 years, and shows no sign of slowing. The Hulk is one of the greatest monsters he’s ever brought to life, but to say that his greatness is limited to the Hulk would be a disservice to his talents. He is a fantastic pin-up artist, and can arguably be called the best X-Men artist, the best Fantastic Four artist, and the best Avengers artist to ever live. Saying he should only draw the Hulk from this point on would rob the world of a true genius.

My third choice for who should draw the Hulk in perpetuity is relatively new. In fact he did not exist in my rankings until a few weeks ago. The same thing applies to my number five choice. Ryan Ottley is one of those people that was born to draw powerful characters. If the Hulk is the strongest there is, then he deserves an illustrator that knows how to present it. Mr. Ottley’s work on the Starship Hulk arc written by Donny Cates was absolute madness, but in a good way. He is known for drawing gratuitous violence in the Invincible series, and was able to bring that gore into the Hulk but did so sparingly. He has a surprisingly unique take on creature, and monster designs that is unlike his peers. These twisted creations work in the context of the series, especially when the Hulk has to tear through swaths of powerful opponents. Mr. Ottley also knows his supporting characters, and does a great job illustrating the Hulk’s allies, and rivals. I just wish he had gotten more than 14 issues to show off his talent. I would kill to see his take on the Leader, the Abomination, or the Maestro.

The fourth person on my list was previously my number three. I have already sung the praises of Ed McGuinness, and will continue doing so until my dying day. He is one of those people that you want to create a second Hulk book, just so he can have more to draw. I mean if there can be a Spectacular Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man, and Ultimate Spider-Man comics all out at the same time then why can’t we have two or more Hulk books going? McGuinness draws the Hulk so well that it hurts thinking I will never be half as good as he is at drawing the character. His rendering of the Hulk uses every synonym of power that you can think of. He has force, might, energy, and intensity. The only limitation for McGuinness is that he is too good at drawing muscular characters. Even the “normal” heroes are swollen. It makes the Hulk have a diminished impact when he shares a panel with characters that have the same physique but are a few feet shorter. But that’s a minor issue for someone that I’ve said was born to draw the character.

The fifth person that I think could carry the Hulk for all time would be Nic Klein. I said previously his style was equal parts Bernie Wrightson, and Mike Deodato Jr. His take on the Hulk oozed strength. The monsters, and demons he draws tap into some primordial fears of humanity. He presents the stuff of nightmares in vivid detail. It’s scary how good he is at bringing the ugly to life. If the Hulk book is only about horror then there is no one else on the list better qualified to draw it. I wanted to see how he would draw other Marvel characters working with, or against the Hulk. I wanted to see if he could render technology, weapons, or battle sequences with the Hulk. But based solely on the few issues he’s released in 2024 I can tell that he is up to the task. The sky is the limit for Mr. Klein, and I look forward to following it.

I want you to think of Joe Madureira as my honorable mention. He is an artist that would have been a top-five in my book, possibly a top-three to carry the Hulk forever. That is of course if only he got a chance. The Hulk is an absolute unit when he draws him. Proportionally landing somewhere in between McGuinness, Ottley, and Klein. The thing is with the exception of some concept sketches, and the occasional cover, he hasn’t really had a chance to show fans what he could do with the character.

Joe Mad’s style of art oozes personality. He comes from a generation of artists that’s much more animated than any other illustrator that made their mark in the ‘90s. Similar to Humberto Ramos, artists in that era were pulling influences from manga, and video games into their comic work. That is to say it looked vastly different than anything else on the shelves. The fact that he drew massive bruisers so well that I was furious that he never seemed to land a run on the Hulk. Worse yet, when he finally got a chance to draw a power character for Marvel it ended up being the Red Hulk.

As a comics fan it felt like I was living in the worst possible timeline. The best artists to never draw the Hulk were finally given a chance by the powers that be. Only to find out that they would be drawing the red clone character instead. If I was upset that Ed McGuinness’ talents were wasted on a 10+ issue run featuring mainly the Red Hulk, I was twice as angry when Joe drew the Red Hulk for a Spider-Man team up. Just to see what it would have looked like I changed the hue on the Red Hulk in Photoshop. It helped me imagine that I was in a better timeline. The constant disappointments with Marvel writers, and editors was one of the reasons why I walked away from comic books for more than a decade.

I pray that someone at Marvel might let Joe Mad, or Ryan Ottley get a chance to draw a proper Hulk arc in the future. It would certainly give me a reason to start collecting again. There were many other artists that could draw a fantastic Hulk. I might talk about them someday. For now I’d like to hear your thoughts. Did you have a favorite artist that drew your favorite characters? Was there an artist that you could imagine would be a great fit for a book if they ever got a chance? I’d like to read about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Generations of Hulk creators, part 6...

