In California, we have earthquake insurance.  In Hawaii and Florida, residents can buy hurricane insurance.  What type of protection does a homeowner really need in the Marvel Universe? 

Hulk insurance!

Great faux insurance ad, drawn by Dale Keown during his merged Hulk period, from the 1992 Marvel Swimsuit special.  The Hulk from this period of time was always one of my favorite versions of the character, and only Keown could draw that wicked look on his face.  Nuff said.

In a publicity event timed with San Diego Comic Con 2009, Activision and Vicarious Visions revealed that Phoenix (Jean Grey) will be a playable character in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.  The model looks pretty detailed in this screenshot as you can see.  How much you want to bet they’ve made a red skin to turn her into Dark Phoenix?

You can see Phoenix in action on this clip from Gametrailers, and the model looks as good in the game as it does in the picture above.  The Hulk is also in this clip—take note of how his skin is breaking up and bleeding light green.

G4TV has an interesting interview with Evan Skolnick, the former Marvel editor/writer who worked on New Warriors and other series.  Skolnick now works for Vicarious Visions, as the lead writer on MUA2.  Apparently, you are given the choice early on in the game whether you are pro-registration or anti-registration.  It seems like most of the Marvel characters will follow your choice.   I imagine that certain characters like Captain America and Iron Man have to chose the same sides they did in the comics.  Nuff said.

Google just released comic book themes for iGoogle, and there's several Marvel characters available:  Captain America, Spider-Woman, Iron Man, etc.  I chose the Hulk theme, which you see above.  The cool thing about this feature, is that the banner image rotates whenever you visit your Google page.  The above image was taken from Planet Hulk.  There are two more banners, one with an image from Mike Deodato, another from Dale Keown's classic cover to Hulk #377.  Cool beans.  Nuff said.

How many more Adam Hughes Marvel Swimsuit pin-ups can I unearth from the Marvel vault?  Lo, this trio of lethal ladies, true believers!

This Black Widow pin-up was the centerfold of the 1993 Marvel Swimsuit issue.  Natasha looks super lithe and sexy here, and a little bit dangerous as well.  I love how she's taken the clip out of her gun.  The rock formation on the background makes up a web pattern--very clever!  This is a great illustration, everything from the design, Natasha's facial expression, and the coloring are superb.

Marvel fan Leo Yen owns the original art to this Black Widow pinup.  You can visit Len Yao's gallery at ComicArtFans to see more of his collection.

From the 1995 Marvel Swimsuit issue, Hughes did this nifty illustration of Silver Sable getting ready to take a dive.  Notice that her one piece suit is silver and she's dangling a grenade around her neck.  Just in case Sable needs to blow up and underground lair while diving!  This piece really reminds of the work of Alphonse Mucha, who is an influence on many artists.

The next image from the 1993 Swimsuit special is my absolute favorite Adam Hughes pin-up, one that has burned itself permanently in my memory.  Can you name who it is without reading the caption?

This sneaky blonde is--Val Cooper from the 1990s X-Factor team!  A very obscure choice for a pin-up girl.  Val Cooper was the government liaison for Peter David's X-Factor team that consisted of Havok, Polaris, Quicksilver, etc.  Val wasn't a super-hero, and she dressed conservatively in the X-Factor comic.  I've no idea how the editors or Adam Hughes picked her for this issue.  But I find Val super sexy here, as she strikes a pose in this X-Factor themed bikini, hat, and trench coat.  The trench coat really seals the deal--anyone see that episode of Rescue Me where Andrea Roth surprised Denis Leary in a trench coat?  Perhaps this image is also a mark of the time period--the film Basic Instinct came out in 1992--Sharon Stone made deadly blondes very sexy back then.

In case you missed it, check out Part 1 of my Adam Hughes Marvel Swimsuit retrospective.  Nuff said!

Adam Hughes has always excelled at drawing babes and adding a little humor to his compositions as well.  In 1994 he contributed a number of stellar pinups for the fourth Marvel Swimsuit Special--which took place in Attilan and the Blue Area of the Moon.

The cover featured Sue Storm getting her freak on with Namor the Sub-Mariner.  Is there any reason why Sue wouldn't want to have a fling with the undersea prince?  She looks pretty fantastic and her leg is slightly opaque to reveal Namor's speedo.

Janet Van Dyne looks pretty luscious in this one piece outfit.  My first impression was there is nothing funny going on here.  But look behind the Wasp to see the bulging thongs behind her, belonging to Wonder Man and Captain America.

This Scarlet Witch pinup is really clever.  She's not wearing a swimsuit per se.  Wanda has used her magic to disassemble her costume--helmet, gloves, cape, etc--leaving only her red centerpiece intact.  How many thirteen year old boys fantasized about undraping the Scarlet Witch?  Adam Hughes sure did.

Here is the funniest piece of this 1994 set.  The Sensational She-Hulk--a must-have babe for any swimsuit special--sitting on top of my favorite dog in the Marvel Universe: Lockjaw!  Clearly, Jen has been using Lockjaw's teleportation powers to zip around to the best beaches.  They've been to Rio and Jamaica and god knows where else, from the stickers plastered on Lockjaw's back.  Jen's bag is packed with thongs, and the creepy Watcher is lurking in the background on the left.  I pity poor Lockjaw, he just looks exhausted from hauling Jen all over the world!  Nuff said.

George Perez contributed a couple of neat pinups for the Marvel Swimsuit issues.  Who better than Perez to draw some cute Marvel babes?

She-Hulk and the Wasp in the Savage Land, circa 1991.  Jen must have imported those high heels and jewelry.  A goofy looking dinosaur looks on in amazement.

Black Bolt and Medusa on Monster Island in 1993.  Drawing Medusa in the nude with nothing but that fantastic red hair to cover herself was a stroke of genius.  I couldn’t recognize Black Bolt until I read the caption and saw the bolts on his speedo.  I suppose I just wasn’t looking at him immediately.  Nuff said.

Beginning in 1991, Marvel started publishing an annual series of Swimsuit magazines, full color pinups of heroes and villains in skimpy beach ware.  Modeled after Sports Illustrated, each issue took place in one of Marvel's fictional locations.  The first issue took place in the Savage Land.  Here's a trio of pinups from 1991 featuring the Avengers.

Captain America and Diamondback.  Although it's not signed, I believe this was drawn by Michael Golden!  The other Swimsuit issues often featured Cap in a red white and blue speedo, but this was probably the best one.  If you like that sort of thing...not that there's anything wrong with that.  Diamondback was Cap's gal pal during this period.  I have fond memories of her.  She's featured in all the other swimsuit issues as well.

Thor and Sif relaxing as Loki lurks in the background.  Drawn by Ron Frenz and Joe Sinnott.  Thank goodness that Frezy didn't draw Thor in a speedo.  Hard for me to imagine a Thunder God on the beach in a resort:  Verily, I'd like another Pina Colada.  What would Loki do?  Make it a virgin?

Here is one of the best illustrations in all these swimsuit specials: Scarlet Witch by Mike Mignola.  She's sexy without being voluptuous and Mignola's use of shadows and blacks really makes the magic seem wonderful.  Nuff said.

Here is a John Buscema illustration from the first Marvel Swimsuit issue in 1991.

No idea if this was created for the magazine or lifted from an earlier comic book.  I still think it looks pretty nifty, and the Surfer is indeed "still hanging ten" by surfing the spaceways.  Nuff said.