She-Hulk turns 30

A breath of fresh air blew into your comic shop this week and I didn’t want you to miss it and that’s why it gets pick of the week here at Analog over another much ballyhooed title that also wrapped up. Turning thirty can be a bummer especially if you unemployed like the lovely Miss Jennifer Walters aka the Sensational She-Hulk who is currently without a regular book. Try turning forty-five and being in same unemployment boat Jen, but I totally sympathize with you. At least Marvel didn’t forgot this milestone and but together a wonderfully self-contained anniversary issue to celebrate that you didn’t have to buy a thing extra to understand. The only thing required is a love of She Hulk and that one thing this reader surely has every since she joined the Avengers many moons ago. So sit back and relax and have a piece of birthday cake to celebrate She Hulk’s 30th birthday.

This tale is obviously not set in current continuity since I’m not even sure where Jen Walters is right now, and there is some other red bimbo running around claiming to be She Hulk, which is referred to in the tale. In fact both green hulks are currently in limbo due to whatever idiotic story lines that are going on over in the Hulk books. War or Fall of the Hulks or some such nonsense which needles to say I am not on board with or have the slightest interest in. When is comes to my Hulks and especially the She-Hulk variety I prefer them mean and green and to sing better than Ben Vereen. No wait that’s a Luke Ski song, but anyway you get my point. I will accept no substitutes when it comes to my She-Hulk make mine Jennifer Walters.

Veteran She Hulk readers are certainly aware of John Byrne’s breaking of the wall and having She-Hulk is aware that she is in a comic book and that is played upon in this issue. The first of these her being in a bad mood about getting messages on her answering machine from various friends and foes alike reminding her she is now thirty. This causes her to reach out of the panel and crumple up a caption and throw it out the window nearly hitting a nearby Spiderman. Spidey serves to try to reminder her that getting older is better than the alternative of not getting any older. She Hulk is in a bad mood and is having none of it. Spidey warns her if she doesn’t stop with the Bah Humbug she might be headed for a Christmas Carol like scenario but then dismisses it as being played out.

Sure enough on the next page a sleeping She Hulk is awakened an Excelsior by her creator Stan “the Man” Lee who tells here he hates to see his creation so bummed out so she will be visited by three ghosts. Stan is his usual charming huckster self and only adds to the fun of this issue. As it turns out the three ghosts are She Hulk’s past, present and future incarnations. The first is the Savage She-Hulk of the past to which I’ll admit I’m not too familiar with that part of her continuity but seems to revolve around some daddy issues.

Next up is the more familiar continuity of She-Hulk Attorney at law in purple business suit from Dan Slott’s run complete with a court of law and Awesome Andy as Judge. How good is it to see that wacky character from the book in action again. The jury is filled with various pretenders to the throne of She Hulk along with her foes like the Red Hulk and Ironman who she was recently at odd with and Dan even manages a cameo. As the trial devolves into a slugfest between lawyer Jennifer and Super Hero Jennifer, we get a look at a possible future for our lovely She-Hulk. I won’t spoil that gag for you but I will say it involves writer Peter David making fun of himself. She-Hulk rejects this future and snaps out of her funk vowing to be the best She-Hulk she can be in the future. That goes to the core of what I liked about the character, She-Hulk is one of the few heroes that actually enjoys having super powers and doesn’t mope about them. She revels in them if not celebrates them and celebration is what this issue is all about.

Some writers have unfairly portrayed the good time girl as shall we say “loose”. I prefer to think of her as someone I’d like to hang out with because fun is sure to follow. I feel this is a fitting tribute to Miss Walters. The rest of the issue contains a story with Ms Marvel, She-Hulk and Spiderwoman that feels more like a stock story that has been sitting around for a while. It’s not bad but not as fun as the first story. A reprint follows it from John Bryne’s run that is continued which seems like an odd choice when I’m sure there was a self-contained story that could have been reprinted from that era. Overall the first story makes up for anything the others lack and is a must have for She-Hulk fans. Now my only question is we currently have several Avengers books, can’t we get She-Hulk in one of them? I mean come on Avengers Academy with a bunch of character I’ve never heard of and won’t stand the test of time? Let’s find a place in the Avenger’s mansion for She-Hulk, she might be thirty but she’s hardly over the hill.