She-Hulk #14 // Review
Jen is at home when she gets a call. She was expecting a call from Jack. She gets a call from a thief. It’s okay: she knows the guy. They’ve kind of been flirting (if you could call it that). He asks her if he can see her again. She asks him for the location of the government property he’d stolen. He’s ready to tell her, and he’s right outside her window in She-Hulk #14. Writer Rainbow Rowell continues a fun mix of action, sci-fi, and romantic comedy that is rendered for the page by Andrés Genolet. Dee Cunniffe does the color.
The thief in question is known as the Scoundrel. He’s right outside her window, but he’s not holding up a boombox playing Peter Gabriel or anything like that. He’s right outside her window in a massive spacecraft-looking thing. That’s certainly a way to make an entrance, but even in Marvel Manhattan, that’s going to call a whole lot of attention to the space outside of Jen’s high-rise apartment. As complicated as things are for Jen, they’re about to get a little more complicated.
Rowell falls into uncomfortable romantic comedy territory with the Scoundrel. He’s attracted to Jen, and he’s engaging in criminal activity. They have a very aggressive antagonistic relationship, but he’s falling for her. There ARE nuances, but the fact of the matter is that Rowell’s plot DOES seem to be perpetuating certain unhealthy romantic stereotypes that are annoyingly prevalent in romantic comedy. Well-meaning though it may be, relations between Jen and the Scoundrel ARE pretty harsh. The fact that there would be anything at all mutual between them is a bit frustrating. Rowell actually does a pretty good job of making Scoundrel seem reasonably appealing until the big stinger at the end of the issue, so it’s charming...and annoying.
Genolet’s art simply loves She-Hulk. The artist captures Jen from a variety of different angles and emotions that all demonstrate aspects of her beauty from various different moods and emotions. There’s real thought put into her postures and facial expressions that deliver a much more sophisticated and nuanced characterization than is often afforded a mainstream superhero. What’s more: the fantastic end of the story remains powerful thanks to some very impressive framing and composition on Genolet’s part and some very atmospheric colors from Cunniffe.
Rowell’s relations with Jen have been pretty fun so far. The weird convolutions in her life are given plenty of time and space to develop. Rowell may be giving some pretty heavy foreshadowing to major events throughout her time with Jen, but it’s still pretty satisfying seeing things play out when they finally hit page and panel. To her credit, Rowell manages to hammer in that inevitability with a bit of style and intrigue. Still--it WOULD be kind of nice to get a general feel of the unpredictability of the chaos in Jen’s life every once in a while.
