A Token Effort

Let’s play a game.  I’ll show you a preview page from Young Avenger’s Presents #3 (of 6), and you tell me what’s wrong with it.  The answer may surprise you.

Click here for the page, courtesy of Newsarama. 

Done?  Good.  Now, if you said “Hulkling does not look anything like Hulk in his battle form,” I am sorry, but that is not the answer we were looking for.  Please tune in at a later date for our discussion on Hulkling.  No, the answer we were looking for was “Hulking and Wiccan do not kiss good-bye as Wiccan is leaving.”  If you don’t think there’s anything wrong with two people not kissing each other, then bless you.  You are too pure to be reading about comics on the internet.

This, of course, ignited a hellstorm of accusations and deprecations on the Newsarama message boards.  How dare two gay men in a relationship not kiss on panel.  Now, I’ll admit, I, too, thought is was a bit strange.  But that’s as far as it went, just a bit strange.  My second thought was of how offended people would get over this omission.  I didn’t have to wait long for vindication.  Soon, shit was flying on both sides, despite early attempts by Newsarama moderators to defuse the situation.  No.  The lack of a kiss, coupled with the fact that Wiccan and Hulking do not explicitly say that they love each other, enraged some people.  Marvel was homophobic and trying to repress gay couples in comics.  Marvel was portraying gay men as sluts.  Wiccan and Hulkling were marching right back to tokenism.

This article will not change any of their minds.  Logical arguments do not end situations like these.  All I want is to explain why the absence of a kiss makes Wiccan and Hulkling more believable to me than most comic book couples.

Top Six Reasons Hulking and Wiccan Do Not Kiss Each Other Good-bye

6. Skrulls do not brush their teeth, as shape-changing makes them immune to plaque and the gum disease gingivitis.

5. Speed, Wiccan’s brother, is fast enough to zoom in at any time unnoticed.  PDAs in front of family are always awkward.

4. Hulkling goes from his battle form to looking just like Wiccan.  I imagine both of those would be awkward to make out with.

3. Wiccan’s mom is literally banging on his door calling for him.  Wiccan doesn’t have much time to make good his escape.

2. Wiccan is distracted by the serious nature of the quest he is about to undertake, which is one to find out where he truly comes from.  Daunting for anyone.

1. Wiccan and Hulkling are simply still adjusting to their relationship.  They’re still awkward around each other, despite their feelings.  They are *gasp* acting like teenagers, still wondering what is appropriate and when.

If you want to get upset because Wiccan and Hulkling don’t act lik the heroes  from your favorite yaoi manga, that’s fine.  It must be frustrating not to see all your desires made real on the page.  But don’t try to tell me that it makes them any less believable as characters, or, in fact, makes them tokens.  The simple act of not kissing has made them real to me than all the graphic lust could achieve.

Shill: Secret Invasion Animated Webisode

So, yeah, Secret Invasion. The Skrullocaust. Marvel’s big event for 2008. Do I really care? No. I had my event already, and it seems to have taken Hulk out of the picture for SI. (Though, CBR’s Earth’s Most Wanted card deck gives me a bit of hope.) However, as Bendis~! is at the helm of this event, the results promise to be significant, so I just can’t ignore it. And so, I dutifully watched this newest marketing tool to see if I could glean any new info from it. Though, with possible mole/possible plant “Marvel B0y” seemingly spoiling things left and right, it may be an unnecessary effort. Anyway, some things I noticed.

Nick Fury is very important. Gee, really? I guess this means maybe he’ll show up for more than a few panels.

Skrulls. Are. EVERYWHERE! Initiative: Check. Avengers: Double Check (Thanks, Marvel B0y). Fantastic Four? Now that is interesting. I still hold out hope for Mr. Skrulltastic, but think it much more likely that we’ll see The Ever-Loving, Blue-Eyed Skrull and the Skrull Torch.

And that’s about it. Everything else is already old news, except for possibly that the Skrulls wanted to replace Echo and failed. And so, while I am somewhat interested in who is and is not a Skrull, I don’t really care about the story itself. I care more that this appears to be the finale of the 7 year Bendis Saga we’ve been wading through unknowingly. And maybe, just maybe, after Civil War, House of M, Silent War, World War Hulk, Messiah Complex, and Secret Invasion, we will finally know who, exactly, we can trust.

Bearing the Skaars of Limbo

I wasn’t expecting much out of Wizard World LA.  Just the usual Final Crisis and Secret Invasion teasers with some general griping about Countdown and Spider-man tossed in from the fans.  I was greatly shocked, however, to find one bit of news, almost lost amid the Mondo Marvel news hurricane that Skaar: Son of Hulk was back on the radar.  Sure, it looked a little different than I remembered, as Ron Garney had replaced Carlo Pagulayan as penciler, but with Greg Pak still at the helm, I was a happy camper.  Hulk’s half-alien son would live, and our time on Sakaar was not yet over.

