I came home from work today to find a happy little mailbox with a couple of comics in it. (I still say getting a comic book or two in your mailbox makes mail fun again.) Among the morsels of comicy goodness was Hulk #5. I’ve made no bones about the fact that I have enjoyed Jeph Loeb’s run on Hulk. The mystery of Red Hulk (or RULK, as he’s called in the previously on segment [I’m pretty sure they were ripping off Geek Out Loud by doing that]). The fun has to end at some point. Spoilers are about to abound, so if you haven’t picked the book up yet and you are planning on it, you may want to hold off on reading.

We last ended up with the real Hulk being thrown off of the Golden Gate Bridge by Rulk. As Rulk railed against Hulk and humanity, Lightning split the sky as Thor, The God of Thunder arrived on the scene ready to…uhm…(is “lay the smack down” out of date?) (oh well) lay the smack down on Rulk.

This issue picks up right where we left off. Rulk tells Thor that he thought he was dead, to which Thor responds, “And I thought you were green. Monster.” Neat comeback, one too many words. Thor smashes Rulk with his hammer and Rulk shakes it off no problem. Thor is obviously taken aback by this and a (can I use the word slobberknocker?) (Oh what the hay!) slobberknocker ensues between the two titanic…uhm…titans.

Try as he might, Thor cannot make a dent in Rulk. The blows of mighty Mjolnir don’t even face the Red Rage Machine. Suddenly, The Rulk does something unexpected. He grabs Mjolnir and leaps into the air. As he ascends into the heavens, he explains to Thor that he knows that no one can lift the hammer, but that means nothing when Thor is holding onto the other end…or if they are in the zero gravity of orbit. The panels pull back to reveal that Rulk has leapt into space where he uses Thor’s own hammer to beat the snot of him and then kicks him to the moon. Thor vows that not killing him will be Rulk’s last mistake.

On earth, Rulk lands hard. He triggers the San Andreas fault line and San Fransisco begins to shake and quake it’s way into the Pacific. We know this because of Commander Hill’s report to Tony Stark who has visited the Baxter Building to acquire Reed Richards help in decoding the sound from Banner’s conversation with Thunderbolt Ross and Doc Samson. Two words come through quite clear…Doctor Samson.

Underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, a blue hand swims in to help free The Hulk from the rubble under which he is trapped. It is, of course A-Bomb, and upon exiting the water he and Hulk talk. A Bomb tells Hulk that he is a friend and as the earthquakes ramp up, Hulk tells A Bomb to go help the people and he will take care of Red Hulk.

From behind him, Hulk is told he will need help. Hulk turns to see Iron Man with She-Hulk, Ares, The Human Torch, Namor, and The Thing all on a quinjet. Then, the promise, “To be concluded.”

One of my favorite comics in my collection is The Mighty Thor # 385. It is cover to cover on big fight between The Hulk and Thor. The two tear up a town as Thor accused Hulk of being a monster over and over again. The Hulk even goads Thor into fighting without his hammer. Thor throws Mjolnir away and the two go at it. As Mjolnir returns, Hulk gets disgusted with Thor and leaves. In the aftermath, Thor sees the destruction his lust for battle caused and realizes that he was just a step away from becoming a monster himself.

I mention this story because it is the Hulk vs. Thor battle by which I judge all other Hulk vs. Thor battles.  It has all of the knock down drag out action a reader wants in a fight and some great insights into both characters.

That’s one of the differences between that story and the one I’m reviewing.   The other difference is that it’s not technically a Hulk vs. Thor fight.   Nevertheless, this issue of Hulk left me a little wanting.

Like all of the issues leading up to this one it’s a fast read.  I think this is due in part to the fact that the story is primarily a fist fight with little dialogue, and in part to Ed McGuinness doing a couple of two page splashes, full-page splashes, and half-page panels.

