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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 27, 2018 0:33:41 GMT -5
The Incredible Hulk #336"X-tremes!"Cover Date: October, 1987 Writer: Peter David Artist: Todd McFarlane Featured Character(s): The Hulk Villain/s: S.H.I.E.L.D Guest Star: X-Factor (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, & Iceman), Skids, Rick Jones, Clay Quarterman, Dick Terrence, Melanie, Bob Craig, & Phyllis Official Plot:At Gamma Base, Clay Quartermain receives the SHIELD council who express their displeasure with the way Quarterman has been handling the Hulk situation. Clay tries to explain that they managed to cure Rick Jones of his transformations into the Hulk. Still, the council feels that Bruce Banner has become too much of a liability and so they order Quartermain to eliminate him. Despite his orders, Clay Quartermain cannot bring himself to do it. Meanwhile in the town of Sparta, Illinois, the Hulk rages in an alleyway as he feels the daytime reversion back into the Bruce Banner. His last show of strength wrecks the structural integrity of one of the buildings. On person watching this transpire is Dick Tarrance, who lives in the apartment building next door. Watching as the Hulk changes into Bruce Banner, he thinks that he is witnessing a mutant. Recalling how X-Factor are hunting mutants, he figures there might be a quick buck to make by turning in this "mutant". As such, Terrance drags Banner into his meager apartment before the building collapses. With Banner knocked out from the transformation, Dick then places in a call to X-Factor. At X-Factor headquarters in New York City, Cyclops and Marvel Girl and running Iceman through a training session to try and help him regain control of his ice powers. However, when he tries to create a simple snowball, he instead creates a massive chunk of ice, which Cyclops and Marvel Girl deflect and pulverise with their collective mutant powers. It's then that their ward, the mutant girl named Skids, enters the room and tells them that they got a call from someone reporting a mutant in Illinois. X-Factor decides to mobilize and investigate. When they offer Iceman a chance to stay behind since his powers are unreliable, Bobby refuses to do so, thinking he can handle the job without issue. By this time, Banner has woken up and he and Dick have gotten to talking. Terrance discovers that the man he has turned into the "mutant hunters" is actually not a bad guy and begins to feel guilty. Suddenly there is a knock at the door and Dick rushes to it. Instead of X-Factor, it is actually his girlfriend Melanie. She needs to talk and after making up a quick exuse that Bruce is his "cousin", he goes out for a walk with his girlfriend. Eventually, Melanie explains to Dick that she had run a pregnancy test and has discovered that she is pregnant. When she asks him what they should do, he tells her that they should keep the baby, even though their jobs can't afford it. With a new mouth to feed on the way, Dick realises that he is going to have to swallow his guilt and turn Bruce in anyway. Back at Dick's apartment, Bruce calls in to Gamma Base to talk to Clay Quartermain. Suspecting that something is wrong, Bruce asks to talk to Rick Jones. Rick is put on the phone but he has five SHIELD agents standing all around him. To try and tip Bruce off, Rick calls him "Bob" during the conversation. The ploy works and when Clay asks Bruce where he is, he tells Quartermain that he is in Seattle. While in St. Louis Airport, X-Factor arrives in the state and begin loading their gear up into a rented van. As they make their way to Sparta, Iceman and Marvel Girl express their displeasure of pretending to be mutant hunters because it has made people believe that they are like the Gestapo, hunting and terminating mutants when they are really providing support and rehabilitation. Cyclops listens to their concerns and agrees that after this mission they should work at softening their public image. Later, when Dick gets home he finds that Bruce has left the apartment. Banner is taking a walk to try and sort out his thoughts and decides what to do about the situation about Gamma Base. It's at that time that the members of X-Factor pay a visit to the home of Dick Terrance. He tells them that the mutant he called about went somewhere but he doesn't know where. When Iceman decides to take a look around, he recognises Bruce Banner and begins calling out to him. From a distance, Bruce confuses Bobby Drake's X-Factor jumpsuit for a SHIELD uniform and makes a break for it. Seeing this the rest of X-Factor chase after Banner in their rented van, wondering why he is running from them. Banner manages to sprint past a train crossing as the freighter is passing by. This happens just as the sun is beginning to set, turning into the Hulk, the gamma-spawned monster lifts up a railcar and throws it at the van pursuing him. The members of X-Factor get out unscathed thanks to Jean's telekinetic powers. The Hulk then tries to leap awaybut he's blasted by Cyclops and is sent crashing into the Spartan Printing Company building. Deciding this situation needs more than X-Factor, the group doff their mutant hunting uniforms and puts on their X-Terminator costumes. This helps in that when they catch up with the Hulk he recognises them as former members of the X-Men. The Hulk attacks them, and the X-Terminators can only keep the Hulk at bay as he is far too strong and cunning to be stopped. Eventually, the mutants have no choice but to full incapacitate the Hulk by letting Iceman cut loose with his powers trapping the Hulk in a huge chunk of ice. With the Hulk subdued, Cyclops decides that they best contact SHIELD, even though the idea doesn't sit very well with him. When news reaches Clay Quartermain at Gamma Base, he reports this to the SHIELD council who are delighted by the news and order him to eliminate the Hulk once and for all. Brodie's View: It's The Hulk vs. X-Factor in this issue (well, three of them, at least, as The Angel was thought dead and Beast injured), as the shit officially starts hitting the fan at Gamma Base where it relates to both Bruce Banner and The Hulk. Some of this relates to the gamma bombs it was revealed a couple of issues ago that the government/SHIELD were making, as it's revealed by a secret Illuminati existing within SHIELD that this was the only reason they were keeping Banner around/alive in the first place. Of course X-Factor (and Banner, for that matter) are completely oblivious to all of this, as they come into contact with Banner/The Hulk simply because the guy Banner was temporarily staying with thought he was a mutant (as he secretly observes The Hulk transforming back into Banner at the beginning of the issue), and without Bruce's knowledge, turns him into to the supposed "mutant hunters" (this was during the period that the former X-Men were posing as mutant hunters, and then at the same time playing the role of mutant terrorists known as the X-Terminators) for money (we see a brief scene that shows why this guy needs the money, as his girlfriend reveals that she is carrying his baby. Not that this last part is too important to the overall story, but it gives more of a motivation for the dude turning Bruce in. Anyways, X-Factor arrives too late to meet Bruce face to face (as he decided to go for a walk, collecting his thoughts), and when Bruce happens to spot Iceman in his X-Factor outfit, he mistakenly thinks SHIELD has found him, and takes off running. As the mutant team pursue Banner, in order to try and talk things out, the sun sets, and Bruce turns into the Hulk, kicking our battle off. ![8-)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/cool.png) And what a nice battle it is, as Cyclops, Jean, and Iceman are unprepared for this new Hulk being far more clever than the classic Hulk, putting the mutants on the ropes until Iceman unleashes his powers (which had been kind of wonky since recently having his powers messed with by Loki in the pages of THOR) in a massive way, freezing the Hulk completely. This sets the stage for our big blow out in the next issue, as X-Factor, unsuspecting of all the secret planning that is going on within the ranks of SHIELD at Gamma Base, are taking the ice cubed up Hulk back to them. Only a few select agents know about the plans SHIELD have for killing the Hulk, and Clay Quartermain is one of those agents. Of course, this puts him in a tough spot, as he's actually come to like Bruce, Rick Jones, Doc Sampson, and the others, who are all just as oblivious as X-Factor as to the depths of how far this secret council of SHIELD are willing to sink to protect the secret of the gamma bombs they have been using Bruce Banner's work to create. The next issue will see all of this blow up (literally in some cases) in a major way, and one that will force everyone involved to pick a side in all of this, and send us into the new status quo that we will keep until the end of this little run. GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 28, 2018 3:56:26 GMT -5
The Incredible Hulk #337"Crossroads"Cover Date: November, 1987 Writer: Peter David Artist: Todd McFarlane Featured Character(s): The Hulk Villain/s: S.H.I.E.L.D Guest Star/s: X-Factor (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, & Iceman), (Hulkbusters---disbands----Samuel LaRoquette, Craig Saunders, Armand Martel, & Hideko Takata), Rick Jones, Doc Sampson, Betty Banner, Clay Quartermain, Ramon Morales, & Agent Trump) Official Plot:After getting injured by the Hulk, Betty Banner has decided to leave with her ex-boyfriend Ramon. As she packs up a bag at the hospital, she decides to leave Bruce a note telling him how she feels. However, as they leave the room a draft knocks the note off a table under a cart. At that moment in Sparta, Illinois, the members of the X-Factor have defeated the Hulk by sealing him a massive chunk of ice. While they are waiting for SHIELD agents to collect the Hulk, Cyclops uses his optic blast to cut a hole in the ice so the Hulk can breath. Cyclops reflects over the past few hours that led to their battle with the Hulk, and is still uneasy about contacting SHIELD to collect the Hulk. Meanwhile, Clay Quartermain is leading a SHIELD crew to collect the Hulk. On board his ship are Samuel LaRoquette and Craig Saunders who insist to tag along even though they are still recovering from a previous battle with a Hulk. Quartermain tells them that their mission is to kill the Hulk, even if he is in the form of Bruce Banner. Regardless of these orders, Clay Quartermain does not like them and wonders how Bruce, or his wife Betty, would feel if they knew what his orders were. Back in Illinois, the three members of X-Factor wonder if they should stick around and wait for SHIELD or to flee given their vigilante status when posing as the X-Terminators. Soon Quartermain and his soldiers arrive to pick up the Hulk. Clay thanks Cyclops for his help, but quickly stops Saunders before he can shoot the Hulk at point blank range. When Craig questions why they aren't killing him right away, this blows their mission parameters in front of the mutants. Not willing to be party to murder, Cyclops questions this, and Quartermain offers them to accompany them back to Gamma Base to be part of the debriefing with Nick Fury. The X-Terminators agree and they are soon accompanying SHIELD back to base. Iceman remains in the cargo hold with the Hulk, ensuring that the brute remains in the deep freeze while being transported back to New Mexico. Iceman doesn't feel that killing the Hulk is the right thing to do, knowing that Bruce Banner is trapped somewhere inside the creature. at Gamma Base, Rick Jones confides his feelings about Banner being revealed to be the Hulk again to Doc Samson. Samson tells the young man that it was bound to come out sooner or later. When the Hulk is being transported on base, he suddenly breaks free because Iceman forgot to properly freeze him. Soon the Hulk is fighting it out with agents of SHIELD as well as the members of the X-Terminators. The combined efforts of the soldiers, Doc Samson, and the team of mutants is sufficient enough to knock the Hulk out again. When the Hulk is contained in bonds, the SHIELD Council is informed of his capture and order Quartermain to eliminate the Hulk once and for all. Elsewhere, the Hulk explains to X-Factor and Doc Samson that the government has created more gamma bombs and have begun testing them and that he must track them down and destroy the weapons. Meanwhile, Sam LaRoquette goes to Agent Trump, the second-in-command at Gamma Base because Quartermain has gone missing. He expresses his lack of satisfaction about keeping the Hulk alive and having mutants on the facility, Trump agrees and orders his soldiers to apprehend everyone. Seeing that they are going to be silenced, X-Factor frees the Hulk and with his aid fight their way out alongside Rick Jones, Doc Samson, Armand Martel and Hideko Takata. When they get outside, the sun begins to rise triggering the Hulk's reversion to Bruce Banner. It's at this point that Agent Trump and his men surround them. Before they can eliminate everyone there is a sudden explosion, destroying one of the buildings on Gamma Base. Suddenly, Clay Quartermain pulls up in a high-tech