Who loves you? He loves you! The Secret Invasion continues in the pages of X-Factor #34, and Marvel has sent Major Spoilers a sneak peek that offers up the third installment of the He Loves You saga.
When I found out that X-Factor #33 was part of a three part Secret Invasion tie-in with She-Hulk, I was not happy. I’m never happy when X-Factor gets dragged into another event or mini-series. But there was more to it; what I didn’t know that Peter David was writing She-Hulk.
The Secret Invasion has already spilled into other Marvel titles, and the next two to feel the grasp of the green skinned villains are She-Hulk and X-Factor that not only tie-in to Secret Invasion, but also cross over with each other, in the He Loves You arc.
Marvel has sent Major Spoilers a sneak peek of both issues arriving in July.
Or - “A Change In Focus Is Pretty Much What She-Hulk Does Best…”
Peter David’s text page in this issue pretty much sums up my thoughts on She-Hulk. Initially, she was created to fulfill a copyright need, to keep anyone from knocking off Marvel’s intellectual property, and her first series was a bit lackluster because of that. Her second book was marked by John Byrne’s specific fourth-wall-breaking take on the character, and when he left, the series floundered and eventually got cancelled. Dan Slott relaunched the character in 2003 with another ground-breaking revamp, casting Jennifer Walters as the main character, and She-Hulk as more of a means to an end. Now, PAD is changing the book again, but the question arises: will the loss of this volume’s original creative team end her book again?
New series writer Peter David, and artist Shawn Moll are set to go on She-Hulk #22. This issue kicks off a brand new arc called “Jaded”, which Marvel claims is a good story for readers new and old. In addition to the Moll cover, Marvel will also ship an Ed McGuinness variant and a super double secret probation zombie variant cover by McGuinness as well.
Marvel sent Major Spoilers a sneak peek at the two regular covers that you can see after the jump.
Or - “An Interesting End To An Entertaining Era.”
She-Hulk is a character who’s been through a lot of changes in her career, from her earliest incarnation as a savage counterpart to her cousin running about in a slashed-up nightie to her fourth-wall breaking antics in the 90’s, to her current run as super-lawyer, but I’ve never been as sad to see a She-Hulk era end as I am right now. Dan Slott took a character created to, essentially, protect Marvel’s intellectual property and took an entirely new twist on the character and backstory. It’s been a little over 3 years (counting the V.3 run) and in my opinion, Shulkie has never been this compelling, even during the John Byrne cheesecake-and-self-referencing era. (It should also be noted that for me to like something better than sarcasm and hot half-dressed women, we’re looking at a pretty impressive body of work.)
Forget reading the Sunday funnies in your newspaper, here is the place for a whole bunch of sneak peeks for titles arriving this week directly from Marvel. In this batch MS. MARVEL 19, NEW EXCALIBUR 23, NEW WARRIORS 4, SHANNA THE SHE DEVIL: SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 2, SHE-HULK 21, SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP/MODOK’S 11 3, UNCANNY X-MEN 490, WHITE TIGER 6, WOLVERINE 57.
Or - “Wrapping Up About A Dozen Plotlines In Two Dozen Pages Ain’t Easy…”
I’m saddened to hear that Dan Slott will be leaving She-Hulk in the near future. In fact, the only thing that mitigates my disappointment is the fact that his replacement will be the superlative Peter David. I don’t know what Slott has planned for his last issue, but I can tell you that the setup to it is interesting… To make sure that the stories he wanted to make sure were told get told, he’s going to tell them ALL in this issue. Buckle up, ladles and jellyspoons, ’cause it’s about to get a mite noisy in here.
It’s a very busy week, what with all this comic-con stuff going on, but that doesn’t mean you have to be left out in the cold with your Sneak Peeks. This weekend, Marvel has 12 sneaks of issues coming out on August 1.
The second batch includes New Warriors #3, Shanna: Survival of the Fittest #1, She-Hulk #20, Spider-Man/Red Sonja #1, Thor #2, and Uncanny X-Men #489. Unfortunately, we can’t show you any previews of World War Hulk #3, but we will have a Day of Release Review for you this week.