Skaar had been originally scheduled for a March release, but solicitations for March came and went with no sign of the title.  There was no comment about the title coming from either Marvel of Greg Pak.  The only hint we got about Skaar’s status was a quote, purportedly from Planet Hulk colorist Chris Sotomayor, stating that Marvel was unsure of what to do with the title with The Incredible Hulk debuting in theatres in the Summer.  With Marvel apparently getting cold feet about debuting a title starring Hulk’s son at the risk of confusing the casual, movie-going fans, it seemed Skaar had been banished to Limbo, cursed to spend eternity with the Wonder Woman movie and Miracleman.  But Marvel, however, has warmed to the idea, and, despite rumors of a Fall launch, Skaar has been solicited for June, the very month Hulk bounds back into theatres.

The only dark cloud for some is the loss of Pags on pencils.  While Carlo Pagulayan is one awesome penciler, one thing about his work never sat right with me.  That thing?  Hulk himself.  In the beginning, it wasn’t so bad.

See, that’s a pretty sweet Hulk right there.  But sometimes …

Just say no to three-fingered, cat-faced Hulk.  Not that Aaron Lopresti, the other penciler for Planet Hulk, had a perfect Hulk, either, but I often preferred his to the Pag’s Hulk of issue 100+.  Ron Garney has worked on Hulk before.  Now, sure, it was for the relaunch in 1999, where Hulk showed up once every handful of issue, but it was enough to impress me.  Garney’s style is somewhat cartoony.  Big, exaggerated faces, a clean, simple line, and lots of overwrought movement.  But, it also has the heft and power and detail of Pagulayan or Lopresti.  I’m actually more excited for Skaar with Ron Garney behind the pencil.  Just check out this Juggernaut.

This image is the best example I can find of Garney’s skill handling massive physiques, a prerequisite for drawing Hulk or his son.  And speaking of Hulk himselves …

Fixit

The Professor

And the Original

All 3 core Hulks in one issue, not to mention a few dozen others, as well.  See The Incredible Hulk V. 3 #12-13 if you want to see the full range of Hulks.

Skaar is in very good hands, and it has every chance to be a top 10 seller when it debuts.  Until then, I have a little plan to help the weeks go by until Skaar’s June 4th debut.  Check in next week for Letters to Skaar.

The Incredible Hulk Trailer, At Long Last

The first Trailer for Ed Norton’s The Incredible Hulk has finally hit the interwebs, and in grand Hulk tradition, it is not without its share of controversy. The first Hulk film, released in 2003 and helmed by Ang Lee, is almost universally reviled as just a terrible movie, though it fared somewhat better amongst critics and at the box office than most people remember. Even those who admit to enjoying the first movie (me, for example) qualify that they like the movie despite its flaws. Promotion for the 2003 Hulk film was a mess in and of itself, with a Superbowl ad that contained unfinished footage. The new Hulk film labored in the shadow of the old, which got bigger and darker with each passing year. The internet waited eagerly, waiting to sink its claws into the reboot. And to top it off, Iron Man was busily whipping comic movie fans into multiple nerdgasms with its combination of all-star cast and excellent practical and computer generated effects. As The Incredible Hulk’s release date grew ever nearer, many took the lack of even a teaser trailer as signs of more problems for Hulk and his movie.

But now the trailer has been released, and the response is… Pretty much exactly what was expected. Fans across the ‘net were pretty much evenly split between excitement and complete disappointment. A main point of contention was, of course, the computer generated Hulk and Abomination. The rather late release of the trailer convinced many that this was finished art, and with this assumption thereby confirmed as “fact,” sent them skittering across everywhere sowing doom and gloom. Some chose to question the late start of the hype machine, stating that there was no way they could get people interested in the film with under 3 months left before release. After all, Marvel’s been shilling Iron Man for a year solid. Has Marvel lost confidence in Hulk’s box office chances after one poor showing?

I say that all this nay-saying is pointless. Marvel, Louis Leterrier, and Ed Norton know exactly what they are doing, and The Incredible Hulk is shaping up to be an excellent movie.

When I first saw the trailer, I was stunned by how good it was. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but it met all my expectations and exceeded them. Norton’s Banner was exquisite. He finally brought some life to Robert Bruce Banner. Eric Bana’s Banner was subdued, timid, almost lifeless. Banner may have been a repressed man, but he was still a confident scientist as an adult. He had emotions, he just hid his more violent ones away from the world. Norton gives us this Banner. He’s emotive and alive, but evasive, as if he’s always hiding something, which he is. He’s haunted, but not broken. We were then treated to some exposition-y glimpses into the plot. Banner’s trying to rid himself of Hulk. The military is trying to weaponize the Hulk as the ultimate atomic weapon. Emil Blonsky is the barely controlled, unstable attempt at creating a new “Hulk.” Abomination predictably goes berserk , and only Banner as Hulk can stop him. A nice bit of visual flair is Banner dropping from a chopper like a bomb. This sequence reveals that the plot is, apparently, an amalgamation of themes from the 616 and Ultimate Hulks. Like in the mainstream Marvel Universe, Banner is on the run from the military, darting from shadow to shadow as he tries to avoid both capture and his next Hulk out. All the while he dreams of returning to Betty, his true love. But as in the Ultimate Universe, the military’s interest isn’t in stopping a menace, but harnessing it to serve as the ultimate weapon. All liberally sprinkled with details from Bruce Jones’ controversial Hulk run. The yoga? All Bruce Jones.

