You know that saying, “Behind every successful man is a woman.”  It applies to superheroes as well.  When this happens, she’s let in fully in his life so she gets to live with his secret identity and see the superhero off to work, such as Mary Jane marrying Spider-Man (which to me is the greatest love story ever told).  In many cases, she gets an equal footing as a superhero  herself, such as Sue Richardson being married to Reed Richardson.

But of all the guy superhero girlfriends and wives, I thought that Betty Ross is the most resilient for her man because she could never have a “normal” household relationship with Dr. Bruce Banner.  The Hulk is a brute with Banner having just a modicum of control.  And whenever he’s sighted, the US Army, the Avengers, or other superheros / supervillains will come gunning for him.  So it’s not like the Hulk will come home to Betty after a hard day’s work and cuddle with her in bed or on the couch.  In the 2008 movie, Bruce Banner can’t even have sex for fear of becoming the Hulk in the middle of love throes.  But still, she stuck with Bruce (at least in mind and heart), even when she married Major Glenn Talbot.  Eventually, she married Bruce Banner after Major Talbot’s demise.  Now that’s a love story.

In the movies, Betty Ross was played by two hot babes, Jennifer Connelly and Liv Tyler.  I’ve always given a slight edge to Jennifer Connelly as a preference.  Curiously enough, there was no character named Betty Ross in the 70′s The Incredible Hulk TV series.

Wolverine is no doubt one of the more popular Marvel comic book characters.  In fact, he’s number 4 in Empire Magazine’s 50 greatest comic book characters (with the Hulk at #14).

Wolverine has been created to give the Hulk a run for his money.  Well, not so much in a literal sense, but Wolverine did begin his career with Marvel hunting down the Hulk (The Incredible Hulk #181).  Since then, he has evolved into his own as a troubled superhero, though portrayed at most times as an anti-hero, not unlike the Hulk.  Best known as a member of the X-Men, Wolverine is very comfortable living in the gray areas of life.  X-Men’s tactical field leaders, namely Cyclops and/or Storm, are very much aware of his propensity for bloodlust and, at times, have to dedicate time and effort to rein him in.  Such differences in personalities are central to the X-Men saga and build internal conflicts between Wolverine and other members of the team who swore to protect the innocent without collateral damage.  However, Wolverine doesn’t mind collateral damages.

But against the Hulk, it’s no holds barred.  Adamantium claws tear through gamma-fied skin and bones.  Bodies are struck with blows that would topple buildings.  Through it all, both heroes come back for more.  According to Leader’s Lair, the Hulk and Wolverine have encountered each other in some form 16 times.

My favorite moment between Hulk and Wolverine is not so much when they were bashing each other’s head in, but when they were sitting down all by their lonesome reflecting on the battle that’s about to take place with Thanos in Infinity Gauntlet #3.  They look like a couple of regular fellas just having a chat.

See Hulk vs Wolverine comics for sale on ebay.

Let’s see.  Off the top of my head, I can think of two variants for Hulk costumes.  There is the classic Hulk comic book costume (green and purple pants).  And there is the 2008 movie costume (darker or olive green with more pronounced muscles and not necessarily purple pants).  Everything else seem to stem from these two color schemes in sizes (i.e. adult Hulk costume, child Hulk costume, kids Hulk costume, Hulk toddler costume, baby Hulk costume, childrens Hulk costume, infant Hulk costume, etc.) and/or style (i.e. inflatable Hulk costume, Hulk costume shirt, Hulk game costumes, Ultimate Alliance Hulk costumes, Hulk muscle costume).

When you search for “Hulk costume” on Amazon or other online shopping sites, you get the varying results as listed above.  And they’re actually pretty cool looking.

Adult Hulk Costume

Baby Hulk Costume

Kids Hulk Costume

When The Incredible Hulk was first released, I saw it 3 times in the theater and wrote a compilation of easter eggs and references to other comic book characters / storylines.  This compilation was published in the website of a radio podcast that I produced, Planet Comic Book Radio, and in my Hubpages.