Or - “How To Juggle A Dozen Plots And Make It Look Easy…”
The petite brunette there in the middle is Jennifer Walters, formerly known as the She-Hulk, proving she can still ‘bring it,’ as The Rock would say. Tom Grice recently took me to task for my adversarial stance during my review of Avengers: The Initiative #3, needling me about my “Dan Slott better bring his A-game” snotty remarks, saying that I was unnecessarily hard on that book. Tom is (say it with me, Spoilerites!) WRONG, Sir! WRONG! My defense is threefold: First, The Initiative is relying on a lot of hoary Army movie bootcamp cliches. Second, I’m not really comfortable with a lot of the characterization, with a wishy-washy Yellowjacket, a whiny Justice, a cocky stone-cold War Machine, and Gauntlet’s overbearing D.I routine. Third, and most importantly, Dan Slott’s She-Hulk has been a delight for several years, and I probably had higher expectations than the book could ever have attained… This issue continues the winning streak, and goes about five places that I NEVER expected.
Or - “Initiate THIS, Iron Dictator!”
Anthony Stark has made enemies of virtually everyone in the Marvel Universe in the last six months, faithful Spoilerites, not the least of which include many of US. And while there are those among the “Legion of Iron-Haters” who are more popular, or arguably more powerful, even some that Stark considers a bigger threat, the Iron Dictator is about to get a lesson in why not to underestimate Jennifer Walters, who combines power, intellect, and the desire to protect her family into a potent big green anti-Stark missile. Look at her eyes… Jennifer is in a rage, and the one thing we ALL remember about Hulks is: You wouldn’t like them when they’re angry.
Well everybody, I was super busy yesterday trying to get my house in order for a big sale, which was followed up immediately by a storm that promptly wrecked said house. This put me quite a bit behind as I scrambled to find some news of interest for you, dear reader, and I failed to get to Marvel’s daily deluge of sneak peeks. So gathered in one giant post I bring you Treasure Island, Cable and Deadpool, the final chapter of the Hulk in space saga, and a bunch of covers from upcoming Silver Surfer tie-in books.
Enjoy!
Or - “The Not-Exactly-Calm Before The Long-Overdue-Storm…”
Hey, it’s a Dan Slott Double-Shot! Can you dig it? No? Alrighty, then, moving on… Of all the people who sided with Tony Stark during Civil War, none surprised me more (not even Mister Fantastic or Tigra) than She-Hulk. Certainly, Jennifer Walters is a lawyer, and perhaps you could make the case that her understanding of the legal realities of the Registration act chose for her, but her whole-hearted acceptance of Tony’s actions, her acceptance of her FORCIBLE DRAFTING into SHIELD to fight her cousins foes (a situation ALSO orchestrated by Stark) make me wonder exactly what’s going on in her emerald cabeza. This issue sheds some light on the subject, while also continuing to show that She-Hulk is a woman without a rudder, and the wind is currently blowing towards “bad ideas…”
Or - “You Know You’re Tough When You Can Fight A Wendigo In Your Underwear…”
She-Hulk is one of those series that tends to avoid most people’s radar, with only the occasional mention by the fan press or internet to remind the non-readers that it’s still out there, and that’s really too bad. In any given month, one issue of She-Hulk will give you more for your entertainment value than many of the top ten “Hot Books.” I’ve never walked away from an issue of Dan Slott’s take on the green giantess wondering why I was looking forward to it, horrified by a garish Alex Ross/Michael Turner cover, or beating my head against a radiator at ridiculous plot developments, something I can’t say about a lot of books… *coughCivilWarTheReturncough* This month is no exception, as we see Jenny dealing with another of her lost cousin’s old-school foes, we remember one of the effects of gamma radiation, and we’re once again confronted with the fact that Cain Marko is a big fat liar. Confused? Read on , MacDuff…
Or - “Hotwings, Hot Women, Anna Punch Inna Face!
When Dan Slott relaunched She-Hulk a couple of years ago, I didn’t expect to buy it. It was on my list of “I’ll pick it up off the stands” titles, the ones I used to get when I had a couple of extra bucks. Now, even though “extra bucks” are a thing of the past, I’ve moved She-Hulk to my must-buy list. Why? Because it’s brilliant, crafting an unexpected and interesting story out of a former second-tier girl knockoff and diverse elements of Marvel’s huge continuity tapestry. Where do leftover androids, time-tripping cowboys, celestial judges, super-villains and lawyers (though the last two are often indistinguishable) mix in a happy consomme of brilliant? Nowhere but She-Hulk, baby… Of course, change is in the air for Jen and company, and this issue is one of those “great jumping-on points.” How easy is the leap?
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