Monday, June 25, 2007

"every other day of the week is fine..."

Mondays. Argh.

Stumbled upon this little nugget of internet fun and I thought I would share, because that's the kind of guy I am. Or "yam," in this case:

Popeye vs. Hulk

Charming and stylish, it's a pretty complete tale of triumph and defeat, love and lust, power and pride. And then, after a lengthy, origin-style set-up, it's lots of fighty-time goodness.



I particularly like M. Rasheed's cartoonish slickness. The evocative expressions of the titular sailor man exude a joyful energy and his Sal Buscema-esque Hulk reminds me of just how much I adored the Mantlo-Buscema era of the Incredible Hulk.

The comic perhaps goes on a bit too long, Olive Oyl comes off a little - ahem - flat, and I'm not crazy about phrases like: "...the sailor's weird reality-altering powers...." And I can't say I totally agree with the ending, but it does wrap up neatly and it's definitely worth a read.

If this were a story from the Mantlo-Buscema run, it would have ended with the Hulk beating Popeye, but Olive rejecting him ayway, standing by her man and tending to her wounded sailor. Confused, the Hulk would amble off into the cold night air, wondering what he did wrong, thinking sadly to himself, "Maybe Hulk doesn't want to be left alone, after all..."