Hulk #1

[informationgeek]

Entertainment Weekly: What does Jen consider her relationship with her Hulk side? What does turning into the Hulk mean for her now?

Mariko Tamaki: In the past when she is the Hulk, there’s no part of her that goes away. She’s fully conscious when she’s in her Hulk form, and she’s worked as a lawyer in her Hulk form, and she’s gone about her life. So for now, it’s become this thing that used to make her feel powerful that has now become this more alien thing and become connected to trauma. So now, thinking about the things that have happened to her is connected to changing into the Hulk. Like Mark said, it’s a scary, terrible thing, because Hulk is who she is. In a way, it’s a metaphor for trying to suppress your feelings. You can try to ignore the feelings that you have, but ultimately, there’s no way around it. If you have had a traumatic event, that thing is just going to keep surfacing inside you until you face it. Right now, at the beginning of the story, Jen is in a place where as much as it feels horrible and unnatural, she’s trying to be just in her human form. But it is a part of her, and to ignore all this Hulk stuff is to ignore the past, and you can’t really do that.

Editor Mark Paniccia: In many ways, this is a classic Hulk story. Woman versus monster.

Mariko Tamaki: All stories are woman versus monster.

- From an interview at Entertainment Weekly

Story By: Mariko Tamaki
Art By: Nico Lean








Jennifer arrives at her old law firm... whatever she was at before Civil War II: Catching Fire and meet with her new assistant Bradley, who lets her know she has a new client waiting for her, a Miss Brewn who is an inhuman.








Jen promises to check into this landlord and the meeting goes well. Later that night when she reaches her apartment though...







It feels like I'm dying all over again. Every time I hear his name. Every time I time about - Hawkeye. Thanos...

However, she doesn't She-Hulk out and that's that.


Our issue ends with this moment...

Brewn: I saw a lawyer today. She seems smart. I wish Lawyer Fred was still around. Fred was good when the bad thing was around.



Unknown voice in the shadows who is taller than her: Yes.

Comments

[freezer]

First impression: Not a good one. It's like Marvel decided "Someone has to carry on the tradition of Hulk Angst" and decided it must be Jen. Despite the fact that that kind of "Can't change, can't lose control" stuff runs counter to thirty years of characterization. You could argue that all that happened to her during Civil War II has taken its toll, but being She-Hulk WAS Jennifer's coping mechanism.

[locuatico]

See, it is true that it was her coping mechanism, but i would argue that she can't turn into she-hulk without thinking of Bruce, and she can't think of Bruce without feeling furious. Thus her ONE cop0ing mechanism is no longer available and she has to deal with trauma a different wat

[thehood]

Well you're wrong, it doesn't. There has been times Jennifer Walters has lost control and her She-Hulk form has been Savage in the past several times. More importantly, it's established canon that a gamma mutates control is tied to their mental state.

And her She-Hulk form can't be much of a coping mechanism if she can't control it. Though do reference anyway, her apartment is clearly made with She-Hulk in mind and the place looks bigger than it is when she's in puny human form.

[tcampbell1000]

"All stories are woman versus monster. Will and Grace, The Matrix, The Aeneid, 'the inauguration was very well attended,' See Spot Run... You know, you just have to look at them in the right way."

I can get behind this if it's the first step of a journey, not so much if it's the new status quo. And I guess only time will tell which of those it is.

[lordultimus]

Don't forget that controversial work of deep psychological depth, "Care Bears in Wonderland."

I swoon every time I think about that rapping Cheshire Cat.

[razsolo]

If they wanted to run with this premise I really wish they'd justified it by running Jen through a wringer extreme enough that this reaction would feel real. She's one of the most well-adjusted characters Marvel has, I really can't buy her suffering this kind of trauma because she was hurt in battle and her cousin was killed...And it honestly comes across as her not being able to cope with stress because she's a woman; Spider-Man's uncle gets killed, he uses it to motivate him to heroism. She-Hulk's cousin gets killed, she falls apart.

Having said that, I love this art and I'd be willing to see where the writing goes with it but this is going to need to be super well handled to not be a big misstep.

[thehood]

"If they wanted to run with this premise I really wish they'd justified it by running Jen through a wringer extreme enough that this reaction would feel real"

They did and it is. Also, I'm not sure you understand how Uncle Ben's death affected Peter, he certainly hasn't gotten over it, especially not in the present. If you're thinking Peter Parker has never falling apart emotionally over a loved ones death, then we must be talking about some alternate Peter Parker. He breaks down emotionally a lot and has quit multiple times because of it. We're talking about a guy that blames himself for anything bad that ever happens to any of his loved ones, which isn't healthy.

