Always liked Ulik. As he says, he was the "mightiest" of the Rock Trolls, and he was one of the Thor villains who could go toe to toe with Thor. They had some awesome slugfests.
Ulik, as drawn by Kirby looked well able to take on the Thunder God. The two battled on three memorable Kirby covers as seen below.
Don't know what's become of Ulik, as it's been over a decade since I was paying close attention to Marvel, but I hope he's happy, or at least less grumpy.
More Troll action tomorrow.
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I find those old Thor stories totally unreadable nowadays because of the ridiculous cod-Shakespearean dialogue - "Have at thee, base villain" and that sort of nonsense. Why would Norse gods speak like characters from Ye Olde Englande anyway? As a kid it didn't bother me because I didn't know any better but I'd avoid the classic Thor stories now I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteTo each his own my friend. I find that overblown dialogue still works for me.
DeleteOh I love those early Thor comics and the use of language to denote Thor and his pals are not "modetn" humans -they couldn't speak old Norwegian Colin, most of us wouldn't understands it . I thought it was a very creative touch. All those tales were classics, like yourself Rip I'm not sure if Ulik in is still used but knowing Marvel he will have been reinvented several times
ReplyDeleteI just looked him up at the Marvel Database and he's been very busy. He's been used to infiltrate Asgard in a completely different guise.
DeleteA cool character right out of the 1950's-era Atlas. I have to say, though, that Vinnie Colletta's inks drive me crazy. As a kid, Thor was my favorite super-hero and Kirby's inkers always seemed to get passed around like a cheap date. The lines were always way too thin for Kirby's dynamic breakdowns. I think Mike Royer suited him best. Word has it that Kirby said Royer was his favorite inker, but it was always in the same breath as a few others. Nevertheless, Royer stuck with him for the rest of his career.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Royer was the ideal for Kirby in general, and I loved the look of Bill Everett's inks on Thor. But I'm a fan of Colletta's work on Kirby and I know that's heresy, but I just am. There's a delicacy on top of the power that appeals to me.
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