When I started this series I talked in broad terms about how the Incredible Hulk was a horror story. Jack Kirby and Stan Lee created a modern retelling of Frankenstein. Dr. Bruce Banner was the fill in for Dr. Victor Frankenstein, and the Hulk was his dark shadow, his creation. Not every great Hulk story was about war, and escalation like the classic Kirby / Lee stories. Not every writer could pull off a galactic-spanning adventure like Donny Cates did in his Starship Hulk run. It required a deep understanding of the characters, and canon of the universe in order to pull off. On the other hand suspense, and horror, including body horror, were also major drawing points for the series. It was a format that great writers could use when they wanted to shape a plot. Even new creators unfamiliar with the monster could lean into the horror elements of the Hulk, and know it would fit the character. This was something that didn’t necessarily work with other Marvel characters like Spider-Man, Captain America, or Iron Man. The most significant Hulk story to come out in the past decade was the Immortal Hulk.

The story was written by British author Al Ewing, and illustrated by Brazilian artist Joe Bennett. Among all of the comic book artists hired by Marvel in the past 15-odd years, the work that Mr. Bennett delivered absolutely stood out. He was another one of those artists that you could tell was born to draw the Hulk. He had a sense of scale, and power that was rarely seen by any illustrator. He had essentially recreated the heavy browed monster of Jack Kirby but for a new generation. At the same time he delivered some of the goriest, most twisted panels I had ever seen. I would have ranked him quite high in my personal list of the best Hulk artists, unfortunately he could not avoid controversy. He made bigoted remarks about writer Glen Greenwald, then was accused of Anti-Semitism in one of his story panels. He was let go by Marvel not long after. He went on record to apologize for his comments but it made me sad that such a great horror artist could hold onto hateful stereotypes. I suppose it was a reflection of his insight into the human condition that made him so good at drawing ugly situations. I didn’t think that there would be any other artist to come along that could match that level of horror storytelling. That was until a new team started the Age of Monsters arc in 2024.

Writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson, and artist Nic Klein were delivering a masterclass on the green monster. They presented a horror tale that was distinctly unlike the Ewing / Bennett run. Theirs was instead pulled from an even older format. They were creating a nod to the mysterious, the weird, and the strange myths that inspired the pulp-era horror stories. They were working on a callback to the classic EC Horror books like Tales From The Crypt, the Haunt of Fear, and the Vault of Horror. Only now Johnson, and Klein were knitting Bruce Banner into the plots, and updating the visuals for the modern world. The first thing that stood out to me about Mr. Klein’s art was how much he drew in the style of Bernie Wrightson. Bernie was greatly influenced by the classic pulp stories of post WWII America. Although he was born too late to be a founder of the movement his art clearly hinted at the greats like Johnny Craig, Jack Davis, Graham “Ghastly” Ingels, Harvey Kurtzman, and Wally Wood.

Comparisons aside Wrightson’s draftsmanship was unparalleled. His Frankenstein book for Marvel was an essential work for all illustrators to study. Wrightson did more for the horror genre in black, and white than any other artist working in the 20th century. On top of everything he also worked on various monster stories for DC, and Marvel, including the respective Swamp Thing, and Man-Thing. His style, rendering techniques, and creature designs, both monsters, and aliens were unlike the regular Hulk artists. These unique elements made him a stand out whenever his art would appear in comic book format. Wrightson was absolutely a great fit for horror stories. Yet he produced less and less comic material as he got older. By the late ‘70s, and early ’80s he wasn’t releasing too many things. His work in the ‘90s was even more sparse. Unless you were familiar with the artist then you had no idea how great he was, and how much we lost when he passed away in 2017.

It had been more than 40 years years since the Wrightson style of art carried a Hulk story. Seeing the art by Nic Klein rekindled all the memories I had as a kid. I hadn’t seen anything similar in a long time. Knowing that Mr. Klein was going to be the lead on a Hulk horror story filled me with joy. Over the past few blogs I had highlighted some of my favorite Hulk artists, however you should know that not every Hulk creator was a good fit for a horror title. Some were great with action sequences, and team ups. Other artists knew how to draw the reluctant hero, or misunderstood monster archetype. Horror stories took an entirely different approach. We would be getting closer to the characters, much more intimate with their fears, and desires. We needed an artist that could render action, but also close in on details when the scene required it. If you don’t know anything about illustrating then let me say that this type of art took an entirely unique set of skills.

I do want to be fair, and give flowers to a Hulk artist that I am haven’t mentioned. Mike Deodato Jr. worked under different writers at Marvel for years, and years. He was, and remains a fantastic Hulk artist. He first got on my radar during the ‘90s. His style was its own unique thing. It was different than Keown, Adams, McGuinness or any other illustrator that I’ve mentioned so far. Mr. Deodato Jr’s style rose to new heights whenever he needed to do a horror story featuring the Hulk such as the covers for the Dead Like Me arc written by Bruce Jones, and Garth Ennis. The regular artists on the series were Doug Braithwaite, and John McCrea. They were great artists as well, however the person that set the tone was Mike, and his cover art. It gave us a glimpse of a Hulk that was much darker, and more twisted than anything we had ever seen.

