Written by Dan Slott
Art by Juan Bobillo; Marcel Sosa; Avalon’s Dave Kemp; & Dave Sharpe
Cover Art by Greg Horn
SUMMARY:
Entitled “Many Happy Returns,” this 32-page comic was released by Marvel Comics for December 2005. After a short break from her short-lived 2004-05 series, Jen Walters is resuming her private practice as an attorney in a prestigious New York firm’s superhuman law division. During her pre-work jog, Spider-Woman & Captain America observe Jen efficiently foil a mugging without transforming into She-Hulk.
Jen faces numerous surprises at the office later that morning. In addition to accepting an infamous time-traveling client accused of murder, Jen meets her mysterious new boss: Mr. Zix. As She-Hulk, she intervenes in a conference room scuffle between the Young Avengers’ indignant Stature and Vision vs. Boomerang and the Enforcers’ Ox. Worse yet for Jen is that their attorney is her snotty and now wheelchair-bound colleague/arch-rival, Mallory Book.
In therapy with Doc Samson, Jen remorsefully reflects upon a year’s worth of personal troubles, including the Avengers Disassembled deaths of Ant-Man, the Vision, and Hawkeye.
To make another bizarre day-in-the-life complete, Jen and her law partner/neighbor/boyfriend, Pug, discover that a previously-deceased Avenger (in civilian attire) has been called upon for … jury duty. Jen tells Pug that she is going to risk her law license to save an old friend.
REVIEW:
As a direct sequel to She-Hulk’s previous solo series from a year before, writer Dan Slott makes it a relatively good read. A re-energized Jen’s jogging routine is probably the highlight, as is her possible New Avengers recruitment scene. Slott’s legalese spoof delivers some quirky chuckles, including how Jen & Pug’s case research supposedly relies upon the firm’s collection of comic book back issues.
For that matter, Jen’s willingness to help a mugging victim sue the New Avengers for mental distress, or that her firm now gladly defends super-villains indicates that Slott’s storytelling enjoys a welcome element of unpredictability. A well-played gag re: trade paperbacks even has a terrific punchline served up to help out an innocent victim of Boomerang’s razor-sharp weapons.
Despite Greg Horn’s glamorous cover image, the art team’s visuals are disappointingly weak. While the interior artwork adequately supports Slott’s script, the effort put into this imagery certainly could have been better. In terms of this issue as another She-Hulk # 1, Slott’s tongue-in-cheek Ally McBeal-style approach remains surprisingly fresh.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
Marvel Assistant Editor Aubrey Sitterson dedicates a full page explaining an upcoming letters-and-answers column, as well as promoting She-Hulk’s imminent 100th issue for the character’s 25th anniversary. This page also sports a cover reveal for Issue # 2, which guest-stars Hawkeye.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 7 Stars
