It’s been a while since I’ve read a She-Hulk book and nothing makes me happier than seeing my big green lawyer lady on an excellent cover. Jen Bartel continues to bring her A-Game to our gentle giant and I love it. However, beyond some good looks, this wasn’t a good first issue.
She-Hulk #1
Rainbow Rowell (writer), Rogê Antônio (artist), Rico Renzi (color artist), VC’s Joe Caramagna (letterer), Jen Bartel (cover); Adam Hughes (cover)
Marvel
January 19, 2022
Admittedly, I’m behind the times with Jennifer Walters AKA She-Hulk. After the 2017-2018 run, I took a break. According to the brief summary in this issue, there is a lot I missed. How come Jen needs to start over? Why does she only have a set of keys that don’t go to anything? What happened to her other suits? But, I thought to myself, this is a #1, I should be given some context, right? Right?
We open with the “meek” (aka-non Hulk) Jennifer Walters walking down the street, examining her life. We see her thinking to herself that she, “…was supposed to have something to show for [her]self…” (emphasis in the original). Lost in thought, ignoring the passersby running in the opposite direction, she’s immediately confronted with an almost traditional fight between herself and Titania.
While I was ready to glaze over this, I was pleasantly surprised by their bout. One, I have to celebrate Rogê Antônio’s inks for the outfits the two wear. I love the contrast between Jen’s suit and the hip, punk, modern outfit that Titania wears.
The outfit is spikey, with an excellent belt, and the colors added by Rico Renzi help her outfit pop. Titania’s look feels out of this world, therefore appropriate for super-powered folks, but also wearable and current. Antônio does not squeeze Titania into a 90s bathing suit or low-cut pants from the early aughts. Instead, we get a Titania who knows how to smash fashion and faces.
I also loved the change in demeanor Jen experiences between her two selves. While we got to see human-form Jen fight, which was cool, I love how Antônio captured the transition. Jen goes from hunched over and closed to open, with shoulders back and a big grin on her face for the fight. Furthermore, I love the boy shorts on Jen when she Hulks out. (After, of course, removing her only suit skirt.) The shorts have a strong and sexy feel, without being too male gaze-y. The artist achieves this by revealing She-Hulk Jen in a cocky-yet-relaxed power pose.
Beyond the art, I loved the resolution of the fight. Sometimes folks just need to fight it out. Good sparring partners are hard to find, and it was cool to have these women admit that they appreciate each other’s skills. The idea of a comic that’s just Titania and Jen Walters, gym buddies, sounds great.
However, that was the highlight of the issue. We get a glimpse of Jen’s new life, starting at a new firm and borrowing an apartment from Janet Van Dyne. And while I was relaxing in the tub with Jen– she finally found some peace after a busy day–the big mystery of the story was revealed. There’s a CRASH and she runs out in her bathrobe to discover…
Jack of Hearts! With pink and yellow steaming from his body, he says her name and collapses. Jennifer looks shocked and shouts his name. While set up to be an important cliffhanger starting off the series, as a reader I did not care. There were so many unanswered questions about how Jen’s life got to this point that I wondered why we needed this ending for the issue.
While I liked parts of this issue, it seems like there’s a lot Jen should be prioritizing ahead of getting into another big event storyline. In her opening monologue, she laments that she hasn’t made partner at a big firm or doesn’t have her own practice. What about those dreams? While we get to see Jen reunited with her things, and access to more than one suit for work, we don’t know if Jen will be able to have her own apartment.
The plot with Jack will probably make for some interesting action but I liked the story set up in the beginning. Specifically, it made me think about what might Jen want now from her life. What happens when she integrates her Hulk self into a healthy relationship with a former nemesis like Titania?
While I like the art in the issue and love Jen Bartel’s cover, Rowell’s storytelling was bland. So far I know Jen’s lost a lot of her stuff, and she’s starting a new job where she works out of a closet. But rather than make me excited for what’s to come, I want to go back and read the issues I missed. And that’s not great for the first issue.
A #1 should give a new reader context but that’s missing from this issue. In place of giving us crumbs for the future, we get a villain fight, some white women dialogue about Jen’s new job and apartment. And then Jack of Hearts interrupts Jen’s peaceful bath. Rowell didn’t give me enough to feel invested in Jen’s life right now. So while there are some fun points, I’m not sure I’ll continue with the series.
