Hi everyone. Welcome back for another edition of the Handbook.
Alright Daron was MIA again last week. Wonder if he’s in this week. Daron you there?
I’m here, I’m here. Sorry about last week, I was off in Florida on a much needed vacation.
Good to see you. Hey going to San Diego Comic Con?
Nope.
Nice. Alright how about we get to the emails.
Okay.
Then let’s start.
I said okay”¦
George emails
hiya, I just read Peter David’s Hulk in the Visionaries line, and I have a few questions.
1)How strong is the grey hulk, I read that he wasn’t as strong as savage Hulk, but made up for it in cunning (and damn did I like that character).
The Gray Hulk is weaker than the Savage Hulk (initial strengh is around 70 tons). Although he gets stronger as he gets angrier, the Gray Hulk’s strength does not increase as fast as the Savage Hulk’s. The Gray Hulk is also shorter than the Savage Hulk.
His intellect, however, is that of a normal human being, winning over the Savage Hulk in this aspect.
The Gray Hulk behaves like a cocky teenager: he’s unkind, selfish, and ruthless.
2) Also how strong is the Maestro, I remember him being stronger due to the effects of another bombing and always felt he was underrated. Whatever happened to him.
Basically, the Maestro is a Professor Hulk gone mad, totally corrupted, has no respect of life, in short, a villain.
The Maestro has the exact same abilities as the Hulk but at a higher level due to the years of gamma absorption.
3) If Doomsday is DC’s answer to the Hulk, as I read him to be, could he be beat by any of the other Hulk incarnations, or would it simply be a stalemate?
I would bet them going stalemate if Doomsday is Hulk of DC. I mean I can see a stale mate.
What?!? Can you pass me the crack pipe, Jim? Doomsday is not DC’s “Hulk.” He’s MUCH stronger than the hulk, and would crush puny Hulk under his heal. I know this is the Marvel column and all, but come on. If Doomsday can beat Supes, I’m pretty sure he’d take the Hulk no prob.
And if Wolverine has gone stalemate with the Hulk, would the same thing happen with Doomsday?
Very likely. Unless Wolvie outsmarts him it would be a tie. I can’t see him beating Doomsday at least.
*Coughs up the coffee he just drank*
You can’t be serious. Wolverine getting a stalemate versus Doomsday? Seriously? One of the most powerful beings in all the comic universes can’t beat Doomsday without giving up his life, but a little furry guy with claws can? Come on! I’m not trying to be a DC mark here, but lets get real”¦please!
Thanks for answering my questions,
Your welcome.
WT Harmon
Hey Jim, long time reader, first time writer. I wanted to ask you about “Slingers.” A buddy of mine just bought all twelve issues off of eBay, and I got to read them for the first time. Do you know why it got canceled?
Low ratings and bad sales. It got ignored big time
Were sales bad?
Yep. As stated above
Is it a crappy comic and I’m just too stupid to notice?
Actually it wasn’t that bad. At first the idea was a good one. They could’ve kept it going with more support. The title was a good read after all.
Also, did you read it and if so, what did you think of it?
Yep I have all the issues. I thought it was a good series actually. I just think most people missed it and it never got pushed hard enough.
Thanks and Keep up the Good Work,
You’re welcome, and will do.
One of Comics nexus own Tim Byrne emails
Greetings, as a fellow writer for this wonderful establishment.
Firstly, I would add a couple of names to your list of ‘titles that are easy to get into’.
First and foremost I would mention Runaways. With the first eighteen issues reprinted in cheap digests, it is a comic with a minimum of back-story, strong characters, and fascinating story lines. Sure, it briefly plays on the established Marvel Universe, but I’m a comparatively recent comic collector, and I dove in no problems!
I would also mention Ex Machina and the 100 Bullets trades (although Wildstorm and Vertigo products).
Good picks Tim. I’ll agree with Runaways 100%.Another good read.
And I’ll agree with Ex Machina, now there’s a great book. 100 Bullets though good, I don’t think is “easy” to get into just because it’s just a confusing book.
Now, a question :
Do you agree with the creative choice that means Ultimate Peter Parker is not aging? I find that it puts a real crimp on the stories, once it becomes apparent that all these horrid events and tragedies have happened to one person in the space of a few months. It drain a lot of the fun from the title…
Actually I agree it’s bad idea. Without him aging your really limiting the stories. Even Peter 616 by the point in issues the Ultimate is at was done with High School. Him not aging limits a lot of the ideas you can do. There are characters that came about when he went to College. I’d suggest you let him age every two years at the least. This way you don’t get stagnant. I’m not a big fan of Ultimate as everyone knows.
This is the first I’ve heard of this, but I agree that’s a pretty bad idea. Besides everything that’s already been mentioned, how tired is the high school-teenage drama going to get after a while? It’s kind of hard to relate to someone who is an eternal teenager”¦
Cheers,
Your welcome.