Below is a quick rundown of the easter eggs and references that I picked up:

The easter eggs fall neatly in 3 categories that are related to the Hulk universe and/or Marvel universe:

• the Hulk TV series;
• other Marvel characters and story arcs; and
• the Hulk comic book story arc itself.

Easter Eggs from the Incredible Hulk TV Series – Remembering the Old School

• Lonely Man Theme can be heard in the background during the Guatemalan scene as Dr. Bruce Banner walked around in his tattered pants.  That’s a killer theme song, by the way.
• Lou Ferrigno cameo as a security guard.  He was the original Hulk on TV.
• Bill Bixby, who played Dr. Banner on the Hulk TV series, was shown in a TV show (The Courtship of Eddie’s Father) in an early scene at Bruce Banner’s Brazilian apartment.
• Early lab scenes with Banner using the gamma experiment on himself.  The setup is the same as the TV series including the rotating chair and the crosshair on Banner’s forehead.
• Student named Jack McGee speaking as a witness to the fight between the army and the green giant.  In the TV series, the news reporter who hounded Dr. Banner is named Jack McGee.
• Getting the Hulk eyes.  In the factory when Norton first turned to the Hulk, the close up of Norton’s face is similar to the popular screenshot of a TV closeup when Bixby turned to the Hulk.
• David B. as the recipient’s name on the envelope when Banner opened the package with Betty Ross’s necklace.  David Banner is Bixby’s character name. Bruce Banner is Norton’s character name, which is the same as the comic books.
• “You wouldn’t like me when I’m hungry.”  Said in Portuguese by Banner to the thugs in the factory while rescuing the beautiful Martina played by Débora Nascimento (seen here at VanitySpy.com).  Acknowledged by Banner as not making sense, the line made famous by Bixby is “Mr. McGee, don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” Clip available at www.tripletsandus.com/80s/wav.htm.

References to the Hulk comic book universe

The reason why I wrote these down was because the Ang Lee version obscured the comic book story arc.  The following was for the benefit of fans who do not follow the comic book:

• Samuel Sterns receiving gamma ray blood on his temple.  In the comic books, Samuel Sterns became the Leader, a Hulk villain with an artificially induced super-genius prowess that he received from an accidental gamma ray bombardment.
• Mr. Blue as Sterns’ alias.  In the Hulk comic book series scripted by Bruce Jones, a mysterious figure named Mr. Blue pursued the Hulk.
• The purple pants that Betty Ross gave Banner at the motel room.  In the comic books (and the 2003 movie), the Hulk wore purple pants.
• “Hulk smash!” is not a corny line thrown in by the writers.  It’s the Hulk’s signature line in the comic books.  He’s known for that and “Puny humans!”


Hulk vs Doc Samson

• Dr. Samson, Betty’s psychiatrist boyfriend. In the comic books, he goes by Doc Samson, also a psychiatrist who was exposed to a small dose of gamma radiation.  He gained similar powers as the Hulk but at a much lesser
  level.
• Rick Jones in a list of names during the opening sequence.  Rick Jones is the name of the Hulk’s sidekick / best friend.  He plays a big part in the Hulk story arc.
• Hulk out muscling the Abomination.  If you haven’t been following the Hulk, it may seem a bit lame that the Hulk was able to comeback from the beating he had received from a much more powerful and better-trained Blonsky as the Abomination.  The same goes when the Hulk was clearly beaten down by the soldiers using sonar cannons in an earlier battle.

Where did the Hulk get the burst of strength?  Well, in the comic books, the Hulk gets stronger as he gets angrier.  This particular trait allows the Hulk to match up very well against most powerful supernatural beings such as the Norse god Thor and the demi-god Hercules.

In the movie, each time the Hulk was beaten down, he saw Betty Ross in danger (e.g. soldiers carrying her away against her will and flames about to engulf her on the rooftop) and these situations made him madder allowing him to muster up the strength to overcome his opponents.