van. Clay explains that he had a change of heart about eliminating the Hulk and has rigged Gamma Base to explode to cover their escape. After dropping the members of X-Factor off, Clay, Rick, Armand and Hideko discuss their next move. The last two members fo the Hulkbusters decide to go their separate ways and pursue a relationship with each other. Banner, Jones and Quartermain then agree to work together to find the gamma bombs and shut them down. Bruce then asks what happened to Betty. As Rick and Clay struggle figure out what to say next, back at the hospital Betty's note is found by a cleaning lady who things it is trash and throws it out. Back at the ruins of Gamma Base, Doc Samson emerges from the rubble. Looking around he sees that the entire facility is in shambles and remarks that it has been such a waste. Brodie's View: SHIELD (or a rogue element within it) makes its move in the second half of this little crossover with X-Factor, with the end results of this move being the Official end of The Hulkbusters, as half of them will side with SHIELD against The Hulk, X-Factor, Doc Sampson, and others. However, a bigger moment ends up flying under the radar, as it is the temporary departure of Betty Ross/Banner from the book. She won't be gone for long, though. She leaves with douche bag Ramon, leaving a good bye letter that Bruce won't see until much, Much later, and past the boundaries of this run, but I believe that he eventually does get it. Back to the main story, though, as X-Factor delivers a Hulk put on ice (literally) by Iceman in the last issue. However, the Hulk doesn't end up getting his payback for that, as this is the point a rogue element of SHIELD make their move, as they no longer have any usage for Bruce Banner or The Hulk. Of course, La Roquette and Saunders side with SHIELD, as they wanted Banner and his close friends (Jones/Sampson) eliminated, as we see a fight break out between the forces mentioned above, with Clay Quartermain choosing to side with the Hulk side of things. This really kicks into high gear as The Hulk busts out of the ice, and Doc Sampson literally brings the place down on himself (he makes it out). Before that. though, we get The Hulk, X-Factor, and Sampson pretty much kicking some butt on evil SHIELD agents. ![8-)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/cool.png) The good guys(or somewhat Neutral Good, in the case of The Hulk) end up escaping, and, beside X-Factor, who would have been out of there anyways, some of the characters end up going their separate ways, as Byrne creations Armand Martel and Hideko Takata end up leaving the book. No real loss, as they kind of became useless side characters once Byrne left the book. As for the other side of Hulkbusters, we haven't seen the last of LaRoquette or Saunders, as they will end up joining up with another employer, and become even bigger threats. As for The Hulk/Bruce Banner, Rick Jones, and Clay Quartermain, they find themselves on the run from SHIELD, along with that before mentioned hidden threat....y'know, the dude with the Jiffy Pop head. Anyways, I forgot that in the middle of our little Mutant Madness run, we get this next issue, which introduces a new threat to the Hulk that thinks that they're doing right by our Grey Skinned (or later Green Skinned again) hero. ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 29, 2018 2:28:38 GMT -5
The Incredible Hulk #338"Mercy Killing"Cover Date: December, 1987 Writer: Peter David Artist: Todd McFarlane Featured Character(s): The Hulk Villain/s: S.H.I.E.L.D (Agent Trump, Samuel LaRoquette, & Mandroids), The Leader (in disguise), and Mercy Guest Star/s: Rick Jones & Clay Quartermain Official Plot:Bruce Banner, Rick Jones, and Clay Quartermain are on the run from SHIELD. Bruce can't recall the events that got them to that point. A woman appears to him in a dream. She proclaims herself to be an angel of mercy. She helps people with particularly burdensome problems by killing them. During a stopover in a diner, Clay has an altercation with an angry trucker. Outside, Bruce is deep in thought when the high tech RV they've been traveling in starts to run him over. It's being driven by the woman from his dream. Bruce grabs onto the underside of the RV and is dragged. Rick manages to jump aboard to stop the vehicle only to find that no one is behind the wheel. In the meantime, SHIELD has picked up the tracking signal from the device placed on the stolen RV. Bruce, Rick, and Clay go to a hospital looking for Betty. She is no longer there, having left the day before with someone named Ramon. Bruce doesn't remember how Betty ended up in the hospital and he fears that it was his fault. The mysterious woman reappears in the hospital. Bruce narrowly escapes being killed. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., Senator Tidewater is approached by a shadowy man who claims to be an admirer of the Senator's. It is hinted that the shadowy man is the Leader. Night falls and Bruce turns into the Hulk. Rick tries to strike a bargain with the Hulk based on their mutual interest in finding some Gamma bombs, mass manufactured by the government. Just then, the woman appears again to put the Hulk/Bruce out of his misery. She explains herself as being a missionary from another planet before she again tries to kill the Hulk with energy she fires from her hand. Meanwhile, SHIELD agents home in on the tracking device, only its attached to the 18-wheeler being driven by the angry trucker from the diner. The trucker has mere seconds to bail out before the SHIELD agents fire upon his trailer, destroying it. They find only toilet paper inside. The Hulk redirects the woman's energy back at her. She loses form and turns her into a pile of goo. The Hulk and the goo pile fight it out with the Hulk finding himself being immersed by it. The Hulk smashes into a gas station and is doused by the leaking gasoline. He ignites a flare and burns the goo completely off of him, presumably destroying it completely. The Hulk takes Rick up on his offer on the basis that Bruce will need protection. They continue on their journey. The story wraps with the trucker hauling his decrepit trailer, grumbling about the turn for the worse that his life has taken. He stops to pick up a hitchhiker, a woman... The angel of mercy. Brodie's View: We get a couple of one shot (although, continuing ongoing side plots in the background) issues for the next two reviews. One shots in the sense that the major story going on (to be fair, you could also say that for #340, although in that case, it kind of fit in as a side story/prologue to the X-Men side of the FALL OF THE MUTANTS storyline, plus it does continue the "Leader" storyline that has been building since David/Todd took over the book) isn't the same as the underarching ones....not really. Take this issue, for example: the main threat isn't either SHIELD (who are in hot pursuit of Banner/The Hulk, Jones, and Quartermain, but end up bungling their capture mid way through this issue) or The Leader (who simply takes possession of a politician), but rather a new character, Mercy, an alien that provides "mercy killings" to people who wish, whether truly serious or not, to commit suicide. To make things worse, she's willing to do whatever to provide that "service," and if she happens to wound or kill an innocent bystander in the process..."Bummer." It sucks even worse for Bruce/The Hulk, as she can also invade their little mental mind space, and make appeals straight to Banner, despite Banner being the Hulk. Bruce almost gives in, but he decides that he wants to live, and The Hulk kind of realizes how important having Banner there actually is, even if it's just for self serving reasons. Once again, we do get a bit of movement on the SHIELD/Leader fronts, but I pretty much named The Leader one just in my statement above, it's a pretty short part. The SHIELD thing gets a bit more time, as it's teased for a second that they found Bruce and the others, but they bungle it. This subplot won't last two much longer, but it will feed into The Leader storyline when it kicks into high gear in a few issues. This will be the run of issues that will lead us to the end of this particular run ![:(](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/sad.png) . This was a fun issue, and we can definitely see McFarlane's art improving over the last few issues. It gets better yet before this run is over. The next issue will take us back into mutant territory, as we get the continuation of a story David did while writing SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, which will be directly referenced in this story. We also start to move closer to our end game, which will start with one of the best Hulk/Wolverine fights ever. Seriously, it kicks much ass. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 30, 2018 3:12:11 GMT -5
The Incredible Hulk #339"Native Son"Cover Date: Janurary, 1988 Writer: Peter David Artist: Todd McFarlane Featured Character(s): The Hulk Villain/s: The Leader (Behind the Scenes) Guest Star/s: Rick Jones, Clay Quartermain, Betty Banner, Ramon Morales, Alex Woolcot, & General Hamilton Official Plot:Bruce Banner, Rick Jones, and Clay Quartermain have made it to Boulder, Colorado. Clay confronts Bruce with his past, the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father. Bruce is angered and doesn't want to talk about it. Clay theorizes that the Hulk is a result of that abuse. Betty is in New Orleans, living in an apartment with Ramon. She mentions how she is feeling sick and goes to take a shower. Night comes, and Bruce turns into the Hulk. Rick finds it interesting that the Hulk seems to be more interested in finding Betty than finding the Gamma bombs. The Hulk is angered that Rick tries to psychoanalyze him by telling the Hulk that he's the emotions Bruce keeps bottled up, including jealousy and passion. In D.C., the shadowy man introduces himself to a general. This time, the man is more definitively revealed to be the Leader. The Leader brings the general under his mental control. The Leader is interested in learning more about the Gamma bomb project. Clay takes the Hulk and Rick to a SHIELD safe house in Boulder. He hopes to gain access to the SHIELD computer database from there. A father and his young son are living in the house. The father hearing Hulk and co. break in confronts them with a pistol. The father is quickly overpowered by the Hulk. In reality, the father is a SHIELD agent posing as the boy's father. Clay recollects that the boy's name is Alex Woolcot. Alex doesn't remember his real father a scientist who developed an incineration ray. His real father's brilliance had been matched only by his abusiveness. Alex had an accident with the incineration ray and absorbed its properties. With those powers, he inadvertently killed his own father. Alex lost his memory after SHIELD agents made an unsuccessful and unauthorized attempt on his life. Alex became a basket case after everything that had happened to him. SHIELD created a new home life for him to try to restore his sanity. In the present, Clay is unsuccessful at accessing the SHIELD database but is able to gather information on Betty's whereabouts. Alex's power activates itself and he accidentally zaps the Hulk. The Hulk is angered and wants to get back at the boy. Rick tries unsuccessfully to reason with the Hulk. Meanwhile, in New Orleans, Ramon breaks into the bathroom to find the water running and Betty not there. The Hulk tracks Alex to a nearby carnival and into a fun house. The Hulk smashes his way through the mirrors to get to Alex. He's about to pummel Alex when he is struck by memories of his own father's abuse. The boy sobs as he remembers having killed his real father and at the realization that he is about to be killed too. Rather than hit Alex, the Hulk finds himself consoling him. The Hulk returns Alex to the house. Alex decides that he will continue to live at the house and accept the SHIELD agent as his father. Later, Rick takes notice when the Hulk calls Rick by his first name. Brodie's View: We get one last one shot before our big multi issue conclusion to this particular part, the opening chapter, if you wheeeeellll, of Peter David's run. This is also the continuation of a storyline David started in SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, as a little boy with great power, Alex Woolcot, ended up accidentally killing his dad with his emerging powers. He ended that story being wounded (and at least as it seemed by Spider-Man, killed) by SHIELD, who were trying to apprehend the young mutant. However, Alex lived, and SHIELD ended up creating a false reality of sorts for Alex, including a stand in dad, to try and keep the boy's sanity. However, this all comes to a head as The Hulk (who is going through his own "Daddy Issues," which David will certainly build on in later issue), Rick Jones, and Former SHIELD Agent Clay Quartermain break into the SHIELD installation where Alex is being held, in order to get info on the whereabouts of the gamma weapons SHIELD had been secretly making. When being threatened by The Hulk, Alex ends up blasting the crap out of him, which sends the monster into hot pursuit on the frightened boy. The Hulk follows him into a carnival fun house, where upon threatening the child, the Hulk sees visions of his own horrible upbringing, which ends up instantly defusing the situation. The Hulk ends up promising the boy to return him to his manufactured reality, as that was preferable to the reality. We also get to see another Leader scene, where he took mental control of another politician, and then asked him for information on SHIELD's gamma bombs ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) . Oh, and we also get to see Betty running away from macho jerk bag, Ramon. Needless to say, she'll soon be rejoining the life, at least briefly, of Bruce/The Hulk. This was a pretty damn good little issue, that laid down a lot of trackwork (to be fair, building off of the Mantlo issue--312, which went into his abusive past), but David will do the most with what he was given, as far as backstory goes. We also can very much see that Todd McFarlane had finally gotten to his best point, as far as how he depicted the Hulk (With the giant Jack Kirby-esque forehead) and other characters. In the next issue, we see this whole deal with the Leader start kicking in more fully, but these plans won't involve the Hulk quite yet. Oh no....The Hulk will be too busy fighting Wolverine in a FALL OF THE MUTANTS prologue story. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Feb 1, 2018 18:39:04 GMT -5
