Despite chronicling the adventures of superhuman beings, comic book creators are prone to the same all-too-human foibles the rest of us are. However, unlike most of us, their gaffes, goofs, and bloopers were published for all the world to see. Sure, the errors are usually fixed if the stories are reprinted, but the originals live on as an endearing testament to demanding deadlines and human fallibility.
This edition of Super Bloopers comes to us courtesy of reader David Morefield. Back in Avengers #2 (1963), teenage sidekick Rick Jones encountered the Incredible Hulk (actually the shape-shifting villain known as The Space Phantom). Considering Rick was the one responsible for Doctor Bruce Banner's transformations into the Hulk...and had been a constant companion of Banner/Hulk ever since...he apparently couldn't remember good doctor's name.
"Doctor Don Blake" was, of course, the human alter-ego of Thor, Asgardian god of thunder and the Hulk's fellow Avenger. Well, look at it this way: By giving the wrong name, Rick's error actually protected the identity of Bruce Banner from the wily Space Phantom, right?
Thanks for the tip and the scan of the panel, David! If any of YOU have some great super-blooper suggestions, send 'em to me. Or, better yet, send me a scan of the panel and I'll post it here!
Well, the Marvel characters' bloopers mirrored those of their co-creator, Stan Lee. We had some fun with this recently. Most people now consider this sort of thing about early Marvel charming.
Off Topic-I was struck at the age of 11 and still remain a fan of the way Jack drew the Hulk so massive in this issue!
Posted by: zubzwank | August 16, 2009 at 07:43 AM
Oh yeah, this is a double blooper page.
What's with the 3 toes for Bob Bruce Banner? (makes him sound like a good ol' southern boy, don't it ya'll?)
Did he jump too high and get a dose of the same cosmic rays Ben got?
Posted by: zubzwank | August 16, 2009 at 07:50 AM