Sensational She-Hulk #9Sensational She-Hulk #9
Title: “Burn Out!”
Writers: Richard Starkings & Gregory Wright
Penciller: Bryan Hitch
Inkers: Al Milgrom, Walt Simonson & Bob Wiacek
Colors: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bobbie Chase
She-Hulk is on the phone with editor Bobbie Chase, demanding to know what is going on. She is not in her proper apartment, her clothes are wrong, she isn't drawn correctly, and she doesn't recognize the names of this issue's writers and penciller. Bobbie explains that the issue was running very late, and she had to find someone at the last minute. She promises to make sure that the writer has the proper reference material before the next scene, and asks Jen to make do for now. Jen agrees, and apologizes for snapping at her.
Jen goes to her room to change into something more her style. After that she goes outside--to discover she is in London, England. Jen groans, and guesses that Hitch is British.
Elsewhere, the mentally unbalanced Madcap is reading the current issue. He talks to the readers about how much funnier he is than the She-Hulk, and demonstrates his abilities by sawing off his own legs, and then putting them back on. He decides that he is perfect for the title, and he should take over the book from She-Hulk. He flips through his copy of the issue to see how it ends, but every page shows his present moment. He walks off to go confront She-Hulk, while singing little rhymes.
He finds her in Central Park, getting some ice cream. Madcap climbs onto the top of a building, and starts calling out, gathering an audience. She-Hulk recognizes him and decides to keep an eye on him. Madcap dives off the top of the building, and breaks his neck on the ground. Jen tells the people around that he isn't dead--his bones mend as fast as they break. "He thinks this is funny. Well, I don't see anybody laughing, or even smiling!" Much to Jen's chagrin, the people burst into applause as Madcap gets to his feet. Some of the kids even say they want to be just like him. Jen tries to tell them that he is a lunatic. Madcap responds that everyone has a little insanity inside them, and then he proceeds to demonstrate it by using his mind-altering effect on everyone in range. The people around start to act very silly, spouting gibberish phrases, putting ice cream cones on their heads, and even taking off their clothes. Jen sees that some of the kids have climbed onto the roof to imitate Madcap! She rushes to save them, but Madcap calls her a spoilsport and leaps into her arms. He pulls up part of his mask and puckers up for a kiss, and then uses his power on She-Hulk!
Jen begins to lose her grip on sanity as well, and when the kids jump off the roof, instead of simply catching them safely, she starts juggling them! Moments later, Jen begins to regain her senses, and she lowers the kids safely. She confronts Madcap, and tries to tell him that this is all pointless. However, Madcap just agrees completely. His whole philosophy is that life is meaningless. He then zaps her again, and Jen's sense of reality is warped again. She mistakes a large whale display for a real creature, and she begins swinging it around. While she's doing that, Madcap slips away.
Jen calms down again, and realizes she could have hurt some of the kids while swinging that whale around. She sets it down, and chases after Madcap again. He has retreated into a fake castle, and he has a trio of children acting as his personal guard! The kids attack, but Jen manages to handle them without hurting them. She-Hulk yells at Madcap to come down, and he jumps down and bounces off her head. She chases him again, but falls victim to his insanity zap again. She-Hulk immediately begins snacking on garbage. Madcap laughs, while he plays with a knife. Another group of kids are nearby, and they ask him what's so funny. He says "me!" and runs the knife through his head. The kids don't laugh, but just stare at him. Madcap pulls the knife out of his head and admits that wasn't funny. As She-Hulk grabs him and drags him away, one of the kids says "he's jes stoo-pid!"
She-Hulk grabs Madcap and leaps away with him, where there are
no more innocent bystanders to be hurt or manipulated. She begins
pounding him into a pulp, but with his regenerative abilities, he
just keeps getting back up. Jen finally gives up, saying she
can't see any point in fighting him. Madcap tells her she has to
fight, unless she is going to admit that everything is
meaningless, and she might as well let him take over her book. 
She-Hulk rips
the page apart and crumples it up, trapping Madcap inside.
"THIS...IS...MY...BOOK!" She stuffs the page in a
garbage can and sets it on fire. Jen, who is now standing
in an empty void, assures the audience that Madcap isn't dead
since he was just a drawing. She then asks Bryan Hitch to
draw her a background, but not to pull any gags like drawing a
lake underneath her so she falls in.
Hitch puts Jen back in Central Park, but has a rhino charging at her!
Site for Sore Eyes rating: 3 out of 10
This issue suffers from being a last-minute job to fill in for Byrne's departure (hence the title).
I happen to be fond of Madcap, but even my like for him can't salvage this issue. Madcap is the type of goofy, third-string character that is a perfect fit for this title, but he is wasted here. There is no plot beyond Madcap acting goofy and Jen trying to stop him. They just keep replaying the same scene over and over again with She-Hulk acting crazy due to Madcap's powers. And to make matters worse, there isn't really an ending--Jen gives up, and then rips up and burns the comic. I've got to give the creative team credit for managing to pull something together at the last minute--but this is a very rushed job, and it shows.
Review by Dermie
Pictures by The Leader