About the New Hulk Webcomic

Starting on Monday May 4, 2009, a Hulk Webcomic will run at The Incredible Hulk Library site.

Note: See more preliminary samples at the bottom of this post.

The story starts with Bruce Banner going to the land of beef, Argentina, for a treatment that would allow him to control the Hulk permanently.

Banner becomes the patient of Dr. Juan Rodríguez, a renowned psychiatrist who Banner knows from High School. Banner flies to South America incognito, but of course he only tricks the authorities. Obscure groups become aware of his presence, and a small war against mights the Hulk has never seen becomes inevitable.

Written and drawn by yours truly, this Hulk Webcomic is the third one I create and publish online.

The first two came out around 2003. Those stories included characters like Jarella, Ulik, Doctor Strange and Mangog, and were drawn in a style reminiscent of that of Sal Buscema (see sample below). Except for a few strips, the old Webcomics were in black and white.

Sample from the old Hulk Webcomic

The third and new Webcomic is drawn in my own style in black and white, and introduces new characters from a land the Hulk is visiting for the first time.

The new Hulk Webcomic will come out four days a week, every weekday (Monday through Friday) except for Wednesdays.

Readers will be able to leave comments and participate in discussions that could impact events in the story.

The Webcomic will be available in both English and Spanish.

Preliminary Samples from the new Hulk Webcomic:

Banner arrives to Mar de las Pampas where he will be treated by Dr. Juan Rodriguez:

Banner chatting with Rodriguez:

Hulk website en español

My first Incredible Hulk website was entirely written in Spanish. It was called "El Increíble Hulk" and debuted in June of 1997.

That site went through many changes, and became "The Incredible Hulk Library" of today which is available in English at www.incredible-hulk-library.com

I felt that it was about time to "go back to my roots" and provide a Spanish version of the Hulk site again. And so "la Biblioteca de Hulk" came to be, available at www.bibliotecadehulk.com

There is still text that needs to be translated from English to Spanish, mind you, but the latest comics, news, site updates, and several pages are in Spanish.

Come say "hola" to Hulk (or la "Masa" as he's called in some Spanish speaking countries) at www.bibliotecadehulk.com , or "¡Hulk te aplastará!"

Hulk Comics in Buenos Aires

I recently stayed in Buenos Aires for a few days, and visited the Rayo Negro comic book store to get some comics.

Besides getting two copies of Hulk #9 (with covers by Art Adams and Frank Cho, respectively), I found several goodies in their lower-priced boxes.

The store is ran by Freddy, an Argentinean comic artist, creator of El Muerto, a character that seems to have been stolen by DC.

If you happen to visit Buenos Aires, visit Rayo Negro to find cool and rare-to-find comics. And say hi to Freddy for me, he is a very nice person.

The Rayo Negro comic book store is located in Galeria Bond Street at Santa Fe 1670 local 5, Buenos Aires and only sells comics written in English.

Jeph Loeb: Will He Smash The Hulk Comic?

Marvel Comics introduces the current Incredible Hulk scribe, Jeph Loeb as an award-winning author, and that's true.

But what Marvel isn't saying and most Hulk readers think is also true, is that Jeph Loeb is writing the worst Hulk comic scripts in decades.

With overly simplistic, childish, even stupid plots and scripts that barely fill the pages, the comic is only saved by very nice artwork produced by Ed McGuiness, Frank Cho or Art Adams.

These fine artists must resort to double-spread wallpapers and female characters in overly sexy poses to keep the comic from falling into sale darkness.

Loeb scripts seem to have been written by a kid in highschool with little experience in the medium.

Some upcoming writers looking for a job at Digital Webbing Talent Search (www.digitalwebbing.com) are able to produce better, more professional scripts.

Besides creating Rulk, Loeb has infuriated MANY Hulk fans. Is that clever? You know how the saying goes, and Loeb WON'T like those fans when they're mad!

I remember when Peter David came back for a short stint to the Hulk comic and some people were like: "This isn't the same Peter David I recall". Even David acknowledged that.

Well, I have little doubt that if those same people could choose between "that" David and "this" Loeb, the choice would start with a "D".

One looks behind and sees that Loeb wrote awesome comics like Hush (Batman) or Superman/Batman. I enjoyed those comics, I loved them. So, what the heck is going on?

Has Loeb been abandoned by his muse? Seems so.

