Sensational She-Hulk #50
Sensational She-Hulk #50
Title: “He's Dead?!”
Writer: John Byrne
Penciller: John Byrne
Inker: John Byrne
Colors: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Renee Witterstaetter
Extra Assistance: Dave Gibbons, Frank Miller, Wendy Pini,
Walt Simonson, Terry Austin & Howard Mackie
She-Hulk arrives at the offices of Marvel Comics, and is shocked when Renee
Witterstaetter tells her that John Byrne is dead. Jen asks how he died, and
Renee tells her that he tripped over a dangling sub-plot and broke his neck.
Then she quickly changes the subject and says that they need to find someone to
replace him on the SHE-HULK comic. Jen asks if it wouldn't just be easier to
cancel the book. "I mean, when Johnny Storm convinced me I should allow Marvel
to license my name and likeness like you have with the Fantastic Four and
Avengers...I figured that you'd just do comic book versions of my adventures,
the way you do with them. I had no idea the comic you'd put out would be
so...weird." Renee explains that they were just trying to give her book a
distinct feel. She says that Marvel isn't going to cancel SHE-HULK, since it is
their best selling title, and they need it to help make up all the money they
lose on the mutant titles.
While Renee and Jen talk, a bunch of topless hunky male servants bring them
chairs and drinks. Renee says that she has asked a number of well-known and
respected writers and artists to submit samples for Jen to choose from. Suddenly
Jen hears a thumping noise and wonders what it is, but Renee tells her it is
nothing. She hands Jen the first sample. It is done by a British
writer/artist, and the English accents are too thick to understand what is being
said. Jen also doesn't like the nine panel grid, saying it seems
claustrophobic. Jen hears the thumping again, but Renee quickly distracts her
with another sample page. Before she even reads it, Jen is skeptical about how
dark and gritty it looks, but she agrees to give it a read.
It features She-Hulk like a character out of an old private eye movie. She
wears a trench coat, carries a gun and smokes a cigarette. She is walking
through the rain, having an inner monologue about the death of Byrne. Jen tosses
the pages away, complaining that they are way too "hard boiled". Jen does admit
that the writer had a good point about none of her male artists having the right
feel for a female character. "Let's face it, Renee, most of 'em have the
subtlety and fashion sense of a Fredrick's of Hollywood catalog. Renee agrees,
and says she has a sample from one of the top female artists in the country.
This sample has She-Hulk, and a dwarf named Smeg, hunting down an evil Troll
King. It ends with Jen tucking her hair back, revealing elf-like ears.
Jen tosses these pages away too. She says that the art was fine, but the
perfectly elliptical word balloons made her feel constrained. She says she
wants something big and bold, that captures the cosmic nature of being a super
hero. Renee hands her some more pages. These ones show She-Hulk, Babe of
Thunder! She is dressed up like a female version of Thor (only with a much
skimpier outfit) and is carrying his mystic hammer. Jen tosses the pages away,
saying that the art had the right degree of grandeur, but she'd rather have some
more originality. Renee hands her another sample; it shows an answering machine
in She-Hulk's office, and the dialogue is She-Hulk's recorded message... "Hello,
Honey...this is Jennifer… and I’d love to handle your briefs. I'd love to talk
to you, but I can't come to the phone right now...because I'm showing some lucky
client just what seven feet of mutated green heat can do to a man… and I do mean
seven feet. I'm a long legged, green skinned personal injury attorney… and all
I can think of is putting your insurance company through the mill. So please
leave your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as I can… now don't
forget me… that's the She-Hulk… the girl with something special… now wait for
the beep..."
Jen rejects that one very quickly, since the book still has
to get approved by the Comics Code. She asks Renee what else she's got. The
next sample has a Popeye-style She-Hulk punching out every villain AND hero in
the Marvel Universe! Jen says that this one was close, but not quite right.
