tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post3063860474988318859..comments2024-03-25T05:26:47.764-04:00Comments on The Peerless Power of Comics!: Coincidences To AstonishComicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-36035705271602710512012-11-08T20:59:58.716-05:002012-11-08T20:59:58.716-05:00I liked a lot of those old Roy Thomas stories in I...I liked a lot of those old Roy Thomas stories in <i>Incredible Hulk</i>, because Thomas seemed to know how to deal a powerhouse like the Hulk in to really good, substantive tales that stood on their own. I mean, you couldn't have the Hulk battle the Army every issue, or go up against other heroes or familiar villains all the time--that would get old fairly quickly. So we had interesting detours with characters like the Glob, or Jarella, or Xeron. And stories like Doc Samson's introduction, or how Banner and the Hulk split into two beings (and where we met Jim Wilson, with whom the Hulk strikes up a bond). And look at his encounter with the Valkyrie--totally out of left field.<br /><br />And when the Hulk <i>did</i> battle a prominent Marvel villain, Thomas was able to translate that same unique blend to that format, as well. Look at the story you profiled with the Sandman, where both the Sandman and Betty Ross take more of center stage than the Hulk. Or the Hulk's battle with Iron Man, where the underlying issue of trust with Jim Wilson was the greater story. Or the Hulk's involvement with the Undying Ones, which would eventually reach all the way to the publication of <i>The Defenders</i>. In a way, those early issues might well have been called "Tales to Astonish--Featuring the Hulk." :) They were great reading.<br />Comicsfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-11561237429196665232012-11-08T20:14:36.903-05:002012-11-08T20:14:36.903-05:00Love this ... some serious Marvel Comics scholarsh...Love this ... some serious Marvel Comics scholarship here. I just read that Hulk/Glob issue last week and didn't realize it had a heritage reaching back to Marvel's monster books. The script was by Roy Thomas and he was a past master at raiding Marvel's old library for plot lines and characters. In Sean Howe's book, "Marvel Comics: The Untold Story," there's a quote from Roy saying he made a point of reinventing old Marvel IP instead of creating characters of his own because, in part, it would have driven him crazy to see an original creation of his own enjoy wild success at Marvel if he didn't own a part of it.<br /><br />And so ... we get more Glob! Brilliant!Longbox Graveyardhttp://www.longboxgraveyard.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-19710287007538604542012-11-04T07:05:28.494-05:002012-11-04T07:05:28.494-05:00Yes, I guess they wanted to "hammer home"...Yes, I guess they wanted to "hammer home" the character's name a little more prominently, eh? Though you have to wonder how the spelling slip made it to the final product if the panel was under such editing scrutiny.Comicsfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-4670084043106702132012-11-04T06:11:51.348-05:002012-11-04T06:11:51.348-05:00That was fun to read. Incidentally, regarding the ...That was fun to read. Incidentally, regarding the last panel of Thor's origin - that was a paste-up - the original panel was different. (It's somewhere on my blog.)Kidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07224781868125924337noreply@blogger.com