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Rating:  -
I will just say this. Sure, the concept was half-baked and didn't quite get fully baked enough to shine like many other Marvel legends....and yet, there is that old following rule. When you think no one is a fan of something, there is always a band of geeky rebels out there to keep the lowest of the low alive and popular. I am sure somewhere there is a fan base for all of those Impact comics of the early 90s--heck, even I had interest in The Jaguar(Maria DeGuzman). I did not know that the She Hulk was designed in print in such a hasty way to combat the guys messing with the Hulk TV show. To me, that is a daring and perhaps foolish waste of a potentially great character. The origin issue had promise. And, yes, many of the following issues did not. In fact, it is after issue 12 that she turns on her humanity and takes control of her changes. Right there you lose that emotional uprising/tension that Banner/the Hulk had to face. I was not happy to see her join the Avengers or Fantastic Four(why does she have to wear anyone else's suit to be a member of the team?) nor when she decided to remain as the She Hulk "permanently". It defeated the interest--perhaps a guy thing--in the transformation issues...and if that is what was intended to remain the course, why then do they change the story so she can change once again now? People can't make up their minds, plain and simple. I would like to be behind the recreation of a character like this...if I could get off my shoulder the burden of all the past incarnations/rehashes and start fresh as if this was a new character.
But, when you look at the Sensational series(basically cheezy comedy and pinup art) and the newest incarnation(sort of a Sensational rehash with different artists and even less moral boundaries--sure sleep with a different guy every day, why not...and have a super weird space-age suit made by some hard-to-buy genius to help control body mass and yet look a bit prepackaged worse than the old costume of a torn white slip or a purple unitard), you see a bit of what so many comics are becoming....recycled and reformatted. Comics rebirth themselves so often you feel like you are vomitting stories all mixed up and tasting them again not so nicely. One of these days a new age will have to begin.
Until then, there is still a part of me that feels the connection to some of these older comics. No matter how bad the stories were...the original She Hulk comics were her beginning and I liked the little bit of shadiness they gave the comics. Not the weird and evil stuff they tried in the Sensational series...but just the simple emotional tensions, the Hulk fluctuations and struggles, the concept of a lawyer torn between two forms of justice--but without the comical antics of the later series. The clashing with Iron Man in issue 6(when I learned of this combo, I was ecstatic--I had dreams of these two coming together one way or another), the issues with her father, the mobsters on her trail, the changing in dark alleyways or trapped on a bridge in a car in the heaviest of traffic...THOSE moments--I cannot get enough. I don't know what it is, but even though I own some of the original series and many of the later...I still want a back copy in good condition of the originals, and that is what they make these books for. Thanks to whoever is responsible for this reissue.
Rating: -
This story starts out well done, but quickly drowns in hideous plot writing and ridiculous situations. How they managed to maintain continuity through this is miraculous.
Even so, it is a great way to get a look at how everyone's favorite Jade Giantess came to be.
Rating:  -
The year was 1979. The Incredible Hulk TV series had been a success for two years and the folks at Marvel were clearly enjoying the subsequent boost to comic sales. What they were not enjoying were the rumors of the new plans for the show from producer Kenneth Johnson, a man known for having expressed little attachment for the comic series' established past. The changes that Johnson had already pitched to make the show more "suitable" was the complete omission of any super-villains, giving the protagonist a loving and supportive family, changing his name from Bruce Banner to the less hokey (and perhaps fruity) David Banner, and (allegedly) making the Hulk turn red since that's the color of anger, which thankfully didn't stick. But the latest trip to the rumor mill was the most worrisome: they were going to make an appeal to the Charlie's Angels girl-power crowd by giving Banner's sister Helen the gamma special, turning her into a female Hulk. In an effort to stake their claim on a potentially viable copyright, the brass at Marvel launched a pre-emptive strike by creating the character first, and the inaugural issue of the Savage She-Hulk hit the shelves in early 1980. Well, I've read the new Essential, collecting the series' entire run, and from what I saw, I think I would have rather let Johnson have the honor.
The saga begins when a fugitive Dr. Banner decides to seek refuge with prominent LA lawyer Jennifer Walters, the younger cousin with whom he had shared a strong familial bond as a child. Of course, he had never mentioned her before now, but hey, still waters run deep. Bruce and Jen catch up during a break from her latest case, but all pleasantries end when thugs hired by Nicholas Trask, the mob boss on trial, make an attempt on her life. Banner makes a heroic gamble for the sake of his grievously wounded cousin by transfusing his gamma-irradiated blood to her. By the way, he is capable of performing a blood transfusion solo since he also mentioned for the first time ever his aborted stint in medical school (Probably a passing reference to the TV show, where "David" was a physician and not a physicist). While Jen is recuperating in a hospital room, Trask's gunnies mosey on in to finish the job, but that just makes Jen angry ... and you wouldn't like her when she's angry. I found She-Hulk #1 to be a serviceable but not exceptional origin story, but I should mention that it was written by the one and only Stan "the Man" Lee, and it was one of his last entries in the regular Marvel canon.
In my review for the Essential Spider-Woman, I expressed my pleasure that the heroine managed to greatly distinguish herself from her obvious male counterpart; our heroine here isn't quite so successful in this regard. Ms. Walters is well-educated and cultured, has a slight stature and a meek demeanor, and in moments of great duress transforms into a raging green destructive titan (Hmm, sounds familiar). Her father, Sheriff Morris Walters, is a grizzled hard-nosed old warhorse who wants this new lady Hulk brought into custody at all costs (Shades of Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross, eh?). Attorney "Buck" Bukowski is Jen's cocky and unctuous personal and professional rival (a la Major Glenn Talbot). Her next-door neighbor, young med student "Zapper" Ridge, can serve as either her plucky sidekick or her willowy love interest, depending on the needs of the story (Yep, he's Rick Jones and Betty Ross rolled up into one). The more modern She-Hulk stories feature Jen being able to change to either forms more or less at will, and she maintains her intelligence and personality (though she's a bit less inhibited) after the transfer. However, the Savage series has far more "Ugh, me mad, She-Hulk smash!" moments than not, and that rung a little too hollow for me.
