This is it. This is the She-Hulk comic that nobody realized they wanted but that, once we got it, made us realize how incredibly awesome a She-Hulk comic can be. Stan Lee just did the whole Stan Lee melodrama thing—it wasn’t bad, but it didn’t create a distinctive tone for the character. John Byrne flirted with greatness but got too distracted by technique and “industry jokes” and never quite got there. Dan Slott will now create the She-Hulk we know and love. And he does it by taking all the little character pieces that came before and unifying them.
Sidebar: I though the Marvel Studios She-Hulk show was terrific. If you disagree, you might disagree with me on this series as well.
After a short sequence reminding us that she’s a lawyer who graduated at the top of her class, the series starts with She-Hulk in bed after a night with a male fashion model. At breakfast, Jarvis advises her that bringing all these strange men home may be compromising the security of Avengers Mansion.
This is the “She-Hulk as slut” character piece, and it’s a fine place to start. The model later dumps her because she lacks depth.
Next, she does some legal maneuvering that upsets her boss, the District Attorney. She-Hulk the lawyer. She-Hulk the rebel who dislikes authority. Check and check. She also uses her Avengers Card to avoid a parking ticket. Jennifer is practical and doesn’t mind blending her personal needs with her work, or her superhero work with her needs as an attorney.
And finally, a super-battle with her team-mates against MODOK and Blizzard. John Byrne used the She-Hulk series to bring in the more esoteric side of Marvel, and we see that is being built in to this series as well. The Avengers easily defeat the villains and drive them back.
Blizzard then attacks She-Hulk, later in the issue, in a bar.
Rather than fight Blizzard, though, she drinks him under the table.
Smart and funny.
Finally, in the end, she gets hired by a famous litigator named Holden Holliway, who offers her a job at his firm—but only if she practices law as Jennifer Walters.
She beat him in court earlier in the issue.
And thus the tension between super and normal is introduced.
Excellent start for this book!