Superhero comics: What insane story/character developments do avid followers take for granted but would blow the minds of anyone only peripherally aware of them?

Cold lampin'!

not a comic book dude, didn't read the whole thread, and a whole lot i read was inside baseball to me, but my mind was still blown several times, good werk.

Nightwing being the son of Zod blows my mind. I didn't know the name had an origin in the Superman comics at all.

The one from a few years ago that is pretty high on the yuck factor is the idea that Gwen Stacy, Spider-man's girlfriend who died in a battle with the Green Goblin in the early 70s in a recent story had that re-written that Gwen was sleeping with the Green Goblin and had had twins by him and that Mary Jane knew about it the whole time. That has to be one of the bigger WTF things I have come across since starting to read these things a few years ago. I guess it was all just a precursor to the idea that Spider-man would make a deal with the devil (or Mephisto--hope you remember my name) to get his secret identity back and save Aunt May.

All I can say is if you love Spider-man comics, in some ways you are just better off not knowing what has been going on the last 20 years or so. I don't even really want to know what that whole clone thing was about, it seems too weird.

Oh yeah, Catwoman had a kid, but not with Batman.

Gwen was sleeping with the Green Goblin and had had twins by him and that Mary Jane knew about it the whole time.

That's just gross.

Yeah, that was exactly when the JMS run went sour. Such a shame, because before that it was pretty good.

http://i45.tinypic.com/jgtkj5.jpg

damn, i'm glad i don't follow canon anymore

from Rob Liefeld thread:
"The link says it's Kaare Andrews. I think he's the guy who wrote and drew that weird Spider-Man dystopia story, where Mary Jane was killed by Spider-Man's radioactive sperm.
.
what
.
yes, it happened"

Definitely NOT taken for granted; it was not in continuity, and all the comics fans I know were all WTF? when it happened. Thankfully ignored/forgotten for the most part, unless you want to elicit groans and or laughter.

oh! apologies all around!

Don't apologize - it is always good to mention that it was an actual, sanctioned, Marvel product that involved Spider-Man having RADIOACTIVE SPLOOGE. Someone, somewhere, thought that this was an idea worth sharing with the buying public.

Seriously, it was awful. Making a Dark Knight Returns-inspired geriatric Spider-Man story was already a bad idea, but that particular bit was the worst of it.

Now I kinda want to read it. :-/

Isn't that the way it is though...

This was mentioned in another thread, but it really needs to be included here too.

http://www.savagecritic.com/brian/i-have-read-the-worst-comic-i-have-ever-read/

And, of course, Superman is about to walk across America in order to draw attention to the plight of the family farmer.

Race. To. The. Bottom.

Rulk turned out to be General Ross btw.

waht

And She-Rulk is the alive again Betty Ross.

Why the hell are you reading the Loeb HULK to begin with?

I read the first two issues (utter trainwreck), then have been reading discussions of it on other boards. Sadly, it's currently crossing over with real Hulk in this Fall of Hulks/World War Hulks fiasco, so I kind of have to be aware of it to understand the story.

Shameful admission: Ed McGuinness is the perfect artist for that book. And his stuff looks soooo good in b/w before it gets the candy-color treatment.

And I read the first issue off the Marvel Comics digital store 'cause it was free. I can't imagine following that mess.

How did World War Hulks turn out? I tried to read some of it, but the issues of it I did were nothing but Hulk foe history to get you up to speed on the story that you were supposed to be reading.

I cut it loose when Herc died, but for some reason the LCS put the reveal week in my slot.

Just read the Fall of the Hulks prelude trade. The artist on the last issue in the collection, where She-Rulk stabs Rulk with the sais, gave me bad '90s flashbacks. Ugh.

I think Marvel has plotted itself into a corner with all this Green Hulks-Red Hulks crap. It's horrible. The characters are too powerful to interact with the rest of the M.U. On the other hand, I agree that McGuinness' stuff looks good.

What in the name of sweet fuck is a Rulk?

For some reason (read: he's an idiot), Jeph Loeb decided to come up with a new way to say Red Hulk.

Sadly, though they introduced the Rulk and She-Rulk, they didn't do Roc Ramson. Missed opportunity.

Man, almost forgot they made Rick Jones into the new Abomination, called A-Bomb.