Loeb knows that he's cultivating fan hatred (instead of fanatism) and such fact, instead of push him to "do better", affects his scripts even more.

I think that most Hulk fans are buying the Hulk comic because they're EXPECTING the script to enhance, and have FAITH, are HOPEING, to find that missing great script in an upcoming issue of their BELOVED comic book character.

But looking back 8 issues (Hulk #1 to #8), the chances are about zero unless a new, capable writer like Greg Pak is brought in to salvage the comic... before it's too late.

Learn to Love the Crack

The world is concerned about this grand scale economic crisis. Nobody can really predict just how bad it is, how long it will last or when the world will fully recover from it. Unfortunately, many have and will continue to loose their jobs, even fortunes.

Some dismiss the fear, smile and say: what goes up must come down, spending and living in excess cannot last for ever, the greatest empires have all died.

OK. We all know about that. So what can we do now: despair? No.

Try to embrace it. Find opportunities, there always are. Everything is  both good and bad; find the good in this, the challenge is doing it. But if you don't, it won't be fun.

Alright, you may be wondering what the heck does this post have to do with the Incredible Hulk?

Well.. nothing. So for you Jade Giant fans who in all fairness are expecting to read a Hulk related post in here, I add a Hulk related photograph, how bout that? She's a candidate from Brazil I think could do well as the She-Hulk in an upcoming movie. Too bad we can only see just a part of her. But hey, what do you think? Leave your comments.

Hancock and The Incredible Hulk

I went to see "Hancock" the movie with Will Smith and Charlize Theron last night.

I liked it! It's a good super heroe movie told in an unconventional way, from a mature point of view.

Like the Incredible Hulk, John Hancock is very strong and heals quickly. However, their biggest similarity is perhaps the fact that both are rude and destructive missunderstood heroes who just want the attention from people because they feel alone and need recognition and love.

John Hancock's powers are also a mix of Superman's (can fly and near invulnerability) and the Falcon (race and bird partner).

Charlize Theron is a surprising ingridient in the movie, also starred by Jason Bateman who plays the role of a good hearted, without-superpowers heroic man.

Humor, romance, action, drama. If you like comics, you'll like the movie. Go see it, and share your comments about it here.

Need to Draw an Embarrasing Incredible Hulk Defeat? Hire Ed McGuinness!

Don't take me wrong, Ed McGuinness is a very talented professional comic book artist who draws better every day.
So I am NOT saying "Let's get Ed McGuinness out of the Hulk book". No, no. May he remain in the book.

I just want to bring up something peculiar that has caught my attention. TWO of the most embarrassing, STUPID ways in which the Incredible Hulk has been defeated, ever, were drawn, coincidentally, by Ed McGuinness!!

The two issues that tell "embarrassing" defeats of "The Strongest One There Is" are:

• The Incredible Hulk #470 (Nov 1998, written by Joe Casey) The Incredible Hulk is defeated by the Circus of Crime when their snake wraps around his neck and suffocates him... Read the synopsis here



• Hulk #4 (June 2008, written by Jeph Loeb) The Incredible Hulk is defeated by the Red Hulk after he breaks his left arm and chokes him from behind. Read the synopsis here

Both defeats were by asphyxia.

The Red Hulk is a formidable adversary, but a snake...? Common! The Incredible Hulk can break through titanium walls easily; getting a snake out of his neck should be a walk in the park. So this defeat is absolutely stupid, "INCREDIBLE".

In Incredible Hulk Vol.2 #67 (Dec 2004, written by Peter David) we see how the Hulk is able to breath underwater thanks to a gland his own body creates.

In the case of Hulk #4, the "Green" Hulk cannot breath at all because the Red Hulk doesn't let him, plus the "Green" Hulk did not hold his breath. However, how believable is that the "Green" Hulk was unable to break free from the Red Hulk SOMEWHERE along the lengthy, LENGTHY way from New Mexico to San Francisco, when we are told that the "Green" Hulk was conscious part of the way?

So there you have it: Ed McGuinness draws wonderfully, but he's "unlucky" to be hired to draw pages that make Incredible Hulk fans mad!

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There is one issue where the Incredible Hulk is defeated by asphyxia that, in my opinion, is a believable defeat. It happened in The Incredible Hulk #197 (March 1976, written by Len Wein), fighting against the Man-Thing and the Glob. Read the synopsis here