Oh, look, all She-Hulk needs is for Soule to not cop out on a story and for Pulido to come back on the art and the issue's outstanding.

In fact, Soule probably could have gotten away with dragging this story out over two issues except Jen can do the Hulk jumps. It's the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids homage I never knew I was waiting for, with Jen and Patsy shrinking down (with Hank Pym) to rescue a scientist hiding in his backyard. There's a lot of action, a lot of humor and then a huge argument between Jen and Patsy over Jen's willingness to trust.

The Pulido art is fantastic throughout, whether he's breaking out talking heads or he's doing the She-Hulk versus cats sequence. I'm pretty sure there's further homage (Incredible Shrinking Man?) in those panels.

Then Soule wraps it up, sets up the next issue. Easy, right?

B+ 

CREDITS

Small Victories; writer, Charles Soule; artist, Javier Pulido; colorist, Muntsa Vicente; letterer, Clayton Cowles; editors, Jeanine Schaefer and Sana Amanat; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Soule kind of rushes things and gloriously so. She-Hulk is fast, surprisingly deep and gently funny. Soule doesn’t go for the laughs, which is good. It wouldn’t work with Pulido’s art style. It might turn the comic into a parody, actually.

For example, Pulido and Soule at one point having Jennifer jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Why would she do such a thing? Well, she’s She-Hulk. It’s a family tradition. But to draw attention to it would bring the reader out of the comic. Soule would never do such a thing, especially since he and Pulido work very hard to get the comic to exist about a full ten percent entirely in the reader’s imagination.

There’s a double page spread of She-Hulk and guest star Daredevil in a fight, with narration succinctly explaining it’s their night out. No fisticuffs, just establishing shot. It’s awesome.

The whole issue’s awesome.

A- 

CREDITS

The Zealous Advocate; writer, Charles Soule; artist, Javier Pulido; colorist, Muntsa Vicente; letterer, Clayton Cowles; editors, Frankie Johnson, Jeanine Schaefer and Tom Brennan; publisher, Marvel Comics.

There's nothing off about this issue of She-Hulk; its problems aren't a mistake. Soule is very deliberate in how he paces out the action, then humor, the set pieces. I assume his scripts are similarly deliberate, so it's not like Pulido chose to stage a lot of big action in small settings.

And–just to be clear–Pulido's composition is fantastic. He's got a lot of double page panels and they do a great job moving the story quickly and visually.

So what's the problem?

Well, with the continuing buildups from page to page, Soule needs something extraordinary for the finish. Instead, he goes for a rushed cliffhanger with so little drama I didn't believe the story had actually ended. I thought She-Hulk would be on the next page winking at me.

A lot of this comic could be an example of near perfect comics storytelling. Soule just can't write cliffhangers apparently.

B 

CREDITS

He Who Wouldn’t Be King; writer, Charles Soule; artist, Javier Pulido; colorist, Muntsa Vicente; letterer, Clayton Cowles; editors, Frankie Johnson, Jeanine Schaefer and Tom Brennan; publisher, Marvel Comics.

I wanted two more pages of content in this book. There’s a double-page spread for effect and it and really good effect but I still wanted two more pages. Pulido does this tour of Jennifer’s new offices where he has her and her landlord walking through a long panel… backwards, actually. They walk backwards, getting the reader to the starting point for the bottom row of panels.

In other words, even though I want two more pages, everything in the book is excellent. Pulido does an outstanding job.

And Soule does a great job writing the issue. But a lot of it goes to Patsy Walker, which is fine. Soule seems to be setting up a supporting cast for the comic and he sets up two supporting members this issue. Unfortunately it’s instead of really developing Jennifer’s currently situation.

It’s a small quibble. The comic’s skillful, outstanding and fun.

B+ 

CREDITS

…And?; writer, Charles Soule; artist, Javier Pulido; colorist, Muntsa Vicente; letterer, Clayton Cowles; editors, Frankie Johnson, Jeanine Schaefer and Tom Brennan; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Who’s this Charles Soule guy writing She-Hulk and why is a Jennifer Walters series the one thing Marvel does right much more often than not? Or, if they don’t do it right more often, why do they do it so well when they do it right?

Soule’s approach is simple. Pretend the Marvel Universe is real and wink (a lot) at the absurdity of that idea. He paces the comic like an extended sitcom. Some great scenes, a relatively lengthy present action–the issue doesn’t leave one hungry, except for future issues. It’s kind of a pilot, actually. Soule sets up Jennifer’s new story, sets up the tone for the series. Hopefully he’ll deliver.

It’s delightful because he allows for some cynicism. Jennifer’s client is sort of a jerk. The first scene crushes some idealistic ideas too.

But pleasantly, because there’s gorgeous Javier Pulido.

Hurray, She-Hulk’s back.

A 

CREDITS

Motion; writer, Charles Soule; artist, Javier Pulido; colorist, Muntsa Vicente; letterer, Clayton Cowles; editors, Frankie Johnson, Jeanine Schaefer and Tom Brennan; publisher, Marvel Comics.