Issue(s): She-Hulk #37
Cover Date: Mar 92
Title: "The big rub out"
Credits:
John Byrne - Writer
John Byrne - Penciler
Keith Williams - Inker
Renee Witterstaetter - Editor

Review/plot:
The Living Eraser story that was teased in a previous subplot becomes the main story for this issue.

After the above flashforward, the story begins with She-Hulk having picked up Wyatt Wingfoot on her return home.

The balloon just explodes into the issue's credits when it's struck.

When they get to She-Hulk's apartment (on loan from the Wasp), Wyatt meets Garth.

And soon after that, the Living Eraser attacks and brings She-Hulk and Wyatt to his alternate dimension, Dimension Z. The king of Dimension Z explains that he wants her to be his bride, because she's so perfect unlike all the local Z women.

She-Hulk easily fights her way out, but makes the mistake of trying to use the Living Eraser's hand tools to send her and Wyatt home without knowing how they work. So she winds up erasing herself, and we're treated to three fully blank pages, one with just a sound effect, and then this.

The next page is basically the same thing, a mostly blank page with She-Hulk coming out of the tear and yelling at Byrne. She-Hulk suggests that Byrne is just killing time so that the Mahkismo story can be delayed until next issue, to coincide with Valentine's Day.

This is all cute, and i can be sanguine about the blank pages knowing that i paid bargain bin prices for the issue. And the humor in this book is always a nice change of pace, and it's a good quality book especially compared to most of Marvel's output at this time. But the fourth wall stuff is wearing a bit thin at this point, and the fact that we've got close to six blank pages serving as a repeat of Byrne's Assistant Editors' Month joke, makes me wonder if it wasn't time to change things up for this series.

I don't always comment on the sales numbers, but it's worth noting the remarkable collapse. The previous Statement of Ownership had an average of 185,736. That's obviously not because of Byrne, quite the opposite, but it is quite a hole to dig out of.

Statement of Ownership Total Paid Circulation: Average of Past 12 months = 49,843. Single issue closest to filing date = 53,935.

Quality Rating: B-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: A flashback shows that this story began with She-Hulk leaving Weezie behind at her father's house after last issue, and then picking up Wyatt Wingfoot on the way back to New York. So most likely no She-Hulk appearances should take place between last issue and this one (although i suppose for an Avengers emergency should could have left her dad's house for a while and then returned).

References:

• The Wasp lent She-Hulk her apartment in She-Hulk #2.
  
• She-Hulk met Garth in She-Hulk #34-35. Those issues also had the build-up for this issue.
  
• The Living Eraser first appeared in Tales To Astonish #49. She-Hulk tells him that he may be a Lee/Kirby creation, but he's "hardly their best work".
  
• She-Hulk notes that she already dealt with a plot where someone wanted her to be their bride in She-Hulk #31-33.
  
• John Byrne did the blank pages thing before, in Alpha Flight #6, but as She-Hulk notes, at least that time we got border panels and dialogue.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A