The Good
Last issue gave us readers a look at the goings on of a character we haven’t seen much of of late: Krisoff Von Doom, the son (not clone) of Dr. Doom who wishes to break away from his father’s long, dictatorial shadow. While Walters actually won the case, despite late paperwork, a shredded suit, and a legion of Doombots, the good Doctor reclaimed his son at the end of last issue. I actually wasn’t sure if that would be the end of it, but apparently Charles Soule had longer term plans for this as we pick right up with Jenn heading to San Francisco to seek the counsel of fellow superhero/lawyer Matt Murdock. Soule continues to write this book as a strange, semi-surreal tale of a very strange superhero. I love all the storyline possibilities that Walters being a lawyer opens up, especially since the character could've just been reduced to “Hulk But a Woman” and Soule writes her with a dry-yet-optimistic wit that’s hard to not adore. We get yet another glimpse at the mysterious Angie Huang and even some of Patsy Walker as well as learning a bit more about the strange denizens of the building that Jenn works out of. I cannot WAIT to see more from this bizarre cast.
Javier Pulido’s art is, as always, top-notch. I’ve talked a lot about how hard it is to describe, but I think I now realize that it’s not hard to describe, it’s hard to reduce, or describe succinctly. Pulido’s art is simultaneously a throwback and totally modern. It’s like if Jim Steranko was transplanted to the modern world and adapted to it completely and instantly. The motion in the comic is less like true fluidity and more like you’re taking long blinks while the characters are talking. Nowhere is this more true than Walters and Murdock on the Golden Gate Bridge. Muntsa Vicente does an absolutely incredible job on colors, reducing everything to their beautiful, base palette, giving every panel an incredibly striking aesthetic.
The Bad
As much as I adore the art, its two-dimensional style works against it in this particular issue. Again, going back to the Golden Gate, there’s a scene of Matt perched dexterously on a cable while Jenn walks along one of the supports and it looks more like she’s hovering over it than actually stepping on it. There are one or two other panels where a character looks “off” in comparison to the background, but it doesn't wreck the whole feel of the book.
The Verdict
This book has one of the funniest and most earnest endings of any I’ve read all year and anything that involves the description “gigantic Doombot diplomacy” has to be checked out. I had a good friend point out that a LOT of people have complained about Pulido’s bizarre art while people seem to love All-New Ghost Rider’s (rightly so on the latter part). I’d say it’s because both styles suit their respective books perfectly, but while Ghost Rider’s insane, kinetic visuals suit that book’s over-the-top action, the unreal strangeness that She-Hulk meets with a shrug is a much, much harder tone to illustrate, but Pulido does an amazing job of it. This is a very unique book that uses the medium of comics in a way that wouldn't work in any other medium.
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