She-Hulk, v. 7: Here Today ...

Collects: She-Hulk #28-30, She-Hulk: Cosmic Collision (2008-9)

Released: March 2009 (Marvel)

Format: 112 pages / color / $14.99 / ISBN: 9780785129660

What is this?: She-Hulk finally tracks down her tormentor from Peter David’s first arc and reveals why she was disbarred.

The culprits: Written by Peter David and Pencils by Val Semeiks and Mahmud Asrar

I like writer Peter David usually. His X-Factor was great in the ‘90s, as was his Incredible Hulk. Madrox and its current follow-up, X-Factor, v. 3, are excellent. Really, David is one of my favorite comics writers, great with characters and humor, and I consistently look forward to his work.

But there are times … there are times he seems to misfire. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, v. 1: Derailed was one of those times. I wasn’t wild about David’s first She-Hulk volume, She-Hulk, v. 6: Jaded, either. Unfortunately, She-Hulk, v. 7: Here Today... seems to be another misstep.

In Here Today, David finally lets slip why She-Hulk was disbarred before Jaded: she was goaded into attacking a client and revealing his guilt. On the surface, it makes sense; however, any criminal defense lawyer knows they will occasionally defend a guilty client and might even get them acquitted. None of her explanations — her “savage” nature getting loose or wanting to punish herself — are entirely convincing. Mind control might be convincing, but it’s not offered as a solution.

There seems a bit of laziness in the plotting, and because of that, the story in #28-30 mostly fails to engage. There’s a shadowy conspiracy behind She-Hulk’s torments; sure, there is. Why? I don’t know, and not only do I not care, I can’t summon the energy to tell you how little I care. She-Hulk goes back to the casual sex, this time with a passing Hercules, who happens to know how to take out the villain of the story most easily. (Who really doesn’t do much, despite being used as a plot device for a half-dozen issues.) And there are still jokes about Juggernaut, which should have been retired at the end of Dan Slott’s run.

(And a personal objection: I’m not sure there’s anyone who knows the Cleveland Browns were 4-12 in 2007 and doesn’t know about the Dog Pound and the loyalty of Browns fans, unless Jen is some secret fantasy football freak. I had no idea what Cleveland’s record was in any year, frankly, but Cleveland football fandom is easily remembered. It’s like knowing Oliver Twist was first published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 but never having heard of Fagin.)

Overall, I like the art from Val Semeiks, who pencils #28-30. There are the usual distortions of She-Hulk — one extremely peculiar one in which the reclining She-Hulk’s butt and shoulders seem to keep her waist about a foot from her cot — but his straightforward style fits the story and character. There’s some strange shift in style during #30 — a change in inkers, perhaps — that is less enjoyable, one that makes the Skrull Jazinda look like a half-plant creature when she transforms.

The last part issue of the collection, Cosmic Collision, comes out of nowhere. At the end of #30, Jazinda has a sudden flash about “the Talisman,” whatever that is, and then she and Jennifer are off. Then Collision skips to the pair tracking a minor superhuman in Milwaukee before they are whisked off by the Collector to battle the avatar of a cosmic force. I get the feeling this issue was shoehorned into the collection to make the collection book length; Collision was released several months after the other issues in Here Today and doesn’t seem to dovetail well in terms of continuity.

As for the content of Collision, I appreciate David’s attempt at humor, giving a light touch to Marvel’s space characters who could easily be taken too seriously, but the plot doesn’t engage me: gather together a bunch of heroes solely on the basis of being female, despite their differing shticks and temperaments. (It’s the only way you can stick Storm and Thundra on the same team, really.) Cosmic avatars bore me, especially when they rampage blindly and are nearly all powerful. The art, supplied by Mahmud Asrar, is compellingly simple while avoiding cartooniness and still telling the story; his faces are a little dodgy occasionally. However, I wonder whether he was in on the joke of giving the unfeminine female killing force, Unum, a stereotypical “sexy” costume, given some of his angles on She-Hulk, and the art on the “friendly fire” incident makes Quasar look like an idiot or malicious.

The disinterest inspired by Here Today essentially quashes any curiosity I had about the rest of David’s She-Hulk run, which goes for two more volumes. I can hold out hope that it improves, but since the title’s been cancelled, the apathy is overwhelming. Even if he does turn it around and develop something interesting, why should I care? She-Hulk, as I know it, is over.