Loeb hurts my brain.

Ruh roh.

Of course, Rulk will beget a whole range of rainbow hulks. Orulk, Yulk, Grulk (the original), Blulk, Indiulk, Vulk.

Yes, this is likely an old joke.

agh, hope to hell Loeb doesn't read this board, because it sounds like something he would actually do

lol @ "Indiulk"

BLULK BLULK BLULK BLULK

Indiulk is immature and afraid of the middle parts of his body. All the other *ulks laugh at Indiulk. Indiulk writes furiously in his three-ring binder.

I'm afraid to even mention the Hulked-Out Heroes and Hulkpool thing...

This thread is gold (gulk?). Thank you all so much.

Gwen Stacy getting it on w/the Green Goblin is extra gross, though.

I haven't read this new Rulk stuff, but it's kinda sad if they've managed to screw up Hulk so quickly after Greg Pak's awesome run. World War Hulk and especially Planet Hulk were the best Hulk stories I've read in years. Though TBH I would have preferred it if Hulk's outer space adventures would've continued longer, as Pak managed to move Hulk into an interesting new setting and give him a well-fleshed new supporting cast, which is kind of a rare feat with such an old and established character. As fun as WWH was, it was still just the basic Hulk story (Hulk just wants to exist peacefully, but others manage to fuck that up for him, so he goes into an angry rampage) taken to its logical extreme, so it's kinda difficult to think of new things to do with the character after that. The Conan style barbarian-on-the-road-to-kinghood story of Planet Hulk would've provided a better premise for fresh new Hulk stories.

Dr. Superman, I don't _think_ Jason Todd has his own comic.

WHO IS READING COMICS NOW, BIG BOY?
http://comicsmedia.ign.com/comics/image/article/107/1078280/batman-the-origin-of-red-hood-20100317034100119_640w.jpg

Dr. Superman, you win!

Also: one of Gwen and the Green Goblin's twins currently has his own miniseries.

(obviously that was intended as overstuffed Gordon Ramsay funny haha and not actual internet doucheface pwnage slapdown)

Just to jump on the dogpile, the last issue of Rise of Arsenal (Q: Where, exactly, is the Rise?) was despicable on all levels and has really made me depressed as a comics lover and a father.

So browsing the comic shelf today, I guess that Thunderbolt Ross turns out to be the Rulk. WTF?

This is still going on. I like Fear Agent, but this is still a weird way to take the Punisher, hell they retitled his book for the last couple of months.
http://warrocketajax.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/frankencastle1.jpg

As wacked out as it might seem, I kind of thought the first issue of that Jason Todd mini-series was decent. It all depends on the follow through...

If I was a comic writer, Rick Jones would be the coolest guy in the room. I think that character is WAY under played and potential under appreciated. Here you have a true everyman character that is basically every stoner dude with an acoustic guitar that has somehow ended up up tied to the origin of the Hulk, a member of the Avengers, serious cog in the Kree/Skrull War, side kick to Captain America, pretty much 1/2 of Captain Marvel and whatever wacky shit he has gotten into for the last 20 years that I have not experienced.

I keep hoping that Bendis gets into Rick Jones and does some more with him, as from that small Alias story, he kind of gets what you could do with the character.

Pretty much him and Snapper Carr should be seriously kick ass characters for some of these guys to use.

"For some reason (read: he's an idiot), Jeph Loeb ___________" is pretty much the reason/apologia for everything Loeb has ever done.

P.S. I am continuing to buy and read Pak Hulk and completely ignoring the existence of Loeb Rulk. Don't really feel like I'm missing much aside from potential incompetence-induced rage-outs.

I'd probably have kept reading if it had stayed Planet Hulk. That was some entertaining stuff, even if it was sort of Jarella meets Spartacus.

Oh, my favorite only-fans-would-get-it development from DC lately is Deadman resurrecting baby birds.

Since there's no general 'Jeph Loeb sucks and is awful' thread: prepare for all of Marvel's future TV and video projects to suck and be awful.

why

why does this man continue to get work

is "meets deadlines" really THAT much more important than "has ideas"

shaking my damn head
gritting my damn teeth

Remember what happened to Heroes? We got THAT SAME GUY to oversee the new Spider-Man movies!