Doug: Today's the day! Well, the way they do things in movie releases, Captain America: Civil War actually landed last night. But it's not as catchy to say "Last night was the night!" Nevermind...
Doug: Over the years Karen and I, as well as our team of guest writers, have reviewed many superhero tussles. In fact, when laying out today's post I was amazed at just how many! And while I am certain we didn't catch all of them, we would like to present 39 (!) of our greatest hits in this genre. Each cover below represents a review of the issue, and clicking on the cover should take you to the original post. The "Avengers/Defenders War" is featured in the attached Avengers covers -- the first four chapters are included in two posts that are linked.
NOTE: This post was updated and refreshed over April 17 and 20, 2020. Five more reviews were added here (bringing you 44 links) - in some cases, posts that were written after this was originally published.
Doug: Have a great time spelunking through BAB "Civil War" history (if you find a broken or misdirecting link, please let me know and I'll try to get it fixed ASAP). And as always, please leave a praise or pan in the comments section.
17 comments:
*sigh*
"Hulk just wants to be left alone--!"
HB
Now that's a lot of impactful reading. The 'Greatest Hits' of the 'Greatest Hits', as it were. I'll be battling to find time to follow all these in my free minutes today...
Sorry, caught me in a demented mood this morning! I'll try to keep a 'Civil' tongue ...
Doug, not to toot my own horn or anything, but you could have brought the tally up to an even 40 by adding my 100-word review of JLA #200 tucked away in this post.
Also, what Redartz said: I'm going to have to avoid clicking on all those links and get distracted by those old reviews. I've just got too much work to do...
Like others I am swamped at work but am so tempted to look at some of these. This will fill some reading gaps over the weekends. Between brunch with "Mom" and the boys, baseball, the movie...I will squeeze some time in. Thanks Doug and cheers all! (Boy a lot of great stuff has been covered over the years)!
Edo --
Thanks for providing that link, and my apology for missing it.
However, you know I'm so particular that that 40th book would've screwed up my nice layout today ;). And there are other reviews, too. I know the X-Men where Cyke and Havoc tussle isn't shown. I figure folks can be challenged to find and report those other instances I've missed.
And thanks to the rest of you for the comments thus far. Don't hesitate to leave comments on those older posts if you're so inclined.
Doug
Sweet Fancy Moses, Doug--!
You decided to not give your students a huge homework/research assignment, and chose to give it to us instead-?? (Ha! That was my initial reaction to your post as I quickly looked at it earlier this morning. . . )
Off-hand, I didn't spot a bad issue in that entire bunch--- some a little more plausible than others, perhaps. GREAT cover for Capt Marvel #4, too, yeah?
A big one I'd toss into your mix is Tales to Astonish #93-- Hulk vs Silver Surfer.
And Hulk #118- Hulk vs Subby (again-- truly great issue and cover).
And Hulk #122- Hulk vs the FF (Ben kind of a non-factor in this one).
And Hulk #128- Hulk vs the (new, modern) Avengers.
And Hulk #130- vs Iron Man
And Hulk #141- vs (brand new) Doc Samson
And Hulk #142- vs (brand new) Valkyrie
And Hulk #156- vs The Hulk! (Could have been in yesterday's topic!)
And Hulk #161- vs The Beast
And Hulk #175- vs The Inhumans (yes,yes-- Black Bolt uses his "forbidden" voice power for the trazillionth time. . . )
And Hulk #177- vs (misleadingly) Adam Warlock.
An odd subset for the Hulk in particular are issues where he neither fights with nor teams up with the guest star. The Hulk's track just kind of chugs along, with the guest star orbiting in the background. #135 (Phantom Eagle) and #166 (Hawkeye) both are examples of this phenomenon. . .
HB (maybe a little too invested in Hulkophilia. . . )
Wow, as someone (Colin? Edo? HB? someone else?...I'm too lazy to look) pointed out yesterday, Spidey sure has had a lot of misunderstanding fights, hasn't he?
Mike Wilson
It wasn't me, Mike-- but I think we can take it pretty much as a universally-recognized truth-! (man, thanks for commenting. . . I was feeling like I'd killed another thread. . . !)
HB
Mike W., I guess you're thinking of my comment from yesterday. And yes, Spidey was certainly the grandmaster of misunderstanding fights.
However, as HB pointed out in his comment, the Hulk matches him in confrontations with other heroes.
