Thanks for She Hulk #8! (spoilers)

[Lord Jermaine Retail]

The best book I read this week. And there were so many good ones. I've been telling customers that this is the respect to New Warriors issue, because compared to Civil War #1 it is. I don't mind the NW taking the hit, but I did have trouble with its founding members all of a sudden forgetting how to do anything right. But your issue gave me what I was looking for, what there just wasn't time to do in the Civil War series. It was good to see Rage and Justice again and hear what they have to say. "604" was excellent writing. And I loved She Hulk blindsiding Iron Man with the whole brainwashing thing from that one annual. I hope Marvel has some of these left because I need to order more for my shop!

[Miss Kitty Fantastico]

I'm glad to hear it's worth the wait. In my case, the wait will be longer, because apparently some moron in the distribution network thought about half a dozen copies was enough for all of Sydney - my usual store won't get any until next week's re-order, and the only other comic store in the city sold out quick, and likewise won't have anything until next week.

Dan, if any suits tell you She-Hulk isn't selling well down under, spit in their eye and tell them it's because no-one's trying to sell them to us.

Le sigh. Well, I'll be back this time next week (I hope...)

[Kevinroc]

There weren't many copies at the comic shop despite them ordering quite a few more copies than the usual issue of She-Hulk so I'm sure this issue did well sales-wise.

I quite enjoyed this issue.

[tom daylight]

Everywhere's run out here as well :(

My shop says they were short-shipped and I couldn't pick it up in the morning because I had an exam today. I thought this was the point of standing orders, to avoid this sort of situation, but perhaps not. They never got any of Big Max either, even though they ordered some.

It's fortunate that She-Hulk #7 only came out a couple of weeks ago, so my She-Hulk fix doesn't feel overdue yet, but I will be pretty upset if we get to number nine and I still haven't got this week's issue.

[Dan]

I really enjoyed the issue. It was exactly what I want out of a tie-in issue, nicely complementing the Civil War mini with a necessary story, not just some one-line "Hey, how about that Civil War thing, huh?" crossover.

[Soda]

Slapstick - one of the characters I thought I'd never see again. :D

[Merrik]

*spoilers*



I loved the issue. Everything about it. From the resolution of Jen's transformation problems, to Rage and Justice (especially the rich history Dan threw into the issue... Rage commenting on what happened last time the identities of the Warriors got out...), to She-Hulk taking on Iron Man in court, to the reveal of the surprise culprit behind the hate website for the warriors, to Jen going all She-Hulk on the guy that grabbed her... It was an excellent issue.

One thing though. I was kind of hoping that this issue would clear up for certain which side Jen would be taking on the whole Civil War stance. Yes the comments she made on Larry King are addressed, and there's the whole show down with Iron Man in court, but there's never really a direct answer. Is she absolutely for it, or is she absolutely against it? I guess she's still torn on the subject from some of the conversation she had with John, but in this issue, there isn't really an in-between. When Civil War first came up, I always felt like She-Hulk would take the anti-registration stand and side with Cap, and then her comments in Civil War #1 were made and to tell the truth, I was a little disappointed. I'm not as disappointed anymore because there are damn fine arguements for both sides, but I do hope that in the end she sides with anti-registration.

I wonder if there's going to be a solid answer given either in upcoming issues (although with a wedding and what not going on, there's not much room for tie-in's) or in issues of Civil War or maybe even Frontline?

[Boss Hogg]

cool book

[Edward J. Cunningham]

*spoilers*



I loved the issue. Everything about it. From the resolution of Jen's transformation problems, to Rage and Justice (especially the rich history Dan threw into the issue... Rage commenting on what happened last time the identities of the Warriors got out...), to She-Hulk taking on Iron Man in court, to the reveal of the surprise culprit behind the hate website for the warriors, to Jen going all She-Hulk on the guy that grabbed her... It was an excellent issue.