Jen hasn't quit her job and issues 1 & 2 shows she's still a good lawyer, so she's doing better than Peter already. It's not like she'shiding in the desert like Bruce used to do.

And it obviously isn't because Jen is woman, this is written by a woman after all she's certainly doing a good job of writing trauma.

[balbanes]

I'm not sad about Jen losing the "she" before "Hulk." It's like calling my doctor a "she-doctor." No, she's just a doctor.

I am sad about Jen picking up the "rage" nonsense, though. Doesn't suit her character or her profession.

[thehood]

It's not nonsense, mental illness and trauma isn't nonsense. That's a horrible thing to say.

[informationgeek]

I'm not a big fan of the run so far, but I wouldn't call it nonsense. In a way, I see She-Hulk was the biggest victim of Civil War II: Biohazard:

1. Jen got knocked into a coma during the Thanos fight
2. Her final words before slipping into her coma were ones of encouragement to Carol (or were horribly misinterpreted like Dazzler brought up) "It's our future, Carol. Not his. Fight for it" and Carol went with them. Combine those words from a friend to her boyfriend's death, those really lit a fire under Carol and she went all in.
3. Jen's cousin is killed because of the visions after misinterpreting them and handling the situation completely wrong.
4. Hawkeye killed Bruce on completely flimsy reasoning and got away with it. Carol also states in court that killing Bruce was the right thing to do. So in a way, Jen has two friends betray her trust, especially Carol.
5. Jen now has rage and emotional issues, barely able to keep control of herself anymore and no one seems to be helping her outside of Patsy.

Again, while I'm no fan of turning Jen into a mess, these elements do paint a picture of why she would be struggling a lot currently. Hopefully, the writer really gets into these points or has Jen confront Carol & Clint at some point.

[thehood]

Exactly! Thank you.

[kore]

Yeah, I was not happy with the idea of the run, but I really enjoyed the first couple of issues which seem like a pretty realistic portrayal of PTSD. It does seem different from Bruce's Hulk-angst.

[balbanes]

I can't tell if you're deliberately misinterpreting my words, or just extra sensitive. The "nonsense" lies in the tiredness of this storyline, not in its perceived severity if it happened in real life.

For example, pretty much everything from the 90s was nonsense, even though most of it would be horribly traumatic if it happened to a real person.

[thehood]

Then you'd still be wrong, since it's not the same thing.

You also throw "tiredness" around, but it clearly doesn't mean what you think it means. Especially since it's rare to see some dealing with trauma be written this well.

And you clearly haven't read the book if you think she's not a good lawyer.

[balbanes]

OK, you're definitely just looking for a fight. I see no reason to grant you one.

Hope you feel better soon. Really.

[thehood]

Not at all, i just don't think it's "nonsense" and it's also not "rage".

Hell, it's a pretty realistic look at how people deal with trauma and anxiety, which i greatly appreciate and it's what i don't think you understand.

[tigerkaya]

Hopefully the sales are flat. I'd rather Jennifer was in limbo that this melarchy of disappointment.

[thehood]

You say it as if the last up beat She-Hulk book sold all that well, when it didn't.

[richardak]

Ugh. I always liked She-Hulk because she was funny, actually enjoyed having superpowers, and wasn't all emo and melodramatic all the time. That's why she's been one of the few Marvel characters I've followed consistently over the years. This? I bought the first issue, and I might even buy the second to see where it goes, but unless the second issue really surprises me, I don't think I'll be sticking with this series.

[thehood]

So basically, you just want her to shrug off Banner's death like it was nothing, like it didn't mean anything to her that the guy that was like a brother to her was killed?

[richardak]

No. I wanted her to react in a believable way. Funny, charming people lose loved ones every day. They grieve and move on. It doesn't fundamentally alter their personalities.

[thehood]

Doesn't sound like you know what you are talking about, since grieving is rarely that simple, especially when talking about someone that was like a sibling to you and then to see people celebrating their death. Plus you forget it wasn't just Bruce's death that is affecting her.

And her personality wasn't altered, now you are making stuff up. She clearly hasn't let this affect her job, she's still performs her job well.

[richardak]

Actually, it sounds as though you don't know what you are talking about. Her personality has obviously been altered, and in a fundamental way: she used to love being the Hulk, to the point where she resented having to change back into Jennifer Walters. Now she dreads transforming in the Hulk. In other words, she has now become just like the old Hulk.