• Banner using yoga to control the Hulk.  In a recent series of Hulk comic books, writer Bruce Jones introduced a story arc where Banner used yoga to rein in the Hulk.

Marvel Crossover Easter Eggs

In comic books, it is not unusual for superheroes and villains to crossover to each other’s story arc.  Thus, the Fantastic Four would sometimes team up with Spider-Man, Captain America, etc.  The Incredible Hulk movie also has crossovers, though may have only been picked up by … ahem … comic book fans.

• Stark Industries on documents in the opening sequence.  Stark Industries is a weapons manufacturer owned by Tony Stark whose alter ego is Iron Man.
• Tony Stark cameo (Robert Downey Jr.) at the very end scene speaking to General Ross about a new team he’s putting together.  Could this be the Avengers?
• S.H.I.E.L.D. name and logo on documents in the opening montage.  S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Division.  S.H.I.E.L.D. is a super secret government agency run by Nick Fury.  Samuel L. Jackson made a cameo in Iron Man as Nick Fury.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. technology intercepting Banner’s e-mail to Mr. Blue from a gas station computer. 
• Allusion of Thor in the cave scene as rain, thunder, and lightning raged outside.  One of the bolts seemingly struck the Hulk or close enough to infuriate him.  It was indeed a powerful scene as the Hulk howled upwards at the sky in defiance of the elements.  In Marvel universe, Thor is the god of war and thunder and many fans saw this scene as Thor measuring the Hulk before an eventual showdown.
  


Blue serum to make super soldiers like Emile Blonsky and Captain America

• The blue serum that turned Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) into a super soldier references Captain America the first super soldier created by the US government during World War II.
• Blonsky’s super quickness and agility coupled with his military training and experience demonstrated how Captain America would fare against a much stronger opponent like the Hulk.  Blonsky was clearly faster and had more stamina than the soldiers he led into battle against the Hulk.
  
• Blonsky’s healing ability also demonstrates how Captain America could survived being frozen in the arctic since World War II.  In the comic books, the Avengers found the body of Captain America frozen in a block of ice somewhere in the North Pole.  He could not have survived such cold condition unless he had the ability to heal.
  
• Jim Wilson, one of the students who witnessed the battle between the Hulk and the US Army, is a nephew of Sam Wilson.  Sam Wilson is a superhero known as the Falcon who is a friend of Captain America.  Jim Wilson also appears as a sidekick of the Incredible Hulk in other issues.
• The blue serum is clearly labeled Weapons Plus.  This one is a bit of a stretch, but the program that created Wolverine is called Weapons X.  Wolverine made his very first appearance in The Incredible Hulk #180.
  
• Stan Lee cameo drinking the gamma-laced soda and falling over from poisoning.  Marvel movies are known for Stan Lee cameos.
• Stanleys Pizza is the name of the restaurant where Banner stayed temporarily and where Betty first discovered his return.  The name is too close to Stan Lee to be dismissed as coincidental.
• Paul Soles playing Stanleys is the voice of Spider-Man in the late 60′s cartoons.

If I miss anymore, leave them in the comment.

Hmm…whenever we see the Hulk, he’s always pissed, usually snarling, and about to beat-in someone’s head off.  Meanwhile, Dr. Banner’s cousin, Jennifer Walters a.k.a. She-Hulk, looks like a fitness model with smiles and curlies to boot.  Albeit, she has green skin instead of a golden tan.

Prior to becoming to the She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters was a successful attorney.  Receiving a visit from Dr. Banner while he’s on the run after discovering that he’s the Hulk, Jennifer was shot by an aggrieved client.  In order to save her from loss of blood, Banner improvised an emergency transfusion.  Jennifer survived the shooting and Banner fled for fear of getting caught.