One thing though. I was kind of hoping that this issue would clear up for certain which side Jen would be taking on the whole Civil War stance. Yes the comments she made on Larry King are addressed, and there's the whole show down with Iron Man in court, but there's never really a direct answer. Is she absolutely for it, or is she absolutely against it? I guess she's still torn on the subject from some of the conversation she had with John, but in this issue, there isn't really an in-between. When Civil War first came up, I always felt like She-Hulk would take the anti-registration stand and side with Cap, and then her comments in Civil War #1 were made and to tell the truth, I was a little disappointed. I'm not as disappointed anymore because there are damn fine arguements for both sides, but I do hope that in the end she sides with anti-registration.

I wonder if there's going to be a solid answer given either in upcoming issues (although with a wedding and what not going on, there's not much room for tie-in's) or in issues of Civil War or maybe even Frontline?

Remember the argument about whether the Hulk has ever killed? I think this is along the same lines. I don't think Dan is in favor of the registration side, but he knows that She-Hulk is going to be siding with the pro-registration side in the main Civil War books by Millar. So he tries to explain it in this issue by saying Jen is "conflicted." The solicitations imply that there is a sharp difference between Jennifer and She-Hulk's viewpoints (like during the late Savage She-Hulk run), but I think it is more a difference between writers...

Eddie Cunningham

[Len Snark]

Another great issue, but that's no surprise. I wonder if the engagement with space boy is going to have an impact on the whole Civil War thing. I like the idea of their first marital spat being the registration act...

[Jef UK]

A great issue and tie-in indeed!

One question: was Slapstick really a member of New Warriors at some point? And if so, why, when and wha-huh?

[Miss Kitty Fantastico]

Woo-hoo, I finally got it!

I'm about 80% loving the art, but I think the lines and colours work very well together - it'll probably just take a bit of getting used to. I mean, when I picked up Single Green Female and got my first dose of Juan Bobillo, I was totally "What the heck is this?" and now I adore it. I am already a big fan of how Smith does physiques, She-Hulk looks great. Plus there's a passing resemblance to Lucy Lawless there, unless I'm mistaken - not entirely, but there's something of her look in She-Hulk's face, and rowr.

(Odd moment though - perhaps it's just me, but Justice's face the last time you see him, in the close-up where he's asking "Why?", which I imagine was meant to be disbelieving and betrayed, looked kind of like he was doing a megalomaniacal laugh.)

I enjoyed the tie-in to Civil War, but I have to admit, I was hoping for something more - while there was a lot of talk about registration, the fact that the case wasn't actually about the act itself did make the issue seem a bit here-and-there. Plus I've never read New Warriors, so while I followed the storyline well enough thanks to the judicious use of exposition, the big reveal of the 'villain' at the end didn't have any emotional impact on me. I did really enjoy She-Hulk bringing Iron Man up onto the stand and hitting him with some difficult questions - that thing about the illegal mind-control satellite was an eye-opener, in light of Iron Man's current stance on superheroes having to be held accountable. It's always a worry when someone stands up as a figurehead for an ideal that s/he's not necessarily going to live up to it him/herself. Then again, you could look at it as strengthening Iron Man's case - he's not some 'out' superhero, so it's not as if he's telling everyone else to take a risk when he himself has nothing to lose. That said, I thought the Iron Man side of things could've dovetailed into the issue's plot a little smoother - like I said, it felt like there's this website case, which brings up the issue of registration, which gets debated - but there's not really a strong one-to-one link between the debates and the case, storywise.

That said, I did appreciate how the New Warriors' reputation and legacy was brought up. They've been blamed very strongly for the disaster, and I like that that's annoying the people who know them - because while their negligence may have been a precipitating factor, while their judgement may have been screwed, the fact is that it was Nitro who blew the place up, and however culpable the Warriors are, the bad guys are moreso. That point was raised in Wolverine's tie-in, too, and I like that it comes up to balance the heaping of blame on the superhero community - it's handled more subtly here, but it's still a welcome addition of texture to the basic Civil War cloth.

It's early days, especially if She-Hulk is going to be involved in the main Civil War title in a substantial way, but I didn't think there was necessarily a contradiction between her views here and there. What she's saying, basically, is that she believes it's the right thing to do to go through with registration, but that it's tough for her personally. That's understandable, but just because it'd be easier to keep a 'secret' identity doesn't mean that a) she'd keep it at any cost, if it seemed to her registration was necessary, or b) she wouldn't regret losing it, despite believing it was the right thing to do. The whole issue, too, is about staunchly defending the integrity of registration - that it's about being accountable to legitimate authority, the government, not about letting every jerk on the street know who you are. Revealing identities, as whatsisname was doing, in fact attacks the registration act by tarnishing its reputation (whatever that is - that's another matter), and creating the untrue perception that 'registration = public unmasking', thereby making it more likely supers will resist it.