Mike had a style that worked exceptionally well for a Hulk horror story, dark character like Venom, or gritty vigilantes like the Punisher. His monster proportions were very extreme, even when compared to Keown, or Adams. The Hulk’s torso was as thick, and broad as he was tall. Not unlike the old McFarlane version of the gray Hulk. Except Mike had a better sense of anatomy, and physiology. I hadn’t seen anything similar to that style until Nic Klein began drawing the books. These were almost 20 years after Mike’s last run. Mr. Klein seemed to marry the proportions of Deodato Jr. with the rendering techniques of Mr. Wrightson. This combination of influences was so well done that it made Nic criminally underrated. He would set the standard for the foreseeable future. I had no doubt that kids reading the comics today would become illustrators in the future because of how influential the art was.

Nic was another example of how each generation of artists were refining the style of the masters that came before. With that said where would I rank him against my favorite Hulk artists? I’ll talk about it on the next, and final part of this series. I hope to see you back for that. Did you read the Immortal Hulk arc? Were there any young artists that you thought were underrated? I’d like to read about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Generations of Hulk creators, part 5...

In the previous blog I talked about how Ed McGuinness was an artist born to draw the Hulk comics. Unfortunately for him the writer that he was paired with was sort of the opposite. When the Incredible Hulk was rebooted Jeph Loeb decided to change the focus of the series. He created a murder mystery for an OP villain called the Red Hulk. Mr. Loeb deviated from the stories that worked best for the title character. McGuinness ended up drawing issue after issue featuring the “Rulk” rather than the Banner version we were familiar with. I felt like his talents were being wasted. Because of this I stopped collecting the series in 2009, and walked away from comics entirely. Only recently had I started getting back into the series. In that time I learned that there were other writers, and other artists that were more familiar with the Jade Giant, and knew exactly the types of stories that fit the character. For example there was a 20-issue run titled the Indestructible Hulk, written by Jeff Parker, and Mark Waid. It featured art from Kim Jacinto, Matteo Scalera, Walt Simonson, and Leinil Francis Yu.

The Indestructible Hulk was notable because it highlighted the intelligence of Banner, and the power of the Hulk in equal amounts. In the series Banner was still a fugitive. He surrendered himself to S.H.I.E.L.D., and in return he would start inventing technology for them that could revolutionize the world. In exchange for a lab, and assistants Banner offered the Hulk to be used as the ultimate shock trooper for the organization. The Hulk would be able to take missions head-on, and prevent S.H.I.E.L.D. agents from being put in harms way. The series reestablished Banner as one of the big brains, if not the biggest brain on Earth. It also reminded audiences that the Hulk was capable of surviving conflicts, and extreme conditions that would have killed all but a handful of Marvel characters. The series was reminiscent of the adventures of the Professor Hulk written by Peter David, and illustrated by Dale Keown. That series was a high point for the characters in the early ’90s.

It turned out that while I was avoiding the books there was another story arc for the Hulk that was even shorter than the Indestructible Hulk. It featured a version of the Green Goliath called the Starship Hulk. I scoffed when I read the premise. Banner had taken over the mind, and body of the Hulk. He imprisoned the green personality in his own subconscious, and was going to “pilot” the Hulk. Banner implanted stolen A.I.M. technology into the Hulk, and planned to use his gamma radiation as a form of propulsion. His goal was to leave the Earth as a literal “Smashstronaut” and never threaten humanity again. All of this sounded absolutely bonkers. I assumed that there was no way that the story by Donny Cates would make any sense, or even fit in the context of the universe. I picked up the trade paperbacks that made up the 14-issue run, as well as the tie-in TPB that made the Banner of War arc. I quickly realized that the story not only worked for all of the characters involved, but the partnering of Cates, and artist Ryan Ottley was absolute genius. I’m sure it was considered madness as well depending on who you asked. I read, and reread the series several times over the past few weeks. The story was my favorite Hulk arc in the past 15+ years.

I was not familiar with Ottley’s art because he hadn’t done too many Marvel titles. He was best known as the main artist on a series called Invincible, which was published by Image. You might have seen the animated show based on the ultra-violent comic. It explained the occasional gore, and dismemberment that would appear with this new story. Mr. Ottley’s art really grew on me. Similar to Ed McGuinness I could tell that he was born to draw the Hulk, but had spent years working for other companies, biding his time. Also like McGuinness his monster design style was very reminiscent of Arthur Adams. Ryan went all out creating dozens, upon dozens of various gamma-powered monsters for the book. Culminating in a 60-foot-tall mutated Spider-Man. That alternate universe version of Peter Parker turned out to be far from the biggest threat for the Starship Hulk. There was a far more dangerous villain named Titan lurking in the recesses of the Hulk’s psyche. Each creature from Ottley was as fantastic as anything that could have been dreamt up by Adams.