House of M
Busy week this week for the House of M. We have 5 titles that got impacted. So I’m going to cover just where the characters are and some of what happened.
We start our story in Uncanny X-Men
Psylocke and Marvel Girl both survive the creation of the House of M Universe. The rest of the X-Men fade away into oblivion
Otherworld: Captain Britain, Roma, Meggan, and Captain UK are present as the 616 Marvel Universe disappears and it impacts the Other World.
James Jaspers, Saturnyne, James Braddock, are among the other beings who ammerge into the Otherworld and fight Captain Britain.
Roma send Captain Britain to go deal with the House of M. Psylocke, Marvel Girl, and James Braddock all follow as well.
Marvel Girl and Psylocke appear at Braddock Manor and are met by a Sentinel ending the issue
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Now we move onto Hulk
Australia
Bruce Banner is he guardian of a sect of humans who are not slaves to the Mutants. He can become the Incredible Hulk in this world as well
Scorpion and her mother are part of AIM who are trying the protect humans as well. They have gone to the Island to find out what was going on.
The Mandroids and part of SHIELD are sent to the island as well to deal with the humans. The Generals in charge of the attack are Pyro and Exodus
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Iron Man
Tony Stark is still the Iron Man but in this world the armor is part of the Sapien Death Matches.
Tony Stark takes part in them as well as his father and Johnny Storm. They all wear armor of some type.
Stark Industries is in Chicago with employees like Henry Pym, Hank McCoy and Forge.
Henry Pym does not like working for Stark and leaves with stolen tech.
Tony Stark is still a drunk and uses new armor to go after Pym but is attacked by Sentinels in the end, which are controlled by his father.
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Fantastic Four
The issue starts with Mole King and his people being attacked by minions of the House of M led by Doom
He brings in his team known as the Fearsome Four
Invincible Woman: His wife Valeria
Inhuman Torch their son Kristoff
The It a seemingly mindless brute
Doom kills Mole King and returns to Latveria. There we learn that Reed is dead and something happened to his crew. Note Johnny looked normal in Iron Man
Quicksilver request Doom’s presence later. Doom meets with Magneto who calls him only human and Doom get angry beating up It and then pledging to take down Magneto
————————–
House of M # 4
Wolverine goes on the run from SHIELD as he still remembering the 616 Marvel Universe. He runs from SHIELD while looking for old friends Xavier, Stark and others until being helped in the end by Cage
Hells Kitchen Sapien Town rebels: Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Misty Knight, Moon Knight, White Tiger, Black Cat, Sons of Tiger, Shang-Chi, Raphiel Vega, Cloak, Dagger and the still alive HAWKEYE
The Red Guard of SHIELD who are sent after Wolverine include: Spider-Woman, Mystique, Nightcrawler, Toad, Rogue. They fail to capture Wolverine
Among those as part of the House of M: Namor, Storm, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and of course Doom
Others to note in this universe
Otto Octavius is a famous scientist
Kazar and Zabu are revolutionaries who are now in prison
Ralph Macchio runs Marvel Comics
Jason Wynegarde may be part of the Sapien Death Matches.
Warren Worthington is involved in a sex scandal.
That’s it for this week. Hopefully I can do a good bio series either during this or after it’s over.
One more bit.
My Fantastic Four Review
I’ll be nice and have no real spoilers that you might not already have guessed lol.
Marvel’s first family of comic superheroes takes the world by storm as the longest running comic book series in history comes to the big screen.
Ioan Gruffudd: played rather good role as Mister Fantastic Reed Richards. He pulled off being on of the most brilliant men alive yet pretty foolish when it comes to anything except science
Jessica Alba: Unlike many others I thought she played Sue right. That’s right I think she played the role perfectly.
Michael Chiklis: He played Ben perfect. You can tell he’s read the comics and knew exactly how to pull Ben off as emotional and a big brute
Chris Evans: Cocky and brash. Exactly like Johnny should be. The ultimate playboy he did the character justice
Julian McMahon: He played Doom quite well. Being mad man even when he was just a business man
Of course they changed the origin and added a new way for Doom to gain some power but it was actually a good movie. I thought they did a good job with the movie and hope they do a sequel. Go see it True Believers and tell me what you thought.
That’s it for me this week.
Daron old buddy care to sign off first?
Sure, before I do, I noticed you used a quote in your FF review that I’ve seen before. It says FF is the longest running comic series. 1) Where are these people getting their info, and 2) you should know better. FF may be Marvel’s longest running comic series, but it’s hardly THE longest.
Past that”¦ later ya’ll.
Alright then. Reporting from the Marvel Universe I’m Jim Trabold. Have a great week and see you at the comic shop. Keep those emails coming.
