Arctic Ink Comics Review

After a promising but a bit inconsistent first issue , the Incredible Hulk was in a position success-wise that could go either way: many popular and strong series started out scrambling, but found their footing a few issues down the line. On the other hand, finding that kind of success would require winning over the reader with intentional and consistently good issues, and since we already know the series only lasted for six issues, we can draw the conclusion that the Hulk failed to do so. In this retrospective series, I'm looking for the particular failings behind that lack of lasting success, and the signs are already sprouting up in the next two issues. Unnecessary aliens! The Incredible Hulk #2: "The Terror of the Toad Men!" Writers: Stan Lee Artists: Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko Editor: Stan Lee Publication Date: May 1, 1962 Cover Date: July 1962 Art by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. © Marvel Comics. The second issue of the Incredible Hulk is to...

So far the X-Men has been a case of a lot of good ideas not living up to their potential mostly due to weak plotting and shaky character motivations. Issue #4 feels like a conscious effort to fix that, while simultaneously significantly widening the scope of the story: we're not talking about bank robberies or recruitment here, this is a tale about a sovereign nation being taken over by a villain, and a cast of antagonists that genuinely justifies the presence of the whole squad of X-Men. It's also the first story in the series that comes across as an intentional take on the complicated concept of moral questions that can't be answered cleanly. A slow start... X-Men #4: "The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants!" Writers: Stan Lee Artists: Jack Kirby & Paul Reinman Editor: Stan Lee Publication Date: January 3, 1964 Cover Date: March 1964 Art by Jack Kirby, Paul Reinman and Art Simek. © Marvel Comics. I don't really know why Stan Lee and Ja...