Hard Knocks 4, p 3 (February 2005)
By Jae Lee (1972 -)
11 x 17 in, ink over graphite on board
Coppola Collection

Lee’s moody style is unique. He had a high visibility run at Marvel in the early 1990s on Namor, and memorable outings on The Inhumans, a one-shot issue of Hulk, the Dark Tower adaptations, and this Hulk versus Thing mini-series, Hard Knocks.

The Thing begins to conclude his story about how he defeated the Hulk in battle… Beating the Hulk into submission, the Thing was witness to something the rest of the world had never been privy to at that point: The Hulk changing back into Bruce Banner. Seeing the humanity within the Hulk, the Thing couldn’t bring himself to kill Banner and left him to fight the Hulk again another day. With the story finished, the Thing explains that seeing Banner made him realize that there was still a human inside himself as well. The Hulk is almost touched by the story and before he can say anything more a military missile strikes the diner. Although the military tries to interfere, they only succeed in getting their equipment trashed as the Thing and the Hulk fight it out. However, the battle comes to an end when the Thing reminds the Hulk how he spared his life all those years ago. The two stop fighting and sit down to talk about working on a book deal together and start arguing about percentages.

Hard Knocks 3, p 10 (January 2005)
By Jae Lee (1972 -)
11 x 17 in, ink over graphite on board
Coppola Collection

Lee’s moody style is unique. He had a high visibility run at Marvel in the early 1990s on Namor, and memorable outings on The Inhumans, a one-shot issue of Hulk, the Dark Tower adaptations, and this Hulk versus Thing mini-series, Hard Knocks.

The Thing continues to tell the Hulk his account of the Fantastic Four’s first conflict with the Hulk, and he has revealed a shocker: a satellite photo that shows the Thing standing before a defeated Hulk. However, the Hulk isn’t convinced that the photo is faked. Because the Hulk is not willing to listen, the Thing decides it’s time to go, but this puts the Hulk into a fury. The two come to blows as the military continues to watch from a distance. The Hulk then tells his side of the story as he remembers it.

Hard Knocks 2, p 10 (December 2004)
By Jae Lee (1972 -)
11 x 17 in, ink over graphite on board
Coppola Collection

Lee’s moody style is unique. He had a high visibility run at Marvel in the early 1990s on Namor, and memorable outings on The Inhumans, a one-shot issue of Hulk, the Dark Tower adaptations, and this Hulk versus Thing mini-series, Hard Knocks.

When trying to get nostalgic with the Hulk at a diner in the middle of nowhere, the Thing has angered his companion enough to start a fight between the two. As the two battle it out, the Thing recounts their first battle against each other and insists that he won the fight. The Hulk believes that the Thing is mistaken and the two continue to trade blows. They chat. And fight. The army shows up.

Hard Knocks 2, p 3 (December 2004)
By Jae Lee (1972 -)
11 x 17 in, ink over graphite on board
Coppola Collection

Lee’s moody style is unique. He had a high visibility run at Marvel in the early 1990s on Namor, and memorable outings on The Inhumans, a one-shot issue of Hulk, the Dark Tower adaptations, and this Hulk versus Thing mini-series, Hard Knocks.

When trying to get nostalgic with the Hulk at a diner in the middle of nowhere, the Thing has angered his companion enough to start a fight between the two. As the two battle it out, the Thing recounts their first battle against each other and insists that he won the fight. The Hulk believes that the Thing is mistaken and the two continue to trade blows. They chat. And fight. The army shows up.

Hard Knocks 1, p 12 (November 2004)
By Jae Lee (1972 -)
11 x 17 in, ink over graphite on board
Coppola Collection

Lee’s moody style is unique. He had a high visibility run at Marvel in the early 1990s on Namor, and memorable outings on The Inhumans, a one-shot issue of Hulk, the Dark Tower adaptations, and this Hulk versus Thing mini-series, Hard Knocks.

The Thing meets with Bruce Banner at the Hard Rock Cafe, a greasy spoon out in the middle of the desert of the American midwest. With the Thing’s arrival all the clients hit the road. Ben tells Banner that he has come on his own, and that he needs to talk.

However, he doesn’t want to talk to Banner, he wants to talk to the Hulk. He then pushes Banner through the wall, triggering a transformation into the Hulk. They chat. And fight.

“Tumbleweeds” (05/02/1978)
by Tom K. Ryan (1929-2019)
22.5 x 11.5 in., ink on paper
Coppola Collection

https://www.lambiek.net/artists/r/ryan_t.htm

Dedicated to the memory of Tom Ryan

From 1965-2007, with his clean art lines and classical, gag-a-day wit, Tom Ryan led a 42-year stint on telling the story of the denizens of Grimy Gulch (population 49), the 6 7/8 Cavalry from the nearby Fort Ridiculous, and the members of the Poohawk tribe.

A classic gag featuring the Poohawk named Lotsa Luck, who only communicates on his snarky notepad, is presented here.

“Tom K. Ryan died March 12, 2019 in Florida. He had devoted 42 of his 92.8 years to the production of a daily comic strip that was among the bellwethers of fresh comedy in newspaper comic strips in the middle of the 20th century. Westerns were all the rage in television of the 1950s and 1960s, and Ryan caught the wave with Tumbleweeds and helped turn comic strip humor in a new direction.”

Introduction to the obituary from The Comics Journal (www.tcj.com/t-k-ryan-dies) written by RC Harvey