This brings us to the first point of controversy amongst fans, the computer generated Hulk himself. I won’t lie, I was somewhat disappointed with the Hulk model when I first saw it. First off, Hulk has hit the lip gloss way too hard. Secondly, he has a weird tiger-stripe look going on. The last issue I had with the CG Hulk is somewhat ephemeral. Hulk just looks young. It’s like they’re making I Was A Teenage Hulk or something. However, these issue promptly disappeared when I saw the Hulk in motion. While moving, Hulk looked like everything I wanted. It was almost jarring. I assume this is due to different shots being at different levels of completion. This is backed up by Leterrier himself in his comments on the trailer, found here. Though Leterrier was satisfied enough with the computer effects to release a trailer, he makes sure to explain that the effects are still a work in progress. With that in mind, I give the new CG Hulk a thumbs up. Plus, I rather think it looks similar to Sal Buscema’s Hulk, one of the classic interpretations of ol’ Jade Jaws.

I can definitely see a resemblance.

As for the Abomination, I thought that, if anything, he looked more polished than Hulk himself, though some have noted a certain “jerkiness” in his movements. Some have made a point of the fact that this Abomination looks different than the one in the comics, with many pining for Blonsky’s famous finned ears. I don’t think this is such a big change, especially since the Blonsky Abomination is dead (for now), but there is something about the new Abomination that struck me as odd. namely that he looks just like DC’s Swamp Thing. I would have preferred something closer to Jeph Loed and Ed McGuinness’ A-bomb, but that was probably highly infeasible.

Sorry, got carried away, there.

In his commentary on the trailer, Leterrier says that he waited so long to release a trailer because he did not want to release something he was not happy with. He hoped to avoid a repeat of the disastrous Superbowl ad for Ang Lee’s film. This move, however, has drawn criticism in the face of Marvel’s constant pimping of the Iron Man film. I, however, feel this is a good move by Marvel, and comparing the Iron Man and Hulk films’ advertising needs is like comparing, well, Iron Man and Hulk themselves. Iron Man is a new arrival to Marvel’s film stable, and, though some may dispute it, Iron Man is less well known amongst casual and non-comic readers than multimedia stars Hulk and Spider-man. Yes, Iron Man had a cartoon or two and a built-in theme song by Black Sabbath, but Hulk has had several cartoons, as well, and a fondly remembered live action TV show. Hulk also has a well known, if not well liked, movie already under his belt. Marvel has to build up Iron Man’s cache with audiences, and they are doing a wonderful job. Hulk, however, already has that cache, and the biggest part of it may be his almost-flop film of 5 years ago. People will see this film just to see if it’s as bad as the first. Marvel already has guaranteed butts in seats. They just have to make sure that this time, those butts bring their friends and not warn them away in droves. This trailer is a big step in the right direction.

A trailer may not tell the whole picture of a film, however. I mean, the Punisher trailer made that piece of crap look epic. We won’t know just how well Marvel has pulled off its reboot of the Hulk movie franchise until the film hits theatres, but for now, I have hope.

Heard Across the Omniverse

“Good Afternoon.  It happened while the city slept.  A giant monster, now named “Cloverfield” by S.H.I.E.L.D. brass, attacked the city shortly before midnight last night.  It ravaged several abandoned dockside warehouses before Spider-Man swung on to the scene.  Spider-Man distracted the monster for several minutes with his amazing acrobatics until it dropped dozens of spawn from its hide.  Spider-Man was forced to disengage the monster to protect a growing crowd of onlookers from the ravenous horde of dog-sized horrors.  With S.H.I.E.L.D. and the United States Armed Forces still en route, the monster seemed set to continue its rampage unopposed.  Until, that is, the Hulk suddenly appeared in its path.  Yes, the Hulk, cause of so much damage himself, put his incredible power to more beneficent use.  After a brief struggle, which resulted in the destruction of several blocks of evacuated apartments, the Hulk was successful in tossing the immense, squid-like monster back out to sea.  There, it was met by Tony Stark, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and inventor/pilot of the invincible Iron Man armor, accompanied by the new S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier.  Though Director Stark had some early trouble avoiding the quick, tentacle-like limbs of the monster, his powerful repulsors made quick work of the creature that  had, for a brief moment, seemed unstoppable.  S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were quick to begin containment and clean up operations, making New York City safe once again, with many of its citizens unaware that anything had happened.  There is one casualty to report, however.  Lady Liberty lost her head in the attack.  It was quickly found suspended in Spider-Man’s distinctive webbing several blocks from where the creature made landfall.  Damage Control promises to have Lady Liberty and the rest of the damage patched up and good as new by late this evening.

In a statement released by Director Stark from the scene, he commends the actions of the Hulk and Spider-Man as heroic, but they are still to be considered dangerous fugitives.  In other news  Hank Pym announced today that-”