In the meantime, with Banner’s gamma-exposed blood in her system, Jennifer transformed into something like the Hulk.  This time, however, the transformation was more continual.  She didn’t transform back to the old Jennifer.  She remained green-skinned with greenish hue on her hair and grew to 6’7″.  Oh ya, she also had green lips.  Her best feature. 

Jennifer Walters became very strong, though not as strong as the Hulk.  As She-Hulk, she was able to lift at least 75 tons.  More importantly, Jennifer kept her wit, intelligence, and personality.  Hence, she’s not a brutish creature.

Bowen captured the essence of She Hulk in these two figurines – a She Hulk Bust and a She-Hulk Fantastic Four Statue.  But really, this is just another reason for me to write a post on one of Marvel’s sexy eye candy.

See She-Hulk statues for sale on ebay.

Hulk fans always want to see him duke it out with other superpowered heroes or villains.  It’s what makes the Hulk or any other superhero fun, for that matter.  In the early 80s, the two titans of comic book publishing, Marvel and DC, decided to treat their fans in a handful of rare collaboration.  These DC-Marvel crossovers are still some of my favorites. 

A Superman vs. Hulk showdown was a no-brainer.  Everyone wanted to see that and Marvel-DC delivered.  Despite what had happened (Superman pretty much won out), speculations are still abound on who would win.

There was one crossover that is not heavily talked about, Hulk vs Batman.  Perhaps because it didn’t make sense to begin with.  Batman fought the Hulk twice in the special issue of DC-Marvel crossover (DC Special Series #27).  Of course, the issue was not purely about Batman hunting down the Hulk or something to that effect.  The Joker had a lot to do with the encounters, tricking the Hulk into fighting Batman.

In the first round, Batman, after realizing that he would not be able to karate chop his way to victory, took down the Hulk by using enough sleeping gas that could knockdown a herd of elephants.  Of course, the Hulk did not breathe the gas willingly.  In fact, he was going to outlast Batman by holding his breath.  But Batman, one of Business Week’s ten smartest superheroes ever, one-upped the Hulk by kicking the Hulk in the solar plexus so that he’d be forced to exhale and breathe-in the sleeping gas.

I thought it was a fun little battle.  But the Hulk got the short end of the storytelling script.  After all, this was a guy who could hold up mountains.

Just for kicks.  I agree with this video on what will really happen in a Hulk vs Batman fight.

See Hulk vs Batman comics for sale on eBay.

The Incredible Hulk was originally created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics in the early 60′s.  He first appeared on May 1962 in the titular issue The Incredible Hulk #1.  47 years later the Hulk had become a popular and beloved comic book hero with two theatrically released movies, a multi-season TV show, a couple of running cartoons, a handful of dvd releases, and a slew of comic books lasting over decades.  There were kids growing up back then whose children and grandchildren today are enjoying the Hulk as the anti-heroic green brute.

Jack Kirby the original Original Art artist for the Hulk

Since the Incredible Hulk lasted through generations, Jack Kirby’s original art works have risen in value as childhood fans grow up to become collectors.  Many of them have read comic books in the 60′s and still value what they loved.

ComicVine.com cites that more than 8000 Jack Kirby original art works were made throughout Kirby’s career with Marvel.  In the comic arts community website, ComicArtFans.com, there are plenty of Jack Kirby original art works on display that include his drawings of the Hulk.

Comic book Original Arts have come around on their own as a prized art collectible.  Original arts are the production pieces that comic book pages are printed from and are usually made out of 11×17 bristol boards.  While the materials vary, most old school comic book original arts are in 11×17.  They are almost always in black and white before inking.

Other artists for the Hulk

You’ve probably seen various pictures of the Hulk.  The ones that stand out are the gray “Joe Fixit” Hulk and the newer and mysterious red Hulk.  The character goes through some changes depending on the storyline.  But for the most part, we recognize him as the green goliath, bare-chested, with purple pants.

Throughout his existence, various renowned artists have penciled and inked the Hulk.  In the 60′s, after Jack Kirby, legendary artists Steve Ditko, Gil Kane, John Buscema, and Marie Severin took over the responsibilities.  In the 1970s, Herb Trimpe, Ron Wilson, and Sal Buscema drew the Hulk for a long time.