The Incredible Hulk #340"Vicious Circle"Cover Date: Feburary, 1988 Writer: Peter David Artist: Todd McFarlane Featured Character(s): The Hulk Villain/s: The Leader & Half Life Guest Star/s: Rick Jones, Clay Quartermain, Betty Banner, The X-Men (Wolverine, Rogue, Havok, Psylocke, Dazzler, & Longshot), & the U.S Military (General Hamilton & Sergeant O'Riley) Official Plot:Driving through the state of Texas, the Hulk, Clay Quartermain, and Rick Jones finds themselves lost in an unseasonal blizzard near the Fort Worth Airport. Their search for the government gamma bombs are starting to make the Hulk feel stir crazy and he decides to get out for some fresh air. Rick and Clay agree that the Hulk should do that, since they have no other choice in the matter. Meanwhile, the airport has picked up an incoming plane and orders it to turn back as the storm is causing a hazardous condition. The plane in question is the Blackbird jet owned by the X-Men. Aboard the ship are Wolverine, Rogue, Havok, Dazzler, Psylocke, and Longshot. Wolverine tells air traffic control that they have bigger concerns than the weather and demand to land immediately. The rest of the X-Men are concerned with finding their missing leader, Storm, as well as the premonition that the X-Men are destined to die in the city of Dallas. Longshot, however, remains optimistic, believing that his luck powers will help the team pull through this mission. Wolverine suddenly has to make evasive maneuvers as the Hulk leaps past their plane but this doesn't stop him from smashing into a commercial airliner that was also in the air. Picking up their mayday, Wolverine orders Rogue to rip off the burning engine and help the plane land. When Rogue complies, she unknowingly tosses the engine down on the Hulk. Once on the ground, Wolverine examines the damage to the commercial airliner and picks up the Hulk's scent, but finds that it is somehow different. Meanwhile, the strange weather patterns are being observed by the Leader from his secret laboratory. His minion Half-Life asks if they are going to use this opportunity to steal a gamma bomb. The Leader does and contacts his pawn, General Hamilton to learn the location of the bombs. Back in Texas, the Hulk has found a truck full of frozen beef to eat when he is confronted by soldiers and attacked. The Hulk tosses the truck at them to send the troops scattering, but the truck's fuel tank explodes catching a nearby forest on fire. Nearby are the X-Men and Wolverine orders his teammates to help evacuate the area while he goes to hunt for the person responsible. Although Wolverine tries to follow the Hulk's scent, the gamma-spawned monster gets the drop on him. Wolverine still manages to react quickly enough to draw first blood. Although Wolverine has managed to cut the Hulk, his rapid healing manages to seal the cuts. Wolverine realizes that he lashed out impulsively and apologizes while sheathing his claws. Wolverine explains that while he would love to fight the Hulk, he has other pressing concerns and turns to walk away. The Hulk will have none of that and, spoiling for a fight, and attacks. Wolverine tries to keep himself cool and collected, but the Hulk's attack is relentless enough to cause the feral mutant to lose his control and go into a berserker rage. Wolverine impales Hulk through the stomach, but this only causes the Hulk to black out for a short period of time as he gets back up to resume the fight. Not far away, Clay and Rick try to find the Hulk. As they drive, Clay pulls out a photo of Bruce Banner and his wife Betty during happier times. They come across Wolverine and the Hulk beating on each other and Clay breaks up the fight with a rocket launcher. Clay scolds both men: The Hulk for causing a fight that delays their search for the gamma bombs, and Wolverine for acting like an animal. Wolverine realizes that he screwed up, but the Hulk doesn't care. After slamming Wolverine into the snow, the Hulk grabs up the van carrying his friends and leaps away. As they take off, Rick asks Clay if Betty has been thinking about Bruce since she took off. Looking at the photo again, Clay hopes that if she is smart she hasn't. However, elsewhere Betty has been staring into the same snowglobe that she is holding in the photo that Rick and Clay are now looking at it. Caught in a deep despair over the state of her marriage, Betty tosses the snowglobe across the room, shattering it, and breaks down into tears. Brodie's View: The lead up to the end of this little run starts here, as well as being a prologue for the FALL OF THE MUTANTS crossover, or at least the X-Men part of it. On their way to "die" in Dallas, the X-Men (being temporarily led by Wolverine) get sidetracked, as they end up rescuing a crashing plane. The plane was crashing due to being accidentally hit by The Hulk (who was kind of blinded do to the crazy weather hitting the area, and being caused by the events taking place in Dallas). This leads to our main conflict, as while investigating the crash, Wolverine ends up encountering The Hulk, and our Grey lead character isn't very happy (partially due to the moon being completely obscured by the weather, and partially due to the events of last issue) to see Logan. Eventually this leads to one of the best Hulk/Wolverine fights ever, lovingly depicted by Todd McFarlane, who, as I stated in the last review, was almost at the level he would be at when he left Marvel to help form IMAGE COMICS a few years from this. At one point, Wolverine even ends up mortally wounding the Hulk, only to discover that the Hulk has a healing factor as well. The two then commence to ripping and smashing at each other, until being interrupted by Rick Jones and Clay Quartermain, and ending the fight....for now. ![:(](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/sad.png) What a kick ass issue this turned out to be; the best one in the run IMO. Both writer and artist are operating on a top level now, and they would kick some butt all the way until the end of this little run (with Todd moving on to Spider-Man and then Spawn, and Peter continuing to craft great moments for our grey/green hero until the late 90's, along with writing many other books). Along with the above mentioned Hulk/Wolverine fight, we also get some development on the Leader front, as he (along with Half Life, who is officially confirmed as being a Leader Lackey here) finds out the location of the gamma bombs SHIELD has been secretly making. Obviously, this will come to be VERY important as we come to the end of this run. We also get Betty Banner reflecting on the events that have happened in the last several issues, as well as trying to decide what will come next. She also reacts due to a special little surprise that we'll find out more about in the next few issues, but the way I worded what it was kind of gives it away now, so, you're lucky that we're dealing with all of this in hindsight. Speaking of which, in the next issue we'll see The Hulk encountering a new monster, that while not connected to the business with The Leader, does force our hero to confront his past in many ways. ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) GRADE: A
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Feb 2, 2018 23:51:07 GMT -5
The Incredible Hulk #341"The Savage Bull Doth Bear the Yoke!"Cover Date: March, 1988 Writer: Peter David Artist: Todd McFarlane Featured Character(s): The Hulk Villain/s: The Leader, Man Bull/Savage, SHIELD (Agent Trump, Samuel J. LaRoquette, & Craig Saunders) Guest Star/s: Rick Jones, Clay Quartermain, Alan Quartermain (& family: June, Henrietta, & Jinete), & Dianne Bellamy Official Plot:A pair of farmers in Kansas are searching their field for two missing cows. One of them is convinced that they were abducted by UFOs. When they come across the mutilated carcass of one of the cows, it leaves them wandering just how whatever killed the cows moved them around. Not far away, the Hulk, Rick Jones and Clay Quartermain have pulled over their commandeered SHIELD battle van so Quartermain can use a pay phone. He puts in a call to reporter Dianne Bellamy to tip her off about the gamma bombs and to bring it up during a SHIELD press conference scheduled for the following morning. The Hulk decides to go wandering off in the fields and comes across the Man-Bull feeding on one of the missing cows. The Man-Bull has devolved to only a rudimentary speech skills. The Hulk is uninterested in having any of the cow offered to him and tells the beast-man to get lost. Frightened the Man-Bull flees the area. Hulk then returns to his allies so they can continue on their way. That morning at the Henderson farm, the Man-Bull is caught by Mister Henderson as he is raiding their fridge for food. When Henderson fires his shotgun at the monster in his kitchen, it has no effect on the creature. Angered, the Man-Bull charges at Henderson and his family. Not far away, Clay Quartermain and his allies pay a visit to the farm owned by Clay's brother Alan. Although Alan's wife June is happy to see Clay and his friends, Alan is less than happy to see his brother, although June tells her husband to play nice. Soon, Clay is shown Alan's high tech computer set up that assists with his farming. Clay asks his brother if he can use this equipment to hack into SHIELD's databases and learn the location of the gamma bombs they are searching for. In Washington, D.C., SHIELD is preparing to begin their press conference. As Agent Trump prepares to mount the stage with Sam LaRoquette and Craig Saunders, they bump into the passing Leader who takes control of their minds upon contact. No sooner has the press conference started has Dianne Bellamy and the press junket begin demanding answers about the secret gamma bombs. The Leader listens to all of this from afar and grins as sinister smile. Back in Kansas, Alan Quartermain refuses to use his computers to hack into a government database. Clay tries to convince his brother that there are lives at stake, but he still refuses. Bruce Banner then tries to explain the situation and Alan finally recognizes him, and is furious that his brother would bring the man who turns into the Hulk to his family home. Just then, June begins screaming for Allan to come back to the house. The men all rush back into the kitchen and June tells them how some creature attacked the Henderson family this morning. As she explains the creature's description, Banner remembers how the Hulk encountered the Man-Bull the night before. Allan demands that something needs to be done, and Clay offers to have the Hulk stop the creature in exchange for using his computers. When Bruce balks at this, Clay angrily points out that they cannot stay a step ahead of SHIELD forever and that the need to do something. Allan finally gives in and agrees to help if they stop the Man-Bull, unaware that the subject of their conversation is hiding on the farm. That evening, Bruce begins his nightly transformation into the Hulk, rousing the Man-Bull's attention and making the creature break cover. The Hulk is not too happy to being used to hunt another monster but after smacking Clay for pushing Banner around, he agrees to look for the monster. As the Hulk leaps away, the Man-Bull breaks his cover and approached the Quartermain family and Rick. The Hulk comes back and he fights it out with the Man-Bull. The Hulk pounds on the Man-Bull who eventually gives up and demands to be killed, as it used to be a man once and does not want to live as a savage. By this point, the locals have all come to kill the monster. Seeing how sad and pathetic the Man-Bull is, the Hulk orders them to stand down, pointing out that the Man-Bull is just a pathetic and frightened creature. Wondering what they should do to punish the creature, the Hulk tells them the best punishment for the Man-Bull is letting him live. Brodie's View: The Hulk comes face to face with his past, in a way, while The Leader starts to gather pawns for his ongoing game in this