RIP Peter David

 

From Wiki- Peter Allen David (September 23, 1956 – May 24, 2025),^[3][4][5] often abbreviated PAD,^[6] was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games.^[7] His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.  Back to me: 

S02.241 What If Rick Jones had become The Hulk?

           

HOTW- The Hulk

 

The Hulk first appeared in 1962, as a interesting take on both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as the Frankenstein Creature.  Dr. Bruce Banner sacrificed himself to save dumb ass teenager Rick Jones (a point missing in every live action adaptation of the character) which brings out his inner behemoth.  Needless to say, he is thought of as a monster in this form.  At first, Banner only changes into the Hulk at night.  Then stress made him change.  The Hulk was not the childlike Hulk of "Hulk smash!" fame, but was articulate enough to communicate with RIck and other humans.  He was also grey, though the green Hulk was probably a better idea overall.  The misunderstood monster motif could only run so far, and Hulk got pardoned, was an Avenger for two whopping issues, then became a Defender for a long spell.  Also, he wasn't Marvel's first Hulk...

Journey into Mystery 62

 

"Here Comes the Hulk!" Xemnu, the living Hulk, first showed up in 1960, a few years before the green (and more famous) Hulk appeared.  He was later renamed The Living Titan.  It is a convict from an intergalactic prison world.  It turns up on Earth, with its energy severely depleted.  Good ol' Joe Harper (who looks a lot like Dr. Robert Bruce Banner), your friendly neighborhood electrician, is hypnotized by the Hulk.  He helps it revive, and then it wants to take over the Earth.  It actually does, and makes the enthralled people build it a new spaceship.  Joe is not hypnotized, so Xemnu can gloat, but hubris is its downfall.  Joe crosses the wires and sends the Hulk on an endless jaunt around our sun.  The people of Earth are freed!  No one but Joe knows what happened.

Hulk (2003)

 

Poor Bruce Banner.  He had a lousy childhood, and has had a couple movies that the Hulk just couldn't be the sole star of.  This is the first big screen appearance of the jade giant, and it shows his origin.  Or origins.  He gets pelted with gamma rays, though not from a bomb, but an overheated super collider.  Betty had already dumped him, but they still have to work together.  His long thought dead father shows up (David Banner, of course) and turns himself into either Zaxx or the Absorbing Man.  Naturally, all the father issues come out.

She-Hulk 09- Who's Show is This?

 

IN which Jen sees herself get arrested and told she can never become Shulkie again.  She also goes to see Emil.  Nikki finds out where the Intelligencia wankers hang out, and sends poor Pug into the midst of a bunch of whining trolls.  Guess who their speaker is?  The Abomination.  Also, "HulkKing", the annoying Todd, takes some Hulk formula (Mr. Hyde in the making?) and sort of hulks out.  Titania smashes through a wall (again) and then THE HULK drops through the roof and we are about to get a battle royale... when Jen stops and climbs out of the story and into the Disney app.  She goes into Avengers: Assembles series in search for Kevin.  She finds K.E.V.I.N. alright, and after some fun dialog everything gets sorted properly.

She-Hulk 08- Ribbit and Rip It

 

IN which Jen represents yet another d lister wannabe hero.  This leads her into conflict with the superhero suit designer, who also makes Shulkie's clothes. Luke Jacobson.  Guess who represents Luke?  One Mr. Matt Murdock, Esq.  Jen loses her case and her designer all at once.  However, she does make a new friend when Matt buys her a drink at Legal Ease (yes, I am slow and just noticed the name).  The sparks fly but suddenly both have to "work".  The Leapfrog has kidnapped Luke, and after Shulkie meets Daredevil and they have the obligatory misunderstanding battle, they join forces and save the day.  Jen and Matt go back to her place, and in the morning she is surprised we are still watching.  Uh oh...

