Category: comic books

Comic Cover of the Week: The Incredible “John Carpenter Thing” HULK!

I was looking through my incredible Hulk back issues the other day and sort of forgot about how good some of  The Incredible Hulk run from the late 90s early 2000s was. It reminded me of one of the things I took note of back then and again today, was how amazing Kyle Hotz’s Incredible Hulk artwork was!

One of my all time favorites is issue #19 from 2000. It reminds me of a sort of “John Carpenter’s The Thing” take on The Incredible Hulk. Hotz nails it here, giving this cover and many others a sort of “horror” vibe. I’m definitely needing to revisit these issues that he was artist on- again here’s another one issue #21, the kind of imagery I always want to see from an Incredible Hulk comic book-a dose of sc-fi, horror and of course a raging monster ready to lose control!

The Next Best Thing to The 1990 Practical FX TMNT!!?

Cowabunga dude!!! I’ve been saying it for years, they need to bring back the 1990’s practical fx Jim Henson Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!! Lets face the damn facts nothing they produced since has been very good or really anywhere close to what the fans want. I really haven’t been excited about the TMNT franchise since the first two films. 

Having recently revisited the 1990 original it was more than apparent how well that movie had aged and  how dark it really is in comparison to anything they’ve put out since. One of the best things about it was indeed the practical effects, but also the sets, choreography and real martial arts that were used to bring them to life on screen. We are now living in an age where no filmmaker seems to be ambitious enough to attempt to bring them back to life in the way that soooo many fans have wanted for so long. So what do you do when you’ve completely given up on the Turtles coming back in the way they did in that original film?

 I guess you just wait for a CGI animated version of the characters that might still deliver that original spirit and oddly that’s exactly what we got in these new 2 pieces of test footage put together by John Likens. This is incredibly interesting, when I first viewed it I was a bit perplexed, at first glance I almost thought these were new practical fx Turtles! I was a bit disappointed to find they were created via CGI, of course, it’s 2023-no one would ever film the Turtles with their real suits. Still tho, this footage is wildly impressive, so much so that I just might be willing to give a TMNT film another real go, check this out and let me know if I’m crazy?!

 Even though each of these 2 clips are only seconds song I can see the potential and as we’re never going to get real life actors playing the characters again this is clearly the best version of them I’ve seen since. Their look reminds me of the darker original comic books of the 80s blended with the 1990 cinematic TMNT.

I’d say give this guy a chance to work his magic, better yet how about a mix of practical fx Turtles AND cgi ala the magic of The original Jurassic Park?! I know it’d never happen Hollywood is clearly unable to wrap their head around filming real fx, with real stunts, clever real life choreography and real old school pyrotechnics. So this seems like the best we might get, but it also feels too much like something fans would like. These days it seems like Hollywood is unwilling to really give fans what they want.  I’m not sure quite why? I’m excited to see the remaining Turtles get the test footage treatment regarless….

Coloring Book Cover of the Week: Vintage HULK Smash Crayons!!

I recently ran across these retro late 70s/80s Incredible Hulk coloring book covers and was immediately flushed with memories of being a kid. I owned some of these myself, spending hours coloring the jade giant-it was one of my favorite things to do! I just couldn’t get enough of his adventures. These black and white full page coloring books could be found at the drug stores back in the day-as well as the awesome  rotating comic book display stand that I’d rush to when I’d go there with my mom. I’d ALWAYS be on the lookout for The Hulk! I’ve really got some fond memories, especially of the first one pictured. These were the days when The Hulk felt really special to me, long before the MCU us kids didn’t play with tablets and smart phones. We got out the green and purple crayons and went to TOWN!

The Most EPIC Saturday Morning Cartoon Intros of ALL Time!

There have been some real excellent classic cartoon intros, especially from the 80s, some of these are quite leap in quality above what we actually see in the cartoon animation. I recently took another good look at what I consider the BEST animated intro of all time-The Thundercats from 1985! I had all the action figures, was a HUGE fan but even as a kid back then I was able to recognize just how special that classic opening was-It blew my damn MIND and STILL does to this today…

It’s likely got a high frame per second rate, attention to shadows/detail and those rad neon colorful light fx that were just too time consuming when animating an entire series! Here’s a reminder of what I’m talking about-clearly this trailer reminds me of something that could’ve appeared in ‘Heavy Metal’. Here’s a new 8k restoration:

But lets not forget the sibling Thundercats cartoon shows from the same animators the Silverhawks opening was pretty much JUST as epic! Check this out once again to be reminded of how amazing the opening from this show was too! 

See a similarity? Then there’s The Tigersharks which again is from the same team-this one is almost as great as the aforementioned ‘toons! Tigersharks was one a LOT of people have also forgotten all about-here it is, the intro also made by the same peeps behind Thundercats & Silverhawks:

And let’s NOT forget the epic opening to the Galaxy Rangers from 1986-plus again another totally killer theme song!

As a bonus I added the 1988 X-men pilot, largely forgotten by fans of the 1990s series. This 80s version though is totally top notch too, in fact the full pilot episode’s animation is pretty consistently incredible-all of the into footage is from the ACTUAL episode:

Honorable mention the largely forgotten Mighty Orbots intro!