The proportions that Ottley used with the Hulk were familiar, but he maintained his own distinct style. The thick, and stocky body, the square, but animated face. His version of the bruiser had a lot of personality, but was absolutely made for destruction. Ottley’s patented violence, gore, and horror from the Invincible books managed to sneak into a few panels. This was especially true in the second half of the story known as Hulk Planet. It was a sort of send up of the Planet Hulk arc. If you weren’t familiar with the story this was where the Hulk had been exiled to an alien planet called Sakaar. The Hulk took on the role of Spartacus and lead a group of alien gladiators in a rebellion. This would conclude when the Hulk returned to Earth during the events of World War Hulk. By comparison in Hulk Planet the Hulk landed on a world of fellow gamma-irradiated monsters. He was not only welcomed as a visitor, but hailed as a king. Donny Cates could raise the stakes now that he was on a planet of super-powerful aliens that were strong, and had similar healing abilities. To show off how absurdly powerful they were their national sport was called Godball. It was a version of handball-meets-dodgeball using the solid cores of planets that they had destroyed. The Hulk was assured that he couldn't hurt anyone, and no one could hurt him there.

Ottley was the perfect choice to illustrate the adventure that took our hero around the world, through different dimensions, and into deep space. We got a chance to see the Hulk cut loose in ways that Jeph Loeb could have never imagined. In the span of just over a dozen issues Mr. Cates developed a story impossible for any other hero in the Marvel U to survive. Donny reminded audiences how the power scale worked, and the Hulk was at the top of the mountain. It was much more than strength that made the Hulk incredible. Characters like the Captain Marvel, the Sentry, Thor, and the Silver Surfer were powerful, and might be triumphant in some of the battles. However the Hulk survived all the fights back-to-back, while being shredded by countless gamma-monsters, losing a limb to Iron Man’s Hulkbuster armor, and having Mjolnir tear a hole through his chest. Those would have been mortal injuries for the aforementioned powerhouses. Not to mention that all of this happened before the Titan even showed up. It goes without saying that none of the members of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, or the X-Men could have lived through the same encounters.

Sadly Ottley wouldn’t draw any more Hulk arcs after the Hulk Planet story wrapped. He did get to do an occasional variant cover, but speaking as a fan I think that Ottley, and Cates should absolutely get a chance to work on another story, or perhaps limited run like the Rampaging Hulk, or Savage Hulk series from the ‘80s, and ‘90s. They understood the character better than most teams, and set a standard that few creators could match. It turned out they weren’t the only writer, and art duos that worked wonders for the series. In the next, and final entry of this series I am going to talk about the return of the monster. Were there any artists that you think would be a good fit for the Hulk? Or were there any comics you wish were drawn by a specific artist? I’d like to read about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Generations of Hulk creators, part 4...

In the previous blog I talked about how John Byrne taught a generation of young artists how to draw powerful characters in comic books. Mr. Byrne drew both the Hulk for Marvel, and Superman for DC. Arguably the two strongest characters in comics history. He presented a version of the Hulk that wasn’t vascular, or swollen like a bodybuilder. Instead he was built like a monster. Proportionally larger, wider, and heavier than any typical human physique. It worked for the character, and was the style adopted by the heir apparent, a young Australian artist named Dale Keown. Dale would slowly add his own details to the character, making his muscles better defined, changing the shape of his head, and various proportions. In the end he created a template that would be copied by further generations of Hulk artists. Yet if I were to be fair he wasn’t necessarily the most influential of all the Hulk artists. That distinction more than likely belonged to Arthur “Art” Adams. He was highly regarded as the peak monster designer across all modern comic books. He had few peers capable of rendering unique, highly-detailed monsters. But that wasn’t the only thing he was known for.

The comparison between John Byrne, and Dale Keown was not an original observation. I believe it was Wizard magazine in the early ‘90s that was doing an interview with someone in the industry. Their name sadly escaped me. The interviewer was talking about how the new crop of comic book artists were changing the industry. That idea was countered with the idea that the new generation were more refined version of the previous illustrators. The person said that John Byrne was a great Hulk artist, but if you look at Dale Keown you could tell that he was following directly in his footsteps. The difference was that Keown’s monster was more refined, and powerful. Keown was improving on the work of the master. He mentioned that wasn’t the only example he could give. He said that J. Scott Campbell, the person that created the highly popular Gen13, and Danger Girls was known for his sexy female leads. He mentioned that the shape of his women was a refined version of the girls that Art Adams drew.

