Rainbow Rowell’s take on Jennifer Walters’s life continues to be charming. She uses Jen’s back catalog of friends, the New York setting, and the slightly silly concept of her superhero lawyering career to perfection. And there’s absolutely nothing better than more Patsy Walker.
The Sensational She-Hulk #4-6
Jen Bartel (Cover): Mark Brooks (Cover); VC’s Joe Caramanga (Letters); Dee Cunniffe (Colors); IG Guara (Art); Ben Harvey and Nic Klein (Cover); Bryan Hitch and Alex Sinclair (Cover); Dan Jurgens, Brett Breeding, Edgar Delgado (Cover); Rainbow Rowell (Writing) Bryan Hitch and Alex Sinclair (Cover); Dan Jurgens, Brett Breeding, Edgar Delgado (Cover); Rainbow Rowell (Writing)
January 10, 2024, February 10, and March 6, 2024
Marvel Comics
It’s never been easy to be Jennifer Walters, but The Sensational She-Hulk has really put her through the wringer over the past few issues. Issue #4 brings it all back to Jen’s nearest and dearest as she arms herself for another crisis, while issues #5 and 6 brings her closer to her best friends – and her beaux, Jack.
Jennifer is in, to coin a phrase, a giant pickle. She’s facing charges for participating in the destruction of a city block alongside her cousin, The Hulk, which has her on the wrong side of the law. The news has transformed her into a menace, making her everyday life difficult. Her partner in her law firm — Mallory Book, whom Jen doesn’t have the most congenial of relationships with even on the best of days — is less than pleased and wants to discuss the impact that’ll have on the business. But Jen doesn’t have the time to think about it. Her solar energy-sucking boyfriend, Jonathan “Jack” Hart, is still untouchable. And in the middle of this enters Patsy “Hellcat” Walker.
One of Jen’s closest associates, Patsy gathers Jack and Jen and takes them off on a trip to a nightclub to blow off some steam. Their partner on this journey – Carol Danvers – is enough to make Jack beg off and demur, noting that their recent conflict makes things too difficult for a social call. That means Carol, Patsy, and Jen head off for a girls’ night of dancing, drinking, and talking. Unfortunately, Patsy senses danger, and it appears their fun night is about to turn into a painful encounter.
In case you were worried that this series wouldn’t pay off on Patsy Walker, Jennifer, and Carol Danvers finding themselves caught in the middle of a demonic fight, issue #5 features the return of Patsy’s on-again/off-again lover, Damian Helstrom — AKA Hellstorm, King of Hell. Patsy and Damian deal with the awkward detritus of their relationship, and then Hellstorm cleans up the mess he’s left behind. The battle makes Carol realize she needs Jen and Patsy in the Avengers, despite Jen’s misgivings about the whole situation.
Unfortunately, the brawl is the last straw that breaks down the relationship between Jen and her publicity-conscious partner in the firm, Mallory Book. Jen agrees to take a leave of absence from the partnership and lie low for two weeks. She takes in her latest clients, the homeless Karkas and Ransak, and then Jack — who now lives with Jen — suggests they go on a trip to Sol, a resort closer to the sun. There, he reasons, the constant energy supply ought to make them more able to touch each other. They head off on vacation, leaving Karkas and Ransak responsible for Jen’s apartment.
Yet when Jack and Jen arrive at Sol, Jennifer makes the acquaintance of Ganymede — who might just have a strong connection to Jack that Jen doesn’t know about.
Jen is the queen of personal disasters, and this series is a good balance of plot and character work. Rainbow Rowell’s take on Patsy is excellent – she’s spiky, witty, pushy, and fun. Carol comes across less clearly due to the murky history between Jack and herself, which mainly happened in the Avengers series, and is only lightly explained in this issue. That’s a little frustrating and mainly seems to be a way to get Jack out of the picture so Carol, Patsy, and Jen can kick butt together. I won’t complain about that notion at all (and when Carol is with her friends, her behavior makes sense), but it feels narratively convenient.
Rainbow Rowell has an excellent ability to mix the workaday wackiness of Jen’s lawyering with the way she interacts with her friends and Jack. There’s been a certain lack of casework in this latest set of She-Hulk comics, a problem that won’t change anytime soon as Jen gets further and further away from the courtroom. But that’s the only problem with this series, which has done a great job in seeding tensions and delights into Jack and Jennifer’s relationship and exploring her close friendships. There are some fun callbacks here to older and deeper reaches of Jen’s life story, and a great sense of warmth between them. Jack is growing as a character as well, and his insecurities are endearing. Everything about it sings harmoniously.
The creative team has been in flux, with three artists in the span of four issues, but in Rainbow Rowell and IG Guara, some consistency is finally achieved before Andres Genolet rejoins the art team in two issues. Guara’s art is a little more cartoony than the work established by Gavin Guidry and David Cutler, but this suits Jen’s world very well, and their take on the character is entirely adorable. Everyone from Jack to Patsy stands out and looks attractive and lively. It results in a satisfying combination of art and storytelling that works well. The color work is also serviceable, and the lettering is sharp.
Guara’s art continues to be adorable and easy to look at; their design for Ganymede is particularly delightful. There isn’t a missed step in the issue, which makes the announcement that issue #7’s art will be taken on by a new illustrator so disappointing. Guara’s art has partnered so well with Rowell’s writing that to see them separated is a disappointment.
Well, Rowell warned viewers that it’s time to start digging into back issues, and that time appears to be upon us. But Sensational She-Hulk continues to make that a worthwhile proposition.
