This column has always been there for lesser known, forgotten, or frequently recharacterized superheroes from various ages. Today, though, I’ll be discussing Amadeus Cho, former Mastermind Excello and future Hulk.
Thing is, he’s not really misplaced, but he’s also probably something of a mystery to a lot of potential readers. As such, here goes…
Continue reading Slightly Misplaced Comic Book Heroes Case File #33: Amadeus Cho
It’s hard to make a corporately-owned superhero intellectual property something distinct. The temptation is to generally keep the character in the form fans recognize him or her in the most and try to give him or her some exciting adventures to please the fans. In fact, the more high profile the character, the less editorial is going to allow a certain level of meddling. Second and third stringers can be used for that sort of thing.
That’s sort of what makes the Hulk a unique character. Though often depicted as just a big, stupid brute who doesn’t understand how to use personal pronouns, the Hulk has often been used as a more experimental character, someone whose intelligence and setting can fluctuate depending on the story’s needs. The Hulk is high profile enough for Marvel to always have a Hulk book of some kind in publication, but not enough for them to really care as much about what he’s doing as they are, say, Spider-Man. That’s led to some interesting Hulk runs and experiments in the character. Writer Peter David played with the idea Bruce Banner had Multiple Personality Disorder and had different Hulks appearing at different times until Doc Samson figured out how to merge them into a composite being that was always the Hulk. Paul Jenkins developed this concept further, and had a run complicated by Bruce contracting Lou Gehrig’s disease and needing to find some sort of cure before he had to become the Hulk permanently. Even Bruce Jones, a writer whose comics I don’t much care for, initially had an interesting run where Banner was on the run from some conspiracy that seemed supervast and complex until Jones wrapped the whole thing up in two issues by saying it was just the Leader the whole time, which ended something cool in a lame manner.
And then there’s the Planet Hulk storyline, which may have been one of the most ambitious Hulk storylines ever done.
I’m back baby! With a completely dated look at all things Secret Wars. In this part we’ll examine Secret Wars #2, and two “Last Days” issues: Captain America And The Mighty Avengers #8 and Magneto #18.
Also, if you are like me and haven’t read all of Johnathon Hickman’s Avengers run leading up to Secret Wars, be sure to take Tom’s Road To Secret Wars course at gabbinggeekuniversity.com. The reading materials are online here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six and Part Seven.
And that course is a prerequisite to the other parts of this series: Part One
Continue reading Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Secret Wars Part Two
Continuing the recap on the run-up to Marvel’s new Secret Wars, as seen in Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers/New Avengers runs, if at least for the sake of Jimmy Impossible.
As ever, SPOILERS behind the cut.
Continuing the plot recap of Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers/New Avengers runs leading up to the new Secret Wars, if for no other reason than to please Jimmy.
As before, SPOILERS behind the cut.
This week’s recap of Jonathan Hickman’s dual Avengers runs leading up to the new Secret Wars will cover the Infinity crossover, which brought Thanos into the story in a way that his creator Jim Starlin has probably already retconned as out-of-character behavior, possible the work of a clone. Because that’s what he does any time anyone other than he uses Thanos in a story.
This entry will probably be one of the longest and densest since it covers the Infinity storyline. You’ve been warned. As always, SPOILERS behind the cut.
For those who plan to read the new Secret Wars but managed to miss the preliminary work in the storyline, here’s part three of the summary.
SPOILERS below the cut.
Last week I covered the opening steps on the path to Marvel’s upcoming Secret Wars. Now, let’s get on to part two.
As before, SPOILERS below the cut.
Marvel’s big Secret Wars mega-storyarc is coming soon, and if you’ve been following Jimmy Impossible’s posts, you’ve probably gotten a lot of information on what worlds and zones are going to exist and a few of the more recent steps leading to the start of this epic storyline. But Jimmy hasn’t been reading Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers/New Avengers work from the beginning. I have. Jimmy actually goes out sometimes.
Secret Wars looks to be an epic story in the making, and Hickman’s been setting this thing up for the past couple years. People who skipped those steps and jump right into Secret Wars might feel a little lost since they missed the preliminaries.
So, as a public service, here’s what you need to know from the build-up to Secret Wars. SPOILERS behind the cut.
Sharing my (mostly spoiler free) thoughts on a couple of this weeks new comic releases because if I don’t make my quota for posts for the week I’m contractually obligated to wash Watson’s car over the weekend.
Continue reading The Beyonders Back And There’s Gonna Be Trouble (Hey-la, Hey-la, Beyonders Back)
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