Book Review: She-Hulk Vol. 2 by C. Soule et al.

She-Hulk Volume 2: Disorderly Conduct written by Charles Soule, storytelling by Javier Pulido, and colors by Muntsa Vicente

See my review of Volume 1 here.

The legal and action adventures of She-Hulk, aka Jennifer Walters, continues. A scientist friend who is not a superhero has developed a shrinking and enlargening ray but is having trouble monetizing it because his partner doesn't want to. The partner has also disappeared, presumably having shrunk himself. She-Hulk calls on Hank Pym, aka Ant-Man, for consultation but he insists on joining in the adventure. After that's resolved, Captain America comes to Jennifer's office with a case he needs help with. Steve Rogers is being sued for a wrongful death dating back to the 1940s. He needs representation. Too bad the lawyer for the other side is Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil. If that wasn't bad enough, Cap doesn't want to settle outside of court or get off on a technicality, making things more challenging for Jennifer. This volume concludes with a wrap-up of the "Blue File" storyline.

The "Blue File" story goes very quickly, I think because the series was ending before the creators were ready. The other stories are a good blend of fun and drama. Soule does a good job with the legal situations and language. He also captures the spirit of adventure and goofy charm of She-Hulk. The art isn't great as drawings but some of the layouts are very well done.

Recommended.

Book Review: She-Hulk Vol. 1 by C. Soule et al.

She-Hulk Volume 1: Law and Disorder written by Charles Soule, storytelling by Javier Pulido and Ron Wimberly, and colors by Muntsa Vicente, Rico Renzi, and Ron Wimberly

She-Hulk, aka Jennifer Walters, is at a prestigious law firm and it's time for annual reviews. She's put in almost 3000 billable hours. She feels she's a lock for a raise and bonus. The partners have a different perspective--they wanted her to bring in some superhero business to expand their services. She likes to keep her superhero life and her legal life separate, so they part less than amicably. The law firm lets her take one file, the Blue File about a suit against her and a few other superheroes and villains. She-Hulk sets up her own practice, hoping to get everyday clients. While she's not on other cases, she'll look into the Blue File. Unfortunately, her first client is Doctor Doom's son. He wants political asylum in America rather than go back to Latveria and be his father's puppet. No other lawyers in town want the case, probably because of looming Doombots.

The story is entertaining enough. The art is a hodge-podge. It starts okay but the second artist doesn't have a good knack for drawing people and it becomes distracting. The overarching Blue File plot does not make some forward progress but not quite enough. Maybe it will pick up in the next issue?

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Hawkeye Vol. 1 by M. Fraction et al.

Hawkeye Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon written by Matt Fraction and art by David Aja and Javier Pulido

Hawkeye (aka Clint Barton) is a characters who looks less interesting on paper than other Marvel heroes. As an Avenger, he has no superhuman abilities. He's an amazing shot with a bow and arrow, an antiquated weapon. He does have a quiver full of trick arrows. He has the graceful athleticism that every other superhero has, more or less. Hawkeye solo adventures seem like they would not be that interesting. In this book, the writer and artists come up with some good stories fighting organized crime or other "normal" bad guys. Clint is teamed up with Kate Bishop, who has taken over the role of Hawkeye after Clint was presumed dead a long time ago (a story too complicated to get into here). They make a fun team as mentor and mentee. Also, Clint is a lot more freewheeling in contrast to Kate's more stable character. In one adventure, a video tape of Clint assassinating a foreign terrorist has been found (the official story is Navy Seals killed the terrorist). The tape will go to the highest bidder but once it gets out, the reputations of Hawkeye and the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. will be tanked. So Clint goes to Marakesh to put his bid in at the auction where all the bad guys (Wilson Fisk, AIM, Hydra, Madame Masque, etc) want a piece of the action. The story has fun twists and action.

Overall, the book is good, giving a minor character his own chance to shine. Clint has a fun personality and enough moral code to show why he belongs on the Avengers. Some of the situations are more hard PG-13, with some arrows sticking out of eyes or some awkward intimate moments. Weirdly, an issue of Young Avengers featuring Kate and Clint is included though that story is clearly out of continuity with the rest of the book.

Recommended. I'll probably read some more of this series.