Incredible Hulk #5 - Tyrannus.

As I prowl the storm drains of Sheffield, people often say to me, "Steve, I always find you to be a winning combination of Alexander the Great and John Hurt's Caligula. Is that an effect that comes naturally to you, or have you had to work at it?"

I always reply, "Much as I'd like to claim it's all spontaneous, I do have a role model."

That role model is Tyrannus, malevolent master of an underworld kingdom I first encountered in The Mighty World of Marvel's reprint of Incredible Hulk #5.

I knew at once that Tyrannus was my kind of villain, possessed as he was of far more style than the Mole Man could ever hope to match.

What happens in his first appearance is that, like all good underground villains, he wants to invade the surface world.

Sadly, he's scared the surface world'll fight back.

So, posing as an archaeologist, he kidnaps Betty Ross, on the grounds that we'll never dare resist invasion if there's the danger she might get hurt.

Yes, that's how wars work. One side won't bother to defend itself if its attacker has a hostage - especially one no one's ever heard of. With tactical chops like that, all of a sudden I'm starting to see why Tyrannus always loses to the Mole Man.

Needless to say, the Hulk's determined to put a stop to all this subterranean subterfuge.

But it's a different Hulk than the one we're used to. There's none of that, "Why does pretty deer not like Hulk?" nonsense. It's more a case of, "Clam up, Bambi, or you'll get a slap." Still floundering around to try and work out how to make the strip work, Stan Lee's clearly decided to make the Hulk more like the Fantastic Four's early Thing. So we get him running around in swimming trunks, talking in slang and being noticeably anti-social. And, even though he's no Reed Richards, in his exchanges with Rick Jones and Betty Ross, it quickly becomes clear that he's somehow the brains of the trio.

I've always had a soft spot for this story. For all his stupidity, Tyrannus is my kind of villain, and I do like the stroppy Hulk. I also like the way he does a Samson and brings the pillars of Tyrannus' kingdom crashing down on him. I remember copying that scene with my pencil and paper on more than one occasion as a child.

One thing that does strike me is there's a scene where Rick Jones, for once in the tale, shows some gumption and rescues Betty from her cell by putting on a guard's armour and releasing her, a scene that bears a remarkable resemblance to the one in Star Wars where Luke Skywalker does the same to rescue his snog-buddy/sister Princess Leia.

But that could never be, could it? George Lucas borrowing from Marvel Comics?

Super-hero movies you want to see!

Because I always follow Casey Kasem's advice and keep both ears to the ground and my feet in the clouds, I happen to have noticed there's an Avengers movie out at the moment.

Such is my attentiveness that I know all about it.

Apparently, it was written and directed by the late Bert Weedon and stars Scarlet Johnsen as Emma Peel, while Patrick McNee reprises his old role of the Incredible Hulk. I think we all remember his classic line from the old TV shows; "Grab my bowler, Sarah Jane, I do believe I'm turning irradiated."

Sadly, being a low-budget movie with little publicity behind it, it's not likely to do much at the box office. Such is the way with these home-grown British movies. However, coming as it does after a spate of comic book adaptations, it does raise the question of what other super-hero movies one would like to see.

There was a time when I'd have loved to have seen a Killraven movie. Admittedly, that was before I'd reacquainted myself with the comics and realised just how unfilmable they probably were.

I bow to no one in my admiration for Ant-Man but fear the multiplex masses may not be ready yet for one man's battle to escape from within a glass tumbler.

Therefore, I must bow to the inevitable and demand a Defenders movie. Who wouldn't thrill to the sight of the least coordinated super-team of them all fighting the forces of fiendomness?

So, that's me accounted for, but which super-heroes who've yet to hit the big screen would you like to see immortalised in celluloid?

Sal Buscema's all-time Top Ten Avengers covers.

All lovers of the Buscema brothers'll be no doubt interested to know there's a new Comic Book Resources interview with Sal Buscema right here. But the first time Sal came to my attention was when he first took over the reins of The Avengers, a strip that had already been made great by his big brother John.

Happily, Sal didn't let the family tradition down, and kicked off in grand style by completing the tale of Ultron's rebirth as Adamantium Antagonist.

Sal only seems to have done ten Avengers covers in the time-frame this blog covers - and that sounds like a cue for me to fling myself once more into the Fields of Controversy by doing my own personal Top Ten of Sal Buscema Avengers covers.

#10.

The titanic trouble-busters find themselves up against the maddening menace of Kang's Growing Man.

#9.

Scorpio crashes in.

#8.

As if it's not enough that those cosmic creeps Ronan and the Sentry have captured Captain Marvel, they've even enlisted the aid of Goliath.

Still, at least the Avengers have Rick Jones on their side.

#7.

Who says Henry Pym has no sense of fun? Why, as the cover of issue #90 shows, there's nothing he likes more to do with his spare time than to go out clubbing.

