She-Hulk #1 Review

Title:	She-Hulk
Contributors:	Kevin Wada Charles Soule
Publisher:	Marvel
Issue #:	1
Year:	2014
Pages:	32 Pages
Age Rating:	8+
Story Grade:	A
Art Grade:	B

As a fan of the Incredible Hulk I am somewhat ashamed to say that I have never, until now, read an issue of She-Hulk. I grew up during a very gender-biased era, where boys didn't read comics for or about girls. It was just how my generation was. I grew out of it, but by then, comics weren't in my life as much. But they are back now and I am making my amends for mistakes in my past.

So this now... and I must say I am please to announce that She-Hulk #1 is really a great comic overall, possibly my personal pick for Honest Comic's First Annual Comic of the Year 2014, but it is still early, so don't hold me to that.

The story in Issue #1 is fantastic fun. Although it lacks any real action sequences, it has a certain subtle feminine angst behind it that makes me kind of see the world through my wife's eyes... but in a fun way. In this issue, Jennifer Walter's quits her job because the partners, some disrespectful pigs (men), at the law firm she works at decide to give her a poor first annual review and no bonus because she didn't bring any super-hero-legal business to their firm, which was the only reason they hired her in the first place.

If you can't see the what is to come from that encounter, let's just say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially if that woman is seven feet tall and green skinned. I love Jennifer's character in this book... I love her to death. Although I am not sure I would want to piss her off in real life myself, I love that she really doesn't take any crap from people.

So Jennifer, unemployed, breaks out on her own and decides to do some pro-bono work. Her first case is a doozy, which sets her up against none other than Tony Stark himself. If you want to know more, go buy a copy and read it.

While the story is an a "Grade A" story, the art leaves a lot to be desired for me. The art is not awful by any stretch of the imagination, but I did have some issues with it. First of all, Jennifer is drawn in a fairly unattractive manner in my opinion, especially if you compare her character as she is drawn in the pages of the book to the way she is drawn on the cover. She looks almost Ogre-like (think Shrek-ish) in some of the panels and then is drawn "almost cute" in other panels... there appears to be some inconsistency between the panels. Jennifer's face proportions seem to change from panel to panel and this is frustrating. I hope they fix it in the next issue or I will likely call it out in a harsh manner. I mean this is Marvel after all... not some cheap alt-indie title being hacked together by 15 year old kids in their mother's basements. Or is it? If so, then I am impressed.

The art is simple, which isn't bad, but when dealing with a Hulk character, I want to see some muscle definition, especially when she is pissed or using some strength (a.k.a. hulking out). Also, some actual action panels would have been nice and not these cut scenes letting the reader's imagination do all of the work. I am hoping that art in the second book fixes these issues, but if not, the story will have keep me going until the art catches up or until I get tired of it.

All in all I grade this book a B+. One of the best stories I have in a long time and the issues I have with the art can't take away from the superior storytelling. Well worth the read.

Until next time... happy objections.