Customer Reviews

She-Hulk: Jaded

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It confused me to find that a book that had gained popularity recently by being a funny and self-referential look at the Marvel (uni?)verse was being taken in such a serious (and, arguably, self-important direction). I'm not saying that She Hulk can't be a serious character, but this TPB should have a disclaimer on the front: "WARNING: COMPLETE AND UTTER CHANGE IN EDITORIAL DIRECTION". I was looking for somewhat lighthearted, self-aware fare, and I found just another ho-hum comic book.

It was cool that Peter David took over to write for She-Hulk (no one beats Dan Slott's writing). Jennifer Walters can play many different roles, in the Marvel universe. But changing the entire comic within one issue, is what got everyone turned off to the series. Thus leading to its cancellation. Instead of gradually weaning everyone off Jen's original life, David just slams us into insanity and gave little hope to fans of her lightheartedness return. In issue 21, Pug finally started dating Jen and she was finally happy. The next issue, she loses her job, and her life falls apart. With a really short explanation, and loss of Pug from this point on. This would get any fan mad (sure did with me). Then to top it off. When the comic was canceled, David ended the comic in a rushed manner and didn't resolve anything. We get a epic return of an original villain from her Savage days. And he never gets any screen time. Hopefully it doesn't take another 10 years for her to come back. I want a resolution. It's fine to make drama and edger action. Just don't flip a switch on the character. It's a shame really. For a fan who followed her since I was 7 years old.

Things have been rough for She-Hulk lately - if you've read the last 5 volumes, she's gone from top-flight prosecutor and member of the Avengers to getting fired from her job and thrown out of Avengers mansion for her propensity to party. On top of that, her powers have been on the fritz, she joined a superhuman law firm, had some ill-advised love affairs, temporarily lost her powers, ran afoul of Tony "Iron Man" Stark, had to deal with other-dimensional dopplegangers, and got disbarred. Not a good time to be Jennifer Walters.

This new volume, "Jaded," picks right up from these recent events, finding She-Hulk, and a mysterious partner, as bounty hunters tracking down superhuman bail jumpers. Indeed, Shulkie herself is questioning whether or not the idea of being a hero is actually feasible any more. But when a new villain targets her, and some otherworldly villains come calling, will She-Hulk decide to do what she does best? Wait and see.

The Good: A new creative team. Famed comics scribe Peter David (who also wrote The Hulk in days gone by) has taken the reigns of the title and, while he still maintains the campy, comical edge that has alway made She-Hulk a fun character, he has moved away from the tone of the most recent She-Hulk offerings, which had made the comic too madcap in my opinion. Additionally, a new artist (termed in the dust jacket a "rising artistic star") Shawn Moll is the penciller. Previous volumes had relied on a more cartoony style to illustrate She-Hulk's stories, but Moll has a more traditional style that works well with one of the best characters of the House of Ideas - I look forward to watching his style develop.

The Bad: While this is a vast improvement over the past two volumes of the series, it is not without its difficulties. There are patches of dialogue and plot that ring a little hollow, and at times the art is a little uneven.

I heartily recommend this volume to anyone who has followed She-Hulk and likes (generally) the new direction her character has taken. This is not a perfect volume, but as David and Moll continue to get their footing on the title, I'm confident that they will build it into a powerhouse.

She Hulk continues her ongoing conflict and plight in trying to fit in with the rest of America. Skrulls, Badoons, Avengers, and the Absorbing Man - only good scribes like Peter David could throw in a weird assortment of characters and make it work. In fact, the best part about the She Hulk is the storyline's sheer unpredictability. Who knows what's going to happen next?

Though not as silly as past episodes - this is good green fun, but more importantly, good dramatic stuff - all intertwined and well packaged in a Marvel Graphic Novel.

Plus the She Hulk is a lot more fun, and a lot less angst than her emerald cousin Bruce Banner. We like her when she's angry! Kudos go to She Hulk's cover artists - the entire collection is worth getting for the covers alone!

I'll preface this review by saying I'm more of a fan of She-Hulk than I am of Peter David. I read all of Dan Slott's issues, and was throughly enamored with the concept of the superhero law firm angle and having Jen Walters dealing with the aftermath of the superhero battles that we always see in comics. It was an excellent way of showing that when "it's clobberin' tim"e, shortly thereafter it may be "subpoena time" for litigation over damages. After Dan Slott left with issue #21 of his second She-Hulk run, Peter David came in and swiftly destroyed virtually everything that Slott did in those first 33 issues, including my want to read the further adventures of She-Hulk.

Apparently unable to fathom a book that uses intelligence and wit to get it's point across, and devising interesting legal conundrums to do battle with, David immediately drops the reader headfirst into an inexplicable and frankly stupid story where Jen Walters is no longer a lawyer for metahumans, but rather a flimsy clone of "Dog: the bounty hunter". Still keeping the same angle that she deals with super-villains, instead of using her wits to exploit a legal strategy she runs around with a Skrull sidekick beating up on people who jump bail. Lovely.

The main thing intake away from this is that Peter David, if he can't figure out what to do with a certain character, just gives the middle finger to the fans of the book and does what ever he wants. Why? Because he's apparently Peter-Frakking-David, an apparently no one can say no to him for fear of him leaving. Frankly, I wouldn't see a problem with that. David's never been a team player, and he likes to mess with things that people enjoy because he can. Just look at his Star Trek books: he gets sick of writing in continuity with established characters and series, so what does he do? Becomes one of the only writers who is allowed to create his own merry band of misfits so he can write his bat crap insane stories that everyone just smiles and nods at. Why is that allowed? Because occasionally David turns out an okay story that sells pretty well, and they need him to do that to keep up sales. It's kind of like why Tom Cruise keeps getting hired to scat in big movies: we all know he is a crazy scientologist, but occasionally he turns out a major blockbuster hit (something he hasn't done in about a decade or so).

So Peter David basically "retconns without retconning" the past issues we all enjoyed of She-Hulk: Superhero lawyer, and gives cuss his own interpretation for no other reason other than the sake of doing it.

He also leaves She-Hulk completely devoid of humor. When Slott started his run on the series, we saw a departure from the old she hulk style of breaking the fourth wall (something that has since been passed on to Deadpool), but gave us in lieu of that some very humorous situations that never really affected the Marvel universe in broad strokes. You want epic changing event? Read the yearly retconfest that the big 2 do to clean house and shake things up. If you just want a fun romp, read a comedy book that doesn't necessarily take itself too seriously. She-Hulk was that book, but it apparently didn't sell well or David was incapable of following that guideline because that type of book is NOT this She-Hulk.

What I wanted was more of Howard the Duck attempting to sue a well known filmmaker for breach of contract instead of a reality show carbon copy. We already did reality shows in the marvel universe, Peter! And where did that get us? CIVIL WAR, DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA, & THE INITIATIVE. I get enough crappy reality shows invading my home on my TV, I don't need my favorite superhero books turning in to them too.

The real shame of all this is that I know the series goes to Issue #38, but I will not read them, especially from what I've heard about how badly David butchered the 16 issues he did on the run. She-Hulk deserved better, she deserved someone who wasn't afraid to write comedy with a little bit of melodrama here and there, she deserved to have someone who wouldn't completely crap all over her character's job and nature, and she certainly didn't deserve the ending I heard she go on this run.

Shame on you, Peter David. Do us all a favor and take all the money you've made off the blood of the characters you've messed up and retire early, you hack.

OK it's Peter David writing She-Hulk but it's almost as good as his run on the HULK. If he stays on She-Hulk for eight years like he did the HULK than I'm sure everyone is in for a fun ride.