She-Hulk 07- The Retreat

 

IN which Jen goes to visit Emil (The Abomination) because his inhibitor is malfunctioning.  Man-Bull and El Aguila wreck her car and she is stuck at the Blonksy Retreat.  Emil tries to help her, but all Jen wants is a signal to see if "Josh" is going to text her back.  Spoiler: He does not.  However, the gang of wanna be villains, including the Wrecker, the Porcupine and Saracen (who may or may not be a vampire, he doesn't sparkle in the sun) are in the only place that gets a bar of signal.  Jen gets drawn into their therapy session.  There they help her come to terms with her neediness to hear from this man she had been on three dates with and also help her realize she is just a great a person as Shulkie is.  It is a good thing, since once she finds out what this douche Josh was doing I have a feeling we may see the SAVAGE She-Hulk for the first time.

She-Hulk 06- Just Jen

In which Jen gets invited to an old high school friend's wedding as a bridesmaid.  Lulu is an awful person, and wants to demean Jen.  Shulkie shows up first, then promises to be just Jen for the rest of the mess of a wedding.  Titania also shows up, and drinks a lot.  There is a small fight, but Titania is her own worst enemy.  Meanwhile, Mr. Immortal shows up need a lawyer.  He gets Mallory, and fortunately Nikki is there to help.  This was great, and who would have thought an Great Lakes Avenger would ever show up on the screen?

She-Hulk 05- Mean, Green and Straight Poured into these Jeans

 In which Jen goes to court to stop Titania from using the She-Hulk name to peddle ridiculous, though hilariously named, beauty products.  Nikki, Mallory Book and her boss all tell Jen to get better clothes for this court battle.  Pug knows a "drip broker" (what a stupid slang word) who makes clothes for superheroes.  He is disdainful about helping Shulkie at first, but Nikki then asks him if he can make clothes for someone who can change size at will.  He likes this challenge and undertakes the project.  Jen figures out how she can prove she has willingly used the She--Hulk moniker on the dating app, wins her case and makes a new friend (well, Jen thinks so).  Finally, Luke shows her the new clothes.  He also chastises Tinsley for not keeping client confidentiality because his assistant left out a new mask.  This mask has horns on it...

She-Hulk 05- Is This Not Real Magic?

 

In which a second rate "magician" uses a sling ring to send unwitting audience members to other dimensions, leading Wong to retain Jen's services to give the faker a C&D (cease and desist).  She does so, but Judge Hanna allows "Donny Blaze" to continue making a living while she thinks about her ruling.  Donny then continues his act, but when his latest victim beautiful assistant declines to step through a portal, all hell breaks loose.  This causes Wong to retain Shulkie's services, right in the middle of a first date.  Our heroes take care of the demon things (some resemble Zool after a time) and ol Donny Blaze agrees to the C&D.  Jen returns to her date, but in the morning he doesn't seem to like Jen in her regular human form.  She then gets sued by Titania who has the copyright or trademark on the name She-Hulk.  At least there is a cute tag.

She-Hulk 03- The People vs Emil Blonksky

 

In which Jen actually gets Emil out on parole.  Is this actually wise?  The world may never know.  She talks to Wong, the Master of the Mystic Arts. Sorcerer Supreme is here as the guest star, explaining the cage fight in Shang Chi to our satisfaction.  Seems he chose to fight the Abomination as part of his becoming the Sorcerer Supreme.  He testifies as such, but the lawyers are upset Wong confessed to liberating Emil, which is rather illegal.  Wong then teleports out of the prison.  The second story about a shape shifting elf from New Asgard ends properly.  Finally, the Wrecking Crew shows up, which gives us a small fight.  Seems like they want a sample of Jen's blood and they have a mysterious "boss".  This is intriguing, to say the least, since in the old school days, Loki created the Wrecker and his crew.

A hulk sized mission

 

I had to send a package via FedEx today, and the closest one is inside the local Wally World.  I rarely go into that store, it just isn't my cuppa.  However, once I was there I did look around the movies section, and found this set.  I have never seen that first Hulk movie, but I did watch the second one.  Since She Hulk has now made at least that one canon, I figured I could try watching them both.  I am not sure how that is going to go, but I bet it has been over ten years now since I have seen the one featuring the Abomination.  I hope I like it more this time.  It can't get worse, and knowing what lies ahead is kind of fun.