story. The first half of this comes pretty early on in the issue, as The Hulk ends up coming across a mutated Man Bull (a man who was mutated into said Man Bull back in DAREDEVIL #78-79, and had since mutated even more since then), naming him "Savage" inadvertently. The next day, as Bruce, Rick, and Clay Quarterman goes to his brother Alan's ( ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) ) farm to stay temporarily, they find out that his Man Bull has been responsible for the deaths of various cattle around the area. To make things worse, the creature had stumbled across some of Alan's neighbors, who foolishly shot the Man Bull, enraging it, and causing the family to be attacked and seriously wounded. Eventually, the Hulk is talked into helping to take care of "Savage," which he tries to do, but can't help but feel he's doing the very same thing he hated having done to him when he was the childlike Green Hulk. Finally, the Hulk ceases to attack the Man Bull, who wants the Hulk to either help make him/it human again, or to kill him, which the Hulk refuses to do either way (in the first case because he doesn't know how). The Hulk, however, does end up saving "Savage" from a torch bearing mob, who also can't bring themselves to kill the creature when it/he starts to cry. This was a pretty solid issue (that also has the brief moment where The Leader seizes mental control over the three main people representing SHIELD that were after the Hulk; (Agent Trump, Sam LaRoquette, & Craig Saunders) the later two being controlled by The Leader comes to mean a great deal more in the next couple of issues) that, while being another example of the whole "Who's the REAL Monster/s" theme that Peter David has already touched on a few times in this run, the fact that it gives Todd McFarlane another cool monster to draw definitely puts this issue up higher than it might have been otherwise. Speaking of David/McFarlane drawn/created monsters, this next issue will pit our Grey Hero against one of them....one final time ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) , while The Leader starts to explain what he has been doing, while dropping hints as to what he will be doing in the future. In other words, our two plots starts to converge as we head closer to the end of our little run here. ![:(](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/sad.png) GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Feb 4, 2018 1:49:26 GMT -5
The Incredible Hulk #342"No Human Fears"Cover Date: April, 1988 Writer: Peter David Artist: Todd McFarlane Featured Character(s): The Hulk Villain/s: The Leader, Half Life, & SHIELD (Agent Trump, Samuel J. LaRoquette, & Craig Saunders) Guest Star/s: Nick Fury, Betty Banner, Rick Jones, Clay Quartermain, Alan Quartermain (& family: June, Henrietta, & Jinete), & Fiona Webster Official Plot:Walking home from work at night, Fiona Webber is consumed with thoughts about how fed up she is with her job. Her thoughts are interrupted when she is confronted by Half-Life. Confusing Fiona for his dead wife, Half-Life embraces her, draining her energy until she is dead. Meanwhile, the Leader is recording a message to his foe the Hulk, explaining his master plan, boasting over how, by the time the Hulk hears it, his master plan will have already happened and the Hulk will be too late to stop it. He explains that he sent Half-Life to carry out a bunch of murders that will seem random but all play into his scheme. He soon begins working on new weapons in which to use to distract the Hulk while he procures a gamma bomb. He then outfitted Half-Life with a suit of armor with a mounted camera so that the undead creature is more durable in battle. He explains that during the process which transferred Rick Jone's gamma radiation to himself, restoring his power, it created a constant mental link between him and Rick Jones. Although Jones is immune to the Leader's mental powers, the Leader knows everything the Hulk and his allies have been up to. Now the next part of his plan can begin to unfold... In Kansas, the Hulk waits impatiently as Clay Quartermain's brother, Allan, hacks into SHIELD'S databases so they can learn the location of the gamma bombs that the government has constructed based on Bruce Banner's design. After some time hacking into the database, Allan discovers their location at a military base in Yuma, Arizona. At that moment, Half-Life attacks Allan's wife June and her screams bring out the Hulk. Although the Hulk is much stronger than Half-Life, the undead creature is more durable thanks to the titanium armor provided to him by the Leader. Half-Life then latches himself onto the Hulk and begins draining his energies. While in Washington, Agent Trump is still reeling after a disastrous press conference. He, Sam LaRoquette, and Craig Saunders are confronted by SHIELD director Nick Fury who demands to know what's going on. When Fury learns that LaRoquette and Saunders are identified as civilian consultants, Nick Fury fires them immediately, leaving the two to ponder their next move. Back in Kansas, the Hulk's battle with Half-Life rages on. Already weakened by Half-Life, the Hulk is helped by Rick Jones, who knocks the undead gamma-creature off the Hulk. Allan Quartermain then convinces the Hulk to resume the attack by playing into his pride. As the fight continues the Leader then uses his resources to track down and kidnap Betty Banner, who is still crying over the state of her marriage. Back at the battle, it's not going well as Half-Life has absorbed most of the Hulk's energies, leaving him emaciated. Half-Life has been restored to something resembling a living human, although his skin is still green. Thinking that he can resume his normal life, the Hulk calls doubt into it pointing out that eventually, Half-Life will need to steal more energy and that will be his problem. Not liking this, Half-Life rejects this life and releases all the energy he absorbed. restoring the Hulk back to normal, and leaving Half-Life nothing more than a lifeless skeleton. The following morning, Bruce Banner and his allies push on. After saying goodbye to Allan Quartermain and his family, they get back into their battle van, switch on its holographic disguise and take off. The Leader meanwhile is still boasting over his coming victory certain that his plans will go unimpeded and the Hulk will die. Finishing his recording he checks on his three test subjects: Sam LaRoquette, Craig Saunders and Betty Banner. When he does a lifeform scan, he is surprised when the computer detects four lifeforms. The Leader suddenly realises that Betty Banner is pregnant and is most amused by this most recent turn of events. Brodie's View: The Leader schemes, while The Hulk and Half Life fight...to the death. That's pretty much the story of this issue, as The Leader has let Half Life loose to try and kill The Hulk (which The Leader has no faith in Half Life actually doing, but the gamma zombie does come close). Meanwhile, The Leader records a message that The Hulk will hear later, but too late to actually help him (as we'll see in a few issues ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) ). We also see the end of SHIELD hunting The Hulk, as Nick Fury finally figures out what has been going on while he's been occupied with other things, and sends LaRoquette and Saunders to the curb. Luckily (or perhaps unluckily) for them, The Leader quickly swoops them up along with Betty Banner, and places the three of them into suspended animation. It's there, and at the end of the issue, where The Leader realizes that although there are three bodies in animation, that there are four life readings, which can only mean one thing (Double ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) ). Of course, The Leader quickly uses this to his advantage, as we'll see next issue, but as for our former Hulkbusters, they too will factor into The Leader's overall plan, but definitely not in the same way that Betty will. Of course, we'll see more of that in the next issue. In this issue, however, we get our big fight between The Hulk and Half Life, who instantly starts draining the Grey Goliath's energy. The Hulk tries to fight him off, but he can't use the same method he used to defeat Half Life in #334 (ripping him apart), as The Leader has fashioned his kinda sorta lackey with a titanium suit to cover his entire torso. However, by the time Half Life starts getting up close and personal with the Hulk, our hero is too weak to damage the armor. Finally, Half Life drains the Hulk to the point where he is emaciated and almost human looking, while Half Life looks almost as he must have looked before getting caught the gamma bomb explosion that made him the way he is. With his brawn now useless, the Hulk must use his brains to get himself out of this, and he does by worrying Half Life about what happens when the energy he drained from the Hulk wears off, which is too much for Half Life to bear. Half Life gives back his stolen energy in a giant burst that finally puts an end to the undead gamma being...permanently. It's kind of a bummer, as I liked Half Life as a villain, but his death definitely moves the Leader section of the plot into being the MAIN plot, which it will remain for the rest of this little run. Plus, he goes out in a pretty great way. The next issue will have The Hulk fighting Leader created robots, and Bruce Banner being reunited with his Baby Mama.....oh, and LaRoquette and Saunders go through some major changes. ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Feb 5, 2018 0:50:49 GMT -5
The Incredible Hulk #343"Beyond Redemption"Cover Date: May, 1988 Writer: Peter David Artist: Todd McFarlane Featured Character(s): The Hulk Villain/s: The Leader, Samuel J. LaRoquette/Rock, & Craig Saunders/Redeemer Guest Star/s: Betty Banner, Rick Jones, & Clay Quartermain Official Plot:Betty Banner is running through the wilderness after escaping the clutches of the Leader. She has three of his robots chasing after her. Her flight puts her right in the path of the stolen SHIELD battle van being driven by her husband Bruce, Rick Jones and Clay Quartermain. They slam on the breaks and Bruce jumps out to go to his wife. However, before he can get her, she is snatched by one of the robots. It's at this point that the sun begins to set and the Hulk's personality begins coming to the fore. Banner leaps at the robot, but is easily knocked aside while Rick and Clay scramble to mobilize the battle van's weapon systems. Before they can act, the three robots then take off with Betty in their clutches. Furious, Banner gets back into the van and angrily demands that Quartermain go after them. They follow the robots to a construction site of the Carter Estates. There they try to incapacitate the robots but the weapons have no effect on the robots. They respond by knocking down the battle van. It's at this point that the sun completely sets and Bruce Banner begins to transform into the Hulk. Meanwhile, in the Leader's laboratory, the gamma-spawned genius probes the minds of his other two prisoners. First, the mind of Craig Saunders, who was obsessed with explosives from a very young age. From popping caps as a child to creating explosives in high school, Saunders eventually went to work for the military as a demolitions expert. this career came to an abrupt end on the day that he tried to stop an airplane passenger from smuggling a bomb onto a plane in his briefcase. Shooting the man, Saunder accidentally set off the timer and with five seconds until the explosion he attempted to toss the explosive a safe distance away. Unfortunately, he tossed it into the path of a young mother and her child who were killed in the blast. Disgraced, Craig was discharged from the military and signed up with the Hulkbusters in an attempt to redeem himself. However, his attempts to stop the Hulk ended with failure and he was seriously injured as a result. Back at the Carter Estates, Clay and Rick Jones continue to try to stop the robots, but their weapons still have no effect. The Hulk, however, comes ripping out of the ground and managed to rip one of the robots apart limb from limb. The other robots react to this by tossing away Betty, injuring her in the process. This makes the Hulk more furious than ever and he leaps at the robots. Although he lashes into them, he is not strong enough to fight two at a time and they eventually overpower the Hulk and begin smashing him with the construction equipment laying around. Back at the Leader's lair, the Leader now probes the mind of Samu LaRoquette: In the poor neighborhood where he grew up, Sam had hours of fun playing in an old refrigerator with the door removed. As a young adult, he became an adventurer, enjoying deep sea diving, rock climbing, and exploring jungles. He eventually settled in as a college professor where he gave seminars about his adventures. It was here that he met Carolyn Parmenter, a student in one of his classes. The two eventually began a romance despite the warnings from the dean about inappropriate relationships. They had a wonderful relationship that ended when the dean discovered it. During the disciplinary hearing, Sam knocked out his professor and was fired from his job. His relationship with Carolyne ended shortly thereafter. LaRoquette then began