Sensational She-Hulk #34
Sensational She-Hulk #34
Title: “Who Was That Zombie I Saw You With...?”
Writer: John Byrne
Penciller: John Byrne
Inker: Keith Williams
Colors: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Renee Witterstaetter
She-Hulk and Weezi are relaxing on the beach, when they are interrupted by a man with a telegraph. It is from Blake Tower, summoning them back to New York to deal with an unusual case.
When they return to New York, Tower informs them of the special circumstances. There was a murder committed by a man who has been dead for 8 years! Jen asks if there was a motive for the killing, and Tower tells her that about nine years ago, the killer was financially ruined by the victim. The killer threatened revenge...shortly before he committed suicide. Tower takes them to see the accused... who is a rotting corpse!
Next thing we see is Jen jolting awake, back in her
apartment.
She
relaxes, and assumes that the previous scene was just a dream. Moments later
the phone rings with a call from Weezi. Jen tries to tell her about her weird
"dream", but Weezi assures her that it was all real. Weezi says that she has
tracked down an expert for Jen to consult with. Jen wonders if it is Dr. Drumm
(aka Brother Voodoo) but Weezi says it is a guy named Samuel D. Barone, who is
based in New Orleans.
She-Hulk picks up Weezi and they fly to New Orleans to meet Barone. They arrive at the address and enter the building, which they are shocked to find is larger on the inside than the outside. Jen and Weezi enter an endless hallway, with many of different doors. Weezi wonders which one leads to Barone; Jen says she would bet that they all do. She opens a door, and there is Barone. He congratulates Jen on passing the first test, and introduces himself. He welcomes the ladies, and instructs his huge, out of proportion, nearly-naked servant Garth to bring chairs for them. Barone asks what brings them here, and they tell him that they are looking for his assistance with a case back in New York involving a corpse named Joe DeCosta. Barone recognizes the name, "Ah! So *that's* where he went!"
Meanwhile, in an divergent future timeline, the brutish
Mahkizmo looks around at this world where men and women co-exist in perfect
harmony. He is disgusted by this, since he feels that women should never be
treated as equals to men. He confronts his scientist and asks if he has finished
his task yet. The scientist says he has, but he tries to caution Mahkizmo about
the space-time continuum. Mahkizmo brushes the old man aside, ignoring his
concerns, and gloats that his master plan is about to commence!
Back in new Orleans, Barone is leading Jen and Weezi to a mausoleum to find
DeCosta's tomb. Garth opens it, and inside they find the necklace of bitter
herbs and chicken bones which Barone explains is used to restrain a zombie after
it has been restored to "life".
Barone then tosses the necklace around She-Hulk's neck, putting her into a trance! He then orders Garth to seize Weezi. Barone comments on how he placed a secondary spell on all his zombies, which compels people who survive an encounter with them to contact him which is what drew Jen and Wheezi to him before they could disrupt his plan. Barone then strips off his suit to reveal his costume underneath… he is the Black Talon!
That night, Black Talon has She-Hulk help in the final stages of his scheme. Over the last several months, he has arranged to have the corpses of four particular people shipped to New Orleans. The last of them has now arrived. He has She-Hulk break into the cargo hold and bring him the casket.
They then take the casket back to where he has the other three, and where Garth is guarding Weezi, who is tied to a post. Weezi calls out to Jen, saying it is time for her to stop pretending to be under Black Talon's control and reveal she was just playing along. Unfortunately, She-Hulk truly is under Black Talon's power.
He orders her and Garth to push the displaced soil back
over top of the freshly dug graves. While doing so, the necklace gets caught on
a branch sticking out of the ground! It snaps off, and She-Hulk is free from the
spell! She instantly recognizes Black Talon as an old Avengers foe. She
attacks, but Talon orders Garth to defend him.
Garth
is strong, but he is no match for She-Hulk, who uses his tiny head like a little
punching bag for a minute, and she knocks him out. However, before She-Hulk can
stop him, Black Talon hurls his jamba sticks into the ground, completing his
spell! The ground starts to shake, and his four new zombie claw their way out
of their graves! However, these are no ordinary zombies; they are (were) The
Living Diamond, the Changeling, Black Bishop of the Hellfire Club, and
Scale-Face! "Behold, the Unliving X-Humed!"
Site for Sore Eyes rating: 7 out of 10
This is probably Byrne's best issue thus far since returning to the series. It took the story a little while to get moving, but I like Black Talon's "X-Humed" team. That was a neat idea.
I could have done without all the "Why did Byrne do this" gags though, (i.e. Barone is at this address because it is the only street Byrne had a photo reference for; it is so hot today because Byrne drew this page in July, etc). One such joke is fine, but two of them within two pages was a little much.
A few continuity quirks. Weezi's hair changed color between the end of last issue and now. I like the new blonde look, but she should have had it during the beach scene last issue as well--unless the sun bleached her hair that fast! Also, Blake Tower is called Dwight Tower for some reason.
The Vanity Fair gag cover has nothing to do with the story--but its fun, so who cares?
Review by Dermie
Pictures by The Leader