She-Hulk #1-10
Originally released in 2022
Written by Rainbow Rowell
Art by Roge Antonio (#1-3), Luca Maresca (#3-7), Takeshi Miyazawa (#8-10)
I've enjoyed John Byrne's run on She-Hulk, but aside from that (which is more comedy-focused) and Charles Soule's run (which is more focused on the law), I haven't read much in the way of She-Hulk comics. This one's a more recent run featuring her; I deliberately avoided anything where she's a giant green rage machine like her cousin, since I prefer it when She-Hulk is in control of herself.
After She-Hulk was portrayed as a raging monster in Jason Aaron's run on the Avengers (which came across as him wanting to use the Hulk but not being able to because Al Ewing was using the Hulk in the Immortal Hulk series), this series was built up as a return to form for the character.
The series gets off to an entertaining start, with She-Hulk setting up a fight club between herself and Titania (with others joining later) so Titania can work out her aggression in a controlled manner. Meanwhile, Jennifer Walters has started working for a small law firm when she's not seven feet tall and green, with her career being in a tumultuous state due to the Hulking out, the temporarily being dead, etc. that interfered with her life. I'm not sure how I feel about her being portrayed as someone who's basically gone nowhere with her career, but I suppose it makes sense.
The focus shifts dramatically when Jack of Hearts, a lesser-known former Avenger who blew up during the lead-up to the House of M arc, shows up in She-Hulk's apartment alive and well, although he's forgotten the past few years. Despite admitting that they don't really know each other (aside from one time where Jack, whose powers are radiation-based, absorbed the gamma radiation from Jen temporarily), they quickly develop feelings for each other and fall in love.
There were points where this focus on Jack of Hearts got on my nerves - towards the middle of this set of issues, the book felt like "Jack of Hearts, featuring She-Hulk", rather than She-Hulk herself getting attention. Maybe it's because of what I'm used to from a She-Hulk book - the Byrne run has me used to her being a confident and silly character who's aware of the fourth wall, and those aspects seem minimized here.
She has moments that occasionally seem like fourth wall awareness, like seemingly glancing at a caption box or appearing to look at the audience before an off-screen sex scene with Jack of Hearts, but aside from a memorable moment in issue 9 where she gets upset at the writers/artists or audience (it's ambiguous who she's talking to), it's downplayed compared to her previous method of taking a sledgehammer to the fourth wall.
We get occasional glimpses of her law career, and her supporting cast is entertaining (with Patsy Walker having a fun dynamic with Jen), but it feels like a lot of it takes a backseat to the relationship drama with Jack of Hearts.
Still, it's nice to see Jennifer in a relationship with someone who appreciates both sides of her (Jennifer Walters and She-Hulk), especially since that was a recurring issue in the She-Hulk MCU series. (and Jennifer's normal form tends to be overlooked when she can turn into She-Hulk)
The comedy, much like the fourth wall breaking, is more understated this time around, though it does have its moments. For example, Nightcrawler (who looks like a blue-furred demon) believes that the MCU standby disguise of "a baseball hat and sunglasses" is enough for him to keep a low profile, and at one point, eight or nine superheroes are crammed into Jennifer's tiny office, which is basically a large closet.
I liked what I've read of the series, even if I preferred Byrne's run overall. She-Hulk's a fun character, and I'm glad to see Marvel doing more with her. (this series only lasted five more issues beyond this, though it was relaunched as "The Sensational She-Hulk" about a year later) Also, the cover art by Jen Bartel is consistently gorgeous, and I hope that she did the art for a full book at some point.
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