While I enjoyed the issue, I am starting to get a little jaded to all of the action.  Loeb is missing a real opportunity to delve into the mystery of the Red Hulk, and lay out a teensy bit of character development.   Instead, we are getting either an obvious Doc Samson turned Hulk…uhm…Hulk or a huge red herring.  I’m realy hoping for the latter.  I would love to read the next issue and be completely surprised by the identity of the Red Hulk.

On the other hand, this series shows what was lacking in World War Hulk.  I loved World War Hulk, but the fights seemed abbreviated and sometimes hard to follow.  If I could take the awesome splashes, lack of dialogue, and boxing round like style of Loeb’s story and combine it with the story of World War Hulk, I would have the greatest Hulk story arc ever.

I do love the fact that The Hulk was concerned with helping the city.  It shows that he is good at heart and he has other motives than simple smashing for wanting to go after Rulk.

If you go back and read my reviews of earlier Hulk issues, though, you will see that I have really enjoyed this story.  I guess that just upped my expectations of what I thought would be an amazing issue.

All in all I think it’s a good chapter of a great story arc.

Story 3 out of 5 I really wanted to like this as much as I have liked the other stories, but this late in the game I feel like it’s time to inject a little character and motivation into Rulk beyond, “I want the world to see that I was the one who killed The Hulk.”  I also would have liked to see Thor not handled quite so easily, because quite frankly, I don’t know if The Hulk and friends will be able to take him in the next issue.  Not in any way I would believe now anyway.

Art 4 ouf of 5 McGuinness overused the splashes a bit in this issue.  They are pretty, and I really like his character design, but I feel like the use of so many big panels and splash pages take away from what could have been a fight that should have been a bit more drawn out and a bit less one sided.  (Maybe that’s my biggest issue with this …uhm…issue.  After a not-too-lopsided fight with The Hulk, this one should have been a LOT less one-sided.)

Cover Art 5 out of 5 This is one of my favorite covers of the series so far.  I like the colors, and I like scene.  And hey, it is what the book is about.  So good stuff.

In the end, I liked this book, but I was left wanting a little more.  I would still recommend it and I am still on board for as long as Mr. Loeb wants to keep writing.

I’m a fan of rock music.  I’m a fan of comic books.  Whenever the two come together to form a giant robot-like force, I’m always intrigued and often find myself enjoying.  Recently, I was introduced to the Ray Wall band.    In speaking with Ray via e-mail, I had to know what would prompt someone to make music that can be classified as “Comic Book Rock?”

In Ray’s own words:

About three years ago when comic book movies started to go through the roof I noticed that I didn’t really like the soundtracks very much.  The movies were awesome but I felt that the major labels only cared about releasing bottom line oriented music that had nothing to do with the super-heroes the films were about.   Being frustrated as a fan and a musician, I decided to submit my earlier written Fantastic Four Song to the FF movie after being invited to do so by movie executives.  After it was turned down, I did the next crazy thing and made a music video out of it and was promptly turned down by MTV.   I ended up putting the music out on iTunes and moved the video to public TV.  It wasn’t long ago, but this was still before myspace and youtube.  Since then, the technology and fans sort of pulled me in to make these songs on a regular basis. 

Ray began playing music when he was 16 and has continued from that point on.   He is self taught and plays primarily by ear when it comes to his rock stuff, so it is surprising to find that his music is not only fun, but it’s pretty good.

By heading over to The Ray Wall band’s Myspace page you can listen not only to the afrementioned Fantastic Four song but selections from the massive Rock opera piece about the X-Men, their Spider-Man song, a song about the Silver Surfer, and after a string of Marvel-centric songs, their first release of a song about a DC character, THE JOKER.

While talking about their latest release, Ray said, “Most people thought our new tune for The Dark Knight movie had to be about Batman. I wrote “The Joker” four months before the movie because the Heath Ledger trailers inspired me. The song is dedicated to his performance in The Dark Knight. I hope we did it justice.”

THE JOKER is a rock song with a slow, methodical, yet hard and somewhat chaotic guitar running through the song. There are some great riffs throughout, and the song would make a decent companion to the character of the Joker even if it had no vocals. The lyrics of the song talk about the Joker, his struggle with Batman, and his insanity. Music enthusiasts may take issue with some of the production choices, but it is a well done independent rock song, by an independent band who is passionate about the music they play. I feel like it’s a good artistic tribute to an iconic character and the performance of him on the big screen.

Click the links above to check out The Ray Wall band and take a step into the world of Comic Book rock.

Geek Out Loud Episode 15 - The Obligatory Podcast is online and available for download.  This one is a long one with a bit of wonky audio, and we go VERY in depth into spoilers and plot points of the Summer’s biggest movie…THE DARK KNIGHT.

Head over to www.geekoutpodcast.com to listen, download, and subscribe to the feed.

I have been a bit silent on the upcoming release of the Clone Wars this Summer.  This is due mainly to the fact that it took me by surprise earlier this year.  In the past, we knew a new a Star Wars was coming.  There were three years worth of waiting on news, pictures, spoilers, music, and whatever else we could get our hands on.

For me, this movie has been a lot different.  For some reason I’ve kept forgetting it’s coming out. (That statement is not an invitation to the naysayers to start bashing the prequels.)

However, in the shadow of the Dark Knight, while wanting to believe, and still basking in the glow that has been an awesome Summer of movies, I now turn my attention that galaxy far, far away that we all know and love. 

There have been several trailers and TV spots, and every single one of them look better the one before it.  A couple of tidbits of news that have excited me are things like a likeable Anakin who is truly good and doing the best he can, Anakin’s apprentice (who is obviously destined to die [speculation on my part, not spoiler]), some uber cool action sequences, and just getting immersed in the Star Wars experience in a new and fresh way.

I hope that everyone understands, though, how much these cartoons will be geared toward kids.  In my opinion, that’s a good thing.  For all the haters of the prequels out there, I know a young person who’s first exposure to Star Wars was The Phantom Menace.  Guess what?  They have a fondness for Jar Jar, and actually decided to hate him when they saw that it was “cool” to hate on the Gungan.  So, let’s not ruin the experience for the kiddies and enjoy what’s coming, because I think it’s gonna be a great ride.

To that end, my friend and the designer of Geek Out Online’s awesome look (and forthcoming awesomer look) Michael Cohen is starting up a podcast devoted to The Clone Wars Series, so head over to www.clonewarspodcast.com to check out his new site and the widget for The Clone Wars that has some neat trailers and cool clips. Yes, friends, Frontlines: The Clone Wars Podcast is upon us. If his podcasting skills are half of what his web/graphic design skills are, we are in for an awesome time with Michael….and I’m sure you can expect me to pop in from time to time. (YOU HEAR ME MICHAEL? I’M GONNA BE ON YOUR SHOW!!!! WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT)

For other Clone Wars related news and opinions, there’s always Theforce.net and the newly redesigned official Star Wars homepage. Here at Geek Out Online, expect my takes on the movies, my defense of the prequels, and even my defense of the Special Editions of the Original Trilogy. My Star Wars geek juices are starting to flow…and you may just get swept up in the movement of the Force if your not careful.

Clone Wars here we come!

I need some help.   As you may or may not know, a few months ago I though I was San Diego bound for ComiCon this year.  Sadly, through a series of events, I am no longer attending.  Well, here’s your chance to help me and all the readers of Geek Out Online.

If you are going to San Diego for ComiCon and would be willing to write reports from the various panels you attend, you will get credit under whatever name you choose, a shout out on Geek Out Loud, and my eternal gratitude.  All of these things combined will get you a cup of water at McDonald’s, but it could be fun.

If you are willing or interested, shoot me an e-mail at geekoutonline@gmail.com with ComiCon in the subject line and let me know which panels you are planning on attending and which ones you would like to report on. Anything is game from comics to movies to video games. Thanks in advance, and enjoy ComiCon.