Jennifer Walters: The She-Hulk Appreciation 2019

[PlatinumThorns]

I didn't hate this issue as much as other people, but Aaron trashing Hulk drilled me right in the ass. Like, how can you legit say Hulk has it "easy"? Bruce has arguably the worst life in Marvel Comics while yes, people treated her a sex object, there's nothing 'fun' about being a giant rage monster that could kill a person merely by accident.

[Snoop Dogg]

The Bruce story is obviously a "grass is always greener" thing where the woman who chose to become a professional lawyer who's spent her in-universe career being viewed primarily as a sex object or a jokey hero finds catharsis in raw power that makes her feared like her cousin, which in her mind has brought her respect and validation. Why would Aaron himself actually think that she's had it worse than Bruce when he even writes that Bruce went off pissed and they never talked about it again?

[Ptrvc]

Bruce "forced to eat trash outta the garbage" Banner has it in easy.

Bruce "hunted and hounded by the military" Banner has it easy.

Bruce "Physically and mentally abused from his earliest memories by a father so hateful he's climbed out of Hell in an attempt to kill Bruce multiple times" Banner has it easy.

This is like the meme where the rich college girl tells the destitute mentally ill homeless man that he needs to check his male privilege, only worse because they're related and Jen knows the **** Bruce has had to deal with since birth and just doesn't care.

Come on Aaron.

[Kurolegacy]

Not only did Aaron show that he’s completely tone deaf to what the fans’ complaints are about his depiction of Jen but this issue completely ignores the epiphany that Jen had when Hulk called her out here

[Electricmastro]

She had it worse than him because guys were always hitting on her. Him losing control and becoming a rage monster is not as bad as having some perverted guy take your pictures.

[Valamist]

Well, now I am scared to read the next Avengers issue...

[Kurolegacy]

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/33tSofFuAxCql1o9SXI2C-tLmZ5Fu04gWUs0DXi9U4iHy7ftaPPLv_Tub9ofzkCvPMV6fDNs 2Wdf=s1600

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/cAsFtZvSkc...k82ActSX=s1600

I’m pretty sure he was being sarcastic.

Well, now I am scared to read the next Avengers issue...

I’m scared of how long Aaron’s gonna be writing Avengers considering that, unless Jen is taken from him, he’s gonna continue to perpetuate this terrible characterization.

[Frontier]

I mean on one hand I get it, tone down the fanservice, that's one thing, but Jason Aaron just turned Jen into Savage Hulk, and the only role she seems to have is being Thor's Girlfriend, which isn't all that progressive.
In fact, a lot of female fans liked how she was before, or maybe I'm wrong.

I think it's my issue with Aaron's She-Hulk where he seems to be trying to be more "progressive" about her character but in doing so he's trying to force what I feel is a more masculine view of feminism on the character and downplay the actual traits that made her an actual progressive and feminist character before.

I'm kind of not surprised that he seemed to be addressing all the complaints about She-Hulk only to then turn it into a strawman argument against her old self.

[Supermutant2099]

I think it's my issue with Aaron's She-Hulk where he seems to be trying to be more "progressive" about her character but in doing so he's trying to force what I feel is a more masculine view of feminism on the character and downplay the actual traits that made her an actual progressive and feminist character before.

I'm kind of not surprised that he seemed to be addressing all the complaints about She-Hulk only to then turn it into a strawman argument against her old self.

The problem was just ignored all the good things about jen's old self. I always hate the anti sexy stuff happening in comics. Your making characters boring looking a lot of times. Forgetting that despite there was to them then how they looked. Its one thing to tone down the over serialization of characters but we have gone to the opposite extreme. Jen one of the best examples.

[beetee]

From the looks of upcoming issues, Jen's look will be toned down. I don't think there will be an in Universe explanation; just the artists' individual taste. This has always been the case with strength based female supers (except Supergirl) sometimes Wonder Woman is buff, sometimes she's not. Aaron is being clumsy (and yeah, getting back at his critics) but he's getting at an interesting question: In an age of body diversity and acceptance why should She Hulk look like tall, sexy eye candy painted green and not muscular, strong and still beautiful (a different kind of beauty) He sabotages the effort by giving her a default "dumb" persona not distinguishable from her male cousin. I thought the Immortal Hulk confrontation was a bit of a cheat to make her look exactly like her cousin to make the same point.

[Prof. Warren]

The Bruce story is obviously a "grass is always greener" thing where the woman who chose to become a professional lawyer who's spent her in-universe career being viewed primarily as a sex object or a jokey hero finds catharsis in raw power that makes her feared like her cousin, which in her mind has brought her respect and validation. Why would Aaron himself actually think that she's had it worse than Bruce when he even writes that Bruce went off pissed and they never talked about it again?

Yes, Aaron obviously isn't trying to make a case that Bruce's life is a cake walk.

This issue is strictly from Jen's perspective. And while some may critique her point of view, I think it's valid.

I find it interesting that the complaints about her depiction here - that she doesn't really have it tough at all in comparison to Bruce - reflect the kind of hostile, real world dismissal that regularly takes place whenever women speak out about male aggression and being treated like a sexual object. That, you know, it's really nothing at all and they should find real things to complain about.

Will Jen ever revert to her previous persona? Surely. This is comics, after all. And, as we see, that aspect of her is still present. But I find this current approach to be an interesting one and am more than willing to see where Aaron plans to take her character. Clearly he has long range plans for her.

[Cmbmool]

holy moly, what did Aaron did to She-Hulk...

his touch destroys everything.

Thor and the X-men too were destroyed by Jason Aaron’s Handy work.

[Prof. Warren]

Thor and the X-men too were destroyed by Jason Aaron’s Handy work.

They seem to be doing alright.

I find it constantly amusing that fans will claim a writer has "destroyed" a character when that writer has written a celebrated, wildly successful, character-defining run.

The myopia is astounding.

[Kurolegacy]

From the looks of upcoming issues, Jen's look will be toned down. I don't think there will be an in Universe explanation; just the artists' individual taste. This has always been the case with strength based female supers (except Supergirl) sometimes Wonder Woman is buff, sometimes she's not. Aaron is being clumsy (and yeah, getting back at his critics) but he's getting at an interesting question: In an age of body diversity and acceptance why should She Hulk look like tall, sexy eye candy painted green and not muscular, strong and still beautiful (a different kind of beauty) He sabotages the effort by giving her a default "dumb" persona not distinguishable from her male cousin. I thought the Immortal Hulk confrontation was a bit of a cheat to make her look exactly like her cousin to make the same point.

If by upcoming issues, you mean judging by the covers, I wouldn’t hold much stock in that as the covers tend to lie quite a bit.

Also I don’t think that the artist in Immortal Hulk so much was trying to cheat there so much as he makes all of the Hulk based characters in the book look more monstrous to go along with the horror tone of the book. Case in point, just look how different Hulk looks in the book compared to when he appears in any other book.

[beetee]

If by upcoming issues, you mean judging by the covers, I wouldn’t hold much stock in that as the covers tend to lie quite a bit.

In this instance, the cover artist is supposed to do the interior art.