Planet She-Hulk #1 // Review
Jen’s fighting a big monster. In a gladiatorial arena. In another galaxy. Before a wedding. So...y’know...it’s a long story and it’s only going to get more complicated before she’s going to be able to make it back to the Earth. To complicate matters...shes’ kind of an important person poltically. Things are very complicated for Jen in Planet She-Hulk #1. Writer Stephanie Phillips cleverly crafts a sharp fantasy hybrid story that is brought to page and panel by artist Aaron Kuder. Color comes t the page courtesy of Sonia Oback. It’s a promising opening for a potentially fun new story
Jen wants off of Sakaar. She’s doing. favor for her cousin by serving as the single most prominent person on the fact of the planet. That DOES, however, make her the single most prominent TARGET on the face of the planet. Jen may be an adventurer and one of the toughest warriors in the Marvel Universe, but she’s also a lawyer who prefers the more civilized side of things that might follow some sort of semblance of law and stability. So naturally when she finds out that there’s a wedding which might involve someone who could have access to a way off the planet, she IS going to be interested.
Phillips smartly fuses pulp fantasy adventure with traditional contemporary superhero drama. What’s more...she’s even managed to fuse those distinct ends of a personality that was brought to the page so well in Rainbow Rowell’s recent She-Hulk series. There’s a real sense of psycho-emotional development in Phillips’ She-Hulk that give the current series a depth that goes way beyond a female version of Planet Hulk. Jen’ personality drives the heart of a very appealing new story that Phillips is bringing to the page quite beautifully.
Kuder’s work has a beautifully eloquent Charles Vess quality about it that perfectly serves the space fantasy atmosphere of the series. The level of detail in the art and the line quality give the alien world an impressively immersive feeling. The Oback’s colors give the action a sense of luminescent motion that locks-in the otherworldly feel of the visuals. It’s a sharp delivery of Phillips’ story that has more than enough gravity to keep the the momentum of the conflict in orbit.
There’s a striking clarity to the fantasy drama even as Phillips’ treatment of the politics on Sakaar threatens to pull the story into the ground. There’s more than enough political intrigue to draw-in readers who might be into that sort of thing, but Jen’s interest in trying to avoid it all serves to engage those readers who really don’t care about the bloodiness of a planet locked in perpetual war. Between Jen’s personal interests and her unique personality engaging in her unique situation, Phillips certainly has the potential for something that goes way beyond the traditionally swampy high fantasy political action fantasy. Philips has the potential for something truly interesting in the new series.
