General Information
Title: She-Hulk #8
Author: Dan Slott
Illustrator: Paul Smith
Original Publication Date: May 24, 2006
Cover Price: $2.99 US, $4.25 Can
Past comic reviews can be found
here.
Premise
Jen Walters, also known as the She-Hulk, is hired by
Rage and Justice
to take legal action against a New Warriors hate
website that cropped
up in the aftermath of the Stamford disaster. Not
only is it a hate
site, but it's systematically outing members of the
team, and
revealing the aftermath they get for it.
High Point
The library meeting.
Low Point
The "surprise" that someone who knew all of their
identities could
actually be one of them.
The Scores
One big mark in the originality column comes
from conceiving
a superhero problem that is made significantly worse
by trying to
fight things out. I give it 4 out of 6.
The artwork isn't bad, but it's by no means
spectacular.
Things are clear and well pencilled, but the colors
(by Avalon's Dave
Kemp) provide a cartoony feel that's a little too
light for this
particular story. I give it 4 out of 6.
The story is nicely done, with enough
introduction to the
state of the title for those of us who don't follow it
on a regular
basis. She-Hulk is a character whose identity has
never been secret,
and it gives her a different perspective from that of
most of our
heroes. This nicely combines both aspects of her
character into the
Civil War. Many cross-overs like this feel forced,
but this one
naturally fits into my understanding of this title's
direction under
Slott. (Basically, it's about her job as a specialist
in superhuman
law, and that's what brings her involvement into the
story.) This
leaves us in a nice position to move into the next
chapter of Civil
War, while still generating some interest in staying
with the title.
I give it 4 out of 6.
The characterization is nice, starting with
writing New
Warriors in the way I remember the characters. (Of
course, given the
number of team members there I didn't recognize,
there's obviously
been a lot of ground covered since I last read the
title.) I've got a
feel for Jen Walters with and without her She-Hulk
guise, as well as
for John Jameson and the other prominent characters
there. I give it
4 out of 6.
The emotional response wasn't quite what I'd
expected. I've
heard people rave about how funny this comic is, but
this particular
issue doesn't work that way. (The art team is
definitely geared that
way, so I strongly suspect that this is an unusually
serious story for
the title.) There's some interest, and it's certainly
nice to see the
fallout for the New Warriors who weren't in Stamford
at the time, but
it doesn't seem like a huge part of the big story, and
it doesn't do
enough to get me on board the title from now on. It's
certainly
interested, but there are no really amazing moments
that just scream
for more. I give it 4 out of 6.
The flow was effective, tying a few plot
threads together
smoothly in spite of some suddenly changing locales.
I give it 5 out
of 6.
Overall, it's worth reading, but not worth
going out of your
way for. I give it 4 out of 6.
In total, She-Hulk 2 #8 receives 29 out of
42.
Civil War Review Checklist
- New
Avengers:
Illuminati Special
- Amazing
Spider-Man
#529-531
- Fantastic
Four
#536-537
- Civil
War #1
- Civil War #1-7
- Civil War: Frontline #1-10
- Amazing Spider-Man #532-537
- Black Panther #18
- Cable/Deadpool #30-32
- Captain America #22-24
- Civil War: Young Avengers and Runaways #1-4
- Civil War: X-Men #1-4
- Daily Bugle: Civil War Edition
- Fantastic Four #538-543
- Heroes for Hire #1-3
- Iron Man #13-14
- Ms. Marvel #6-8
- New Avengers #21-25
- Punisher: War Journal #1-3
- She-Hulk #8
- Thunderbolts #103-105
- Wolverine #42-47
- X-Factor #8-9
