Like many of you, I began reading comics at a young age. In my case, it was the early 1980s at the time when Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr. were reinventing Uncanny X-Men, Walt Simonson was storming The Mighty Thor and Boisterous Bill Mantlo was penning a variety of titles simultaneously, including Micronauts, Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man, Captain America, Rom and The Incredible Hulk. At such a young age, I was quite impressionable, and all the Marvel comics I enjoyed would make me into a fan for life. During these formative years, it would be Marvel comic books which played a major influence in developing my sense of honor and duty, expanding my vocabulary, defining what interpersonal relationships could be, and weaving my own fabric of morality. After 30+ years of reading comics by hundreds of storytellers, I can say without any hesitation that there could’ve been no better writer to help build my moral center than the Boisterous One. It would be during his run on The Incredible Hulk that I would learn key lessons about kindness, humility, forgiveness, love, heroism and sacrifice. They are lessons I carry with me to this day and which affect both […]
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We try and make it right but it’s nowhere in sight It’s somewhere in the brain and you know who’s to blame You know he keeps smashin’, still we keep on playin’ Head games! At the risk of seeming like an old fogey who isn’t up with the times, I’ve seen many Marvel titles over the last several years re-launch themselves and start over with issue #1. It’s very rare nowadays for a comic book to reach into the triple digits.
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LOVE, EXCITING & NEW … COME ABOARD, WE’RE SMASHING YOU (or It’s a Nice Day for a Green Wedding) Weddings are happy, celebratory affairs which bring two people – as well as their friends and family – together in flamboyant ceremonies with traditions that vary in outlandish, gleeful ways. In the realm of super-hero comic books, the occasion of a wedding often involves the invasion of deadly enemies who want to ruin the party or take out the lovebirds, all without an invitation for either themselves or their plus-one.
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HIT ‘EM WHERE IT HERTZ! (or… Amped-Up Battery Above the Loop) Dear reader, I could converse about The Incredible Hulk all day and night long. This is not exaggeration in the slightest, for my love of the green goliath has spanned 30 years and spurred a silly audio podcast production about the Hulk which earned me the nickname “Smash”. But even before I began reading the adventures of ol’ mean and green, he was stomping across the Marvel Universe, putting fear in the hearts of citizens and evil-doers alike. For 25¢ in January 1975, you could join Bruce Banner and his alter-ego for another monthly adventure courtesy of Len Wein, Herb Trimpe and Marvel Comics Group. Grab your favorite hot beverage mug and join me for “Fury at 50,000 Volts!”. As with most Marvel titles during the Bronze Age of Comic Books, the characters of note are presented in quick, detailed clarity. The Hulk appears on the very first page and within a few frames, his completely avoidable confrontation with a passenger train ends badly … for the train. In one page, however, we see not only the simple-minded Hulk threaten the safety of a train full of passengers, but […]
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