Hulk #3

[informationgeek]

Cosmopolitan: When it was first announced that Jennifer Walters would be taking over the Hulk title, was there any backlash from fans?

Mariko Tamaki: I haven’t seen any. Some people are immediately like, “Yes, this is gonna be it! We’re gonna do this! I’m super excited!” and some people are like, “We’ll see.” I think there’s a trepidation when a new person comes in and starts writing for a character, which I accept. I accept that trepidation, I understand it, I have the same trepidation when I see someone new is writing a hero or doing something different with a hero, but I think mostly people are just excited to see more Hulk.

Editor Mark Paniccia: This is one of those headlines that people see and it really sparks their interest. They see that Jennifer Walters, who’s been known as the She-Hulk for all this time, is stepping into a Hulk role. It makes them curious. They want to see what this is all about. This is an opportunity to take a really cool, interesting look at a character and do something completely different than we’ve ever done with her before. Really at the heart of it, this is a Hulk story. It’s man versus monster, but in this case it’s woman versus monster.

Mariko Tamaki: What could be better than woman versus monster?

- From an interview at Cosmopolitan

Story By: Mariko Tamaki
Art By: Nico Lean



So the comic picks up with the evil landlord dead and the news reporting on it, while Jennifer watches the report at work.






After a bit of awkward comedy...






Somehow Jen helps up on the roof and someone just happens to know she's there...







Soooo, if this is their first conversation, was Patsy not be there for when Jen woke up and tried getting her life back together?



Then Jennifer monologues to the audience about Maise's backstory while we get an awkward comedy routine with two police detectives' investigating Maise's landlord's death. Jen says that Maise had the brightest, happiest life and then she was nearly killed when her ex-business partner tried assassinating her so he could sell their business. Jennifer puts out the connection of being portrayed by a close friend as well, paralleling their lives aren't too different.

The issue ends with this after the detectives are killed by the same force that killed the landlord...







So yeah, no Hulk still and the comic is feeling more padded than usual, especially with this dang decompression and huge panels. 4 bucks a pop for a monthly title where not much happens from issue to issue. This is painfully written for the trades.

Comments

[tugrul]

It's my cup of tea. I like reading how she grieves even if she is so apprehensive she doesn't get much done.

[mrstatham]

"Soooo, if this is their first conversation, was Patsy not be there for when Jen woke up and tried getting her life back together? What a great friend..."

I think you're reading a bit much into Patsy's actions there and not enough into Jen's. From the sound of things, Jen has actively been avoiding everyone in the superhero community. That scene in the lift seems to say it all.

[freezer]

So this is basically Alias, if Jessica were Hogarth?

Not compelling reading, IMHO.

[katefan]

This is a painfully boring comic. Who is this being written for, exactly? Who is the target audience?

[wizardru]

I can't say who it's being written for specifically, but I like it. You see boring, I see an interesting character study. Sales have been decent, not stellar. I think issue 3 sold about 27,000 copies, which is not nearly as bad in today's market as it would have been even 10 years ago. We have no data on digital sales, though...and if Ms. Marvel is any indication, some titles sell very well online.

[katefan]

I guess we are looking for different things in comics. I look for escapist entertainment. And this...

This ain't it. To each their own, I suppose. But like someone else pointed out, this seems to be padded for trade in an obvious fashion.

[bruinsfan]

I like it, but then I like Jennifer as a character enough that I'm willing to follow some stuff about her dealing with trauma without the need for superheroic action.

[philippos42]

Yeah. It is a slow burn, and it is very downbeat, and I really wouldn't want the book to be like this long-term; but I can put up with six issues or so of this.

At least the art is nice enough.