Bruce Banner - The Hulk Appreciation 2021

[Vordan]

Hulk's rogue gallery is pretty anemic.

That being said, he's got some space rogues.. Galaxy Master, Klaatu, Dark Crawler, Puffball Collective, Troyjan/Armaggedon, etc

I'm tired of the same villains, especially when watered down. Case in point, Abomination in Gamma Flight.

Likely, he'll go up against the Maker (evil Reed Richards from Ult. Univ.) -- that one is pretty much guaranteed. Which will likely result in him going through alternate universes so you may get "traditional revamped villains".. of course if they're popular they'll likely end up like Maestro did with crossing over and being watered down.

Abomination is a weird choice to complain about, he’s been dead for ages and has only just now come back to life. I’m not opposed to new Rogues, but I’m skeptical of Cates ability in that regard considering how lame Knull ended up being imo.

[Cth]

Abomination is a weird choice to complain about, he’s been dead for ages and has only just now come back to life. I’m not opposed to new Rogues, but I’m skeptical of Cates ability in that regard considering how lame Knull ended up being imo.

Totally understandable.

As far as Abomination goes.. for me it's up there with Bruce Jones shoehorning Absorbing Baby into the comic just to match up with the movie.

Abomination SHOULD have turned up in Ewing's run, instead his body was a shell and we got a reinvention which was good. Abomination has always been a in your face type looking for confrontation. Even though his origins were as a spy, he 99% focused on physical attacks. I dunno.. just seems weird that he's hiding, making plans, etc. So the cynic in me says he's shoe horned in because of the Shang Chi appearance which similarly is a confusing reappearance.

So yeah, while I'm happy Abomination is back, like Shang Chi the reappearance doesn't jive well with what's been shown so far.

[Vordan]

Totally understandable.

As far as Abomination goes.. for me it's up there with Bruce Jones shoehorning Absorbing Baby into the comic just to match up with the movie.

Abomination SHOULD have turned up in Ewing's run, instead his body was a shell and we got a reinvention which was good. Abomination has always been a in your face type looking for confrontation. Even though his origins were as a spy, he 99% focused on physical attacks. I dunno.. just seems weird that he's hiding, making plans, etc. So the cynic in me says he's shoe horned in because of the Shang Chi appearance which similarly is a confusing reappearance.

So yeah, while I'm happy Abomination is back, like Shang Chi the reappearance doesn't jive well with what's been shown so far.

To me that’s exactly the kind of thing he should be doing. Abomination’s greatest asset over Hulk is that he has his brains and the brawn to match Hulk. Just charging in and swinging is boring, you gotta add some kind of planning to how he operates. Great example is in the Ultimate Destruction video game, Blonsky plans on destroying the dam and flooding the city, that’s the kind of threat he should be performing. Abomination should be a truly villainous Devil Hulk take imo.

[Frontier]

I feel like it was high time to finally bring Blonsky back.

[Cth]

To me that’s exactly the kind of thing he should be doing. Abomination’s greatest asset over Hulk is that he has his brains and the brawn to match Hulk. Just charging in and swinging is boring, you gotta add some kind of planning to how he operates. Great example is in the Ultimate Destruction video game, Blonsky plans on destroying the dam and flooding the city, that’s the kind of threat he should be performing. Abomination should be a truly villainous Devil Hulk take imo.

I agree.. PAD having him responsible for killing Betty was more in line with what you're talking about.. he was a spy, it would make sense. Most writers have him as a stronger, uglier Hulk.

I guess he lacks some kind of motivation.. some reason for doing what he's doing besides "being a bad guy".. with Banner it's personal.. he's a man without a country, wife, etc.

Ah well at least he's back.. still not sure since he was disintegrated and in space but hey.. Green Door.

[ChrisIII]

I feel like it was high time to finally bring Blonsky back.

Yeah, he was briefly in Chaos War and of course there was the zombie version from Waid's run but he was never quite permenantly back since Red Hulk killed him. Rick took his place as both good (A Bomb) and bad (Subject B) versions.

