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By Jason Bourgeois
It seems like every few years, the big companies like rotating around their various character names, trying out new versions, throwing stuff at the wall, and seeing what, if anything sticks. It seems that anything new sticking happens on very rare occasions. Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern is one instance of a new version of the old idea hanging around from recent years. The Flashes also seem to be very good at this. Heck, there are so many Flashes now, they're like a bunch of cockroaches!
Anyways, right now we appear to be in the midst of another wave of this sort of thing, and it seems to be heavily focused on the Hulk franchise in the Marvel Universe. There's always been a healthy amount of gamma irradiated characters hanging around Bruce Banner, but the place is just getting cluttered now. It's an odd thing that Marvel seems to be attempting to create a veritable Hulk Family subimprint, like the X-Books, and Avengers titles. Which is actually fair enough, these days. The Hulk brand hasn't been this strong since Peter David's earlier run, or he had his own TV show. Greg Pak breathed new life into Hulk with his Planet Hulk storyline, and he has built up a very interesting side cast of characters and storylines, and expanded the MU and Hulk's world considerably.
Ironically enough, Hulk himself has been kept mostly off the board, with his original title being given over to Incredible Hercules, and an all new Adjectiveless Hulk book staring an all new red Hulk, whom no one still knows much of anything about. Another Hulk, or more accurately the son of same, even was given his own book, and just recently arrived on Earth. There's also the new Scorpion, and it has been heavily implied that she's Bruce Banner's daughter.
The Hulk line even shrunk a little with She-Hulk's book being recently cancelled, but that didn't last long.
A mere handful of months after Jennifer Walters rode off into the sunset, Marvel announced a new She-Hulk title, All-New Savage She-Hulk. Because who wants a title that just rolls off the tongue? When I heard about it, and saw who was in it, let us just say that I was not happy. I've been a pretty big She-Hulk fan these last few years; my readers may have noticed. With Jen's old title barely in the grave, to put out a new title, with an all-new She-Hulk...well, it felt like a slap in the face.
Reusing names is a dicey proposition. The names come with baggage, and the names come with fans. And to flaunt it in the face of those fans just after cancelling the character they know, well, that's not cool. Not cool at all.
However, I still was intrigued by this book. Another writer I've given a lot of words to in praise of his writing, Fred Van Lente, was going to be penning the new She-Hulk. Well, ok. There's definite potential there. Still, the name annoyed me. I'm weird that way. Heck, I'm a comic fan, and I'm on the internet. That actually qualifies as normal behaviour. I was torn though, between the slap in the face, and the potential that this could actually be good, despite the overhanging shadow of annoyance. I would have forgiven everything if he had Jennifer show up and slap this new girl with a lawsuit over using her name.
Sadly, such a scene didn't happen, but you know what? Now that I have the entire miniseries sitting here right next to me, this is one of the more fun miniseries of the year. It's not great, or the best, but it is definitely fun, and once again shows Fred using that sense of humour that I've come to love and associate so much with his work. This is one reason I had some hope for the book.
Also, it's nice that Jennifer is in the book, and is almost a co-star. While I did not get to see her serving papers, she did get into the typical misunderstanding fight, and caused massive property damage with the Sentry in a great fight, so I can live with it.
The new She-Hulk, whom I think is never actually referred to by that name in the book, until the very end, is Lyra, the daughter of Thundra, a woman from an alternate future where society has become female dominated, and a 'donation' of genetic material by the Hulk. She's a fun character, with a different outlook on the world, considering her upbringing. She's sent back to the present on a desperate mission, and runs afoul of the new Norma Osborn run status quo of the Marvel Universe.
Probably the weakest part of the character is her visual design, which is the exact same costume as her mother. And frankly, the look is a little dated, and just feels like been there and done that. It made her less unique. By the end of the book, this concern is rectified, and Lyra really comes into her own, with a new place in the world, and a new mission, and leading into a backup story in the returning title of Incredible Hulk.
I still wish she had a different name, but she's definitely heroic, and will serve the name proudly, I think. I'm actually looking forward to grabbing more issues of Incredible, just to follow her adventures, especially with Fred continuing to write about her. She's a great, somewhat unique addition to the Hulk family of books, and to the Marvel universe. She fills a hole that I didn't realise was there, and is fun and different enough that I think she deserves a chance, which many won't give her because she will be seen as trying to steal the name from the original She-Hulk. Which is a shame. Her book is definitely worth a look by anyone looking for some good, clean fun. Which there is a bit of a lack of during this Dark Reign.
This is why I do not like to prejudge something before it has come out. If I stuck with my initial reaction, I would have missed out on a fun book on its own merits, regardless of the name. This is a great example of not judging a book by its cover. I always do my best to not form too many preconceptions before I've actually read something, or see the movie, or whatever. Until you have it sitting in front of you, your reactions are based on bits and pieces, or hearsay, or just plain untruths. Which is never fair. But I digress.
With that said, I think two She-Hulks is more than enough. Giving her a more unique name would be better, but she's off doing her own thing, so I can live with two She-Hulks. But no more than that! Two is the maximum amount!
Wait, what? RED She-Hulk? Oh for... Marvel, we need to talk.
Jason M. Bourgeois
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