tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post6999800158816870025..comments2024-03-19T10:41:35.976-05:00Comments on Bronze Age Babies: Love Will Keep Us Together - Or Will It? Incredible Hulk 148Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-13662595881869915772015-12-01T02:59:31.192-06:002015-12-01T02:59:31.192-06:00HB, you're finally mentioning something I can ...HB, you're finally mentioning something I can relate to: those stories from Tales to Astonish just before the title was changed and it became Hulk's solo book. I read a bunch of those in that Hulk pocketbook from the late '70s, so I totally remember the High Evolutionary and Living Lightning stories. And I really remember digging the art: not just the material by Marie Severin, but also a few stories by Gil Kane (like the one that introduced the Abomination).Edo Bosnarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-19415138428070092082015-11-30T20:48:55.635-06:002015-11-30T20:48:55.635-06:00I think Sal Trapani may have been the inker for at...I think Sal Trapani may have been the inker for at least one of the other Jarella stories, Doug. Possibly #156? If it was him, I thought he brought a nice sense of the exotic to the other-worldly K'ai (Ka'i?) setting. <br /><br />And man-- let me second the Marie Severin plug. I've more than once cited the final page of the Hulk story in TtA #99 (a dreary, endless, tale of the would-be-fascists-- the Legion of the Living Lightning) as one of my all-time favorite visual sequences anywhere. . . ever. There's almost no dialog, it's a crowded series of smallish frames that are not directly sequential-- but get the pulse racing regardless as the story ends w/ an atomic Boom. You have a sense that it had gotten to the point where Stan was just asea, and simply resorted to asking Marie to wrap the darned thing up somehow.<br /><br />She also had some pages a few issues earlier, during an interesting High Evolutionary arc where she showed a visual polish that was more than a little like what we'd expect from a young Neal Adams.<br /><br />Lots and lots of really good folks worked on this book over the years, they did!<br /><br />HB Humanbellynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-85405527569168880922015-11-30T20:31:59.549-06:002015-11-30T20:31:59.549-06:00Ah yes great review Doug! HB musta been really hap...Ah yes great review Doug! HB musta been really happy with this one, being the Hulk lover that he is.<br /><br />Well, what else can I add except to say that Happy Herb Trimpe and Johnny Severin make one heckuva artistic team. Yes, it's easy to see how Trimpe's love of planes comes out here. I have to admit when I learned he passed away I honestly felt as if an uncle had died, even though I've never met him.<br /><br /><br />- Mike 'Hulk cause solar flare!' from Trinidad & Tobago.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-71305481335232672022015-11-30T19:09:52.132-06:002015-11-30T19:09:52.132-06:00"Planes! Where did they come from?!" G..."Planes! Where did they <i>come</i> from?!" Good lord, you'd think even the <i>Hulk</i> could figure that one out. <i>The sky, pal!</i><br /><br />I'm 100% with you on how much Severin's finishes added to Trimpe's work.<br />Comicsfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-40829104440983286112015-11-30T15:09:43.992-06:002015-11-30T15:09:43.992-06:00Thanks for the comments so far, gang!
It's in...Thanks for the comments so far, gang!<br /><br />It's interesting if you look through the 4-5 other Trimpe reviews we've done and check the inks. Sal Trapani, Jack Abel, Mike Esposito, and Pablo Marcos all give Trimpe's pencils a totally different feel than does John Severin. Of that band, I'd take Severin.<br /><br />And speaking of Severin, if you've never seen Marie's turn as lead penciler on the early Hulk solo book (following the last several issues of Tales to Astonish), there's some really nice work to ogle. Check it out.<br /><br />DougDoughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-38999159010836649032015-11-30T13:00:36.821-06:002015-11-30T13:00:36.821-06:00Yes. The Essentials are B&W. They still loo...Yes. The Essentials are B&W. They still look great. I really enjoy the art; a lot of detail and line work. Martinex1noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-61353750221434474172015-11-30T11:32:50.774-06:002015-11-30T11:32:50.774-06:00And those Essentials volumes are in B&W, too, ...And those Essentials volumes are in B&W, too, aren't they, MX1? That's great that the art is still carrying so well in that format. The coloring in several of those issues, although uncredited, is just fantastic given that we're still talking Silver Age aesthetics, here. #118 (Subby), #121 (Glob, in a moody, Bayou-noir horror story), and the opening of #122 (involving a nighttime train incident) are all very much enhanced by the well-chosen color pallets employed. <br /><br />Herb was also one of those artists who bemoaned how "awful" he was at drawing female characters-- which my buddy and I could never fathom at all. He certainly wasn't a pin-up type of artist-- but his female characters all had a wonderfully accessible "normal", attractive, real-person aspect to them. And yet beyond that, in #167 or 168 our adolescent hormones were nearly supernova-ed by Herb's BRILLIANTLY suggestive depictions of the normally-prim Betty Ross meandering plum-naked through the issue whilst under MODOK's mind-control. There was a particular panel- with Betty on a transformation table, barely covered by nothing more than a couple of strategic shadows- that my buddy and I could hardly do more than look at sideways before getting the shakes and dropping the book. . . Sheesh, you can see the lasting impression it made on us, yeah?