At the risk of really killing this thread, I'll just to add to HB's list, but with covers from a period in Hulk's history with which I'm much more familiar:
Hulk #214 vs. Jack of Hearts
and Hulk #221 vs. Stingray
and Hulk #229 vs. Doc Samson
and Hulk #233 vs. Marvel Man (as Quasar was originally called)
and Hulk #235-236 vs. Machine Man
and Hulk #246 vs. Captain Marvel
and Hulk #250 vs. Silver Surfer
and Hulk #255 vs. Thor
and Hulk #256 vs. Sabra
and Hulk #257 vs. Arabian Knight
and Hulk #258 vs. the Soviet Super Soldiers (bit of globetrotting in those last few)
and Hulk #265 vs. the Rangers
and also Hulk Annual #8 vs. Sasquatch
and Hulk Annual #10 vs. Captain Universe
as well as Daredevil #163
and then Iron Man #131-132.
Man, there are some really great comics displayed here! Particularly the early-'70's Marvel stuff. Happy to have some of the originals and some of the reprints. That fight between Spider-man and Luke Cage was a good one; they were well matched. I'd say Spidey had the edge, but Cage doesn't stop once he gets goin'.
I was wondering, and maybe somebody knows, was that, er, "clash" for a want of a better word between Spidey and the Hulk the first time they encountered each other, since that issue in the Ditko days, the one that featured the Green Goblin and the Enforcers? Was that only the second time they ran into each other? I can't remember any others. I also seem to remember an issue of Pizzazz, the Electric Company or some Schoolastic magazine where they fought. Back when I was a mere lad. Ah, the seventies!
Great post!
M.P.
I'm not a big Hulk reader, in fact, I was very surprised I owned over 30 Hulk issues, but you have to admit that he held the title for most clashes. Was it not common knowledge that Hulk was strongest there is? Those were the days......
Didn't he travel around the world running into heroes from other countries and fightin' 'em?
Speaking of mysteries of the unknown, I have Hulk 222-226 and then didn't buy another one for 4 and half years......... I know! Right?
(They took all the trees
And put them in a tree museum
Then they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see 'em
Don't it always seem to go,
That you don't know what you've got
‘Til it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot).
M.P.- Let's see; Spidey and the Hulk faced off in 1966 (in Spider-Man Annual 3, also featuring the Avengers). There were a few Marvel Team-Up appearances, but they came after ASM 120, if memory serves me. So looking back, there weren't that many such battles for a number of years...
Oh, and thanks Prowler- a dose of Joni Mitchell is a welcome thing!
Bring it on! Yeah it seems our friendly neighbourhood superheroes always seem to be fighting each other almost as much as they fight the villains!
- Mike 'can't we all just get along?' from Trinidad & Tobago.
Redartz, I remember the Marvel Team-up issues, featuring Spider-Man, Hulk, and the savage Wood-God!
Many misunderstandings occurred, and many punches were thrown in many different directions.
Wood-God handled himself amazingly well against ol' Greenskin, as I recall.
Now I've just gone down the rabbit-hole of wondering what happened to THAT guy.
Ignore me, everyone, didn't mean to hi-jack the topic of the conversation.
Might be a good topic for another post, Doug!
M.P.
Wow.
Wow.
Edo, m.p., Prowl, Redartz-- you guys're boon & faithful teammates! Rather than let me hang on my own inevitable Hulk-tangent, you all hopped right under the bus with me to have our own Party on the Tangential Pavement-- whilst Doug and Karen pound their heads on their respective keyboards, wondering WHY so many of their BEST posts somehow all seem to turn into discussions about the !@#@#$ Hulk-!??
It's sort of like the old "Niagara Falls" vaudeville routine. . . but substituting the Hulk in, instead.
"Slooooooooowly I turned. . . step-by-step. . . inch-by-inch. . . "
HB
Saw "Civil War" in the theater today. It was indeed pretty awesome. I don't think anyone here will be disappointed. That is all I'll say. Can't wait until we can talk about it.
Doug, that is some really great stuff you posted there. I love a good superhero vs. superhero battle. They are always a lot of fun. In fact, Daredevil #7 (DD vs. Sub-Mariner) is still one of my all-time favorites. I am also especially fond of Iron Fist #15 where he battles most of the X-Men to a standstill and holds his own quite convincingly. (Too bad it was the last issue of the series). That issue kind of reminds of Avengers #161 where Ant-Man (yes Ant-Man) makes some of the most powerful Avengers look like chumps.
Hiya,
Well, my nephew saw it and loved it.
He's still not too crazy about that cartoon that I put him in . . . but since I'm older, wiser and far more violent he decided to tolerate his internet debut.
I'm waiting for Tuesday for two reasons:
There's a local theater with ten dollar Tuesdays, ticket and refreshments included along with 3-D glasses if so inclined.
Monday I've got a dental appointment to deal with two broken teeth and if I'm eating popcorn I don't want to be chewing on temporary crowns.
Hope everyone get a chance to see and enjoy.
Seeya
pfgavigan
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