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Monday, December 18, 2006

Hulk Abomination

Born in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, Emil Blonsky is a KGB agent and spy who becomes the Abomination after deliberately exposing himself to a greater quantity of the same gamma radiation that transformed Bruce Banner into the Hulk. Blonsky is transformed into a massive green-skinned monster with physical strength exceeding that of the Hulk; in his first appearance, he is more than twice as powerful as the Hulk. Although he retains his mental faculties, Blonsky soon discovers his inability to return to human form.

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Hulk Abomination
The Abomination has repeatedly joined forces with General Thunderbolt Ross to fight the Hulk, but always betrays Ross, first teaming with the Rhino in an attempt to take over Hulkbuster base, and later tricking the Hulk into an alliance and attempting to ransom the captured Kennedy Space Center.
Hulk Abomination
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The Abomination is later briefly lost in space, but is rescued by the U.S. military and revived by MODOK and General Ross. In this third association with Ross, the Abomination is forced to battle the Hulk, but turns against MODOK, who atomizes him. His atomized body reconstitutes itself with the disembodied mind of Tyrannus. This amalgamated being forces Banner to try to cure this condition, but the procedure fails, leaving Tyrannus in the Abomination body and returning Blonsky to human form. Tyrannus briefly operates as the Abomination and attacks Wonder Man, until Ghaur and Llyra restore Tyrannus to normal. Blonsky again becomes the Abomination, but as a mindless beast, and battles She-Hulk and Spider-Man in New York. He later recovers his mental faculties and is hired to steal toxic waste from the Yucca Flats research center, but is caught off guard and doused in toxic waste by the Hulk.

Blonsky blames his condition on Banner and returns to attack his archenemy time and again. Although stronger than the Hulk in a calm state, the Abomination has almost always been beaten by the Hulk's sheer ferocity.
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Hulk Comics

The Hulk debuted in The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962), by writer Stan Lee, penciller and co-plotter Jack Kirby, and inker Paul Reinman. In the first issue, the Hulk was grey. Writer and Marvel editor-in-chief Lee had wanted a color that did not suggest any particular ethnic group. Colorist Stan Goldberg, however, had problems with the grey coloring, resulting in different shades of grey, and even green, in the issue. Stan Lee picked the uncommon color, green. From issue #2 (July 1962) on, Goldberg colored the big brute's skin green. Green was used in retellings of the origin, even to the point of reprints of the original story being re-colored, for the next two decades. The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #302 (Dec. 1984), reintroduced the grey Hulk in flashbacks set close to the origin story. This was reaffirmed in vol. 2, #318 (April 1986), which showed the Hulk was grey at the time of his creation. Since then, reprints of the first issue have displayed the original grey coloring.
Hulk Comics
Hulk Comics
Hulk Comics
The original series was canceled after six issues, with the finale cover-dated March 1963. Lee had written each story, with Kirby penciling the first five issues and Steve Ditko penciling and inking the sixth. The character immediately guest-starred in Fantastic Four #12 (March 1963), and months later became a founding member of the Avengers appearing in just the first two issues of that superhero team's eponymous series (Sept. & Nov. 1963), and returning as an antagonist in issues #3 and #5 (Jan. & May 1964). He then guest-starred in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (July 1964).
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Around this time, co-creator Jack Kirby received a letter from a college dormitory stating the Hulk had been chosen as its official mascot. Kirby and Lee realized their character had found an audience in college-age readers.
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X Men

The X-Men are a team of fictional superhero characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The X-Men series has been adapted in various media, including animated television series, video games and a successful series of films.

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The team's name is a reference to the "X factor", an unknown gene that causes mutant evolution. Co-creator Stan Lee recalled in his book Son of Origins of Marvel Comics that he devised the series' title after Marvel publisher Martin Goodman turned down the initial name which originally referred to "Xtra Powers", "The Mutants." In addition to this "official" explanation, the X-Men are widely regarded, within the Marvel Universe (as well as by the readers of the series), to have been named after Xavier himself. In Uncanny X-Men #309, Xavier claims that the name "X-Men" was never sought out to be a self-tribute. This lends credence to the statement Xavier made in Uncanny X-Men #1, in which Xavier stated he called the team X-Men "for ex-tra power!"
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Sunday, December 10, 2006

Bugs Bunny Robin Hood

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Bugs evolved in a generally Bugs-like direction for a couple of years, emerging fully-developed in the Oscar-nominated A Wild Hare (1940), directed by Tex Avery. It was there that he first munched a carrot, first uttered his trademark line, "Eh, what's up, Doc?", and first kissed Elmer Fudd. The only thing missing was his name. He'd been referred to as "Bugs's Bunny" from the beginning, but it was only in Elmer's Pet Rabbit (1941), directed by Chuck Jones, that he was first called "Bugs Bunny" on-screen.