The story arcs throughout the series fluctuated, putting Jen in many different comic book-style situations, and few of them really worked. The first issues focused on She-Hulk's pursuit of Trask while also becoming a fugitive from the law, hunted by her own father. Then she jetted off to the Citrusville Everglades in Florida, home to the mysterious Man-Thing, where she tangled with the immortal denizens of La Hacienda. After that, she returns at last to the courtroom to defend Morbius, the Living Vampire, from the murder charges he brought on while slaking his un-undead thirst (This is, far and away, my favorite story of the book, and I'll explain why in my conclusion). Later, Jen's future husband John Jameson, the Man-Wolf, stops by with his entourage of sword-wielding barbarians and a wizard with no hands, all of whom revere JJJ's progeny as the Star-God of their Microversal realm (You know, I'm ready to admit there are some holes in my knowledge of Marvel history. When exactly did this happen?). There are two consecutive PSA-like issues that follow. In one, Jen informs a hopeful diabetic singer that she can't sing; in the other, she speaks out against building microwave communication broadcast towers in residential areas. I'm not convinced that a superhero was needed to tell either tale. Towards the end, Shulkie gets back into the crime-fighting groove when she challenges a new mobster and his super-villain army of one (more on them later). Looking back on the progression of the She-Hulk series, it resembles the hodgepodge of disparate themes that's indicative of your usual "Changing Writer Syndrome", even though it only had a single writer after the origin, one David Anthony Kraft. I think, perhaps, this guy was just handed a character hastily pulled out of the ether in order to snub a maverick TV producer, and thus he didn't have sufficient plans for her future and development.
Lastly, I have to touch on Shulkie's rogue's gallery, which I have to say falls flat on most every aspect. When I first met Nicholas Trask, I predicted that he would become a west coast version of Kingpin, a ruthless and realistically rendered gangster that would constantly be a thorn in our heroine's side. That prediction derailed after Nicky was last seen riding a giant metal earthworm towards the planet's molten core (you can't see me, but I'm hanging my head right now). There's the Word, a dictionary editor turned cult leader who's backed up by his tough-as-nails daughter Ultima, the only other female brawler that you'll find here. There's the Man-Elephant, a hydraulics magnate wearing a pachyderm-shaped exoskeleton, complete with grappling hook tusks (There are so many heavy-hitting bad guys dressed like college football mascots in these books. Maybe he, the Rhino, the Grizzly, and the Man-Ape should form a bowling league together or something). There's a guy in a frumpy Mexican luchador's outfit with a quarterstaff and a habit of using the word "leverage" in each of his sentences (Nuff said). There's Beverly Cross, a revenge-minded seductress who sinks her claws into Jen's father (and is either a stout Hispanic woman or a tall and slender Caucasian, depending on where you see her). The aforementioned super-villain army consists of the misshapen Brute, the insectile Seeker, the repulsive Radius, the heat-packing Torque, the animate mountain of dirt known as Earth-Lord, and Kyr, a child that with a glance can wrack people with excruciating pain. In the end, all those players were revealed to have been one person for no other reason except possibly so that they could all be written off in lieu of the series' cancellation. Last and most definitely least, the man most considered to be Shulkie's arch-foe is the Doc, a century-old mad scientist with aims towards world domination (If there was an award for "Most Derivative Comic Book Character", smart money would be on him). I did some research and found out that practically none of the characters introduced in this book, malign or otherwise, ever made an appearance in any other series. Draw your own conclusions from that.
I read the Essential Savage She-Hulk about two months ago; I've spent the intervening time trying to come up with enough positive aspects of this book to give it an average review, and in that I have failed. The guest appearances by Iron Man, Man-Thing, and Hellcat were cool, and our leading lady had many witty and charming moments, but that couldn't make up for the shiftless storylines and serious lack of originality. Perhaps my poor opinion stems from my enjoyment of Dan Slott's current She-Hulk series and its focus on "Superhuman Law". The way I see it, a world crawling with aliens, monsters, and preternaturally powerful costumed vigilantes is rife with difficult interpretations of the law, and I'd like to read more stories that address this (The mundane criminal cases in your average Daredevil comic usually don't cut it either). I think that's why I favored the Trial of Morbius much more than any other issue; the rest suffer from the comparison with Slott's work. Even so, the Savage She-Hulk series contributed very few ideas and characters to the greater Marvel universe, except of course for the titular heroine, and for that I can't recommend this volume to anyone except the most diehard She-Hulk or Essential collectors.
However, the silver lining to this whole thing is that it might provide impetus to make a reprint volume of John Byrne's wildly satirical Sensational She-Hulk series (The cover of the first ish featured Jen telling the consumer "Okay, now. This is your second chance. If you don't buy my book this time, I'm gonna come over to your house and rip up all your X-Men". Ha ha! I can't wait!)
Rating:  -
She-Hulk has always been one of my favorite superheroes. What once was a quick knock off of a popular male superhero is now one of the most sensational of all of Marvel's characters. And it's extra wonderful to see Marvel add her original "Savage" days into its affordable line of black and white "Essential" Trades.
In the days of Civil Wars and Crisis these stories may seem a bit silly, but they are a reminder of the days when comics were just that...simple. The character of She-Hulk has evolved into her own green skin, but "Essential Savage She-Hulk" is a great read for those wanting to relive the character's origin or those new to the mythos!
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