When I read the interview it blew my mind. The observations were spot on. As an artist I could tell that Keown, and Campbell were clearly influenced by the creators that came before them. The were not copying or poaching individual panels or illustrations of Byrne or Adams. They instead had their own distinct pencils, rendering techniques, proportion, and anatomy. Keown, and Campbell’s own unique style came through as if they were understudies to the greats. Campbell for example used less lines to define his figures, he gave his female characters thinner lips, and smaller feet, but the shape of the women he drew, their hips, and long legs were clearly influenced by Adams. The thing was that Adams was a great designer across the board. Not just with traditional men, and women, but also with monsters. This was something that Campbell was not known for. When Keown ended his run on the Pitt, and went into semi-retirement Adams continued to illustrate the occasional Hulk story. I was so happy whenever he did that. My brothers knew that I considered Keown the best Hulk artist ever, but Adams was a close second. Their two styles perfectly complimented the character in every way. Adams was such an accomplished draftsman that his designs were eventually used to create several action figures. This included the Hulk, and his equally massive rivals like the Abomination.

The comic book action figures that I grew up with in the ‘80s were very simplistic, and cartoonish. When Todd McFarlane started releasing his own comic book accurate Spawn action figures in the ‘90s he forced the industry to catch up. This meant that ToyBiz, Hasbro, and the other companies reached out to comic book artists to design entire toy lines. Adams worked within the scale of the particular series he was tasked to create. Whether he was designing monsters for 6-inch figures, or larger scales he made sure that they looked accurate when standing alongside the traditional figures. He would draw renders on comic book art boards, and submit them for review. He would do complete turn arounds of the characters. This was so that a sculptor working with a toy studio could recreate the design. He would include suggestions for different heads, and facial expressions as well. Depending on the project he would even create a costume, and accessories for the figures. Sometimes the sculptors would follow the designs to the letter, and other times they would change some elements, either to make sure the character could balance on its own, or to shave off some weight to make it less expensive to produce.

There was no doubt that Adams influenced countless generations of comic book artists with his work in comics, and now even toys. If Keown could be considered an evolved version of the Byrne style, then who could be considered an evolved version of the Adams style? Mr. Campbell already took up the mantle with his female designs, but what about the monsters? I would argue that at least two Hulk artists were heavily influenced by the icon. One of which was Ed McGuinness. Ed was so good at rendering the Hulk that I thought it was absurd he wasn’t given the keys to the Incredible Hulk in the late ‘90s after Keown had fallen into seclusion. McGuinness was anything but a copycat artist. He was evolving the format as all the greats had before him. He started by melding the classic proportions of Adams, with the unique physiology of game designers like BENGUS, and heavy inks which were distinctly his own.

Many comic book fans, myself included would testify that McGuinness was born to draw the Incredible Hulk. He did a couple of issues in 1998 featuring the Hulk being captured by the Circus of Crime. Right away his exaggerated cartoonish style really stood out. Then different artists took over the book. McGuinness never seemed to land on the radar of the editors at Marvel when the Hulk was concerned. He gained notoriety working on the Superman/Batman Public Enemies run for DC in 2003-2004. This was turned into an animated movie in 2009. His chiseled physiques instantly stood out among all the superhero books. They even ended up being recreated in toy form. Fans that saw his hyper-muscular figures knew that would be a perfect fit for the Hulk. When he found work at Marvel he drew on Deadpool, Spider-Man, Wolverine, the X-Men, and the Avengers. It seemed that the studio was willing to use him on every comic, except the one he was destined for. The fact that he couldn’t seem to land on a Hulk book was driving me crazy. Whether intentional, or accidental he kept being overlooked as Marvel cycled through different Hulk artists over the early 2000’s.

Eventually he got the call from the men at the top. It was announced that in 2008 he would finally be put on the Incredible Hulk. The comic book boards lit up online. I was overjoyed with the news. My brothers were happy for me because they knew I was a huge fan. I believed that McGuinness was the only person that could take the books to a new level. Unfortunately I lost all hope when I read where the first arc was going. Jeph Loeb was writing an entire storyline specifically for McGuinness. His plan was to create a murder mystery that would forever change the Marvel U. The “Hulk” was going to kill off the Abomination with a big gun, and turn Rick Jones in to the new Abomination with the nickname of A-Bomb. The actual murderer would be revealed as the Red Hulk. He was going to cut loose on the Hulk, and She-Hulk wipe the floor with Thor, and other cosmic level heroes. Betty Ross Banner would turn up later, and become the Red She-Hulk for… reasons. It made little sense then, and less sense on rereading the series. It was like a terrible practical joke being pulled on the artist, and fans of the series. It pained me to see the fantastic art of McGuinness get wasted on a clone character. His secret identity would later be revealed to be General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross.

