The Sensational She-Hulk #1 continues to make Jennifer Walters’ version of New York City feel like a lived-in place for superheroes to hang out. Jen feels like your average, relatable singleton, making her comic series a delight.
The Sensational She-Hulk #1
Mirka Andolfo (Cover); Jen Bartel (Cover): VC’s Joe Caramanga (Letters); Dee Cunniffe (Colors); Andres Genolet (Art); Rian Gonzales (Cover); Adi Granov (Cover); Adam Hughes (Cover); Gisele Lagace (Cover); Leirix (Cover); Rainbow Rowell (Writing); Lucas Werneck (Cover); Skottie Young (Cover)
October 18, 2023
Marvel Comics
The Sensational She-Hulk picks up the story established by the previous Rowell-written Shulkie title. Jack of Hearts and Jennifer are still dating, though they have to cope with his powers absorbing all the gamma radiation in her body. Jen and Jack seem to be happy – at first.
But as Jen tries to formally introduce Jack to her friends and family, specifically the Punch Club, things go awry in a big way, leaving her wondering if she’s really found true love. Jennifer and Mallory Book continue to clash as they try to establish a legal firm, and an important family member appears on Jen’s doorstep. That family member leaves her caught between duty to her superheroine ways and loyalty to her friends and lover.
In the issue’s secondary story, Jen takes on a college intern, but he finds out working for a superhero might not be all it’s cracked up to be as chaos and bodies mount up.
As always, Rowell’s She-Hulk stories are fantastically written because they both understand the boring parts of being your average singleton (who happens to save the world frequently) and the glory in superheroics. All good stories featuring Jennifer tend to focus on this contrast, and Rowell – who splits the attention here between Jen’s love of Jack, her career, and her sense of place in her community – gets it.
New York under Rowell’s pen is a warm, big family, and its superheroes (and villains) are all familiar with each other. The Punch Club plays a heavy part in this storyline, and it’s fun to see Ben Grimm and track some ever-increasingly dramatic romantic updates among Jennifer’s friends and family. All of this is excellently handled, and that brilliance is carried over into the next story, which is pure fun, fluffy ridiculousness. There’s nothing greater than watching a human cope with the superhero world, and everything about it knocks this out of the park.
Genolet’s art is gorgeous. There’s a Dragon Ball Z-ish sense to the battle scenes, with their dynamic poses and wonderfully creative coloring. The color work by Cunniffe and the letters by veteran Caramanga are, as always, uniformly excellent. The package is well-rounded, intelligent, and — most of all — funny.
Sensational She-Hulk is brilliant, vibrant, and a great addition to any fan’s Shulkie library.