Then Tom DeFalco and Mark Gruenwald, the heads of Marvel's editorial department,
come in to add their own opinions. Tom speaks, and Mark translates his lingo
into language Jen can understand. They inform her that due to the large teenage
boy demographic of her title, they have contacted one of the top "babe artists".
The sample has She-Hulk and the Wasp shopping for bikinis. She-Hulk has just
changed into an extremely skimpy bikini when suddenly they hear a commotion
outside. They look out the window to see an army of scantily clad Atlantean
warrior women invading! Wasp shrinks down to ant-size--and shrinks right out of
her clothes! They rush off into battle, with Wasp naked and She-Hulk barely
dressed. The Atlantean women see She-Hulk's huge fists. Meanwhile, at a nearby
wet t-shirt contest where Scarlet Witch and Black Widow are undercover....
Jen rejects this proposal, and literally kicks Tom and Mark out of the office!
She reminds them that there are a lot of women who read her book too, and they'd
prefer something less obvious.
Frustrated with the poor samples, Jen tells Renee she still thinks they should
cancel the book. Renee tells her she still has a few more pages for her to look
at, and asks her to keep an open mind. She shows her some pages done by a writer
who wanted to try drawing. It has a heavily armed She-Hulk become the new
Spirit of Vengeance, complete with flaming skull. Jen tosses the pages away,
unimpressed. She hears the thumping again, and is about to go investigate when
Renee hands her another sample.
Title: “War Zone”
Writer: Michael Eury
Penciller: Todd Britton
Inker: Mike DeCarlo
Colors: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Renee Witterstaetter
A large, heavily armored black man loaded with tons of weapons calling himself
War Zone, arrives at She-Hulk's apartment building. The terrified doorman says
he'll buzz her, but War Zone tells him not to bother and he flies up.
14 floors up, in Jen's apartment, she is complaining to Weezi about Byrne's
departure from her series. Weezi reminds her that Byrne left the book before,
but that doesn't reassure her. She points out that she wound up with dozens of
interim writers and artists. Weezi points out that Renee has put together a
great new creative team for her. Jen complains that they aren't big names, but
new guys that readers aren't familiar with. Weezi tells her to give it a rest,
and points out that Byrne was once a new guy too. Jen concedes that point, but
then raises the issue that her new writer is best known as an editor for the
"Distinguished Competition", and maybe he is a spy. Jen tells Weezi to get Renee
on the phone and hire a new creative team that has a star reputation.
Weezi tells her to lighten up. She is reading Eury's plot for #52 now, and says
that it looks great, with two fights with villains, Mr. Fantastic and Thing as
special guest stars, and...the death of the She-Hulk...?! "My death? How nice.
Great way to start a 'bold new era of excitement!'"
Jen
is tired of the conversation, and strips off her outer clothes to sunbathe on
the balcony. Weezi points out that it is winter, but Jen says that a little
gratuitous cheesecake never hurt anyone. Weezi tries to convince Jen to give the
new creative team a chance, since they're trying to turn her into one of
Marvel's heavy hitters. Jen says that maybe she's right, and asks what type of
villains she'll be heavy hitting against.
At that moment, War Zone reaches her floor, and fires a cable around her neck!
Then he flies into the air, dragging her along with him! He flings her into a
nearby water tower, and then retracts his cable. Weezi asks the attacker just
who he thinks he is. War Zone tells her his name, and comments that it has a
lot of licensing potential for action figures, trading cards, etc. Weezi says
"license this" and swings the deck chair at him! It hits one of the many
missiles on his armor, setting off an explosion. She-Hulk returns and checks if
Weezi is okay. The heavy-duty lounge chair shielded Weezi from the brunt of the
blast, but she warns Jen to be careful of all the weapons on War Zone's body…
one wrong punch and she could blow herself up!
