Pak & Cho deliver on a Totally Awesome Hulk

Yep, it’s a totally Awesome Hulk 

by rick olivares

One thing I love about Marvel’s recent direction is that it has made comic book reading fun again. The Silver Surfer by Dan Slott and Mike Allred is the spiritual heir to Mike Baron and Steve Rude’s Nexus with every issue is a joy to read. G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona’s Ms. Marvel channels the voyage of discovery and wonder of the old Lee-Ditko Spider-Mans. Doctor Strange and Spider-Man, some of the old boys on the block have become even more interesting reads. And for another new spin on an old yarn? Welcome to Greg Pak and Frank Cho’s Totally Awesome Hulk.

When the Hulk first debuted in the 1960s, he was the anti-thesis of Peter Parker’s Spider-Man — with great power comes great vulnerability. True enough, creative teams over the decades have focused on the warring personas of an emotionally fractured Bruce Banner. 

He’s been a hero, anti-hero, gangster, a part of organizations like the Pantheon, Shield, the Avengers and the Defenders. He’s also gone Russell Crowe in another planet. And even become the villainous Maestro. Is there anything else to mine?

Enter Amadeus Cho, the young genius who became an ally of the Hulk some time ago who now become the Jade Giant at will. Not like the “What if Rick Jones became the Hulk?” feature that was published in 1978 (written by Dan Glut and drawn by Sal Buscema and Bill Black). Except in the first issue of Totally Awesome Hulk, there is a hint of danger about Amadeus losing control where the natural antagonistic and violent tendencies of the Hulk take over. 

I remember during the great run by Peter David and Dale Keown where the Merged Hulk featured the savage and smart Hulk with the face of Banner. Eventually, the savage side resurfaced.

Can one really tame the beast?

That’s for down the road. In the meantime, Amadeus Cho revels in being the Hulk, a superhero, and a teenager with raging hormones all at the same time. This tons-of-fun version of the Hulk fights monsters, eats like there’s no tomorrow, and flirts with pretty women. 

I love the Korean-American characters of Cho and his sister Maddy who have been around for a while now. I am not particularly crazy about the diversity in comics today that seems to be contrived more than a natural progression. With Cho through the years, we’ve seen him as a version of Hercules, the Prince of Power, and now is the Hulk. I’d say, it is well justified.

Pak has always written engrossing tales while Cho’s art is always playful and gorgeous. The Kaiju uprising is a storyline worth watching out as well as the latest development surrounding Bruce Banner. And while I am concerned about the Savage Hulk taking over Cho, I too wonder if Cho can pick up the quick pace of All-New, All-Different Marvel.

Totally Awesome Hulk with one issue is a one of the highlight’s of the week’s pull list. Check it out.

Jessica Jones kicks butt & takes names

Jessica Jones kicks butt & takes names

by rick olivares

Jessica Jones, Marvel’s latest adaptation of a comic book hero into television, is a winner.

The 13-episode series available on Netflix, is just as captivating as previous Daredevil (they are set in the same universe and neighbourhood) series but in some ways more intoxicating as you take in the dark and dangerous world that the characters live in. You watch and are transfixed. You feel repulsed and sick with every plot twist and turn; the moral ambiguity blurring lines between the good guys and bad guys. As the skeletons in each character's closet is revealed, you are reminded that the world we live in isn’t just black and white as there are a lot of greys in between. And that is what makes Jessica Jones not only fascinating but perhaps the best shows on television.

Note that I didn’t mention the “S-word” and that is for “superhero."

It isn’t any secret that from the day that Marvel Comics first hit the stands in 1963, the creators strove to depict their pantheon of characters as if they lived in the real world. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has reinforced that and Jessica Jones, sans any cape and with only the occasional use of her super strength, comes across as a psychological crime thriller that deals with complex themes such as rape, post-traumatic stress disorder, and sexual assault among many others. Many of these scenes aren’t depicted at all but how the characters grapple with these issues is more than enough given the emotional scars they carry.

Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones is particularly entrancing and intoxicating. Beneath the tough exterior is one vulnerable person who at times doesn’t make the right decision. She curses, brawls, swigs alcohol like it was water, and has great sex. But at the bottom of it all are her struggles between being a top private investigator and her thirst for revenge at Kilgrave who victimized her over a period of time. 

Ritter turns in a terrific performance as the reluctant and complicated anti-hero, Jessica Jones. Even with that perpetual scowl on her face, she looks sexy and is a wonderful delight. 

But Ritter’s lead character is given a run for her money as the star of the show with David Tennant’s chilling portrayal of Kilgrave, a villain who can control people with a mere word. 

For the second consecutive Netflix Marvel series (Daredevil preceded this), the villain almost steals the show from the hero. It is hard to reconcile Tennant who is known to many today as Doctor Who with the psychotic Kilgrave. 

