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She-Hulk #1
writer: Charles Soule
artist: Javier Pulido
First thing, let's not take Shakespeare out of context about lawyers. Just like when a new writer comes in on Daredevil, a re-launch of She-Hulk has to include the basic fact that whether big and green or petite and brunette, Jennifer Walters is a lawyer, and a damned good one.
So, allegedly, is writer Charles Soule.
He certainly knows corporate law, and the soul-deadening possibilities that lie within it. While that may sound like dry reading, in Soule's hands it's not. Instead, that understanding serves as a launching pad to contrast how full of life Jennifer really is. It may also serve to be specific, differentiating She-Hulk's day job from that of the recently disbarred Matt Murdock.
Plus Soule has the advantage of Javier Pulido, an artist with a style all his own that still from time to time evokes Jack Kirby and Alex Toth in its power and simplicity.
Though cartoony, Pulido sells action as well as emotion, making this one of those books with conversations that are far more compelling than the violence. To be fair, Jen would rather not lose her temper anyway, and she tells a potential client that most of the law really should be worked out in conversations.
How Soule does that, including a summation of perhaps the most important part of Iron Man continuity in just a paragraph, is pretty clever. And that makes it a pretty good book repositioning Jennifer Walters for a new run. She is not self-aware as a comic book character, though that once served the title well. And this may not have the high adventure humor of Dan Slott's run, which made for a good book that didn't serve so well.
Instead, this is a take that utilizes the best of the old and arms it with new energy. As a bonus, it's also a set-up that stands alone. She-Hulk #1 doesn't end on a cliffhanger, but a new status quo, and because the pages leading it up to it are so well done, I want to read more about it.
Of course, you can find She-Hulk #1 at Earth-2 Comics, Earth-2 Comics Northridge, Illusive Comics & Games in Santa Clara, or any comics shop near you!
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