Hulk #1
Writer: Mariko Tamaki
Artist: Nico Leon
Color Artist: Matt Milla
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Marvel
After being nearly killed in a battle with Thanos during Civil War II and hearing the news that her cousin was murdered by one of her friends, Jen Walters is just trying to get her life back together. She’s got a new job at a high-caliber law firm with a bevy of clients lined up. Things are pretty ok. Oh, except she can’t control the Hulk inside her anymore and she’s walking a razor’s edge. Tamaki slow plays the issue to great effect, and, while some may disagree with the decision to take away Jen’s near-total control of the She-Hulk, the character progression, or regression in this case, feels like a logical next step for the character after the shitshow that was Civil War II. Some may gripe that the loss of control has essentially just made She-Hulk a gender-swapped version of her bigger cousin (which she usually isn’t), but the lower stakes of Jen’s life (no army hunting her, no world-threatening super-villains (yet)) makes it feel a bit more personal. The Hulk, as an entity, has generally been a stand-in for something else: rage, depression, trauma. For Jen, it’s the latter. Every time she thinks about what happened to her or Bruce, she starts to lose control, which is incredibly depicted by Leon and Milla. The art has a Legend of Korra-quality about it, one that works extremely well for the slice-of-life opening scenes, particularly because the “Hulk-out” moments feel like a jarring change, appropriately so. With a new direction, smart story-telling, and evocative art, Hulk looks primed for a great, dark series.
BOOK OF THE WEEK
Spider-Woman #14
Writer: Dennis Hopeless
Artist: Veronica Fish
Color Artist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham
Marvel
Fuh—uck! Spider-Woman’s life isn’t great right now. I honestly don’t want to talk about the issue all that much, because people should be reading this book and talking about the plot in any detail would spoil it. Let’s just say that some of the most devastating bombs to ever be dropped get dropped and Hopeless plays it perfectly. It’s raw emotion on every page and every line. Fish and Rosenberg do an incredible job both with choreography and framing, as well as humor and drama. Spider-Woman is great. You should all be reading it.
Detective Comics #947
Writer: James Tynion IV
Penciller: Alvaro Martinez
Inks: Raul Fernandez
Colors: Brad Anderson
Letters: Marilyn Patrizio
DC
The conclusion of the Victim Syndicate storyline sees Spoiler facing off against the Bat Family. Yep, you read that right. Stephanie Brown is mad as hell, and she’s not gonna take it anymore. Tynion does a great job showing just how devastating a girl like Spoiler can be and provides some great character moments throughout (aka “Tynion-ing“ as it shall be further known on this column). For an issue with quite a bit of talking heads, the art team keeps things moving and vibrant thanks to some great framing and color schemes. With a second good arc in the bag, Detective Comics looks great moving forward.
