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She-Hulk #6-7Issue(s): She-Hulk #6, She-Hulk #7 Review/plot: She-Hulk is at Cape Canaveral for reasons we don't really need to get into... ![]() ![]() ...and she bumps into Mr. Fantastic, who is helping with the testing of a new faster-than-light space shuttle. ![]() They soon find the launch site under attack by a giant truck labelled Big Pig II... ![]() ...and that turns out to be a remote-controlled distraction to keep them busy while the shuttle is hijacked. But She-Hulk has an idea for how to catch up to it. ![]() However, while trying to get into the shuttle, she passes out from lack of oxygen (not right away; her super-strong lungs are duly noted), and when she wakes up she finds that she's been brought on board by the "mystery" characters from the past couple of issues: Razorback and Taryn O'Connell. ![]() This is their first full name reveal. Anyone that already knew the characters well enough to recognize Razorback's shape or the full names of the characters from the US 1 series would have already guessed by now, of course, but that would have been a pretty small percentage of the general Marvel reading population. Razorback is pretty damn awesome looking, i have to say. For those who don't know the full US1 story, Taryn recaps it here, ending with the Short-Stop diner getting pulled into space by Al the Alien and his friend. The story now is that Taryn regrets staying behind while the rest of the cast left, and she's hoping to rekindle things with U.S. Archer. They hijacked the shuttle because they didn't think the Avengers or the Fantastic Four would believe their story. When the explanations are over, they arrive at Poppa Wheelie and Wide Load Annie's space diner, now called Star Stop. ![]() The diner is full of weird aliens, including the Guardians of the Galaxy. ![]() But they initially won't serve She-Hulk because Poppa thinks she's a Skrull. ![]() When that's settled, and after Poppa impolitically lets it slip that U.S. Archer and Mary McGrill are already married and having a baby together, there's a crash and we see Archer's truck, US 1, now reconfigured for space, crashing into the diner's asteroid. ![]() And the reason why is Xemnu the Titan. ![]() "I Have No Mouth and I Am Mean!" is a pun on a Harlan Ellison short story called "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream". I've never read the Ellison story and the pun is a bit strained, but i still think it's funny. I also want to say, as with the Headmen, i don't find anything lame about Xemnu and i'd object to his inclusion in She-Hulk if i didn't actually enjoy the story. Xemnu's motivation has always been to kidnap children to repopulate his homeworld, and in this issue he's set his sights on U.S. and Mary's baby. ![]() He's able to easily knock out She-Hulk... ![]() ...which leaves her dreaming of Hercules while he ties her and the rest of the cast up. ![]() She breaks free and attacks Xemnu, but he knocks her out again. ![]() ![]() At least in the meantime, Razorback is able to destroy the equipment that Xemnu was going to use to convert the Archer baby to his species. But after She-Hulk is knocked out again, Xemnu uses a different machine to partially convert She-Hulk to his species. ![]() ![]() The conclusion to the battle basically happens off panel. A group of ships summoned by a distress call that U.S. Archer had sent out earlier show up and then we cut away to the conclusion. She-Hulk's hair has been removed via permanent laserolosis. This is a response to the razor scene from She-Hulk: Ceremony #1. ![]() To deal with Xemnu, he's given to an alien called Big Enilwen. ![]() ![]() ![]() Enilwen is an anagram for Len Wein, and this pretty much confirms for me that the guy in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #48 was Wein. Apparently he liked teddy bears (and stuffed dogs). She-Hulk arranges with NASA for Razorback to keep the faster-than-light shuttle and continue using it to explore uncharted space for them, and since U.S. Archer is now off limits to Taryn, she and Razorback get together. ![]() To get home, She-Hulk is given a green flying Dodge. ![]() It's only got enough whatever for one space flight home, but it will continue to fly within Earth's atmosphere once it arrives. I kind of feel like it should have been a pink Cadillac, like she had in Marvel Two-In-One #88 until she destroyed it in Avengers #222. In issue #6, someone writes in to the lettercol to complain that She-Hulk's muscles have been reduced since her FF appearances. The response says: Jennifer hasn't been getting smaller, David! Not at all! What's probably happening here is that you're mistaking Jennifer's gamma-radiation induced physique for that of a typical weight lifter or body builder. Unlike that kind of sculptural development - and unlike her cousin Bruce - all of Jen's muscles developed more or less proportionally to their original size. She only gets really huge when she's pumped up, as when she tore the Stilt-Man in half in issue #4. Okay? A frequent criticism of She-Hulk is that there's a double standard when it comes to the depiction of her compared to the male Hulk. He becomes a muscular monster while she remains pretty. This response confirms that the double standard was deliberate. I'm of two minds about the criticism. We know that gamma-powers tend to develop in a way relating to the character's psychological state, although that wasn't an idea that was fully confirmed yet. More importantly, when She-Hulk was created, there still weren't a lot of physically powerful female super-heroes, and the way She-Hulk has developed has allowed her to be included as a strong, articulate, and in control female that has had a prominent role in Marvel's major super-teams. If she was more monstrous, i don't think that would have went over as well (see Sharon Ventura's transformation into a Thing, for example). On the other hand, i'd like to see her looking more muscular. I don't think it would hurt to give her the bodybuilding physique. This issue ends with Santa Claus showing up to talk to Weezie while She-Hulk says that "the subplots must be piling up back home". Quality Rating: B+ Chronological Placement Considerations: It really hasn't been "forever" since She-Hulk last bumped into Mr. Fantastic, but maybe it's been a while since they had time to talk. She-Hulk remains in space for over two days. References:
Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A Inbound References (3): showCharacters Appearing: Al the Alien, Big Enilwen, Blonde Phantom, Charlie-27, Major Victory, Martinex, Mary McGrill, Mr. Fantastic, Nikki, Poppa Wheeler, Razorback, Retread, She-Hulk, Starhawk, Taryn O'Connell, U.S. Archer, Wide Load Annie, Xemnu the Titan CommentsThere are a couple of points where you refer to Razorback as Razorfist. Posted by: Stephen | October 13, 2014 5:08 PM Thanks Stephen. I caught myself doing that one time and said i should check again at the end to make sure i didn't do it anywhere else, and then i forgot. Posted by: fnord12 | October 13, 2014 5:13 PM This story is an example of Byrne's tendency to reuse names. There's a female Doctor Dewitt in this story- a male Doctor Dewitt is one of the main antagonists in Byrne's Iron Man run. Posted by: Michael | October 13, 2014 8:28 PM I noticed she was looking less muscular, too and I also think she should have a bodybuilder physique. I think if she were to be anymore muscular than that she'd look too manly. I always thought of her as being 'Amazonian' in stature. Posted by: JSfan | October 14, 2014 5:16 AM Xemnu's not lame, but he is the original "Hulk" - I assume that's why Byrne used him. Posted by: S | October 14, 2014 4:12 PM This cameo would be the last appearance of the Guardians for 10 years. Who would've believed back then that they (or at least the brand name) would go onto fame and fortune 25 years later? Posted by: Gary Himes | October 14, 2014 6:12 PM Gary, 10 years? There's a Guardians of the Galaxy series that runs from 1990-1995. Maybe you mean outside of their own book? Posted by: fnord12 | October 14, 2014 6:57 PM Oops. (in my defense, it's hard to keep track of the dating of the various GotG comics when they take place outside current continuity). It was actually after the cancellation of the 90s series that they disappeared for a decade. But this was their last appearance in the present day until then. (Time travel makes me nauseous) Posted by: Gary Himes | October 14, 2014 7:03 PM Well then Gary, get ready to hurl - The GOTG reappear in the "present day" during Infinity War in GOTG #27. It does take place on "our" earth. Posted by: clyde | October 14, 2014 7:18 PM I give up. Where do I turn my Merry Marvel Marching Society badge in to? Posted by: Gary Himes | October 14, 2014 8:30 PM Does anyone else think that panel of Shulkie's pert buns directly facing the reader alongside the giant fat guy's buns directly facing the reader was Byrne's reaction to the exploitation trend that was gaining steam at this point? Posted by: ChrisW | October 15, 2014 9:34 PM On the bottom right side of the "Skrull" page, there's a Wally Wood creature from his "Sally Forth" comic strip. Posted by: Mark Drummond | October 20, 2014 11:36 AM "Razorback is pretty damn awesome looking, i have to say." As Buford himself might say, that's a big 10-4 on that! Posted by: Oliver_C | July 29, 2015 8:09 AM Dig that pompadour on Buford! I think this is the first time I've seen him without his...erm...helmet? Posted by: TCP | July 29, 2015 8:32 AM I don't know if I'd agree with the fans' double standard criticism. I never really saw Banner as becoming deformed when he turns into the Hulk. He just gets big, roided out, and green. She-Hulk similarly gets large and green, but she wouldn't get giant muscles because women's bodies don't build muscle mass like men's. Most female (and male for that matter) bodybuilers you see on TV with gigantic bodies aren't coming by them naturally. They're on steroids. To see what bodybuilders look like without drugs go take a look at pictures of Muscle Beach circa the 1940s/1950s before roids were in wide use. Posted by: Red Comet | July 29, 2015 9:54 AM Let me weigh in a bit on this: I am a fan of muscle women and I am a fan of She-Hulk. It is obvious that an actual muscle woman would not get the same "advantages" that Shulkie would have in bulking up: typically they end up rather masculine in appearance whether it be due to steroids or just the influence of pushing themselves in a way that their bodies don't typically have the ability to hold on to. While it is of course playing on certain elements that are explained later (this is Jennifer Walters "idealized self"), the element of fantasy and just the aspect of the gamma mutation allows for She-Hulk to be what she is: green and muscular (with other obvious enhancements physically that of course bodybuilders wouldn't gain) but not overwhelmingly like Bruce and not just "another thin girl whose got super-strength" like most of the others out there. (the typical depiction like with Wonder Woman and such) Maybe the factor that Jen is a gamma being allows her to get away with being "an idealized muscle girl", but of course she could have it worse...heck one of the Leader's survivors from the gamma town is another female lawyer and she becomes hideous. Posted by: Ataru320 | July 29, 2015 12:25 PM "Phoenix asteroids" is a reference to John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon's film debut, Dark Star. Posted by: The Small Lebowski | December 27, 2017 2:15 PM Comments are now closed. |
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