Mountain Comics #17 – Rampaging Hulk #5

MOUNTAIN COMICS #17 - RAMPAGING HULK #5

Rob welcomes back podcaster extraordinaire Michael Bailey to the cabin to discuss a great example of Marvel's black and white magazine line, RAMPAGING HULK #5!

Check out images from this comic by clicking here!

Subscribe to FW PRESENTS on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fw-presents/id1207382042

This podcast is a proud member of the FIRE AND WATER PODCAST NETWORK:

Thanks for listening!

 

12 responses to “Mountain Comics #17 – Rampaging Hulk #5

  1. Nice one, fellas. I’m a few months older than Michael – so about 20 years younger than Rob – and missed out on all these magazines except for Conan, some Elvira one, and The Nightmare on Elm Street mag. I went searching for a few Bizarre Adventure issues a few years ago – did any of those make it to the Mt. Comics collection?

    I do wish there was still a market for these. Maybe when read more comics on our TVs?

    Also, I believe Moon Knight debuted in Rampaging Hulk.

  2. Great episode, guys! It’s always a joy to hear Rob and Michael talk about the Hulk.

    I picked up RAMPAGING HULK #1 last summer, but so far that’s the only issue in the series that I’ve read. But I’ve been waiting for Rob to tackle this one for a long time, since he talked about the cover on the third ever episode of FW PRESENTS, which was a St. Patrick’s Day special wherein a bunch of Fire and Water contributors shared their favorite green superheroes. (Check that episode out here: http://fireandwaterpodcast.com/podcast/fw-presents-st-patricks-day-2017/ )

    When Rob first started talking about Bereet in this issue, I wondered if he knew the same character made a brief appearance in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and then about two seconds later, Rob mentioned just that. Then I was reminded that Bereet returned in the Bill Mantlo/Sal Buscema run of INCREDIBLE HULK during the #270s. And two seconds later, Michael mentioned just that.

    That image of Namor punching Hulk in the gut and lifting him off his feet is ****ing glorious!

    As for Marvel’s other magazines, I read somewhere that after the success of RAMPAGING HULK, they did consider doing a black and white magazine for another one of their superheroes. But it wasn’t Spider-Man, strangely enough, nor was it Daredevil. From what I read, they strongly considered a THOR black and white magazine that would probably appeal to a lot of the same readers as CONAN. Ultimately, they didn’t do it the magazine, but I think they had several stories plotted and possibly illustrated that ended up just going into the main Thor comic series at the time.

    Can’t wait for next episode of Mountain Comics. And bring on the Hulk and Mike for season 3!!!

    1. They did actually do a Thor Marvel Preview with a black and white lead story by Len Wein with art by Jim Starlin and Tony DeZuniga, and Hercules back-up by Bill Mantlo and Val Mayerik, all behind a stunning Ken Barr cover. It’s a great issue. Number 10, it’s worth digging around for.

      As for this show, splendid chat, I bought Rampaging Hulk from the start and loved it… I’m a few years older than you Rob, and lots older than that whippersnapper Mike, so have read most Mountain Comics. You really bring them back to life.

      Speaking of which, I might have been thrilled Bill Mantlo brought Bereet back had he not retconned the entire pre-TV Rampaging Hulk sequence away at the same time, ‘revealing’ that everything we read was a piece of her techno-art, and she’d never met the Hulk or Rick or Namor… just sod right off!

  3. Great episode, gentlemen. I found myself nodding in agreement with a lot of what you both had to say. I too was afraid to watch the Hulk TV series as a kid, though it always held a strange fascination for me. Fortunately, I came to my senses in time to catch the TV movies.

    Regarding the magazine you covered, this is the first I’ve seen and heard of Rampaging Hulk. I have to agree that the Hulk works really well in black and white here. Namor’s appearance is also a plus for me. I like Namor, and want to love him, but, in the end, he’s just too impulsive and arrogant for me to fully commit. Thank you for this fine introduction to Marvel’s black and white magazines.

    Finally, while listening to this episode, I was reminded that one of the barbers at the shop where I got my hair cut as a kid was a dead ringer for Bill Bixby (at least to my young eyes). Whenever he was cutting my hair, I was always very careful to behave, and not do anything that would make him angry. Talk about being scared straight.