In the comics version, Kilgrave is Croatian. The ethnic turn to go with British accent and charm of Tennant greatly adds to the nefariousness of his misdeeds. It turns out that beneath the suave veneer is a man who feels he was abused as a child is a heinous killer who ruins lives.

Kilgrave is given a glimpse of redemption when Jones forces him to do good and that adds to the torture of the viewer who may believe that criminals can redeem themselves. But that begs the question, how can monster like Kilgrave be kept on a leash?

The answer is you can’t. It is the nature of the beast. You still eliminate them because they are loose canons and isn’t as cut and dried as one would think. People wrestle with the results of their decisions and choices throughout the series. 

Choices that all of Jones’ allies or pseudo-allies have to make at one point or another.

Michael Colter, who plays Luke Cage, Jones’ romantic interest and also a superhuman in his own right (in the comics version he is known as Power Man for his strength and unbreakable skin), spurs Jones when he learns that she inadvertently killed his wife. But later on, he returns to seek Jones’ help. Unlike Jones who knows what to do with her abilities, Cage doesn’t and that makes him a little reckless and that leads him to fall under Kilgrave’s control.

The rest of the main cast — Carrie Anne Moss’ Jeri Hogarth, Rachael Taylor’s Trish Walker, Eka Darville’s Malcolm Ducasse, and Wil Traval’s Will Simpson — are also complex characters who are more than just props to populate the show. Their lives are all intertwined and they too make questionable decisions whose effects send their individual plotlines careening into a car crash of a conclusion. If you read Marvel Comics’ you know that Walker becomes the heroine, Hellcat, while Simspon becomes the crazed patriot, Nuke, who becomes an unwitting pawn in a larger game that involves the Kingpin. So it is entirely possible that somewhere down the road before the “Defenders” — Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Power Man, and Iron Fist — unite.

There were moments when I thought that the 13-episode first season was taking too long and that I wished there was more than one villain to the show. But as it is, it turned out just right. 

And thus, I do not need a verbal suggestion from Kilgrave to be transfixed by this gritty and wonderful series.

Like Daredevil that was a runaway hit and necessitated a Season 2, here's to more of Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones.

The covers of the first three volumes of the Ultraman series reboot!

This isn't the Ultraman that I grew up on as they have rebooted the story for a new generation. Loving it.

The Incredible and Bizarre Adventures of Manga Boy strip #1

Ang Ilog III variant covers are now available!

After the homage cover to Ang Ilog III what was next? Variant covers naturally! Always wanted to try this out and we have two. The one of the left is from Hulyen while the one on the right is from Ronzkie. Now these variants aren't for sale but will be given away to some loyal customers. In very limited quantities. 

New stuff I want to get: Daredevil (Masked Vigilante), Deadpool & Jessica Jones mug

My November Komikon experience

With Ang Ilog artist Rey Asturias sporting our El Vengador Ang Ilog t-shirts.

The recent November Komikon was my third time to participate in a local comics convention. I started in the November Komikon of 2014 then in the 2015 Indieket. 

Every one of them have been exhilarating experiences. You see, quite honestly, I go into every one of them nervous and frightened that I'd lay a big fat egg with no one purchasing them. But thus far and thankfully, I've done well selling about anywhere from 62% to 75% of my stock. 

The cool thing is having customers return to me and follow the stuff I put out. That is the most gratifying of them all. It is possible that people take a chance on them but never like them but many of these customers come back and have become loyal readers and friends. 

I am proud of everything that I put out there. The stories mean a lot to me and are signposts of the different times of my life. I didn't just write them on a whim. There are a lot of personal stories that find their way into the pages.

This last Komikon was especially nervy. I launched five new titles - Ang Ilog 3, Pader, K-Town #1, East of the Sun West of the Moon the prequel, and Dez the preview. Also put out some back issues of Ang Ilog 1 & 2, East of the Sun West of the Moon #1, and Dante. Seven people purchased every one of the new titles. Wow. Seven of them. The rest got a smattering. All in all, I sold 64% of my stock that day (I brought in 225 komiks). And we also had our first ever Ang Ilog t-shirt (featuring El Vengador). We didn't have too many of this. Five pieces to be exact and we sold three! Not bad. Not bad. 

The thing about local conventions is that most fans go right away to the established stars of the industry. So new and small publishers like me not only have to do a lot of promotion but we also have to talk to people to get them to open the browsing copies. That's part of the job and I love it. I get to hear from them as well. 

Someone asked me what title am I most pleased with? It has to be Ang Ilog. It is the first one I put out after all and the storyline is something I first dreamed up when I was about seven years old but of course has been filtered, re-written ad infinitum over the years.

Komikon was fun and exhilarating. Thanks to those who picked up my stuff!

Pics of some of the folks who got my komiks over that wonderful weekend.