POBB January 25, 2022

Pick of the Brown Bag

January 25, 2022

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag.  Here I review the current comic books on the racks.  

It sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Yet reviewing comic books requires a certain level of care when providing explanations.  

Comic books demand their own jargon.  The problem is; if you spoke it, only comic book nerds would understand it.  Some of the jargon grown mimetically over the years is relatively simple.  

Continuity, for example, can be defined as the contextual history of a character or comic book universe.  As opposed to history, which is just that.  When created and/or when the comic book company published the figure.

I always meant for the Pick of the Brown Bag to be read by anybody with the slightest interest in comic books.  For that reason I frequently need to mangle the English language.  I take no pleasure in it.

She-Hulk created by Stan Lee and John Buscema first debuted in 1980.  Silk is about eight years old historically.  Both heroes feature in multiple volumes of comic book series and mini-series.  She-Hulk of course more.

So how do I phrase our current subjects? Issue number one of She-Hulk and Silk.  Except that's nonsensical.  How can this issue of She-Hulk be number one when she debuted in 1980?

The answer is that these are the number one issues of the latest volumes of She-Hulk and Silk.  You see how clunky that sounds?  Like I said.  I take no pleasure the twists.  

In any case, should you not have time for the deep cuts of the POBB, try the lean ones on Twitter: #PickoftheBrownBag.  Mmmn.  Tasty.

You know.  What with the unvaccinated spreading COVID, Russia threatening the Ukraine, Manchin, Sinema, Tennessee, the news isn't so hot.  But here's a story that only a misogynist will diss.  Meet the youngest woman to fly solo around the world.

And now back to our main feature....

Shot by mobsters, attorney Jennifer Walters receives a blood transfusion from infamous cousin Bruce Banner and becomes the Savage She-Hulk.  Though savage, She-Hulk retains more marbles than the Incredible Hulk.   As time passes, Jennifer gains even more control over her alter-ego, eventually joining the Avengers and the Fantastic Four.

Under the auspices of Rainbow Rowell, Roge Antonio and Rico Renzi She-Hulk returns much in the way fans remember her: emerald green near seven-foot lawyer.

We join Jennifer as a work in progress.  For reasons unknown to me, she's been downgraded by life to struggling.

The person she's fighting is arch-nemesis Titania.  Originally, Titania was a one-note villainess introduced in Marvel's Secret War, but the half-life for super-strong punks is quite long in the Marvel Universe.  

They're ideal for showing off a new hero's chops or providing some nostalgic face time with an old favorite.   The Wrecking Crew fits this definition nicely.

Titania graduated to a B List protagonist thanks to Al Ewing's Immortal Hulk.  There she became a Canadian government operative alongside her lover, the fan-favorite Crusher Creel also known as The Absorbing Man.   

For that reason, combined with Titania's shared continuity with She-Hulk, the fight doesn't really go as planned.  Rowell with a light touch suggests a refreshing and appealing alternative to the mindless slugfest.

After defusing the situation, Jennifer reunites with one of her colleagues from another volume of She-Hulk.

You can't really call Mallory Book a friend.  She even fronted an organization to destroy She-Hulk.  However, her rational for hiring Jen makes sense, offering the chances for a lot of conflict and interesting situations.  

Jen's fortunes really change when she checks in on her best friend Janet Van Dyne.

Rowell very wisely and keeping with the mood points out that She-Hulk's descent really cannot be that far with friends like Janet.  The Wasp is generous to a fault.  Hell, she adopted the daughter of former husband Hank Pym and his first wife Maria.  I hope to see Nadia Van Dyne guest star in future issues of She-Hulk.  As well as Tigra, but that's a given.  At the present time, in the conclusion, Jen must deal with a much more colorful arrival.

Now, it's no accident She-Hulk returns with her full faculties just as Marvel will debut a She-Hulk stream-series on Disney Plus.  Starring Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany.  So what? For a She-Hulk fan that's a win-win.  We don't care why it was done, just that somebody did it.

Silk is Cindy Moon, the second person to be bitten by a radioactive spider, in Marvel continuity.  A contrived incarceration is the reason why you never saw or read about a Silk/Spider-Man dynamic duet.  She's out of her cell/bunker now and web-slinging amidst the Marvel Universe.

She possesses an eidetic memory and works for J. Jonah Jameson at The Daily Bugle.  Well, it's not the venerable newspaper.  It's a platform called Threats & Menaces, but it translates to the same thing.  The incarceration made her decades behind when absorbing technology.  This leads to some amusing moments.

Cindy however is a reporter, not a photojournalist, investigating a museum break in.

This leads to a supernatural threat.  

So, far Silk is pretty entry-level stuff.  The threat's new and has a nice old school horror vibe.  Emily Kim creates a pleasant personality for Cindy and Takeshi Miyazawa generates some inviting artwork for the eyes.  Really, what more can you want in a comic book?