working for Argo Industries where he was constantly at odds with his employers. He got fired from his job after he lost two of his men on an expedition and punched out his boss. He too joined up with the Hulkbusters for a chance of redemption. It seemed like things were getting better when the job reunited him with Carolyn, but she died shortly thereafter on their first training mission. Meanwhile, the Hulk recovers from the onslaught unleashed on him by the Leader's robots and resumes his fight back. Ultimately, he destroys them. With Betty now safe, the Hulk tells them they need to get going. When Rick questions why the Hulk is being callow toward his wife, the Hulk reminds him that it's Bruce Banner that has feelings for Betty, not him. However, Rick isn't buying this attitude, and the Hulk puts his gruffness into question when he tells Jones to cover Betty up. Back at the Leader's lab, his transformation of Samuel and Craig is complete. He has transformed LaRoquette into the stone covered Rock, and Craig as the armored warrior known as Redeemer. The Leader boasts about how his latest creations will assist him in stealing the gamma bombs that he seeks. Brodie's View: There's a husband and wife reunion (why do I get Paul Simon vibes here?) afoot, as we comes closer and closer to the end of our little run. This happens at the beginning of the issue, as Betty, being chased by Leader designed robots, literally runs out in front of the SHIELD battle van that Bruce, Rick, and Clay Quartermain have been traveling in, stopping them in their tracks. Of course, this is all part of The Leader's plan, as it buys him the time to create two new soldiers/weapons in the form of Rock (Samuel LaRoquette) and Redeemer (Craig Saunders), both of whom will play a big role in the next few issues. We also get LaRoquette and Saunder's backstories in brief interludes between our main story, which is The Hulk, Rick, and Clay fighting the previously mentioned robots. Before and after the fight, we get some interesting reactions from both Bruce Banner and The Hulk, as it relates to Betty. Her being in danger brings the Hulk out in Banner, and Banner out in the Hulk, which the latter tries to cover over with indifference near the end of the issue (which Rick cusses him out for). Other than what I mentioned above, most of the issue has The Hulk destroying robots, which is always fun, and it's pretty clear that the Grey Hulk takes a LOT more enjoyment out of destroying things than the older Hulks would have. Once again, the carnage is all brought to you in great detail by Todd McFarlane's pencils, who, as I stated a couple of issues ago, had reached that top level that would make him into one of the most successful comic artists of this period. Of course, it's also around this time that he would start doing the artist's chores on THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, which means that he would taper off, art-wise, as this little run comes to its conclusion. However, we do get one more 100% McFarlane issue, and that's the next one, which will deal with the unresolved issues between Betty Banner....and the Hulk. ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Feb 6, 2018 0:41:15 GMT -5
The Incredible Hulk #344"Pyrrhic Victory"Cover Date: June, 1988 Writer: Peter David Artist: Todd McFarlane Featured Character(s): The Hulk Villain/s: The Leader, Samuel J. LaRoquette/Rock, & Craig Saunders/Redeemer Guest Star/s: Betty Banner, Rick Jones, Clay Quartermain, the U.S Army (General Andrew J. Classon, Jenkins, & Lt. Wizbowski), Booly, & Gorsham Official Plot:The military base where gamma bombs are being stored in Yuma, Arizona is suddenly attacked by the Leader's minions Rock and Redeemer. While Redeemer forces himself through the front gate with guns blazing, Rock is sent over top of the base to rain down on them with his malleable rock form. Not far away, Bruce Banner cradles the sleeping body of his wife in his arms, finally reunited after so much time apart. However, he wonders about how much of a coincidence that she ended up crossing paths with them as they were searching for the gamma bombs. Elsewhere, Clay Quartermain and Rick Jones are seeing a movie so that Bruce and Betty can have some privacy in their stolen SHIELD battle van. They soon begin talking about their plans to inform the world about the gamma bombs that the United States have been stockpiling. Clay explains that the best way to reveal them to the world and pressure the government into disarming the weapons is by stealing one. Unknown to Clay, Rock and Redeemer are currently blasting their way through the soldiers at the Yuma military base to do the very same thing. Meanwhile, Bruce and Betty are talking about her running away and Bruce learns that she left him a note before she disappeared. She tells him the gist of it, saying that she couldn't live in a marriage with him that is filled with constant dangers and the Hulk. She explains that she is afraid of the fact that her husband cannot express his feelings unless it's through the Hulk. Bruce corrects her, telling her that it's not the fear of expressing emotion, but the fear of them getting out of control. Bruce tells her that he loves her, but that's not enough because the Hulk will always stand between them. Betty has decided that the only thing they can do now is to wait until sunset and confront the Hulk himself. When Bruce warns her that the Hulk is unpredictable, she tells him he always know. She then warns Bruce that if he chooses to walk away from this that she will be out of his life for good. Back at the battle van, Rick and Clay return to discover that Betty and Bruce are nowhere to be found. Noticing that it is almost sundown the two begin searching for the couple before Bruce can change into the Hulk. While at the Leader's secret hideout, the gamma-spawned genius gloats over his success of his creations, Rock and Redeemer. While the Leader continues his schemes, he is unaware that his actions are being observed by two individuals who are also planning an end to the Hulk. At that moment, sunset has completed itself and Bruce Banner transforms into the Hulk. Hearing that Rick and Clay are coming, Betty plays into the Hulk's pride to convince the creature into taking them someplace private so they can talk. While the couple are leaping away, Rock and Redeemer have finally broken into the holding facility where the gamma bombs are being kept. The Hulk takes Betty to a nearby mountain top to talk. Betty tells him that what she wants is for him, the Hulk, to accept her. Explaining that she has come to terms with the fact that there is a Hulk and will no longer fight it. The Hulk wants nothing to do with the conversation, and Betty pleads with him to let a little of Bruce Banner out to talk. When he is about to take off, she finally caves and admits that she is pregnant with Bruce Banner's child. She then begins to break down, but her words finally get through to the Hulk, who picks Betty up and cradles her in his arms. Brodie's View: We're one more step closer to both our big (kinda sorta) showdown between The Hulk and The Leader (which happens next issue), and, of course, the end of our run, as this will be the last full on Todd McFarlane drawn issue. The last two issues will feature Todd breakdowns only, with inkers and then another artist completing the work on those issues. I'm sure if he wasn't knee deep in drawing Spider-Man, he would have picked next issue to be his last, but this was probably at the point where he was getting overwhelmed, art-wise, so, he leaves on kind of more of a character issue (although, we do get a bit of action in between all of that, as Rock and Redeemer bust into the military base where SHIELD's gamma bombs are being stored, and needless to say, they end up wrecking shit in a major way, and stealing the bombs). However, maybe Todd did know what he was doing, as this issue is just a smidgen behind #340 as far as being the best issue of this run. I love "Calm Before the Storm" issues, where we get some much needed character stuff before all the boom/bang stuff happens, and this issue definitely doesn't disappoint. This takes place between the reunited Bruce and Betty (who hasn't told Bruce about the bun currently growing in her oven), and then later in the issue, between her and The Hulk. Of course, the second part is where the serious business takes place, as Betty has woken up to the fact that despite Bruce/Hulk's claims otherwise, they are indeed one (as most definitely was proven during the Byrne/Milgrom period), and appeals to the Hulk to let the Banner inside him out, emotionally, and let her in. Needless to say, the Hulk denies all of this, and tells her basically to go screw herself, which ends up making Betty finally admit that she's pregnant with their child. This ends up being just the thing to break through, as the Hulk instantly softens, and Betty finally gets the acceptance she was looking for. Once again, this all doesn't seem like much on the surface of things, especially when we've been dealing with The Leader and the deadly gamma bombs that both sides are looking for, but for a long time Hulk fan, this was everything. This was Peter David finally making the Betty Ross/Banner character more than she had been depicted as in the past; the long suffering Beauty (with Daddy issues) to the Hulk's Beast. Peter gives her strength here, and when she makes her big return 20 some issues from when this part of PAD's run ends, he makes her even stronger. Plus, it makes even the defiant Grey Hulk have to non verbally admit that he knows that he and Banner are one, as otherwise, why would he have feelings for the woman Puny Banner loved? Of course, this all leads to the next issue, where we'll see our heroes finally converge on the place where The Leader has taken the gamma bombs to, and there will be a big showdown, as one could expect. However, the ending (and what the Leader's end goal was from the get go) of the next issue will most certainly be shocking (as I'm sure it was for anyone who was reading at the time), and will shuffle things off in a most unexpected direction. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) GRADE: A
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Feb 7, 2018 1:30:20 GMT -5
The Incredible Hulk #345"Closing Curtain"Cover Date: July, 1988 Writer: Peter David Artist: Todd McFarlane (breakdowns), Jim Sanders/Chris Ivy (Finishes) Featured Character(s): The Hulk Villain/s: The Leader, Samuel J. LaRoquette/Rock, & Craig Saunders/Redeemer Guest Star/s: Betty Banner, Rick Jones, Clay Quartermain, the U.S Army (General Andrew J. Classon), SHIELD (Nick Fury & Agent Trump), Middletown Residents (Diane Davids, Burt Horowitz, Jess Harrison, Louis Lembert, Father Jason McCall, Vic, Mr. Fishbein, Mayor Joseph "Joe" Redwood, Charlie, Gloria, & Frost) Official Plot:The town of Middleton, Arizona is slowly dying now that the major industries have closed up shop. Father Jason McCall tries to encourage his flock to keep the faith. However, he is a man with secrets of his own, as after service he gets a phone call from the local vicar about accounting irregularities for his church. While lawyer Diane Davids is woken up to start her work day. She is suffering an utter lack of motivation as she is sick of representing the people of Middletown. In another part of town, Jess Harrison is ordered by her parents to stop seeing Louis Lambert, as they believe him to be nothing more than a hoodlum. As Jess storms out of the house, her mother asks her father if there is anything interesting in the newspaper. He tells her that there isn't remarking that it must have been a slow news day. Little do they know that the Leader has stopped the press regarding his theft of a gamma bomb from reaching the town, the first part of his attempts to black out the news from this small, unassuming American town. Meanwhile, on board a stolen SHIELD battle van, Rick Jones and Clay Quartermain are told that Betty is pregnant with Bruce Banner's baby. While Bruce and Rick are happy with the new, Clay can't help but notice that something about the news is bothering Betty. Their attention changes when Clay picks up a radio report about the theft of gamma bombs from the very facility they were planning on attacking themselves. Back in Middletown, an encyclopedia salesman named Burt Horowitz is passing through town. He stops to asks some men burying strange devices on the side of the road what they are working on. However, the men don't know what it is they are buying and assume they are time capsules. As Horowitz continues onward, he is surprised to find that his radio has cut out, as it was working a moment earlier. At that moment, Clay Quartermain uses his SHIELD credentials to get onto the facility, as his defection is not widly known. They are shown the damage done and Bruce is horrified by the sheer number of gamma bombs created by the military. They are then shown footage of Rock and Redeemer's rampage through the facility. Bruce instantly recognizes them as his former Hulkbusters, LaRoquette and Saunders. At that very moment, Rock and Redeemer are practicing the use of their new powers by testing them out on a Hulk robot. After the robot is trashed, they both ask the Leader when they will be fighting the