Jen aims for his head, but he flies out of her path. Then he opens fire on her
with an energy beam, which really hurts her and sends her skidding through the
floor! War Zone laughs and asks if that is the best She-Hulk can do! He stops
laughing when she hits him in the face with a thrown piece of rubble and his
human face crumbles away, revealing a robot skull underneath. She-Hulk is
pleased to see that it is a robot, so she doesn't have to hold back when she
tries to knock his head off! She hits him in the face again, smashing most of
the robot's skull! "Now you've done it, Miss Green Genes...how'm I supposed to
get a date tonight lookin' like this? Guess I'll have to spend my evening eatin'
chocolates and readin' romance novels." He sprays her in the face with some gas,
and then flies away. She-Hulk is surprised to note that the gas barely fazed
her. She leaps after him and grabs a hold of his ankle, demanding to know who
sent him and why he attacked her. He doesn't answer, but flies around trying to
shake her loose!
They fly by the window of FF headquarters, and the Thing
sees Jen's plight! He rushes to a skycycle to go help her.
She-Hulk crushes one of War Zone's feet, destroying his flight stability. War
Zone goes out of control and crashes into a condemned building, which collapses
on top of him! She-Hulk is also falling, but Ben swings by and catches her in
mid-air. They retrieve the remains of War Zone, and then Ben drops Jen off at
her apartment. He says that he'll be in touch after Reed has had a chance to
analyze the robot remains. Jen thanks him for his help, and sends her love to
the rest of the FF. Weezi comes running up to see if Jen is okay. She grabs the
phone, saying she is going to call Renee and demand that the new creative team
be replaced immediately for putting Jen through such abuse. She-Hulk says she'll
do no such thing… she had a blast! "Get ready, Marvelites… it's non-stop action
from here on!"
Jen is very impressed with this one. Then she hears the
thumping again, and goes to investigate. Before Renee can stop her, Jen opens
the closet door and finds Byrne bound and gagged inside! Jen is surprised that
he isn't dead after all, and unties him. "Of course I'm not dead! Genius can
never die! However, genius can be knocked over the head and locked in the
closet...by conniving editors who want to see that genius stifled!"
Jen asks Renee what this is all about, and Renee says that she felt John needed
to take a break, because he had been working too hard lately. Byrne rants that
of course he was working hard… he was working on new ways to portray her
adventures! Renee retorts that he was working on a nervous breakdown, and tells
him to show Jen the pages he did for next issue. He hands them over to Jen,
saying that she'll appreciate brilliance when she sees it.
The pages have She-Hulk, Wyatt, Weezi and all the characters drawn as if they
were little kids! She-Hulk is helping the FF fight Xemnu and Spragg, then Dr.
Doom shows up...
Jen reads the pages, says "nah!" and tosses Byrne over her
shoulder. He goes flying out the window and falls several stories before
splattering on the pavement! Renee is horrified that She-Hulk killed John Byrne,
but Jen smiles and reminds her that death sells. "and the death of a super-ego
ought to sell at least as many copies as the death of a Super-Man."
Site for Sore Eyes rating: 7 out of 10
The auditioning
replacement artists and writers was a fun idea, and perfectly appropriate for
this offbeat series. It also nicely passes the torch from one creative team to
the next, rather than just making the sudden change from one issue to the next.
However, it isn't exactly what I wanted for the 50th issue. I was
expecting something bigger and more exciting. Don't get me wrong; the book was
entertaining, but this gag seems like a bit of a waste for such a landmark issue
for She-Hulk. Byrne goes out with more of a whimper than a bang here---his fake
"sample" of his next issue points at part of the problem with his 2nd run, too
much repetition of previous material. At least Byrne noticed this and was able
to admit it.
One nice thing with this issue was the explanation that the issues we read are
from a comic WITHIN the Marvel Universe, which explains why it is so weird. This
clarification really helps to smooth out the continuity of this title's
relationship to the rest of the MU. The joke about all the mutant titles being
poor sellers due to mutant-phobia was a nice touch too.
The prologue by the new creative team was very nice; I don't think Weezi has
ever looked better, and his She-Hulk and Thing were well done as well.
Review by Dermie
Picture by The Leader