The acts that the Red Hulk performed in the books seemed completely out of place. They were on the edge of being a satire of the books. The first issues where he debuted seemed like a self insert fanfic. None of the events seemed organic. None of the events were plausible for the established heroes, and villains. Even more alarming to me was that Arthur Adams had been called in to draw some of the covers, and illustrate some Red Hulk stories as well. It was a major push by Marvel to make the character relevant. It pained me that two of the best Hulk artists of the past 30+ years drawing an imitation character instead. The Red Hulk was eventually beaten by the classic Hulk, and later on by smaller teams of characters. The Red Hulk never matched the amazing feats that he debuted with. He never again held the same sense of awe, or prominence that Loeb had intended. After a while he was no longer considered a major villain, in fact he was turned into a hero, and lead a small strike force. This sort of villain turn had never been done with any of the Hulk’s other powerful opponents. Certainly not the Abomination, Leader, Juggernaut, Ravage, or the Madman.

In my opinion Jeph Loeb completely misunderstood the mythos of the Hulk. He did not use any of the formats that worked best for the character. He did not use the template of misunderstood monster, reluctant hero, wandering adventurer, or even psychological horror. Instead the post World War Hulk story was a reboot of the character. It felt like Mr. Loeb had the opportunity to flex his authority, and insert a “Mary Sue” that he would feature more than the title monster. Worse yet, he would be wasting the talents of Ed McGuinness. It was the main reason why I just stopped collecting the books. I sadly ended up missing some fantastic arcs written by other authors, and illustrated by new artists. Only recently would I start to catch up. I’ll talk more about it in the next blog. For now I’d like to know if you were a fan of the Red Hulk, or if you thought the series was handled well. Or were there any other comic arcs that left you cold. I’d like to read about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Generations of Hulk creators, part 3...

In the previous blog I mentioned that the Hulk was a monster, very much similar to Frankenstein’s creation. He was large, twisted, and grotesque in proportions. The character worked exceptionally well in horror stories as both the monster, and hero. An artist like Bernie Wrightson was a perfect choice to draw some of the Incredible Hulk issues, and stand-alone stories. I also mentioned that some comic book artists made the mistake of presenting the Hulk with a large bodybuilder physique. Where he had well defined muscles, and low body fat. I argued that these types of builds worked on a surface level to represent strength, but that wasn’t necessarily the best way to do it. There was an artist that had worked for DC, and Marvel that demonstrated that it was possible to render power, without making the characters swollen bodybuilders.

John Byrne was a titan in the industry. He developed countless issues, and helped shape the most important stories of several comic book publishers. He was one of the rare artists that actually had a hand in drawing what were considered the most powerful characters in their respective universes. He drew both Superman (starting in 1986), and the Incredible Hulk (starting in 1985). He did this without making either character overly muscular. Yes, both had good physiques, but they didn’t look like steroid abusers. Byrne’s understanding of anatomy, and physiology helped him render realistic frames that maintained a sense of power. For Superman he accomplished this by making Clark appear athletic, and fitting him in clothing that highlighted his body type. Readers could tell that he was in great shape, but not overtly muscular. When he changed into Superman he maintained a realistic athletic physique. Byrne was able to convey power not through muscles, but rather through the use of dynamic poses, and framing him doing the impossible with ease. He used similar techniques when drawing for the Hulk. The Hulk was not human by comparison. He was broad, with a wide head, large mouth, heavy brow, massive hands, and feet. He was supposed to be monstrous in proportions, rather than monstrous in muscle definition.

Byrne was able to present the Hulk as insanely powerful not by making the Hulk do the impossible with ease. That was a trick that he reserved for Superman. The Hulk on the other hand appeared powerful because he was able to shrug off perpetually escalating military attacks. When guns didn’t work they sent tanks after him. When that didn’t work they sent fighter jets, and missile. When that didn’t work they began unleashing monsters, giant robots, and biological attacks. When that didn’t work the biggest villains, and heroes in the Marvel Universe would be called in to stop him. The results were always the same. The Hulk took his hits, but often walked away with the win. The Hulk was powerful because no amount of escalation could break the character. The cautionary tale was that he simply wanted to be left alone, but his rivals were too arrogant to do so. Byrne set a standard for both Superman, and the Incredible Hulk that was hard to follow.

Many other artists would work on the Hulk books through the late 1980’s, but they would always be compared to Byrne. That was except for the artists whose style was so unique that they had few peers. Todd McFarlane was one such person. His style completely broke the classic mold. His version of the Hulk was as broad as he was tall. He was shaped like a cinder block, truly monstrous in proportions. This was around the time that Peter David started writing on the series. The duo used the horror element to great effect when crafting the “Ground Zero” arc. Not everyone was a fan of the bold art style, and longed for a return of something more traditional. McFarlane was moved over to the Amazing Spider-Man where he would absolutely flourish. A young Australian named Dale Keown had submitted some test pages to the studio, and they saw a similarity between his style, and Byrne’s. The new Hulk artist was called up.