Rating: (2 of 5)

She-Hulk, v. 6: Jaded

Collects: She-Hulk #22-7 (2007-8)

Released: August 2008 (Marvel)

Format: 152 pages / color / $14.99 / ISBN: 9780785125631

I getting a bit weary and leery of direction changes on titles I enjoy.

I’ve made no secret of how much I enjoyed Dan Slott’s run on She-Hulk, and although I’m happy he has a high-profile job on Amazing Spider-Man, I have no interest in following him to a step backwards into Spider-Man’s development.

So for She-Hulk, v. 6: Jaded, the new writer is Peter David. David has a good track record, especially with titles that he can play tongue in cheek, and She-Hulk hasn’t been played straight for quite a while.

David introduces a new status quo, in which She-Hulk has been disbarred and is now working as a bounty hunter for a company affiliated with her old law firm. She’s teamed up with Jazinda, a Skrull bounty hunter on the run from her own race. It’s been a long time since I’ve been a fan of storylines that jump ahead weeks or months from the previous, leaving the reader to guess what happened, and Jaded doesn’t change my mind. David seems to be setting up the story of those missing events for another time, but that doesn’t help now.

All right — so that’s what I don’t like about the setup. Putting that aside — since some readers won’t be bothered at all — what about the actual story?

There’s two storylines. The first is a two-issue story setting up the new status quo. She-Hulk fights the Absorbing Man and the tiny Titania for two issues while Jazinda captures their quarry, the Absorbing Man’s cousin, and then they go back to their camper park home. It works well enough, setting aside my reservations; those who are willing to forget about Jen’s time at the law firm will probably find it entertaining in the usual Peter-David way. Jazinda’s characterization is definitely not human; even her daddy issues are alien.

The second half of Jaded (#25-7) holds the real meat of the argument. In #24, a man blows up a bar simply to annoy or ingratiate himself with She-Hulk, so she and Jazinda set out to Cleveland to bring him to justice. Or get revenge; She-Hulk has eschewed heroism, so it’s open to interpretation. Near Allentown, Pa., their camper is hit by a spaceship, which is piloted by a fugitive on the run from a Badoon bounty hunter. (I approve; you can never have enough Badoon.)

Without context, a lot of the story rings false. It’s hard to believe long-time Avenger / lawyer She-Hulk would be callous enough not to help someone on the run and begging for help or not at least be curious about a bounty hunter’s credentials. I also have trouble believing She-Hulk would be as cynical as she is portrayed about heroism, especially after saving people from the rubble of a demolished building earlier in the book. Jazinda is also a tough nut to crack, but I can accept her contradictions (pleas for mercy at the beginning turning to cold-blooded murder) as characterization rather than arbitrariness.

And the final issue is a legal battle. With She-Hulk handcuffed (metaphorically), she has to turn to old frenemies¹⁷ to get an innocent bystander in the fugitive / Badoon fight out of legal trouble. It connects to the previous two issues strongly, and it also it teases the story of the changes in She-Hulk’s life. The cameos are quick and effective, although with the appearance of one of She-Hulk’s legal colleagues, it seems to draw a line under the fact that the legal part of She-Hulk’s character won’t be seen much in the future.

I don’t have much to say on the art, although that shouldn’t be taken as a slight to the artists involved. Kevin Moll pencils the bulk of the book and does a good job. He seems to have a good handle on the character, cheesecake and all, and he can do action scenes, humor, and distortion well. Val Semeiks takes the final issue and also does a good job, although it’s distracting how much different his Jen Walters (She-Hulk’s human alter ego) looks compared with Moll’s.

The book is filled with typical Peter David humor, filled with banter and wordplay. That’s really the strength; if you’ve wanted to see David do another Hulk-ish story, you should be on this like green on gamma-radiation poisoning. If not … well, I plan to give David’s She-Hulk another chance and give him a chance to hook me once the more expository parts of the run are over.

But I’m generally a fan of David. Your mileage may vary, and I can’t say Jaded grabbed me enough to anticipate the next leg of She-Hulk’s journey.

Rating: (2 of 5)