  4. Here is what I love about the F&W network.

    A lot of times there are episodes about stuff I know intimately, and hearing you guys talk about it is great.

    But there are times you guys are talking about something I know nothing about and I am a student listening. I know nothing about Marvel’s black and white magazines. I have never owned one. But now I know to look for at the very least this one.

    My knowledge of the format is limited to the very rare Eerie or Creepy that my older brother bought for me. As mentioned here, they were always more adult in content and as a result these were ‘comics’ you didn’t want your parents to flip through.

    Thanks for discussing! And great to hear you and Mr. Bailey nerding out over this.

    1. I echo that initial sentiment Anj, and I guess it’s why I keep listening to Pod Dylan, for example, even though I’m basically discovering the music as the spotlighted songs are picked.

  5. Rob, when you posted about this episode on Facebook, based on the cover alone I said “Sling Blade Hulk”, just because of Starlin’s Hulk and his massive lower jaw reminded me of Billy Bob Thornton’s frozen facial expression in that movie. Imagine my surprise when Mike brought up the movie in the episode!

    What a great discussion. You two were just having a ball with this, and so was I. I know of this series, but have never read any of it. The covers (including this one) are just gorgeous. The art, with the ink wash is really nice and rich, and I agree Pollard is incredibly underrated.

    Oh, and while I didn’t see this cover as a kid, I did see that giant Hulk ad at the back of a few Marvel treasuries. The giant closeup of the Hulk scared the beejeezus out of me!

    Chris

  6. Does anyone know if the Marvel magazines had a different distributor than the comics? I think the only grocery store in my town that didn’t sell comics (i.e. the one I never wanted to go to) was the only one in town that did have the Hulk magazine. I don’t think that store had the magazine very often because I only had two issues of the magazine, and it came out at the height of my Hulk fandom.

    I really enjoyed the show. Glad to see unusual stuff like the Hulk magazine get discussed.

  7. I only got around to listening to this today, but I have to say, great conversation gentlemen. I never had any of the Rampaging Hulk magazines – I never even knew they existed until many years after its cancellation, as they simply did not appear in any of the magazine racks where I was growing up. I’ve always been fascinated by it, though, and would like to read them someday, so I really enjoy any posts or podcasts about them.
    Also, I’m glad you both noted how awesome Pollard’s art is; yes, he is an underrated and now often quite unfairly forgotten artistic hero of comics in the 1970s and 1980s. He did indeed work as the regular penciler on Amazing Spider-man, Fantastic Four and Thor, among other assignments, often at the same time, putting him up there with Sal Buscema as a workhorse for Marvel at the time.

    By the way, you guys aren’t the first to speculate about why DC never entered the b&w magazine market, and what titles they could have published if they had put their mind to it. The topic came up at the Bronze Age Babies blog a few years ago, with commenters making a lot of great suggestions (horror stories featuring the Phantom Stranger, Swamp Thing or the Spectre; war stories with the likes of Sgt. Rock or the Unknown Soldier, etc.). I thought, and still do think, that it would have been cool if they had done a Warlord magazine, to really let Mike Grell go to town with his creation. Also, I’m surprised DC never tried to at least launch magazines for some of the pulp characters they were licensing back in the 1970s, like the Shadow and the Avenger (Justice, Inc.).

  8. Another great episode! Y’all’s enthusiasm was infectious. I’ve never read these Hulk magazines, but like Mike, I cut my teeth on those black and white PUNISHER magazines. Still have fond memories of those stories, and also like Mike I prefer them in black and white.

    The only Marvel magazine I had growing up was the color RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK adaptation. So good!! …. which i just went on eBay and re-bought thanks to your conversation. Way to jumpstart the economy guys!

    This Hulk cover is AMAZING! So striking. Looks like an ideal wall poster for the 1970s. That should have happened!

    Again, great episode! Thanks for sharing this great discussion with us listeners!

  9. It was funny hearing Rob and Michael talking about the nudity in the Tomb of Dracula magazine being censored in the Essential reprints. My main memory of the nudity was the issue(s?) drawn by Steve Ditko. Even as a teenaged boy who was QUITE aware of how I’d get nudity in Marvel’s magazines (oh, Savage Sword…), seeing Ditko’s nude women was not quite that exciting.

Leave a Reply to Ryan Daly Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *