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Incredible Hulk returns

Submitted by SHNS on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 17:42

You know it's a big month in comics when the headline "New Hulk movie premieres!" has a lot of competition. But ol' Green Genes is still June's biggest story. "Incredible Hulk" premieres June 13, which everyone involved keeps trying to distance from the poorly received "Hulk" (2003). The new movie isn't quite a sequel and isn't quite a fresh start - an April 10 "New York Times" story called it a "do-over" - but it does start from the assumption that we already know about Bruce Banner's complexion problem. Here's the best of what's rolling out in support: "Skaar: Son of Hulk" No. 1 (which is just what it sounds like); "Incredible Hulk Omnibus" (collecting all Hulk solo stories, 1962-68); "World War Hulk" (collecting the recent story wherein Greenskin smashes most of Earth's superheroes); "Hulk vs. the Marvel Universe" (more superhero smashing); "King-Size Hulk" No. 1 (still more superhero smashing, with the new red Hulk); seasons 3 and 4 of the 1970s Bruce Bixby/Lou Ferrigno TV series on DVD; and the "Hulk No. 1 Project," wherein 100 artists create unique variant covers for the Hero Initiative charity. Also, remember to save money for the inevitable flood of Hulk action figures, hoodies and talking Hulk Hands.Elsewhere:- More Green Guys: The first issue of "Secret Invasion," a miniseries depicting the infiltration of Marvel's superhero universe by green-skinned, shapeshifting aliens, sold more than 250,000 copies in April, according to icv2.com. The next best-seller was "New Avengers" No. 40, itself a Secret Invasion tie-in, with less than half as many copies sold. Unsurprisingly, June will see 11 Secret Invasion-related titles (with 15 in July).- Indy's Back: And I'm talking comics, not movies. Technically, Indiana Jones returned to comic books last month, with the first issue of Dark Horse's adaptation of the new film. But this month's "Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods" No. 1 (of 4) is the first written-for-comics Indy story since "Indiana Jones and the Sargasso Pirates" wrapped up 12 years ago. Bonus Indy News: "Sargasso" is one of the five miniseries collected in Dark Horse's "Indiana Jones Omnibus" Vol. 2 ($24.95), which ships June 25. It ain't Shakespeare, but it is two-fisted archaeology at its best.- Bizarreball: The May 26 "Sports Illustrated" featured Bizarro on the cover. I'm a little fuzzy on the link between baseball and the imperfect, backwards-talking duplicate of Superman, but the illustration by fan favorite Mark Bagley is certainly nice. Or, in Bizarro-speak, "It am awful." - The Big Three: Speaking of Bagley, he is teaming with respected writer Kurt Busiek for DC's third weekly, year-long series, "Trinity." Beginning this month, the pair will produce 52 consecutive weekly 11-page stories about Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman - showing how DC's super-troika interact, and explaining why they're important. Other creators will provide back-ups, but I suspect Busiek and Bagley shouldn't make any other plans for about a year.- B&V meet B&V: As part of Archie's 65th anniversary, "Betty and Veronica Digest" No. 185 will reprint "Archie's Girls Betty & Veronica" No. 1 from 1950. Just like with recent Archie and Jughead celebrations, a new story will allow today's characters to interact with their earlier incarnations. That's a lot of Betty and Veronica!- The Bad News: Will Elder, famed for helping launch EC's "Mad" in 1952, died May 15 at age 82. Gene Colan, best known for 1960s and '70s "Daredevil," "Tomb of Dracula" and "Iron Man," is suffering from liver failure. The Hero Initiative and Marvel Comics are raising money for the artist, who has been active since the 1940s.- From the Tube: IDW launches "Star Trek: Mirror Images" this month, a four-issue miniseries following characters in the parallel, evil universe introduced in the 1967 Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror." The long delayed second issue of "Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen" miniseries arrives this month, spinning off from "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central. "Sparks" No. 1 is the first title from Catastrophic Comics, launched by William "Greatest American Hero" Katt.* Screamtones: Three IDW horror titles will become available to mobile phones this month through uclick's GoComics. You'll have to go to www.gocomics.com/comicbooks for more information yourself, because new technology scares me even more than IDW's "Thief of Always," "Aleister Arcane" or "The Claws Come Out."(Contact Andrew Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics(at)aol.com or visit www.captaincomics.us.)