tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post3234130341517710468..comments2024-03-19T10:41:35.976-05:00Comments on Bronze Age Babies: An Obscure Hulk Story: Shadows & Light 3Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-86100811799397984932014-07-19T04:16:13.176-05:002014-07-19T04:16:13.176-05:00Although I usually don't pay much attention to...Although I usually don't pay much attention to your live traffic feed, the fact that someone (from Denmark no less) looked at this post caught my eye - and since I just read this story a few days ago, I thought I'd revisit this review.<br />Anyway, as per my comment from before, I was so intrigued by Shadows & Light that I ended up buying the whole, whopping three-issue run as part of my annual purchase of a batch of floppies from the US (they were only about 80 cents each).<br />And I did indeed enjoy this Hulk story. It's short, but so well written: it tells you so much about the character. And, of course, the art is magnificent.<br /><br />Shadows & Light, by the way, isn't a bad little series. The art is obviously nice all the way through, and several of the stories, like this one featuring the Hulk, are little hidden gems.Edo Bosnarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-7421765017784926782013-04-06T17:47:36.752-05:002013-04-06T17:47:36.752-05:00I have the first issue of Shadows and Light, but I...I have the first issue of Shadows and Light, but I'm not sure that the other issues were actually released, maybe just included in this volume. Buscema and Stern are two of my favorites. Thanks!<br /><br />starfoxxxAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-10498730444502156712013-04-06T03:04:32.287-05:002013-04-06T03:04:32.287-05:00This story is cleaves closer to Big John's tru...This story is cleaves closer to Big John's true style which was somewhat less bombastic than what he famously produced for Marvel during his heyday. There he followed the mandate to evoke that Kirby power and energy which made the King's work so distinctive. <br /><br />Left to his own devices, Buscema's work is gentler and more realistic. You can see that in his Conan work, which still has the distinctive Marvel vibe, but offers up a more realistic vision of life and climes. It's especially evident when Buscema inks himself, which his daughter's inks above come close to replicating. <br /><br />Ironically, I think Buscema's first work for Marvel upon his return during the Marvel Age was a Hulk story, but I might have that wrong. <br /><br />To get a glimpse of more pure unadulterated Buscema check out the Dojo. I just happen to be featuring some of his more evocative Conan covers this very day. <br /><br />Rip OffRip Jaggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09936426877024852134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-19748242210928970942013-04-05T22:10:23.231-05:002013-04-05T22:10:23.231-05:00The sound and the fury ...........
Well, ol' ...The sound and the fury ...........<br /><br />Well, ol' Jade Jaws has always been one of my favourite comics characters specifically because of the inner struggle between the two alter egos : the rational Banner and the brutish Hulk, so magnificently chronicled here by Stern.<br /><br />Unlike other superheros like Superman or Captain America, the Hulk always had to deal with the inner turmoil between his two identities, each one struggling to overcome the other. This hero has always had a tragic aspect to him, in spite of his enormous power.<br /><br />Speaking of enormous power, yeah, it's always bothered me how in the earliest Hulk stories what looked like a simple concrete chamber was enough to contain the Hulk (Marvel Treasury Edition #5). Contrast this to the modern version of the Hulk whose strength approaches celestial levels with 'no known upper limit', and you can see the the vast discrepancy in terms of the containment chamber's ability to hold the Hulk.<br /><br />Still, I've never read this tale until now, and Doug, you've really tempted me to buy Marvel Visionaries. Hmm lemme check my piggy bank now .....<br /><br /><br />- Mike 'prefers the shaggy Sal Buscema Hulk hairstyle' from Trinidad & Tobago.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-37687865415751502132013-04-05T16:56:00.165-05:002013-04-05T16:56:00.165-05:00Nice review to spotlight this late Buscema story. ...Nice review to spotlight this late Buscema story. I liked when he drew with ink wash like this, also in some Conan stories--wish he would've done more. There were some other late Buscema gems, like Avengers Annual 23.<br /><br />A reprint of Buscema's early work for Dell would be welcome--Hercules, Sinbad, Spartacus, Luke Short, Indian Chief, and a few others.Garettnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-47871829696761696842013-04-05T08:58:33.224-05:002013-04-05T08:58:33.224-05:00Well, and I'd have to check, Comicsfan, but I&...Well, and I'd have to check, Comicsfan, but I'm pretty sure that he managed to break out of that chamber even w/in that first 6-issue run. The thing kept popping back up every few years all re-built. . . and it never ultimately succeeded in containing ol' Greenskin. 'Cause you're absolutely right-- subsequent (and even contemporaneous) feats of strength FAR out-paced what would have been required to do so.<br /><br />Man, I can't believe I don't have this little story. Big John drew the Hulk very, very infrequently over his long career. In fact, I think he may have only touched the solo title for an issue or two back in the Tales to Astonish run. I do like this depiction a lot (although I'm generally not a fan of the Moe bowl-cut that some artists plant on Jadejaws scalp)-- and even if it's a late-career piece, it's solid, solid comics story-telling. A particularly nice depiction of Banner, in fact.<br /><br />Hmm-- is anyone on speaking terms w/ Roger Stern? It would be neat to ask him when he saw this story taking place in the Hulk's continuity. He wrote the book for quite awhile, and while I consider it a rather weak era (he just seemed to have a terrible time finding a direction to go in), he certainly did a fine job of finding that Bronze Age, child-like Hulk-voice, so he clearly made a consciuous choice to go with this more thuggish (Joe Fixit-like?) persona.<br /><br />HBhumanbellynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-74153151596864368642013-04-05T08:47:18.684-05:002013-04-05T08:47:18.684-05:00The art here is simply wonderful: Big John didn...The art here is simply wonderful: Big John didn't miss a beat.<br />By the way, in line with yesterday's posts about stuff we'd like to see reprinted: this is the first I've heard of Shadows & Light, but after doing a web search, I wouldn't mind seeing a nice little reprint book.Edo Bosnarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-82765051394651889992013-04-05T07:51:48.677-05:002013-04-05T07:51:48.677-05:00Most of us have had to look at those early Avenger...Most of us have had to look at those early <i>Avengers</i> issues in hindsight, and I must say that Stern offers an intriguing take on the Hulk's membership which frankly never occurred to me--that, rather than it being a matter of character evolution or simply the way Stan Lee was writing the character, it was instead Banner's efforts to assert his influence on the Hulk that had the brute speaking and acting in a more semi-cooperative (if acerbic) fashion than in later appearances. It's a very reasonable way of explaining the discrepancy, and adds a great deal of new perspective to those old issues.<br /><br />You know, that containment chamber always bugged me. The Hulk has been able to smash his way from "Subterranea" to the surface, as well as through equally daunting barriers, so I always chalked up his inability to escape that room as his "early days" of possibly being in a less powerful class of strength. Buscema's work here provides a very satisfying "enough is enough" treatment of this supposedly Hulk-proof room for me. :)<br />Comicsfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-71370765302790474992013-04-05T07:40:04.719-05:002013-04-05T07:40:04.719-05:00I've got the Lee. Ditko, and 2 Kirby volumes o...I've got the Lee. Ditko, and 2 Kirby volumes of Visionaries, but I never bought the Buscema one. Guess I'll have to keep an even bigger eye out for it now.Kidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07224781868125924337noreply@blogger.com