In the 80s, Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy, teamed up with Bill Mantlo for a few series of the Hulk comic books.  John Byrne and Al Milgrom also had their stints as artists for the Hulk.

In the 90s, many of us discovered the brilliance of Todd McFarlane through his work with Marvel Comics.  My favorite was Spiderman: Torment.  He also drew the Hulk along with many other talented comic book artists, Erik Larsen, Jeff Purves, Alex Saviuk, Keith Pollard, Bob Harras, Jeff Purves, Dan Reed, Dale Keown, Sam Kieth, Angel Medina, Gary Frank, Liam Sharp, Terry Dodson, Mike Deodato, George Pérez, and Adam Kubert to name a few.

The Hulk comic books continue today being drawn by some of the top talents in the industry such as Ron Garney, Stuart Immonen, John Romita, Jr., and Keu Cha.  The popular series / graphic novel World War Hulk is drawn by John Romita, Jr.

See Hulk original arts for sale on eBay.

This is great!

The Incredible Hulk is one of the scariest beings in Marvel Universe if he’s pissed at you.  Not too many things can stop him.  The earth shakes when he’s mad.  He can hold up mountains (Secret Wars #4), he can smash asteroids bigger than the planet Earth into pieces (Marvel Comics Presents #52), and he can hold a planet together so that it doesn’t rip apart (The Incredible Hulk #102).

This Bowen Bronze Hulk statue personifies the sheer brutality of the Hulk with intricate details.  Greenish hue and purple pants, this limited statue portrays the classic raging Hulk.  Now rare, only 350 copies were made of this Bowen classic.  If you’re a collector, this is a must have!<>

Well, the movies at least.  According to Box Office Mojo, both big screen versions of the Incredible Hulk are pretty much head-to-head in terms of lifetime gross.  Hulk directed by Ang Lee in 2003 has made $132,177,234.  While The Incredible Hulk directed by Louis Leterrier has grossed $134,806,913.

The closeness in numbers, however, do not reflect the sentiments of fans.  In IMDB (Oct 5, 2009), the Hulk 2003 has a rating of 5.7/10 and The Incredible Hulk 2008 has a rating of 7.2/10.  I agree.  I’m a fan of the 2008 movie and do not care for the 2003 movie.

Why the Hulk 2003 sucked

While most disgusted fans point to his gi-normous size in the 2003 movie as a turn-off (he was as tall as a house), I simply point to the boring and uninspired storytelling.  There is no doubt that Ang Lee is a great movie director, receiving accolades for dramatic masterpieces such as Brokeback Mountain and Sense and Sensibilities.  But his attempt to turn an action comic book hero into an art house icon just did not work for me.

Perhaps Ang Lee shouldn’t take all the blame.  The writers of the screenplay also deserve some tongue lashing for creating a lackluster storyline.  The Hulk vs his dad?  Are these guys stuck on Star Wars?

The Hulk universe has already been nicely laid out for them by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Marvel Comics.  All they had to do was take pieces from this universe and package it for a film — the Hulk, his friends, the Army, and bad guys.  They had to write-in the Hulk and Betty.  They got the US Army’s role correctly.  But the bad guy being the Hulk’s mad scientist dad who at the end turned into a monster?  Not what I’d like to see as a fan.

They could have chosen from the Abomination (bad guy for 2008 Hulk, Incredible Hulk Vol 3 #25, Tales to Astonish #90), the Leader (Tales to Astonish #69, The Incredible Hulk Vol 2 #115), the Rhino (The Incredible Hulk Vol 2 #104), and Wendigo (Hulk #162).  All great bad guys in the Hulk and Marvel Universe.  All proven to be worthy of repeat performances.  The writers did not have to create a new one.  By doing so, the writers lost me and many other fans.  We just didn’t care why the Hulk was fighting his dad.

