Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Incredible Hulk

José García-López — Hulk Vs… Batman

Original Art and The Artists

DC Special Series #27, September 1981

Late April is the time of year when we are typically revved up and ready for the upcoming summer movie blockbuster season. 

Definitely not this year. June perhaps? (Fingers crossed, and all that.)

So here at the blog this week, we present the big blockbusters you will never see on the big screen anyway — crossovers featuring the Incredible Hulk with characters from other universes, starting with…

…Hulk vs. Batman. 

This was the second character crossover between Marvel and DC, following the successful pairings of Spider-man and Superman a few years prior. At the time Superman was DC”s most important and recognizable character worldwide, so despite the power inequity, that original pairing made commercial sense. Of course, Batman vs. Spider-man is a fairer fight.

And Hulk vs. Superman? That seems fairer — More on that later.

Meanwhile, despite the improbability of the match-up, Jose Garcia Lopez presents a master class in comic book storytelling in 48 pages.

It’s an astonishing piece of work, by an artist’s artist. Both visual imagination and draftsmanship are superb here. Many of the pages are top of class, and very few are anything less than terrific.

I prefer Lopez inking himself, but Giordano does a terrific job, and despite the mismatch of powers, it’s a fun ride. 

But seriously, Batman “vs.” Hulk? (Eventually, of course, as illustrated here, they team up.) It may have been a fun ride, but realistically, it should have been a very short one.

Paul Pelletier And Ken Lashley (With Mark Morales) — Battle For The Ages

Original Art and The Artists

Commission, 2017

It all started with Hulk vs. Wolverine.

Beginning on the last page of Incredible Hulk # 180 and continuing through the now iconic (and ultra–expensive) Incredible Hulk #181 the introduction of Wolverine foreshadowed the “new” X-men a few short months later.

(FYI, he also appears on the first page of #182, where get’s forced to leave by the Canadian authorities he works for. Remember when it was a big deal that Wolverine was “Canadian?” But I digress…)

Since that moment 46 years ago, Hulk and Wolverine have crossed paths more than a few times. And why not? Feels like a reasonable match-up.

This commission jam piece by Ken Lashley on Wolverine, and Paul Pelletier on Hulk — with Mark Morales on inks — captures he dynamics of this battle perfectly.

The original commissioner had a very specific vision in mind —- and obviously realized it — but then chose to sell / trade it shortly thereafter to a comic art dealer. Apparently, the original collector has MANY pieces featuring Hulk vs. Wolverine.

I don’t normally collect commissions (unless it’s a recreation or re-imagination) with some notable exceptions by comic art veterans, but this one called it out to me, and it ended up in my possession as part as a larger acquisition.

All three artists knocked it out of the park.

Which, based on the scene itself, is about to happen to ether Hulk or Wolverine — or both — in a millisecond.

The commission reminds me of this great cover of World War Hulk by Ed McGuinness — up close and personal.
It all starts here. The Incredible Hulk #180 and #181. The Wolverine definitely strikes MORE than once.
Two different Hulk #181 re-imaginations by John Byrne, and one by Art Adams are among the many versions of this cover in existence.

Walter Simonson with Alfredo Alcala — …Hulk Nice?

Original Art and The Artists

Rampaging Hulk Magazine #3, June 1977

It’s a Red Hulk / Green Hulk Walter Simonson-themed Christmas, and Green Hulk takes his turn.

Green Hulk takes out his frustration on one of the Metal Master’s lethal robots in this action-filled story, pencilled by Walter Simonson with inks and wash-tones by Alfredo Alcala.

Original art for stories from black and white magazine titles often has more depth, because tonal quality was necessary to make the art pop without color printing. Alcala was one of the best of the artists working regularly in this medium.

Word balloons on many of the Marvel Magazines were done on tissue overlays, hence the “word-free” artwork. But a good action page, like a well directed fight scene in a film, should be void of most speaking parts anyway. (Even as a young reader, I disliked inner monologue masquerading as outer dialogue.)

Who has the breath to talk during a fight? (I know, they’re super-powered beings. But still…)

The Hulk is BIG on Christmas. (Ouch.)

Walter Simonson with Scott Hanna — Hulk Naughty…

Original Art and The Artists

Avengers #28, September 2012

It’s a Red Hulk / Green Hulk Walter Simonson-themed Christmas, with Red Hulk stepping up first.

Red Hulk appears very angry — that’s no way to behave during the Holiday Season! — in this marvelous double page spread by Walter Simonson.

The notorious deadline crunch has come calling — this is blue-line inked original art (the pencils exist separately) with inks by the talented Scott Hanna, who embellishes Walter’s pencils pretty faithfully on this spread.

Walter of course does not part with pages that he both pencils and inks, which means this is one of only a few scenarios where one can own a Simonson published page.

And even though his actual pencils never touched the paper, its a great Simonson example to have. Storytelling on a DPS can often be tricky, but Walter develops this one with a combination of clarity and creativity. (Note the panel size variety and “camera angles.” )

As for Red Hulk? Nothing good usually comes from picking a fight with the X-Men, no matter what the time of year.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, no matter which Hulk you identify with.

Lee Weeks — FOOM!

Original Art and The Artists

Incredible Hulk #78, April 2005

Continuing a two-week series celebrating Halloween with the best in monsters, mystery and mayhem.

Lee Weeks drawing the Incredible Hulk? Excellent.

Lee Weeks drawing a Hulk splash in which our hero is about to be clobbered by Lee and Kirby’s Fin Fang Foom? Feels like a must-have page.

Weeks… Hulk…Fin Fang Foom… Monster Island. Not much more to add here about this cool and surreal page.  It’s from the Peter David multi–issue story “Tempest Fugit”, that seems very influenced by the “Lost” television show, which was then in its first season. 

This story arc, marking David’s return to the character, definitely has some detractors (spoiler alert — it’s essentially a dream story) but Weeks art, with inks by the amazing Tom Palmer, definitely transcends whatever story issues might exist.

Fin Fang Foom, one of the many great giant creatures created at the dawn of the silver age, appeared just shortly after the birth of Fantastic Four #1, whose debut would ironically herald the end of the age of Marvel Monsters.

He resurfaces from time to time — including a one-shot with the Hulk shortly after this story — but his appearances are too infrequent for my own taste. 

Fun fact: His surname became the name of the Marvel -run fan club magazine in the 70s. Friends of ‘Ol Marvel indeed!

Weeks signing at Baltimore Comic-Con, (yesterday), October 18, 2019