She-Hulk #12 Review & Spoilers
Story by Charles Soule
Art by Javier Pulido
Colors by Muntsa Vicente
Cover by Kevin Wada
We bid a sad farewell to another She-Hulk series.
Issue 12 provides a payoff to the overarching plot of the series: What’s the deal with the Blue File?
She-Hulk and her super-ish legal team have pursued the secrets behind the Blue File with disastrous results. Everybody connected to the mysterious case, both super and non-super, have ended up severely beaten, killed or if they’re lucky, oblivious to the Blue File’s secrets.
Last month we found out She-Hulk’s supposed ally and friend, Nightwatch was behind the whole thing. If you’re like me, then you had to look up just who Nightwatch is on Wikipedia. Suffice to say, he’s pretty much C or D-Level kind of guy.
The whole Blue File secret was Nightwatch, with the help of some other low-level super villains, using the life-force of everybody in a small town to twist reality. Nightwatch’s goal? To make everybody on Earth think he had always been a super hero. Seems the whole process of redemption was too long for him, so a horrific spell to change reality more suited his purpose. The spell worked, and hundreds died to fuel it, while everybody else unknowingly accepted Nightwatch’s new reality.
Once Nightwatch confesses, a super fight takes place. Thanks to some previously emplaced magic, Nightwatch has She-Hulk and her friends on the ropes. With a great cameo and perfect timing though, one of Nightwatch’s previous henchmen, The Shocker, arrives and disables his old boss long enough for the battle to end in favor of the good-guy/girls.
The whole Blue File and Nightwatch problem solved, She-Hulk and crew return to their New York law office and prepare to defend the Inhumans in a lawsuit pitting them against the city. As a fitting and satisfying twist, the city is represented by the douchebag law firm who fired her all the way back in Issue 1. While we probably won’t ever see this particular storyline in print, She-Hulk clearly relishes the chance for some non-super, non-violent vengeance on her former employer.
My thoughts . . .
As I mentioned in the beginning, this is a sad farewell to another She-Hulk series. Charles Soule’s work is on par with some of the best She-Hulk books written in the past by Dan Slott and John Byrne. In my mind, a good She-Hulk comic blends just enough humor to go along with the serious, real-world stuff. Soule succeeds, and I’m looking forward to check out some more of his work.
The art here is decent. Colorful, somewhat cartoony, but also unique in a good way. It definitely works in a She-Hulk comic. Also, I think the covers throughout the series have been gorgeous, and Kevin Wada’s cover in this issue was fantastic.
A lot of the fun in a She-Hulk comic is the cameos and guest stars, both high-profile and not so famous. In this issue we have appearances from Shocker, Nighteater, Doctor Druid, Tigra, Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) and it wouldn’t be a She-Hulk series without a Howard the Duck walk-on.
Overall, I enjoyed the Soule’s twelve issue run, and the finale paid off well. While I hate to see She-Hulk’s solo title finish up, she’s due back in a new and upcoming Avengers book.
Verdict: Enthusiastic Approval!