The way the writers wrote the Hulk’s nemesis in the 2003 movie pretty much tells me that they didn’t get what the Hulk in the comic books was all about.

Why The Incredible Hulk 2008 is better than the Hulk 2003

There are plenty of reasons to like Louis Letterier’s Hulk over that of Ang Lee.  First, the action is much better.  I particularly like the “Oh Shit” look on the US Army Special Forces hunting Dr. Banner in Brazil when they suddenly find their weapons and training ineffective against a brutal and superhuman target.  They simply didn’t know what hit them and did so convincingly for the benefit of the movie audience.

So what will the military do if they didn’t have enough firepower in the first go around?  In the case of The Incredible Hulk, they bring more hardware.  The battle scene on campus has plenty of action for those militarily inclined.  And the same goes for the New York city scene.

The showdown against the Abomination is very entertaining as well.  I like how the Hulk was getting the beatdown until Betty Ross got in trouble and he had to get mad to get stronger in order to save her.

What I like most about The Incredible Hulk is the way the writers wove in various aspects of the Hulk and Marvel universe.  They wrote in elements from the Hulk comic book storyline, including other super hero storylines that the Hulk may have crossed over with.  They also paid homage to the great 1970s TV series.  And they even acknowledged the 2003 movie by holding the first few scenes in South America.  That’s where Dr. Banner ended up in the Ang Lee version.

See Hulk movie DVDs for sale on eBay.

See Hulk movie Blu-ray discs for sale on eBay.

Simple. He’s the most badass of all badasses!

Need more reasons? He’s a misunderstood and complex persona. People are afraid of him and he doesn’t like ‘em much. But fans do like seeing him pissed off and kicking ass. But when he’s enraged, all he really wants is to be left alone. More times than not, he tries to runaway from a fight. But when he gets boxed in or cannot escape … well, we know that he gets stronger as he gets madder.

There are other sides to the Hulk. Yes, I said “sides”. Those who do not follow the comic books only know him as a giant green brute who springs from an angry Dr. Bruce Banner (David Banner in the 70′s TV series). As anger subsides, he transforms back to Dr. Banner. This happens when the Hulk is finally at rest and left alone in peace, usually after a successful escape from harm,

What I find intriguing about the Hulk and Dr. Banner personalities is that they are not alter egos such as Superman / Clark Kent, Batman / Bruce Wayne, or Spiderman / Peter Parker. One does not complement the other. Within the same being, there is an inner struggle between the two personas– Dr. Banner tries to suppress his anger to the detriment of himself so that the Hulk is not set free to destroy and the Hulk tries to get out whenever possible, most times to the chagrin of the Dr. Banner.

There was a short period when the two were fully separated. Doc Samson managed to extricate the Hulk from Dr. Banner and the two were completely separate beings. This was an extremely terrible time in the Marvel universe because without Dr. Banner to reign in the Hulk, the green brute’s boundless rage made him a bigger menace. In order to control the Hulk, Dr. Banner reluctantly agreed to merge with the Hulk again. This time, however, the intricate process formed two more personalities within the Hulk/Banner being, namely the gray Hulk, a.k.a. Joe Fixit, and a very smart “Professor” Hulk.

As the Professor Hulk, he has Dr. Banner’s intellect and, at the same time, the green Hulk’s body and strength. This one is kinda bizarre to read, especially after getting used to the Hulk as a dumb brawn who smashes things to solve problems. He’s the one carrying a machine gun in the picture above. The Hulk using a weapon?! There’s something going on there…

As the gray Hulk, he walks around in a tailored suit and a fedora, not unlike a mafioso. Hey, gangsta!

It can be tough keeping up with the Hulk. If all you know about him only comes from the movies, TV series, and perhaps cartoons, then you only know half of his story, just Banner and the green Hulk. This blog will attempt to explore the many sides of the Hulk, touch up on his friends, and anyone in the Hulk universe. And that includes bad guys.