Byrne’s heir apparent took over, and the fans were clamoring for more on day one. The way Dale rendered his physique, his use of crosshatching, rendering details, shapes, and proportions was spot on with the classic Byrne style. The Hulk was muscular, but not shredded like a bodybuilder. The shape of his body, his massive hands, and heavy brow were reminiscent of Byrne, however Keown had his own style too. Over the years he would tweak the proportions of the character, exaggerate it a bit more, use different poses, different panel breakdowns, and framing techniques which were distinctly his own. He would update the wardrobe, and move to jeans rather than purple pants for the Hulk, and snazzy suits for the gray Joe Fixit. Keown would also refine, and update the classic villains. The thing was that he did these things subtly over the late ‘80s, and early ‘90s so as not to shock to long-time fans. By the time he finished his run he was considered by many to be the best Hulk artist to ever live. In fact over the past 30+ years he would turn up to do a couple of issues written by Peter David, as well as create variant covers for Marvel in his own style.

The new crop of artists working at Marvel in the early ‘90s, including Jim Lee, Joe Quesada, Whilce Portacio, and Rob Liefeld were definitely a changing of the guard. Each had their own unique style that was really hitting with Generation-X. They were creating a fresh aesthetic, that sometimes included manga, and anime influences. They were rewriting the style of the company, and western comic books in general. Keown was definitely part of the equation. His hand was on the scale of the most powerful character in the Marvel U. It was essential to make his work stand apart from his contemporaries. He did this on his debut, issue #367 in March 1990. It was the fourth, and final part of the Countdown saga where the Madman was unmasked. The villain was not only massively strong, but also absolutely insane. I never thought I’d see a monster that could even terrorize even the Hulk, bringing Joe Fixit to the brink of death. From that moment on the fans knew that Keown was going to be carrying the series. Sadly it wasn’t going to be a forever run on the books.

Peter David used Keown’s red-hot pencils to break down, and rebuild both the classic green Hulk, and gray Joe Fixit. They would introduce a merged personality known as Professor Hulk. He would become a leader of a group of immortal beings known as the Pantheon, and travel the globe on all sorts of adventures. Fans were eating it up, and eager to see what else the duo had planned. Sadly that wouldn’t happen. After 31 issues, while on his second year with the series Keown shocked everyone by leaving. He would join fellow artists to leverage their skills, and fanbase to quit Marvel. The group would start up Image Comics. He would develop the alien monster series called the Pitt. The hero was a massive humanoid like the Hulk, but with razor sharp claws similar to Sabertooth, the arch-rival of Wolverine. It was a fun comic, with lots of creature designs in the trademark Keown style. There was some bad blood between the Marvel executives and the young creators, but competition, and business was generally good for the industry. Peter David was even reunited with Keown to write a one-shot book featuring the Hulk versus the Pitt. They would also work together on other short Hulk stories, including “The End” where we saw the end of the Banner many centuries from now.

It turned out that Dale Keown leaving was both a blessing, and a curse for Marvel. It was bad because in the eyes of many he was literally born to draw the character. The artists that followed in his footsteps had a hard time meeting the standard he set. At the same time Marvel was able to give chances to dozens of other artists over the next three decades. Each brought their own unique aesthetic to the character. Some weren’t quite fits for the Hulk, but they managed to be perfect for Iron Man, Spider-Man, Captain America, Thor, or any other franchise. There were a few standout artists that managed to breathe new life into the Green Goliath. I’m going to highlight some of these artists in the next entry. Until then I’d like to know if you followed the Hulk, or had a favorite comic book artist. I’d like to read about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Generations of Hulk creators, part 2...

In the previous blog I mentioned that there were several types of stories that worked well for the Incredible Hulk. The first I highlighted was the drama, or to be more specific the psychological horror story. This was important because the plots that worked best for the characters played to their strengths, and exploited a weaknesses for the hero to overcome. The television series was a prime example of this. It was carried by Bill Bixby as Dr. Banner. He was trying to cure himself of the Hulk, but had to cobble together lab equipment from scraps, and while being hunted by the authorities. He often found himself entangled in the affairs of complete strangers. Whether it was helping someone overcome an addiction, chase off a gang, or rescue a kidnapping victim. He had to use his intelligence to find an answer. The Hulk would only show up in maybe two or three minutes out of each episode when life, and death was at stake. It highlighted to audiences that Banner was a sympathetic figure, and the Hulk was a terrifying creature that was part of the same person. There was nothing that could stop him if he was unleashed, and Banner did everything he could to keep that from happening. The Hulk as a character could also be considered a contemporary retelling of Dr. Frankenstein, with the Hulk being the monster that he unleashed to the world. Banner was also thought of as the modern Prometheus, the Ancient Greek character that stole fire from the gods, and gave it to man. He was eternally punished for his arrogance. 