#6.

The Avengers meet the Squadron Sinister for a cover with strong echoes of big brother John's classic frontispiece to Avengers Annual #2.

#5.

Can it be?

Can the Vision be dead?

#4.

In World War Two, the Avengers take on the Golden Age heroes the world - and Roy Thomas - would come to know as The Invaders.

#3.

The Hulk?

Being shrunk down like Ant-Man?

This calls for the Avengers.

#2.

Our heroes at the mercy of a crackletastic Ultron!

The power!

The drama!

The menace!

#1.

Poor old Captain Marvel. He rarely had a happy time of it.

Still, he did at least have the honour of launching an entire epic.

Forty years ago today - May 1972.

Mere days ago, the world's 38th best blog about comics looked at what our favourite Marvel heroes were up to exactly fifty years ago. Now to see what they were up to precisely ten years later.

No doubt those intervening years brought greater maturity and an increased willingness to sort out problems by negotiation rather than fisticuffs.

Conan continues his team-up with Elric.

I still don't think it was a combination that really worked but the forces of evil had still better watch out.

Spider-Man comes to the rescue of Flash Thompson whose Vietnam past catches up with him.

It's OK but, on reflection, it's probably my least favourite story from the first ten years of Spider-Man's history.

Barry Smith's second stint on The Avengers continues, as the forces of Olympus cause yet more trouble for Hercules and his mates.

I don't like to prejudge a comic but I do generally feel that any issue that has Batroc on the cover probably isn't going to be a masterpiece.

Another of those stories I've read but have no recollection of.

I do always wonder why people don't just throw a bucket of water over Electro.

Or maybe I'm just showing my ignorance of electricity.

This is more like it.

The Silver Surfer?

John Buscema?

Galactus causing mischief in a funfair?

What more could you ask of a comic?

Was there such a thing as a bad Hulk story from this era?

No there wasn't.

Was there even such a thing as a mediocre Hulk story from this period?

No there wasn't.

That means it's another classic as Jade Jaws finds himself up against a politician who turns out to be even more of a creep than all the others.

I've no idea what happens in this one but I do love its Gil Kane cover.

Any Thor story that has Hela in it is good enough for me - especially one where she's effectively the good guy.

I still think she should've been shown totalling Pluto though.

Frankly, he's nothing compared to Julie.

I've decided Hela's real name is Julie.

I have no reason for this.

The All-Time Greatest Super-Villain - You have decided!

Over the bank holiday, those of us lucky enough to live in Perfidious Albion have been thrilling to the clacking and thunking of the World Snooker Championships.

But Steve Does Comics has played host to a contest far more exciting than even a game of snooker - and that's the poll to decide just who is the greatest super-villain of them all.

Two made the final; Dr Doom and Darkseid. They're both men of ambition but which of them was to leave the table with a maximum break and which was to depart empty handed?

After a hard-fought contest involving thirty two votes, I can announce...

...that Dr Doom is the greatest super-villain of them all, with a mighty twenty seven votes to Darkseid's five.

So, well done to Doomy and hard luck to Darkseidy.

As always, thanks to all who voted. It just goes to show democracy can work.

Fifty years ago today - May 1962.

Within but hours, those of us in the land they call Blighty will be celebrating the May Bank Holiday. But you won't catch our favourite Marvel heroes prancing round the Maypole. Good God no. Even fifty years ago today, they were too busy chinning the badly behaved.

The Fantastic Four show their ability to cause as many problems as they solve, by once more unleashing the Savage Sub-Mariner on the world.

He might not have known if he was a hero or a villain but, like all of the FF's early foes, he knew one thing - Sue Storm was put on this Earth to be kidnapped.

It's a moment to celebrate, as the Fantastic Four are suddenly no longer alone.

At last they have another super-hero to share their universe with when Bruce Banner gets himself blown up and the Incredible Hulk makes his debut in a tale filled with more than its fair share of the Russian spies who caused so much trouble in the Marvel Universe.

You can't blame Bruce Banner though. How could he possibly have known that his assistant Igor was secretly a Russian? It's not like there were any clues.

It's the all time greatest super-villain of all time, time.

They say the English Premier League is a marathon, not a sprint but even the doings of Manchester City vs Manchester United pale into insignificance beside Steve Does Comics' quest to find the greatest super-villain of them all.

In a series of polls that stretched the internet to its very limits, many were called but few were chosen.

In fact, two were chosen.

Incredibly, neither of them were Crazy Quilt or the Masked Marauder. Instead, Marvel's victor was Victor - otherwise known as Von Doom. DC's winner was Darkseid - otherwise known as Darkseid.

That means it's time for us to pitch them head-to-head and vote for the all-time greatest super-villain of them all. Both are evil. Neither of them would've existed if not for Jack Kirby but, of the two nefarious nogoodniks, which is best?

Remember, only you can decide.