You also don't sound as though you know what you are talking about when you talk about grief. People lose actual siblings every day. It's sad, but people's whole personalities don't reorient themselves are a result.

Incidentally, she is not performing her job at all well, since her client told her that her landlord is harassing her and trying to force her to leave. Rather than take advantage of New York City's extremely strong tenant's rights laws (very possibly the strongest in the world), she just tells the landlord that he needs to show up in court to show cause in thirty days. She should have immediately filed an action in Housing Court. What Walters does is probably malpractice. So, no, she's not doing her job well at all. Again, you sound as though you do not know what you are talking about.

[randyripoff]

This is not what I want from She-Hulk.

[mizerous]

#NotOurHulk?

[thehood]

Then read Totally Awesome Hulk.

It makes sense they would try something different with She-Hulk and it makes sense that Banner's death and her personal trauma would affect her.

[randyripoff]

I am reading Totally Awesome Hulk and enjoying it for the most part.

I can buy Jen having issues with recent events, but I cannot buy her moping about it. I don't see her wallowing in angst, at least not outwardly as she's doing here.

[thehood]

Then you should read up more on Jen, because this isn't the first time.

And she's not wallowing in angst or moping. She's dealing with trauma and anxiety, but she's clearly not letting it affect her job.

[randyripoff]

That's really insulting. Really.

I've read every single one of her solo series issues, her entire Fantastic Four run, her entire Avengers run and most of her other guest appearances. IN MY OPINION, the character depicted in these scans is not Jennifer Walters, certainly not the one I'm used to. IN YOUR OPINION, she's being accurately depicted. You're entitled to your opinion of course, but it's an utter and complete dick move to say that I "need to read up more on Jen". Utter and pure BS.

If you want to make accusations like this you need to get your facts straight.

[violetclm.livejournal.com]

Well, I think I like Bruin alright so far. And it's about time Jen got back into hanging around with an old lady again.

[razsolo]

#weezi2017 :D

[stubbleupdate]

The old lady who doorsteps her doesn't take no for an answer?

I'm pretty sure that Jen can do without her.

[stubbleupdate]

Am I the only person who really likes this book?

[lilacsigil]

Nope! I like it too and am very interested in where it's going. This is a big change for Jen, and I hope to see her getting back her Jen-ness.

[wizardru]

I see a lot of posters so far don't appear to like it, but it sounds like more being unhappy with the premise than the execution. I can understand that; Jen has long been a character who, while sometimes presented as cheesecakey, always had agency and was one of the first of Marvel's female heroes to actually have stuff specific to her. John Byrne elevated her in the 80s and she's been one of Marvel's most prominent characters. It's ironic, though, that most of her runs have not been able to sustain a long-running book.

All that said, I like this much more than I thought I would. The idea of Jen having to deal with trauma (and the Hulk being part of that trauma) is an interesting take, especially as it seems to approach it a as a metaphor for women surviving trauma. I mean, the Inhuman girl is clearly a stand-in (or maybe a literal example) for an abuse survivor. I can see this following a similar theme to the Jessica Jones Netflix show, which could be a great take for the character.

[lyricalswagger]

I really like it too.

I'm confused by a lot of the opinions earlier in the thread, as they seem to imply a basic misunderstanding of how storytelling works.

[thehood]

Not at all, i love it. I certainly love a lot of the subtleties, like how we see how big her apartment looks now that she's human all the time, since her apartment was clearly made for She-Hulk.

[stacyhd]

So She-Hulk gets to be one of those heroes whose powers are more burden then blessing and be a mope.

. . .yaaaaaay. . .

[thehood]

That's not how it is at all, way to miss the point.

[stacyhd]

Maybe it hangs together better in the issue as a whole, but I'm just getting a bit tired of fun and upbeat heroes becoming all grim 'n gritty. Sorry for the snark.

[thehood]

It's fine and i'm sorry too, it's just that there's a lot of the story i can relate to.

I honestly don't think she's grim and gritty now though, it's not like she's gone all Punisher or anything. That i wouldn't be ok with.

[stacyhd]

If it resonates with you, then that's all that matters. I'll wait for the trade on this one and then give it a look-see.

[laceblade]

I'd somehow forgotten that Tamaki was taking on this title. I'd consider picking it up just for her name alone, but this preview is showing a story that really resonates with me. Glad to see it.