real thing. The Leader tells them soon and promises to restore them back to normal after the Hulk has been killed. Unknown to Rock and Redeemer though is that the Leader is lying to them. By this time, Bruce and his allies are leaving the decimated military base wondering what their next move will be when suddenly the Leader's recording beings to play over the battle van's com-systems. He warns them that his plan is to detonate a gamma bomb in Middletown at 10 PM that evening. Not willing to accept this as a bluff, Bruce tells Clay to floor it. Back in Middletown, Jess tells Louis how her parents have forbidden her from seeing him. He tells her that they should just run off together instead and she agrees to go with him. Elsewhere, Burt Horowitz gets a door slammed in his face trying to sell encyclopedias, Diane Davids gets thrown in jail for contempt of court, while Father McCall prays for forgiveness for embezzling money from his church. Soon, Bruce Banner and his allies race into town. When they burst in on the mayor of town to warn him of the gamma bomb, the Leader's has already set into motion events so that anything they say is instantly discredited. They are then ordered to leave town. Along the way, the sun begins to set and Bruce turns into the Hulk. After carrying Rick, Clay and Betty to safety, the Hulk then returns to town to search for the gamma bomb. Clay attempts to warn people, but any attempt is dismissed as hysteria and a prank thanks to fake newscasts created by the Leader. Clay swallows his pride and decides that it might be time to call in SHIELD for help. The Hulk eventually ends up checking a local warehouse for the bomb. Instead, he finds a recording left by the Leader explaining his entire plan. Suddenly, the Hulk is attacked by Rock and Redeemer. However, despite their enhanced powers, the Hulk's brutality is too much for them and both men are incapacitated. The Leader then appears with the gamma bomb and appears to grow to massive size and overpowers the Hulk. Realizing that this is just the Leader's mental powers, the Hulk claps his hands as hard as he can, the resulting sonic boom deafens the Leader enough to break his concentration. Before the Hulk can fully recover, Rock beats him to the punch and impales him with a jagged piece of his namesake. Satisfied that he has defeated the Hulk, the Leader then teleports away with Rock and Redeemer, leaving 2 hours to go until the bomb detonates. As the Hulk inches toward the bomb to try and disarm it, outside of city limits SHIELD agents arrive on the scene with Nick Fury in tow. Before they can do anything, and before the Hulk can disarm, the Leader activates his buried forcefield generators that seals Middletown in an impenetrable dome. Then, the Leader detonates the bomb early, annihilating the entire town in a massive gamma blast, but keeping the devastation and radiation contained within the force field. Brodie's View: The title of this issue is "Closing Curtain," and a better title couldn't be given, as this pretty much closes the door (with a resounding SLAM) on many of the storylines that have been building since Peter David took on the writing chores on the book, while also leaving a few doors open for future stories. Throughout this issue, we see The Leader tipping over the dominoes that he had been setting up since he was "reborn" in #332/3, and setting up a giant trap for The Hulk and his friends, as well as the small town of Middletown. Of course, his plans for the Hulk involve death, but his plans for the town (well, the survivors of what he planned to do) involved, in many ways, a new beginning. Now this could have been accomplished without getting to know the people of Middletown, but David makes this tragedy even more poignant by letting us meet some of these people, their hopes, fears, and dreams. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking, as one of the gamma bombs Rock and Redeemer stole last issue has been hidden somewhere in Middletown, and it's up to Banner/The Hulk, Rick Jones, Betty Banner, and Clay Quartermain to find that bomb before The Leader detonates it and vaporizes Middletown. However, as I'm sure The Leader was expecting, The Hulk takes his allies way outside the city limits of Middletown, which saves them from what occurs at the end of the issue (I know I'm giving away the ending, but the title alone should give away what happens). The Hulk finally finds the bomb, only to be attacked by Rock and Redeemer (the former Hulkbusters, who have been chomping at the bit to take out the Grey Goliath). However, despite all their training, The Hulk ends up messing The Leader's two lackeys up pretty bad, with Redeemer getting killed accidentally at the rocky "Hands" of Mr. LaRoquette. The Hulk then rips one of Rock's "arms" off, and is about to beat Rock to death (perhaps), when he is distracted by the illusion of Jiffy Pop head himself, which distracts Hulk long enough to be badly wounded by a Hail Mary play by the equally wounded Rock. The Leader then teleports Rock away, leaving the badly bleeding Hulk to deal with the bomb (which seemingly has two hours before detonation). However, it's a trick, as The Leader suddenly puts a force field around the town (which saves Betty, Rick, Clay, and SHIELD (led by Nick Fury and Agent Trump, who arrive just before the shit hits the fan)), and detonates the bomb prematurely, vaporizes both The Hulk and Middletown. ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) Wow. Talk about an unexpected turn. Needless to say, this is all continued in the next issue, which will be the last issue of this run ![:(](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/sad.png) . This issue will serve as kind of an epilogue to David's run so far, and will be kind of a send off for our supporting cast (some of them will return later). As for this issue, I will say that the story David crafted here was pretty awesome, delivering everything it set up. I would say that this issue would normally warrant an A, but I'm going to knock the grade down to A- due to the fact that we only get a partially drawn McFarlane issue, as he merely did the breakdowns for this one (and does even less for the next issue), and the inkers that finish the job only do so well with the finishes, which, like I said, kind of keeps this issue from being what it could have been. It's only a minor complaint, though, and compared to next issue's art, it looks like SPAWN era McFarlane. GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Feb 8, 2018 2:48:29 GMT -5
The Incredible Hulk #346"Whys and Wherefores"Cover Date: August, 1988 Writer: Peter David Artist: Todd McFarlane (breakdowns)/Erik Larsen (Finishes) Featured Character(s): Betty Banner, Rick Jones, & Clay Quartermain Villain/s: The Leader Guest Star/s: Nick Fury, Middletown Residents (Diane Davids, Burt Horowitz, Jess Harrison, Louis Lembert, Father Jason McCall), Alan Quartermain (& Family: Janice, Henrietta, & Jinete), General Mark Hamilton, J. Jonah Jameson, Peter Parker, Mary Jane Parker, & SHIELD Official Plot:Clay Quartermain, Rick Jones and Betty Banner find themselves before the a United States Senate Committee following the explosion of a gamma bomb in Middletown, Arizona. Clay is the first one to stand before the committee and he explains how he went AWOL from SHIELD in order to locate and destroy the gamma bombs that he learned were created by the United States government. Accompanying him on this mission where Rick Jones and Bruce Banner, the latter also known as the Hulk and is also believed to have died. He explains that is why he blew up Gamma Base. When the committee asks if he was under orders from Nick Fury himself, his lawyer tells them that he cannot disclose that information thanks to a non-disclosure agreement. This causes Clay to think back to a moment prior to the destruction of Gamma Base where he had the Hulk contained. The Hulk berated Quartermain on his orders to kill the Hulk and Banner, pointing out that there is nothing different about Quartermain and the Hulk. He thinks about how he called Nick Fury for advice after the fact. Fury wanted to know nothing about what Clay was planning but told him that Quartermain should do exactly what he would do. With his recollection over, Clay decides to answer the question anyway and tells the committee that Fury did not know his plans. In another room, Rick and Betty Banner are waiting for their turn to stand before the committee. Rick asks Betty how she is feeling since she has just recently revealed that she was pregnant. Betty tearfully tells Rick that she is thinking of aborting the baby. Not knowing what to say, Rick hugs Betty while she cries. Back inside the committee meeting, the councilmen ask Clay why he decided to help Banner. Quartermain explains that Banner helped him regain his humanity, look beyond "acceptable losses" and see the human impact of his activities as an agent of SHIELD. He said that in helping out Bruce Banner he began to remember whom he is supposed to be fighting for. As the outside world listens in via nationwide broadcast, Clay explains that he was the horror created by one gamma bomb when it created the Hulk, he did not want to see that horror get repeated. The committe ask Clay if he was considering entering politics as what he said sounded very much like a campaign speech. While Quartermain is bashful at this idea, the public begins calling for Clay Quartermain to run for President of the United States. Meanwhile, in the ruins of Middletown, a hazmat crew is going through the rubble. They are shocked when they see a man pull himself out of the rubble. It is the town's priest, Father Jason McCall, who is now green skinned and glowing with gamma radiation. While in New York City, the senate committee is being watched closely by J. Jonah Jameson and the staff of the Daily Bugle. When talk about Clay Quartermain running for President begin making the news rotation, Bugle photographer Peter Parker questions who would vote for him. At that very moment, an on-the-street interview with Peter's wife Mary Jane is conducted and gives her support for Quartermain. The committee then calls upon Betty Banner to testify before them. They first ask Betty about her relationship with Bruce Banner. She explains that she fell in love with him when he was first hired to develop the gamma bomb for the military. Although she had left him many times over the years she found herself drawn back to him because she did not want the life that her father wanted for her: an arranged marriage with a military man and having children and becoming a frumpy housewife. She explains that she and the Hulk had recently come to an understanding about her relationship with Bruce. However, this was all cut short when the Hulk was caught in the gamma bomb explosion in Middletown. Betty recalls how when the blast went off the force field around the city contained the blast as well as the gamma radiation. She cursed herself and Clay and Rick for trying to try and stop the Leader on their own instead of going immediately to SHIELD for help. When they finally got past the barrier and began exploring the ruins of the town, Betty recalls how they came across a man with green skin who survived the blast. When Betty begins to break down in tears, they call a recess. News coming out of Middletown is that most of the population were killed however military officials have stated that there were a number of survivors. However, he assures the public that there will be no new Hulks created from the blast and that those who did survive will likely die of radiation poisoning. Rick, Betty, and Clay watch this news report and wonder what will happen next. They are then joined by Nick Fury who asks to speak to Clay in private. Fury explains to Clay that his popularity is so high that it would be political suicide for anyone who might attempt to persecute him. Happy to hear that he won't be punished for what happened, Clay asks what will happen to him next. Fury grabs Quartermain by the ear and tells Fury that he is going to keep him where he can maintain a close watch. Next, Rick Jones is called to the stand to testify and after cracking wise, he tells the senators that this committee doesn't frighten him given that battles with aliens and robots and being trapped in the Negative Zone are the norm for him. Rick recounts how his carelessness on the day of the gamma bomb test was responsible for Bruce Banner getting caught in the blast and being turned into the Hulk. Rick then goes on to explain that he has remained by the Hulk's side because of the guilt he felt for cursing Bruce to this fate. Rick remained by his side until the Hulk's apparent death in Middletown and that there is nothing left of him. By this time, Betty is at the hospital waiting to get her abortion. Hearing Rick's words from the radio causes her to change her mind and she decides to keep her baby. Rick continues his testimony, explaining that they searched for the Hulk in the remains of Middletown. In the center of town, they found what looked to be the ashes of the Hulk's atomized body. No sooner had they found it was it blown away in the winds. After he is finished his testimony, Rick goes looking for Betty after he heard that she went to the hospital. Finding her, he is