<br /><br />HBHumanbellynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-59090119730856467632015-11-30T11:07:30.489-06:002015-11-30T11:07:30.489-06:00FWIW, this issue was Chris Claremont plotted this ...FWIW, this issue was Chris Claremont plotted this issue and it's his first Marvel writing credit. Peter Corbeau must have had some sentimental value for Claremont, since he brought the character back several times.J.A. Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15800901321134394272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-53178626573700286612015-11-30T10:21:45.593-06:002015-11-30T10:21:45.593-06:00This is indeed a serendipitous topic. Just this w...This is indeed a serendipitous topic. Just this weekend the LCS was having a sale on Marvel Essentials for $5.00 each, and I picked up some Hulk volumes because I honestly have just a cursory knowledge of Hulk’s early issues. And HB had piqued my curiosity with his recent comments.<br /> <br />I have to say that I have enjoyed what I have seen thus far of Herb Trimpe’s work on the series. Again my limited knowledge of Trimpe’s work was more focused on late S.H.I.E.L.D. issues and Marvel Feature with Ant Man issues. In the past I always noticed how he drew teeth, but not much else. In the Hulk, I was taken aback by how detailed the panels were with lavish backgrounds and lots of good clear action. In the chapters I have read so far, the undersea landscapes in a journey to Atlantis and the swamp in the battle with Glob were really astounding. I also like his art on female characters, like his Jarella here, on various technology, on facial expressions, and on the Hulk himself. It is really quite nice.<br /><br />I also like that the stories seem jam packed. As already mentioned, a lot of story is crammed into 20 pages. I know we harp on modern comics, but in the story reviewed I could imagine it being a multi-book epic. Can’t you just picture a whole splash page of the solar flare ending one chapter, and the appearance of Jarella on the beach ending another chapter, etc? I believe Trimpe co-plotted these issues in the old Marvel manner and I think they just threw everything in. The transitions are not jarring to me; it just makes the overall story more dynamic and crazy and fun. In any case, I am enjoying the Hulk right now and look forward to getting to these stories<br />Martinex1noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-90669978659531473662015-11-30T08:27:33.195-06:002015-11-30T08:27:33.195-06:00Wow-- early Christmas present for ol' HB, guys...Wow-- early Christmas present for ol' HB, guys?<br />And of COURSE after a long weekend of rambling delightedly on about holiday decorating, I'm now faced w/ a beastly workload at the shop. . . gnrgh.<br /><br />So, trying to do some capsule thoughts:<br /><br />1) Doug, to answer your question, I think reading the issues in-between Jarella's surprisingly infrequent appearances does tell her/their story much more effectively-- at least through about issue #156 or 157 (and skipping #'s152 & 153). The very fact of her existence drives a heck of a lot of the more interesting sub-plot action. . . and #156, with a fairly final resolution (for the moment) just rips your heart out and steps on it. <br /><br />2) This very issue, IIRC, has a rather delightful, brief, awkward moment when Bruce reveals that he has this alien queen that he's in love with and betrothed to. It's completely underplayed, yes? But-- this is ROSS (Betty's father!) and TALBOT (pining away for Betty for years!) that Bruce makes this big reveal to--! Yeesh-- weren't we all just attending Bruce & Betty's wedding a couple of years ago??<br /><br />3) My one critique of the art here is that it's definitely more cramped than we're used to seeing w/ Herb. There was a LOT of story to get through for a single issue-- I bet this was initially conceived as a 25-cent exanded-size story-- and my memory always tags the visuals with the word "crowded". Boy, it's good stuff, though. Somehow. . . somehow you "get" that it's the Jarella LMD at the end there, even before being told so-- a subtle puppet-like aspect to her positioning?<br /><br />Rats, rats, rats-- and with that, I've gotta get busy---<br /><br />Recommended reading w/ this: Issues #147-156, minus 152/3. Definitely an unknown gem of enjoyable comics reading. . . <br /><br />HBHumanbellynoreply@blogger.com