Banner unleashed the power of gamma radiation, and would also be cursed for his actions. The Hulk could be presented as a misunderstood monster, reluctant hero, or even wandering adventurer. This is where I would like to start talking about my favorite Hulk artists. Because in order to tell the story of the man, and the monster then you need to be able to visually make the distinction. In superhero comics it’s very easy to see when hero is present, and when the secret identity shows up. Superman could put on glasses, and a business suit to become Clark Kent. Bruce Wayne could put on a mask, and cowl to become Batman. Bruce Banner turned into a half ton, nearly eight-foot-tall green man. Each artist brought their own visual style, their own aesthetic to the character. In my opinion the type of artist featured on the Hulk books could make, or break the story. Horror was one of the best formats for a Hulk story. Whether it was the Hulk fighting monsters, demons, or aliens. An artist that was great at rendering body, or biological horror could help ground readers into the world that the Hulk was entering. The artist that I think laid the foundation for this type of Hulk story was Bernie Wrightson.

Mr. Wrightson (RIP) was an exceptional draftsman. His lines, and detail were unrivaled. He was known for visceral renderings in his character art. We could see veins, muscles, scars, and various features on the people he drew. His black, and white art featured in the Frankenstein book released by Marvel in 1983 set a bar impossible to top. His style was perfectly suited for horror illustration, rather than mainstream comic book heroes. Unfortunately for Bernie the Comics Code Authority passed a sweeping set of laws in 1954 meant to self-regulate gratuitous horror, and violence from the comics industry. Bernie was able to skirt the code by never rending anything too graphic, but rather just hint at it. He was perfect for the horror characters like Swamp Thing (which he co-created), and the Marvel equivalent known as Man Thing. Bernie was one of the rare artists that could do it all. Many people do not know that the lead artist on a comic often only did the initial pencil work. The inking, and coloring of individual pages were often assigned to someone else. Bernie found work inking for other artists, as well as coloring for them at both Marvel, and DC. It only made sense that someone adept at drawing horror comics would be a good fit rendering the Hulk.

At the core the Hulk was a monster. The artists that did the character justice had to know how to draw creatures, rather than traditional superheroes. This was something that not every comic book artist was capable of doing. The mistake they made was in trying to draw the Hulk like a gigantic bodybuilder. The television series may have presented the idea to the mainstream, however the Hulk in the comics was anything but human. First off the Hulk on television was vastly underpowered compared to his comic counterpart. On TV he could get injured by bullets, and a fall from a great height could kill him. Whereas in the comics he could survive atomic blasts, and didn’t burn up on reentry from his leaps into space. Still there were artists that gave the Hulk a distinct bodybuilder physique. Bart Sears was one of my favorite comic book artists of all time. His understanding of anatomy was unmatched among his contemporaries. He often took proportions from professional male, and female bodybuilders when creating the physiques of his characters. They looked stunning when he penciled, and inked them. Something similar could be argued for Bryan Hitch. The lead artist on the “Ultimates” run which was designed to make the Marvel characters look, and feel real. These artists were great at the traditional hero books, however their version of the Hulk was far from my favorite.

The idea that in order to convey strength, and power in a comic book then a character had to be presented as “jacked” or have overdeveloped muscles. This was a trap that a lot of artists fell into when presenting classic characters. Someone like the Flash for example was known for his speed. Therefor it made sense that he was built like an Olympic runner, long, and lean muscles. Someone like Spider-Man had the physique of a gymnast, strong, and flexible. Each character still looked heroic, but had muscles proportional to their abilities. Yet in order to convince audiences that a character like Superman, or Omni-Man was the strongest character in their respective books they had to have bodybuilder physiques. No artists made their caped heroes (or villains) as jacked-up as Ed McGuinness, and Ryan Ottley. It was kind of hard to make people think that Clark Kent was a humble journalist when he had a neck as big as an NFL linebacker. Or that Nolan Grayson had developed his physique from writing books.

It turned out that there was a reason that each artist illustrated their heroes so strong, but I’ll talk about that in a future blog. The greatest, and longest-lasting Hulk artists had a few things in common. Their ability to create a figure that was more than a large green bodybuilder should be studied by all comic artists, and illustrators. There were many subtleties that helped explain the character, and the comic book aesthetic that was unique when compared to manga, animation, or other forms of art. We will look at this in the next blog. Were there any Hulk artists that you enjoyed? Were you familiar with the work of Bernie Wrightson? I’d like to read about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!