relieved to hear that she didn't go through with her abortion. Betty decided that this child was the only part of Bruce Banner that is left in the world. The committee finishes their investigation and decrees that following what reporters are calling "Gammagate" that all gamma bombs created by the US government will be destroyed. Meanwhile, the survivors of Middletown are being shipped out of town, five all told. The Leader uses his mental powers to subdue the military drivers of the truck taking the survivors out. The Leader gloats over how he succeeded in his plans to create a new race of gamma-irradiated beings and how they will help him foster his new world order. Brodie's View: Well, we've come to the end of this little run, as this is the last issue that Todd McFarlane has any kind of involvement with, as far as the Hulk is related (although, we'd get a Todd Hulk in a future issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN). Peter David, of course, would continue on for the next decade, and would do more great stuff with our Grey/Green hero. However, before the next era of David's HULK can start (and it would in the next issue, which would find The Hulk, somehow alive after being vaporized last issue, and hiding in Vegas, working as a strong arm guy (yes, the Joe/Mr. Fixit era) for a casino owner with somewhat of a heart of gold), we have to tie up some loose ends from the story so far (while starting some new ones). That is the purpose of this issue, which serves as an epilogue to the whole "Leader" story that had been building since #331. This happens in the form of a court trial, as Betty Banner, Rick Jones, and Clay Quartermain are forced to take the stand to give their testimony on what exactly happened in Middletown, or at least as much as they really can tell. In between, we have the drama of Betty trying to decide whether or not to keep the baby that is growing inside her, which she finally decides to keep (of course, she would later lose it due to an editorial decision made by then EIC Bob Harris, who would write that particular issue (Peter David refused to write it, as he didn't agree with the decision)), and the humor of Clay deciding to use this tragedy for political gain, only to be shut down instantly by SHIELD head man, Nick Fury. This would mark the end of Betty, Rick, and Clay as characters in the HULK book for a while (well, Clay permanently, but the first two would return 25 or so issues from here), and, as I said, pretty much the closing of the door for a lot of the story threads David had been creating involving those three, although, as I said above, would continue later as far as Rick and Betty were concerned. Finally, we get The Leader, who shows up at the end, and steals a military truck containing the few survivors of Middletown (who have been irradiated with gamma energy), as the Adams and Eves for the new society he plans to create. It would be almost 20 issues before we'd see The Leader and the gamma people again, and when we did, it wouldn't be in the roles one would expect from the end of this issue. Anyways, that's the end of this run, and this was a solid ending, at least story-wise. Art-wise, it's a very different story, as we only get the barest hints of Todd's artwork. Unfortunately, the artist that finishes Todd's breakdowns is Erik Larsen, whose artwork looks like a half talented 10 year old's rendition of McFarlane's artwork (sorry...I know there's probably some SAVAGE DRAGON/Erik Larsen fans that are shaking with rage with my words, but I've never been a fan. I've always found his artwork to be ugly and amateurish). Larsen's artwork keeps this issue from being what it could be, as, like I said, the story part of it is pretty damn good. Ah well....at least he wouldn't stick around as the regular artist. ![:(](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/sad.png) GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Feb 17, 2018 3:11:35 GMT -5
Don't worry, folks. I'm not done with this yet. I'm moving again next week, and I didn't want to have to have to take a break in the middle of a run of reviews during it. But soon.... ![](https://i0.wp.com/shortboxed.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/avengers_forever_avengers.png)
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 7, 2018 0:05:35 GMT -5
Okay, so, we've started to settle in the new place, but AVENGERS FOREVER is still buried in a box, so, that's going to have to be put off until the next run of reviews. However, I wound up picking up a trade for cheap today, and THAT is going to be the next run I'll be reviewing. In fact, the first part should be popping up in about a half an hour. A little hint.... ![](https://www.screengeek.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/maximum-carnage-640x384.jpg)
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 7, 2018 0:45:38 GMT -5
Spider-Man Unlimited #1"Carnage Rising!"Cover Date: May, 1993 Writer: Tom DeFalco Artist: Ron Lim Featured Character(s): Spider-Man Villain/s: Carnage, Shriek, & The Doppleganger Guest Star/s: Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Flash Thompson, Felicia Hardy, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Aunt May, "Richard Parker," "Mary Parker," Molten Man, Liz Osborne, Norman Osborne Jr., Kate Cushing, Dr. Pournella, Dr. Landis (dies), Office Resnick (dies), and a bunch of anonymous doctors and officers who get killed. Official Plot:In Ravencroft Asylum, Cletus Kasady is being brought in by Officer Resnick and other guards to Dr. Pournella and Dr. Landis. Kasady promises that when he escapes, he will kill Resnick quickly and with minimal agony. Dr. Landis believes that Kasady simply dressed up in some gaudy red costume while calling himself Carnage. Dr. Pournella reveals that they are conducting tests on Kasady because an unexplained anomaly keeps registering in his blood, and when she puts a needle in Kasady's arm, the Carnage symbiote reawakens and kills the guards and Dr. Landis. Carnage reveals that he lied to Resnick about the minimal agony. He then tells Dr. Pournella that he will celebrate his newfound freedom by slaying everyone in Ravencroft. Meanwhile, Peter, Flash, Felicia, Mary Jane, JJ, Robbie, Aunt May, Peter's "parents," Liz, Normie, and Mark are all attending the funeral of Harry Osborn. Felicia is wondering about the truth behind Harry's "death." Liz tells Peter that Harry's happiest times were when the two were roommates back in college. Mary Jane mentions that Normie keeps glaring at them. Peter reflects on how Harry saved his life, and that his friends, foes, and family all manage to become jumbled together somehow. Back at Ravencroft, while Carnage is busy with his murdering, he hears someone cheering him on, and frees the criminal known as Shriek in order to increase his ratio of kills per time. Back with Peter and MJ, Peter is trying to get her to quit smoking so he won't have to attend her funeral as well, and to make it equal, he promises her to stop being Spider-Man for a week or two. Across town somewhere, Carnage is telling Shriek how he shared a jell cell with Eddie Brock, and that when the Venom symbiote freed him, a part of it was left behind for Kasady to become Carnage. Spider-Man then used sonics on both symbiotes and Kasady arrived at Ravencroft. He then thinks he sees Spider-Man, but it turns out to be the Doppelganger who teamed up with Demogoblin in the Spirits of Venom crossover. Shriek reveals her sonic power to protect "Dopple," so he can join their twisted family. Peter hears that Kasady escaped Ravencroft and goes after him, thinking about all his old foes will never die off and keep coming back. Instead, he runs into Shriek and his Doppelganger. Mary Jane also hears on the television that Carnage escaped, and Shriek reveals both her powers and the fact that she and Carnage are an item to Spider-Man. Spider-Man quickly takes out Shriek, but the Doppelganger jams him in the ribs and off the building they were fighting on. The Doppelganger swings away with Shriek as Spider-Man collapses. Finally, at the Daily Bugle, Karen Crushing alerts Jonah that Carnage is loose. As he goes into his office to collect his passport and leave, he sees Kasady already in there and waiting for him to help him go on a hunt for Venom. Brodie's View: One of the most infamous mega crossovers of the 1990's, at least where it relates to the Spider-Man side of things, begins here, MAXIMUM (F'N) CARNAGE! Like many of the crossover events that would follow, the first part of this story begins not in an issue of the regular Spidey books we'll be dealing with throughout this event, but rather in a newly launched "anthology" book, SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED. The X-Men books and other various crossover titles would also do this throughout the 90's, titling these types of issues "Alpha's," "Omegas," and various other things. Let's call them what they are, though....bookends (or shameless attempts by Marvel to bilk more money out of their readers, whichever you prefer). NOTE: There were two other stories that were in this issue, but since they are not included in the MAXIMUM CARNAGE trade, I won't be covering them. No, this story will definitely be enough, as not only would it be a pretty successful crossover event (as Spidey was still riding high off of the McFarlane stuff, in addition to anything Venom/Carnage related being SUPER popular during this period), but it would also spawn an equally successful video game a couple of years later. The story starts with Carnage (AKA serial killer Cletus Kasady) breaking free during an attempted medical check, and begins slaughtering everyone in Ravencroft Asylum (where he had been held since the events of his first appearance--ASM #361-3). Along the way, he picks up an equally insane villainess named Shriek, who has the ability to make sonic blasts, and one of the Doppleganger (named as such) creatures created during the INFINITY WAR storyline, a mutated/near mindless copy of Spider-Man, but with 6 arms. Carnage would end up picking up a few more allies during this whole storyline, and the group of psychos and monsters would end up creating....well, Maximum Carnage throughout New York, all while trying to take out Carnage's two main nemesis-es, Spider-Man and Venom. Needless to say, a group of rag tag heroes (led by Spidey) will be assembled to try and stop them, but we won't see that starting to happen until the next part. Meanwhile, on the Spider-Man end of things, we see a lot of emotional fall out from Spidey's last major battle, against his former friend Harry Osborne, who went insane and donned the costume/identity his father once wore/assumed, that of the Green Goblin. However, things didn't go so well for Harry, who ended up dying at the end of the battle. Harry's funeral is where we end up picking things up on Spidey's/Peter's side, as Peter and Mary Jane try to pick of the pieces from the insanity that had just occurred. We see various figures from Peter's life at the funeral, all trying to figure out how this could have happened, with only Peter and MJ knowing the truth. Another interesting side plot happening here is that somehow Peter's parents, Richard and Mary Parker, are somehow alive, and make an appearance comforting their "son." Of course, there's some nastiness that is attached to all of this, but we only get hints of this during this particular storyline, so, I won't go into too much detail on that, other than just mentioning it when it needs mentioned. We see a bit of marital strife between Peter and MJ, who wants her husband to take a break from being Spider-Man, if only for the sake of his sanity. Peter agrees to this, but after hearing what happened at Ravencroft, it's a agreement that doesn't last very long. Peter suits up, and while looking for Carnage (who we find out at the end of this issue, has gone once more after Venom/Eddie Brock's former boss, J. Jonah Jameson), ends up encountering Shriek and Doppleganger instead. Spidey ends up taking out Shriek, but her "pet" ends up busting up our hero's ribs, leaving him injured as well as outnumbered for all of this. ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) Of course, this will start to change in the next part, as Spidey will end up getting a few allies on his side....and he'll need them, as Carnage's group will display no mercy. Back to this story, though, this was a solid first part, with good writing, as always, from Tom DeFalco. My only slight complaint for this issue would be the artwork, as I've never been that thrilled with Ron Lim's stuff. His hero work is good, but whenever he has to draw regular people.... ![(puke)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/sick.png) . It's a minor complaint, though, as while Lim's work isn't as great as some of the past Spidey artists, he's definitely better than the Erik Larsens of the world, so, that's something I guess. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) GRADE: B+
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,794
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Mar 7, 2018 1:54:42 GMT -5
You are a brave man Brodie sir. I can not read any Spidey from after 88 or so. I know there has been good stuff from then. But the taint of how bad the bad was is too much.
