Sunday, October 14, 2012

She-Hulk 15: She-Hulk, Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D.!

In this issue, She-Hulk joins the intelligence and law enforcement agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and fights Hulk baddie The Abomination, and that's about all there is to it.  It's not one of writer Dan Slott's best stories, for reasons I'll discuss below.  Here are some random thoughts on this issue:

*The trippy cover by Greg Horn appears to be a homage to artist Jim Steranko, whose run on Nick Fury, Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Strange Tales and on a subsequent Fury title are still well-regarded today for their stylistic layouts.

*The story inside the trippy cover though is pretty flat.  It's basically a standard Marvel slugfest.  A lot of pages have three or four panels on them just like when previous She-Hulk scribe John Byrne lost interest in the title.  I suspect that Slott's heart wasn't in the whole She-Hulk becomes an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. storyline.  It likely was foisted on him when higher-ups on Marvel focused on The Hulk for their next big event.  So instead of being able to happily play in his own obscure corner of the Marvel universe, Slott was forced to set his months long carefully-built storyline aside and make his series match She-Hulk's role in the wider Marvel universe.  Slott conveniently provides an analogy for his dissatisfaction, and perhaps self-loathing, at having to detour and write this stuff, by having She-Hulk sleep with one of the most boring Marvel characters ever, Clay Quartermain.  Sometimes, working for the man, even Stan The Man, sucks.

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