Also season 2 of The Transformers was pretty epic as well and a step above most of their other intros..

One thing I believe these all have in common are that they were animated by a Japanese production team-I’ll update this one with more info on that-but for now I simply ask, do you think there’s a BETTER animated opening intro sequence than any of these from cartoons largely made for American audiences?! I challenge you!

Comic Cover of the Week: The Most TOTALLY 80s Cover of the 1980s!!

Bill Sienkiewicz just NEVER disappoints (I dare you to try to prove me wrong!) and today here’s the real proof of that-especially if you’re a true fan of 1980s nostalgia. The character of ‘Dazzler’ alone is one of the ultimate superheroes of the era- that’s for sure. She’s always had such cool style & wild fashion so when she was given her own series, Bill Sienkiewicz made sure to give you some of his best freakin’ cover art of his career. Issue #33 from 1984 has just got to be the most totally 80s jam of the decade, a play on Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’, this one’s a true masterpiece, ‘Chiller’ features a Dazzler story for comic and pop fanatics alike – check it! I NEED this as a poster on my damn wall!

Comic Book Cover of the Week: Classic ABSORBING MAN Mayhem!

Here’s a true classic comic that’s always been a favorite of mine since I was just a kid-I’ve always adored the cover too, it shows one of The Incredible Hulk’s fiercest villains as a major threat to ol’ Jade Jaws.

The Incredible Hulk #209 has got another perfect cover from Ed Hannigan & Frank Giacoia, featuring Crusher Creel dwarfing The Hulk as he puts him in a stranglehold. It makes me miss those old Hulk stories in a big way and the issue features the two in one of their best battles.

Sometimes I miss the simplicity of comic books from the 70’s & 80s, maybe it’s just nostalgia because I took this comic book with me everywhere I went, like it was an action figure or something. The Absorbing Man is most definitely one of my favorite bad guys in Hulk’s rogue gallery and this was my first intro to the character, the inside drawn by all time BEST Hulk artist Sal Buscema proves once again just why he was the man for the job for soooo many years.

This issue way back from 1977 will always hold a special place in my heart! It’s cover in particular is a potent look at one of the coolest villains of the green goliath….

Comic Cover of the Week: The 5 Minute Bill Sienkiewicz SPIDER-MAN Cover!

Bill Sienkiewicz did it again! Yes this time likely in 5 minutes or less! I’m going to be honest, I’ve never seen this comic book cover until a few days ago but now my curiosity level is through the roof on this 3-part Spidey adventure way back from 1987. Sienkiewicz never disappoints and these three covers are proof- the first one here really does seem like it was likely something he threw together in a few minutes, and it’s still fucking brilliant! Check out the first two covers, it looks like he spent more time on those obviously. This story took place inside of the Kingpin’s insane asylum-and Bill conveys the madness with pure perfection…

Comic Cover of the Week: The Brazilian 80s Alternate Incrivel HULK !

Here’s a sweet alternate Incredible Hulk cover from Brazil’s O Incrivel HULK #50-an interesting version of the American issue #297 shown below. I’m not quite sure why they redrew the cover? At least the top half appears to be a more “Sal Buscema” take on the green goliath? It’s the first time I’ve ever seen this, but it’s a real treat and it makes me wonder if there are other alternate versions of classic Hulk issues? 

The original cover from 1984 again features the Incredible art from Bill Sienkiewicz, this was a real sweet era of The Hulk as he slowly loses his “Banner Hulk” persona and further transforms into a truly “mindless” monster. I miss the feel of these 80s Hulk comic books-they were truly a blast-all over the world! Which one do you prefer?

Comic cover of the Week: Satan’s Son to Save the Day?!

I still think one of Marvel Comic’s weirdest superheroes has got to be the Son of Satan! A handsome red haired devil of guy who fights on the side of good?! Yeah well you wouldn’t think so judging by the pentagram he boldly and proudly wears on his bare chest! Anyway you get the gist-a bit of a controversial fellow to say the LEAST. Well here’s a great cover all the way back from 1977 showing Daimon Hellstrom in a big battle with some pretty vicious demons! A great simple cover by legend Gil Cane!

Comic Cover of the Week: The 1970’s LEGION OF MONSTERS!

Here’s an awesome comic book cover from the 1970s, that every time I look at it makes me wish that Marvel would have released a 1980s film about this particular team of superheroes. Imagine this being released as an 80s horror/action film, with special FX work similar to the Monster Squad?! I’d be in heaven!

Well as it stands I definitely DON’T need a Legion of Monsters movie personally that feature’s Jared Leto’s Morbius-However I’d take Nic Cage any day still as Ghost Rider as long as they could make him NOT look like a flaming TURD! I actually quite enjoyed the Werewolf by Night MCU mini movie, which featured Man-Thing too so hey were 3/4 of the way there already…hmmmm? I love this horror monster team from 1975 and the art work is pretty sweet and apparently the only Marvel Comics cover art ever done by Nick Cardy.