[Lukmendes]

So there's one thing I was wondering, in IH#44, X-Ray says that Cosmic Rays are the opposite of Gamma radiation, was that pointed out before in Ewing's run? F4 wasn't much of a presence on the story nor were they around much until like IH#40, so that was outta nowhere for me, maybe the conversation Joe had with Ben was supposed to hint at it? Or did I miss something else?

[Toxin45]

Leader was used well in immortal hulk same with xemnu

[PlatinumThorns]

So there's one thing I was wondering, in IH#44, X-Ray says that Cosmic Rays are the opposite of Gamma radiation, was that pointed out before in Ewing's run? F4 wasn't much of a presence on the story nor were they around much until like IH#40, so that was outta nowhere for me, maybe the conversation Joe had with Ben was supposed to hint at it? Or did I miss something else?

It has been specifically mentioned that "cosmic rays" are Kirbons, which was first coined in House of X/Powers of X. But Ewing was the first to mentioned that it's the opposite of gamma.

[Lukmendes]

It has been specifically mentioned that "cosmic rays" are Kirbons, which was first coined in House of X/Powers of X.

Hah, that's a nice nod towards Kirby.

But Ewing was the first to mentioned that it's the opposite of gamma.

And is IH#44 the first time that's mentioned? 'Cause it's kinda outta nowhere info, specially considering X-Ray talks like that's common knowledge, it's kinda awkward if it wasn't hinted at before.

[Immortalhulk13]

Honestly, when used right, Emil can be easily the most effective villain not just to the hulk but to the audience. For example, look at PAD’s run, and his brief (but impactful) appearance in Jenkins run- not only is he the single greatest physical threat to hulk, but in those specific stories, the reader is also able to feel for him, and understand his actions; the dynamic between him and Bruce is sometimes so damn well written, to be honest.

I will say though; the Abomination in Immortal hulk was absolutely terrifying; one of the highlights of the run, for me. Though it could be argued that some part of Blonsky could have sentient within the shell (I mean, it’s been teased in Gamma Flight that Blonskys inhabitation of Forteans body was all some elaborate scheme), HOWEVER, the lack of it kind of reduced the impact of his one-on-ones with hulk.

But holy moly, I really hope Cates uses this Blonsky instead of whichever variation of him is floating in space

[Immortalhulk13]

It doesn’t matter how strong Emil is; hulk always gets stronger. It’s only when his cunning and dynamic with Bruce gets explored, that he really works as an interesting villain.

It’s so sad how often he gets used as a brainless brick for hulk to tear apart, honestly

[Dinosaur Hulk]

Yeah, Abomination in Jenkins run was very well-written.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I agree.. PAD having him responsible for killing Betty was more in line with what you're talking about.. he was a spy, it would make sense. Most writers have him as a stronger, uglier Hulk.

I guess he lacks some kind of motivation.. some reason for doing what he's doing besides "being a bad guy".. with Banner it's personal.. he's a man without a country, wife, etc.

Ah well at least he's back.. still not sure since he was disintegrated and in space but hey.. Green Door.

Didn't Emil die on earth? They alluded to him being in space in the first bait and switch, how'd his corpse end up out there?

[Cth]

Didn't Emil die on earth? They alluded to him being in space in the first bait and switch, how'd his corpse end up out there?

WIKI (Hulk v.3 #3-4)
A shadow organization (later revealed to be the Order of the Shield) bent on gaining control of the Hulk harvests biological material from a mortally wounded Bruce Banner. After Banner regains consciousness following the experiment and escapes as the Hulk, the organization uses this material to resurrect the Abomination under their control, leaving him "free of a mind or a conscience" and with an ability to seek out Banner/the Hulk for retrieval. The Hulk defeats the Abomination yet again with the aid of the Avengers. Iron Man uses technology taken from the Order of the Shield agents to teleport the Abomination into interplanetary space estimated to be "somewhere in the vicinity of Jupiter".