I await the day you cover Faust or Maximortal.
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 8, 2018 1:20:03 GMT -5
Web of Spider-Man #101"Darklight"Cover Date: June, 1993 Writer: Terry Kavanagh Artist: Alex Saviuk Featured Character(s): Spider-Man Villain/s: Carnage, Shriek, Demogoblin, & The Doppleganger Guest Star/s: Mary Jane Watson-Parker, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Liz Osborne, Norman Osborne Jr., Venom, & Cloak and Dagger Official Plot:Spider-Man has been kicked off a roof into an alley, and a gang of ruffians have arrived to make sure he never leaves. Before they can even touch Spider-Man, however, Cloak and Dagger arrive to protect the web-slinger. After quickly dispatching the ruffians, the pair teleport themselves and Spider-Man to the Holy Ghost Church. Meanwhile, the Doppelganger has dropped Shriek onto a building and is going back to kill Spider-Man. Carnage has just finished his business at the Daily Bugle, and is off to meet his compatriots at a rendezvous point. Jameson, recently left alive by Carnage, tells Robbie of the scoop he's just been handed. At the Holy Ghost Church, Cloak and Dagger tend to Spider-Man's injuries. Shortly after they finish, the Doppelganger crashes through a window and attacks the trio. Before he can do any real damage, though, Shriek arrives and brings part of the church down upon the three heroes, or so she believes. Moments later, Spider-Man, Cloak, and Dagger swing in. Shriek reveals that she has become what she is due to Cloak and Dagger, and decides to let the Doppelganger take care of Spider-Man. Before anyone can make any real head-way in the battle, Carnage arrives. The tide of battle quickly turns in favor of the three villains, and ends when Dagger is killed by Shriek. As the villains make a retreat, they are watched by a sinister figure. In San Francisco, two thugs are quickly dispatched by Venom, who sees on a television that Carnage is loose in New York, and declares that the Big Apple needs him now. Brodie's View: The cover for this one is pretty deceptive, as not only does Carnage finding J. Jonah Jameson at the end of Part One ends up being nothing more than our symbiotic psycho leaving some sort of message for JJJ, but Spider-Man has no involvement with this particular part of the story....well, other than playing into Jameson's long lasting hatred of the wall crawler. No, most of this story is the six person fight between Spidey/Cloak/Dagger vs. Carnage/Shriek/Doppleganger, with future allies on both sides of things being teased (Demogoblin, who I'll get into more in the next review, for the Carnage side; Venom for Spider-Man's) throughout the issue. The two groups fight in a church (where C& D find and rescue a wounded Spidey), with Carnage joining the fight in mid stream, and turning the odds in the bad guy's favor. In fact, Shriek seemingly kills Dagger, and looks to kill the other two, before Carnage loses his shit (as he wants Spider-Man all to himself) and whisks Team Red away. The issue ends with the tease of Venom joining the fun (which is totally redone at the beginning of the next issue). This one was okay, but very much of a let down from last issue's quality. The art, while not great, was mostly serviceable, but the writing, on the other hand, was pretty bleugh. I get that Cloak and Dagger have always been (well, up to that point) kind of melodramatic characters, but Terry Kavanagh amps the melodramatic dialogue up to 11, and has most of the characters speaking in the same manner. Once again, quite a drop from DeFalco's work last issue. However, I will give it some points for having the shocking moment of Dagger's supposed death, which will very much make Cloak a solid team player (and amped for vengeance) for Team Spidey. As I stated earlier, in the next issue, we will very much see more of these two teams being formed, with members joining, at least in a way, on both sides. We also see relationship strife between both team leaders and their respective "main squeezes (well, at least in one sense)." GRADE: C+
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,794
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Mar 8, 2018 9:43:41 GMT -5
Cloak and Dagger are a great duo. Too bad they never had a series that lasted more than a few years.
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 8, 2018 23:32:10 GMT -5
Cloak and Dagger are a great duo. Too bad they never had a series that lasted more than a few years. I've always liked C&D, even with the super melodramatic way they were mostly written in the 80's/90's. I remember reading some of their stories in the short lived STRANGE TALES relaunch they did in the mid/late 80's (along with, of course, Dr. Strange and Power Pack ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) ).
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,794
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Mar 8, 2018 23:43:23 GMT -5
Cloak and Dagger are a great duo. Too bad they never had a series that lasted more than a few years. I've always liked C&D, even with the super melodramatic way they were mostly written in the 80's/90's. I remember reading some of their stories in the short lived STRANGE TALES relaunch they did in the mid/late 80's (along with, of course, Dr. Strange and Power Pack ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) ). Strange Tales vol 2 was the best C&D series they had. It was what 12 pages of Dr Strange and 12 of C&D each month. Good artist and writers on the series. And lasted IIRC 10 or 12 issues.
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 9, 2018 1:59:27 GMT -5
Amazing Spider-Man #378 "Demons on Broadway" Cover Date: June, 1993 Writer: David Michelline Artist: Mark Bagley Featured Character(s): Spider-Man Villain/s: Carnage, Shriek, Demogoblin, & The Doppleganger Guest Star/s: Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Venom, & Cloak (plus various people that are killed by our villains) Official Plot:Part 3 of "Maximum Carnage" - Eddie Brock arrives at Laguardia Airport. He sees a newspaper concerning a headline involving Carnage. He speaks aloud concerning his intention to kill Carnage, and transforms into Venom. When Airport security clumsily attempts to apprehend him, he flees. While he approaches the city, Venom laments how he feels responsible for Carnage, as his symbiote created him. Meanwhile, Cloak and Spider-Man are nursing their wounds in the Holy Ghost Church. Cloak is beside himself with grief from losing Dagger to a surprise assault by Shriek. He expresses grief and then rage, swearing to make Shriek pay. Spider-Man then leaves to pursue leads concerning Carnage. Spider-Man, while searching, considers the fact that Carnage has teamed up with the Doppleganger and Shriek and how death and life work in a balance. Halfway across the city, Carnage confronts Shriek and Doppleganger about their going after Spider-Man without him. Carnage effectively puts Shriek in her place, indicating that Spider-Man is his. "Every bone and sinew, every drop of blood or bile...MINE!" Believing her to be in danger from the murdering symbiote, Doppleganger attacks Carnage. Using a piece of the alien symbiote, Carnage easily knocks Doppleganger away. Carnage then informs Shriek that this "band" has one leader - him. In psychopathic fashion, Carnage and Shriek make up, they agree to go out and celebrate their "make-up" by slaughtering a few "unsuspectin geeks". In Central Park, Carnage rips the roof off a couple's car, and then viciously murders both. Shriek then erradicates the vehicle and Doppleganger breaks the neck of a police officer who got the drop on Shriek. Spider-Man returns home to an angry wife. Mary Jane is agitated that Spider-man has been unable to prevent physical injury to himself (he has a broken rib). After a brief rest, Spider-Man resumes his search for Carnage. He comes across a patrolling Demogoblin and though he attempts to stay undetected, Demogoblin spots him in a window's reflection. A short fight ensues, and Spidey is struck by one of Demogoblin's black pumpkin bombs. The bomb discharges a liquid shadow, which clings to Spider-Man and causes him to feel immense cold and feel senses of hopelessness and loss. Demogoblin flaunts his success while Venom swings through the city looking for Carnage, Venom is aware of the altercation between Spider-Man and Demogoblin, but he recieves information on Carnage's location and opts to pursue him instead. As Demogoblin prepares to kill Spider-Man, a preacher approached the villian from behind. As Demogoblin turns his murderous intentions on the preacher, Spider-Man forces himself out of his despair and delivers a devastating blow to the villian. As Spidey checks on the preacher, Demogoblin throws another pumpkin bomb, Spidey successfully dodges the explosion, but his actions inflame his broken rib, luckily Demogoblin flees. Spider-Man feeling immense pain, decides to cut his losses and go home. Venom arrives at Central Park and engages Carnage, Shriek, and Doppleganger. That evening, while Peter recovers, he and Mary Jane are watching the news coverage of Carnage's mayhem and there's a knock at the door. MJ answers it to find a severly injured Venom, barely conscious. Brodie's View: Things definitely pick back up in the third part of MAXIMUM CARNAGE, as we get kick ass-ness on both the writing (David Michelline) and art (Mark Bagley) side of things. It's kind of sad that WEB OF SPIDER-MAN became kind of the crap book after the first few years of its existence (as it was the book that replaced the beloved MARVEL TEAM UP), as shown by the last issue, but at least we're back to the main book for this chapter, so, it's all good in the hood, Baby. After getting a brief introduction, which basically replays (but much better) the introduction of Venom (the REAL Venom, Eddie Brock) to this storyline, we get a flashback of Spider-Man and Cloak recovering from their deadly (well, at least seemingly for Dagger, Cloak's partner) battle in the last chapter. Cloak is nearly insane with rage, and vows vengeance for what happened to his other half, which definitely brings up a major conflict for Spidey that will occur again and again in this storyline; what is the line between being a hero and being a villain, and where does anti heroes like Venom or the other EXTREME 90's heroes fit on that line? Is there even a line? And make no mistake about it, at this point in the game, Venom has very much transitioned into being an Anti Hero, despite the scars still felt from Peter and MJ from Eddie's actions when he was much more on the Black Hat side of things. We also see some "relationship drama," as both Spidey and Carnage must deal with their respective "women." Spidey with MJ wanting her husband to give up being Spider-Man for a time, and Carnage wanting Shriek to know who the Alpha Dog is. The latter gets settled better than the former, as Mary Jane leaves the conversation in tears, knowing her protests are futile; her husband WILL do the right thing, no matter what the cost to them. This kicks the action parts of our issue into....well, action, as Spider-Man, looking for Carnage and the crew, ends up encountering the Demogoblin (a long lasting result of the INFERNO crossover from a few years ago, as the then Hobgoblin made a deal with N'Astirh (one of the major Big Bads behind that storyline) to grant him demonic powers, which briefly led to a demon possessed Hobgoblin. However, the demonic Goblin and the human Goblin soon separated, with the Demonic Goblin, or the Demogoblin, became its own entity of a psychotic religious zealot of sorts), who ends up almost taking the already wounded web slinger to the limit. On the other end of things, Venom, finding Carnage's location (Team Carnage are killing people in Central Par, goes to fight him, only to be triple teamed by Carnage and his crew (Shriek and Doppleganger). The issue ends with a beaten and battered Eddie Brock showing up on the doorstep of Peter and MJ, and passing out before too much can be said. ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) Well, of course this leads to more moral decisions from Spidey, as he must decide whether or not to team up with one his most dangerous enemies against an even more dangerous one. And of course, we'll also start to see more allies forming around Spider-Man after this decision is made, but on the other end of things, Carnage ends up gaining another team member as well (you can pretty much guess who by reading the above), and more battles kick off between the two sides. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) GRADE: B+
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