It’s the morning after the night Jen Walters and Jack Hart – aka She-Hulk and Captain Nominative Determinism – finally got together. They’ve been gently falling for one another since this mini-series kicked off, while trying to solve the mystery of Jack of Hearts’ return from the dead.
While it’s Saturday, the smitten kittens must part as Jen has a meeting with office pal Andy the Awesome Android, who wants her to take an off-the-books case. And the clients?
The dapper Doombot’s spot of legal difficulty is the type of problem that made Dan Slott’s Shulkie sheries (shorry) shuch (I don’t care!) a lot of fun. Jen reckons she can sort everything out pretty easily and moves on to her final bit of business for the day – checking on a woman named April, who led away a monstrous brute who attacked Jack and Jen earlier in the week. Jen is worried for the intense young woman.
Uh-oh.
It seems April wasn’t as surprised by Mark’s attack on the heroes as she made out.
And that’s us almost at the cliffhanger. As with every other issue, this is a very quick read – ‘breezy’ is a nice way to put it. I’ve enjoyed this series a lot, I just wish there was more story… this is #7 but what we’ve had could comfortably have filled just three issues. If you’re going to read this in a one-er on Marvel Unlimited, that’s all well and good, but monthly with a $3.99 price tag, it’s not the happiest package.
But I do enjoy what script we get from Rainbow Rowell – the budding relationship between Jen and Jack is convincing, the action sequence was a surprise and the business with the two Victors a delight.
Luca Maresca’s art is very much my cup of (green) tea, open and airy, the characters full of personality. I was, though, perturbed by how different April and Mark look compared to their debut a couple of issues back – he was Caucasian, now he’s green; she looked pretty regular bar a strangely pink skin tone, suddenly her head is disproportionate to her body… hang on, we need a FLASHBACK!
Is this a clue? Is Mark a Hulk? Jen did previously say he reminded her of cousin Bruce? Does April have a morphing problem she can’t control? Are they Skrulls?
I’ll be back next time to find out, hopefully. And it looks like we’ll also get answers on the Jack front. Along with another lovely Jen Bartel cover.
If you’ve not been reading this series and love She-Hulk, I do recommend it – but perhaps wait until it hits Marvel Unlimited.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
I couldn’t help but notice April’s GIANT head too. (I wasn’t necessarily going to say anything, it might have been rude – to April!) I hope that IS a clue, otherwise… Whut?!
Is it explained anywhere in this series why She-Hulk’s weirdly belligerent even hateful attitude to Jack of Hearts and the power he couldn’t control in Geoff Johns’s Avengers run (in which Whirlwind is a sexual psychopath who kills a prosti- sex worker dressed as the Wasp. Oh Geoff, you can’t help yourself, can you! Euch)?
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I don’t remember She-Hulk’s previous attitude being addressed, but I do everything possible to forget the bag of s**** that was Avengers: Dissassembled. I do remember that Jen’s Vert Bad Mood was a Wanda chaos magic thing.
I did wonder if April was suddenly meant to have dwarfism, but she didn’t seem to match either type of restricted growth.
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I think the “chaos magic” (didn’t like that retcon OR what they did to Wanda) warping occurred after Johns’s run in Bendis’s Avengers: Chaos, didn’t it? Unless the retcon was meant to include that stuff as well. My memory is swiss-cheesed.
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I don’t think they’ll ever further clarify what was influenced by wanda’s breakdown because it become a future story out if they need it. The insipid Life Force could have even be used, saying it powered Wanda up enough so she could alter things in the past as she did in Byrne’s wretched WCA run.
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Ugh, John Byrne’s West Coast Avengers/Avengers West Coast Avengers run (you wouldn’t think it’d be possible for someone to be bigoted against *synthezoids/androids* but Johnny managed it!), subject zero in the ruining of the Scarlet Witch (and the Vision).
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It IS awful, more than 20 years on and the characters and their relationship has never recovered.
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Exactly. Much like Jim Shooter’s treatment of Hank Pym ruined him (no matter how writers from Steve Englehart to Kurt Busiek – although Mista B also wrote Wanda and Wonder Man as lovers, yeuch – to Johns tried to move beyond it). Boo.
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Spider-Man didn’t have a blip at all when he hit MJ because he had hundreds of interesting events happen you can hang story on. All Hank has is mental instability and Ultron so The Slap will never be gotten past. The character’s only hope is a solo ongoing by a top tier writer who brings along hs own fandom.
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Interesting. I liked him *despite* those concepts. It’s fascinating that Batman and Iron Man (Tony Stark) have done bad things but been given a pass by readers but as you say they are popular. Just as in real life some “popular” or successful people get away with metaphorical – or actual! – murder.
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They could fix it in a heartbeat using an old copy of Vision from ISAAC and claiming Wanda’s revival by the 5 was from when she and Vision were still married.
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Too complicated/esoteric for a wider readership I think or, at least, too far back in comic book history to work now. Alas.
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It’s like suddenly they remember there needed to have a plot! 😀
I do like this slower style of stories, but I tend to be more on the soapy side when it comes to such things!
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Oh, I love the soap, but I want more of it. Get chatty, people!
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Yeah man, I agree! Story, shmorry! I’m not here for the story, I’m here for the characters. Jen and Jack hanging out… making out… chit chatting. Love all of that!
It’s not like there *isn’t* a story. It’s there. There are a couple of stories there, actually. But they aren’t the focus of the series.
And that’s totally cool with me.
Bring on the serialized soapy drama. There are more than enough books out there that are plot plot plot. This book has a supporting cast! This book has fun characters! This book has great dialogue!
I’ll take it for as long as they wanna publish it (which is… how long, exactly? It’s a mini-series yeah? It feels to me like it passed the mini mark this issue and is moving into maxi series territory. Or maybe ongoing?)
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I don’t disagree the soap is fun, it just passes by so quickly!
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Sure it’s a quick read. But not any quicker than say, Flashpoint Beyond. But that’s a quick read for a different reason.
Comics just aren’t as dense as they used to be. But having said that, they weren’t all that dense a read in the seventies/early eighties either.
It’s a cycle.
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I loved Rowell’s Runaways when no other writer could get me to care about the characters. (I still call the cast member they refuse to give up on Girl With Stick because I don’t care enough to Google her) I’m going to reread her Simon Snow series because of this mini. This mini? I just can’t get excited about it. It’s nice but there’s no zing is the best way I can describe it. Now if the Headmen were to appear and Rowell finally gives Ruby a personality…
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I am ashamed to say I still haven’t read Rainbow Rowell’s Runaways… off I go!
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Dude!! Get on that! It’sa great series from beginning to end!
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Though I love it be warned, even less happens than She-Hulk, except of course all the feelings!
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