I'll be watching the Civil War storyline with interest, anyway. And I am guessing at this point that, whatever happens and however Jen's involved in it, it won't be flat-out contradictory to what's in the She-Hulk books - I have a hard time imagining that She-Hulk's support for registration is so vital to the Civil War story that Millar'd ignore Dan if he wanted her utterly opposed to it. Just my guess, anyway - I don't know how these things work. I will say that I don't think we've seen unequivocal support for registration from She-Hulk - at most, she's supported the idea in theory, but we all know (especially when the government is involved) theory and reality can be a whole lot different, and depending on how registration pans out, I don't think it's implausible by any means that it could reach a point where, without contradicting what she said on TV, She-Hulk would go "No, I'm not backing this."

The whole thing with John has me worried. Not him personally - I like that he planted a big ole smooch on She-Hulk her when she was She-Hulk, and that evidently the pressure he's getting from his superiors in the military isn't swaying him. Though him saying 'fine with me' about Jen being stuck as Jen irked me - I'm not saying he has to be unthinkingly hunky-dory with her transforming (everyone, even happy couples, has their quirks and patches of friction), but I wish he'd make more of an effort to deal with it himself, for Jen's sake. Just because she's 'cured' of the spell on her doesn't mean that what she's been told earlier isn't true, that it's not helping that her boyfriend disapproves of the She-Hulk side of her.

Incidentally, I liked the development (and, I suppose, end) of the spell - it makes sense, both in itself and the way it worked into the ongoing psychological block thing. Plus, it's natural even for She-Hulk to be feeling a bit vulnerable, having just had a defence mechanism taken away, even though she can transform at will, and can beat the crap out of regular people as Jen anyway (those muggers in issue 1, for example). Having She-Hulk feel vulnerable in a crowd was a great way to convey the general sense of distrust and fear going around with the whole Civil War thing, and what it's like for a superhero when everyday people are turning against you.

(Though I must say, the whole "It's a superhero! Get him/her!" mob scene has been played a few times already in Civil War, and while it's satisfying on an individual level to see She-Hulk stare some idiot down (likewise with Wolverine last week), over the whole spread of books I can see it getting a bit repetetive. I know the point is that these idiots do exist, and they're largely just us, regular people, not crazy wackos... I just hope it doesn't reoccur time and again in books unless it actually serves a purpose in the story.)

Getting back to John, where he said everything suddenly 'clicked', made me suspect things are going to go badly. He and Jen are evidently happy together, but all indications are that that happiness is based on a lie, Eros's mojo. Either it wears off or it doesn't, but I can't help but think that they'll at least find out about it, one way or another. And even if they could work out their differences and have a healthy relationship sans mojo, knowing that there's a love bug in their system would likely taint the relationship - possibly it'd be too much to work around (I know they like each other in any case, but they were hardly a sure thing pre-Eros), but at least enough to require some major head-work to deal with. And as John said, he's getting distracted in flight, Jen's daydreaming in court - this is a problem that needs solving.

Lastly, and a minor point, the letters page got shoved in before the last two pages... Now personally, I knew what was coming in any case, but turning the page and seeing John get down and hand a ring to Jen still has a bit less of an impact when you've already seen next issue's cover on the page before, with She-Hulk showing off the rock. Same thing's happened in Ms Marvel (which, okay, I admit I just picked up because she looks hot as all get out on the cover of #1, but it's growing on me issue to issue) - I hope whoever handles the page layout for these books starts doing it differently, that's all.

All in all: well, I was hoping for a more high-concept, meaty courtroom drama approach to Civil War directly, but that was possibly unrealistic of me - after all, the meat of the Civil War issues are presumably going to be explored in the Civil War title, so laying it all out in She-Hulk at this early stage would be counter-productive. My own overblown hopes aside, it was another great read, and Dan's once more earned his lunch money from Marvel many times over.