Customer Reviews

She-Hulk - Volume 7: Here Today? (v. 7)

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I've followed the re-vamped She-Hulk series from the first volume, and was initially very impressed by Dan Slott's efforts at re-imagining the character and trying to make her a more vital part of the Marvel Universe. Then things started to unravel. Now, after the departure of Slott from the title, Peter David has taken up writing duties with mixed results, and She-Hulk is becoming more confused. However, I think there's light at the end of the tunnel.

In this volume, picking right up after volume 6, She-Hulk and her nigh-immortal, shape-shifting Skrull pal, Jazinda, are on the trail of a mysterious fellow who destroyed a tavern in the last volume. At the same time, She-Hulk runs into an equally mysterious man from her past, who holds the key to why She-Hulk was disbarred and has since become a bounty hunter. The resolution of these two story elements are too involved (and absurd) to go into here. Suffice it to say they work themselves out. However, the volume also includes the story "Cosmic Collision," in which Shulkie, Sue Storm, Quasar, and other characters take on a murderous cosmic menace.

The Good: The art of this series is improving. The pencils for the first part of the volume are quite passable; however, they seem, at times, to have been carelessly inked. In "Cosmic Collision," the pencils are done by another artist, and are decidedly up to the great Marvel standard. Also, the "Cosmic Collision" story harkens back to the great Marvel days of yore when you didn't have to worry about Civil War continuity and could go on and have a great old-fashioned slugfest out in the middle of outer space.

The Bad: Unfortunately, I'm still having trouble getting a handle on where the story is supposed to be going. The tale told here is just so convoluted that I just had to scratch my head and say, "Wha?" I understand that it was needed as a framing device so that we could understand what's going on in the Jade Giantess's life at the moment, but there must have been a better way to do it. Hercules makes an appearance late in the book, and while I love that character, he isn't handled very well at all - indeed, his trademark Shakespearean banter has been totally replaced in this volume so that he's basically talking like normal character, which is disappointing.

Despite the many issues I have with this volume, I am getting the feeling that Peter David is finding his footing with the character, and the art is greatly improving. I've kept with this title for a while, and I'm hoping to keep with it a while longer.