Reviewer: Paul Sebert
Story Title: Dear Tricia”¦
Writer: Peter David
Art: Jae Lee
Color Art: Jung Chung
Lettering: V.C. Randy Gentile
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: The Mighty Marvel Publishing Group
Remember that issue of She-Hulk last year that revolved around a ghost who wanted to be a witness at his own murdere’s trial? I do, and as much as I enjoyed this issue I couldn’t have helped but wonder how this story might have turned out had the law firm of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway got involved. Although, perhaps, on second thought, this case may have been better suited for the likes of Wolff and Byrd.
The plot is fairly simple. Following the saga of Tempest Fugit, our Bruce Banne’s travels have taken to London, where he very briefly meets a woman named Patricia, or “Tricia” for short. Within moments of their chance encounter Tricia is murdered by a hired bomber. As luck would have it, Tricia is a mystic and was able to have her astral form leave her body within moments before her death. Alas, as anyone familiar with Dr. Strange knows, one is only able to travel as an astral being for 24 hours before heading to the great beyond. Now with the hit man dead from fright, Banner has 24 hours to find who hired him and smash him. Of course things never go Bruce Banne’s way.
The pencils are by Jae Lee, whose work I didn’t care for on the recent Hulk/Thing: Hard Knocks mini-series, but felt appropriately dark here. Each panel seems to carry a sense of darkness and loss.
Personality wise, David’s incarnation of the Hulk more closely resembles the characte’s “Joe Fixit” persona, than the “Professor” version David wrote so long in the ‘90s. For those who have been out of the loop for a long time, well if you’re looking for a throwback this ain’t for you.
If you are looking for lyrical, sad, mature story which focuses on themes of loss and rage well then you’ll enjoy this thoughtful issue which manages to make a surprising amount of mileage from it‘s slightly gimmicky premise…