She Hulk 02- Superhuman Law

 

In which Jen gets fired from her law firm for ruining the case she was winning by defending people as Shulkie.  She gets rejected by firm after firm, until she gets a job offer from a very prestigious firm.  The catch is she has to be She -Hulk at work.  While in court. This new firm is specializing in super humans.  The first client Jen is representing is Emil Blonsky, AKA the Abomination.  This is a slight conflict of interest, as the Abomination had tried to kill the Hulk about... 15 years ago, oh wait, blip, so 20 years ago?  Jen talks to Bruce, and Emil, and decides to take the case.  Then footage of the Abomination in a cage fight.  "Well, this sucks."

She-Hulk 01- A Normal Amount of Rage

 

Jen Walters, Attorney At Law, is out driving somewhere with her cousin Bruce.  They run into a spaceship and their car gets thrown off a cliff.  They are both injured, and Jen gets an accidental transfusion from Bruce.  Since this cousin is Robert Bruce Banner, AKA the Hulk, this causes Jen to turn green on occasion herself.  However, she is able to control her changes, unlike Bruce.  He was trying to teach her now not to be a giant rage monster, but turns out, she's good.  She also says she will not be a superhero.  Good luck with that in the Marvel Universe.  Bruce doesn't like this idea, but supports her.  He does warn her what could happen, though.  This was all a recap that she told to the viewers.  Then she goes to her case and suddenly Titania bursts in.  Jen turns into Shulkie (thanks, Ben) and defeats her with one punch.

the Marvel Superheroes have Arrived!

I never saw these as a kid, and didn't know any of the production history about them.  I saw them advertised in Famous Monsters and finally purchased one when they showed up at the local K-Mart.  I twas not ready for just how limited the animation was.  I had expected it to be like the Spider-Man cartoon or Hanna-Barbera.  It was disappointing to the younger me to say the least.  I never got any more of them on 8mm because of that, and kind of looked down on them for a long time.  Dang, that pickle was not pleasant, I'll tell you what.

Eternals (2021) finally

 

this movie sure lived up to it's name.  There is a good movie in here, but taking out at least 40 minutes would help.  There was no conceivable reason for it to be 2 hours and 38 minutes.  And it's very confusing.  Where were the rest of the superheroes while the world was about to be destroyed?  And why didn't I suss out Sersi was dating Dane Whitman of all people?  I am more annoyed about that than I should be.  I was kind of surprised how many Eternals they "killed", but since they are all artificial life forms they can come back over and over and over... The cast was good, for the most part.  I did like the last minute voice over cameo, but what the heck does Blade have to do with the Black Night?

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

 

Well, at least A Captain Marvel sort of makes an appearance in the movie.  The movie starts with Thanos wiping out the Asgardians that were alive from the end of Ragnarok.  He also kills Loki again, but as we know, he is only sort of dead.  Of course, we didn't know that three years ago, but I'm OK with it.  I started with a real review, but really, the important thing in here is I went into the movie knowing what was (probably) going to happen to The Vision.  I mean, he has the Mind Stone embedded in him.  They did it so well I thought perhaps I would be wrong, but alas, I was right.   I will admit, I wished I was wrong.  At least I still got WandaVision.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017) thoughts

I did not remember a lot of this movie.  Seeing it again reminded me how good the whole film was, overall, even if how the Hulk got to Sakaar was never fully explained.  I don't like that the Warriors Three were killed, but since it's comic books, they can return, since even Loki came back from the dead at least four times.  And Lady Sif was nowhere to be seen in this movie.  I hear she will be in the 4th Thor movie, along with Dr. Jane Foster.  Now, if that follows the comic books... well, that would be spoiling things, wouldn't it?

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

 

I really enjoyed this movie.  Of course, it has the Vision making his debut, and even though I wish they had said something about using Professor Horton's amazing android (see Cap's first movie) it all worked out just fine.  What struck me the most while watching it this time was all the foreshadowing that began here.  The whole "why can only Thor lift Mjolner" scene is really great.  There might by one other Avenger who can lift the hammer, but he wisely decides not to let anyone else in on it.  Heimdall referring to Hel showing up.   All sorts of things I missed the first time around.  I do wish that Hank Pym would have been involved in the creation of Ultron as well, but in the MCU he is a hero from the previous generation.