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View Full Version : IT CAME FROM THE QUARTER BIN: SENSATIONAL SHE-HULK #14


MattBrady
01-06-2005, 02:21 PM
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/quarterbin/SheHulk14.jpg" width="175" height="269" border="0" align="right"><i>by Ryan McLelland</i>

<b>Sensational She-Hulk #14</b>
Marvel Comics
April 1990

Written by Steve Gerber
Pencils by Bryan Hitch
Inks by Jim Sanders III

It was reading the current brilliant <b>She-Hulk</b> series that caused me to search the bins for the 1990’s <b>Sensational She-Hulk</b> series. I had found the trade paperback collection of the first couple issues by John Byrne and reveled once again at how fun the character was. Searching the bins I found a number of issues but once again a special guest-star on the cover of <b>Sensational She-Hulk #14</b> drew me right in.

In Part 1 of The Cosmic Squish Principle, we meet a bald man sitting in a director’s chair on some far off moon. Is he a Watcher, that weird race of bald men that sit on moons for the purpose of…watching things? No. This bald man is something different from a splinter faction of the Watchers. He is…a Critic, complete with smoking pipe, a great pair of shades, and the aforementioned director’s chair. The Critic shows us a blunder in which a massive toilet plunger accidentally reverses the pull of a black hole thus bringing chaos to the entire galaxy. Damn toilet plungers!

On Earth our fair maiden of grassy green skin is driving through Vermont when some intergalactic cowbell she has makes her car die. The cowbell has a hissy fit and She-Hulk just watches as mystical powers shoots forth from this thing. Finally the anomalies stop and She-Hulk is left with just an empty frame that when she puts her hand through, her hand disappears. Where would her hand go?

Cleveland actually. Marvel’s favorite fowl, Howard the Duck, is looking through his refrigerator when a big green hand suddenly lunges out at him. This scares Howard greatly, since all the duck wanted was something to drink, but he decides his time is better spent on the couch and away from his weird green hand fridge. It’s not long before Howard’s gorgeous redheaded girlfriend Bev comes home from her long day of training to be a ninja and thinks that she may have jumped on the ‘ninja bandwagon’ too late.

With She-Hulk back in New York and suddenly becoming weaker, the Critic decides to bound into action to try and stop Earth from activating the portals (the frame cowboy thingie). The Critic lands in the middle of a computer store where Howard is trying to sell a computer to a surprised customer (its not every day that you see a duck trying to sell you something, of course). The Critic tells Howard he needs his help and when Howard refuses, he’s sealed in a bubble and forced to join the Critic anyway.

She-Hulk is with a friend trying to figure out the whole other cowbell/frame universe and her friend actually figures out that the frame is a portal to the Baloneyverse. The friend tries to explain further but Howard, in his bubble, suddenly comes crashing through a wall. Introductions between the two are very brief as Howard points out that She-Hulk’s friend is falling INTO his desk. Quickly snapping into action, She-Hulk grabs Howard and jumps into the frame to save her friend. The two pop out into the Baloneyverse where She-Hulk inexplicably becomes her alter-ego Jennifer Walters…finding that she is unable to change back.

She-Hulk and HOWARD THE DUCK! Written by the one and only Steve Gerber? With art by the soon to be adored by women and envied by men, but at that time drawing mostly like Alan Davis Bryan Hitch?!? A seedy Watcher called the Critic and a place called the Baloneyverse? I have no clue why I didn’t know that Gerber wrote She-Hulk and that he put his most famous creation in the book, but once I found this issue I had no choice but to hunt down these other issues for more Gerber Howard the Duck goodness. The pencils of some guy named Bryan Hitch, who can even make She-Hulk look good in an over-large pink turtleneck, help out Gerber’s quirky story. <b>Sensational She-Hulk #14</b> is really more great She-Hulk fun and a comic you can pick up for one shiny quarter.

OcCaM
01-06-2005, 02:40 PM
I always wondered why Marvel didn't include this issue in the Essential Howard the Duck collection, it is a Howard story written by Gerber afterall.

Anyway, I have that first 8 issue collection by Byrne, I wouldn't mind if they had another collection made. Too bad She-Hulk isn't doing better, then they probably would.

Gerber and She-Hulk, not quite his Defenders or Howard but great stuff anyway.

Scavenger
01-06-2005, 03:00 PM
The Gerber/Hitch run of She-Hulk was awesome...frankly, far better than the John Byrne runs that surrounded it....but when they mended fences with Byrne, Marvel dumbed Gerber and pretty much disavowed those issues of the series.

JLAJRC
01-06-2005, 03:23 PM
The current She-Hulk is excellent.

Also, the Howard the Duck Max mini from a couple of years ago rocks. I want more.

Kolimar
01-06-2005, 04:37 PM
Originally posted by Scavenger
The Gerber/Hitch run of She-Hulk was awesome...frankly, far better than the John Byrne runs that surrounded it....but when they mended fences with Byrne, Marvel dumbed Gerber and pretty much disavowed those issues of the series.

I completely disagree. Byrne and Gerber have different styles.

In general, I prefer Byrne but that doesn't make him better than Gerber.

In this series, Byrne's the guy who re-created the character and IMHO that gave him an edge when handling Jennifer.

twoarmman
01-06-2005, 04:43 PM
Originally posted by OcCaM
Too bad She-Hulk isn't doing better, then they probably would.



I love the current series. I was under the impression that the book was doing far better than anyone ever hoped. That is why they are "canceling" the book so they can put the same book back out a month or two latter with a big opening marketing push. I think everyone at Marvel was surprised by the books success.

Kirk Kushin
01-06-2005, 04:47 PM
Gerber's Hardtime from DC is great too!

Thank you for highlighting those She-Hulk's. I had read the Essential Howard the Duck and was really impressed. The storyline was Howard running (or being drafted) for President were very clever.

Gerber is really an inspiration to those of us producing funny/satirical comics.

grphxkindaguy
01-06-2005, 05:18 PM
Originally posted by OcCaM
I always wondered why Marvel didn't include this issue in the Essential Howard the Duck collection, it is a Howard story written by Gerber afterall.


waitasecond, there was an Essential Howard the Duck?!? WTF?!? :eek:

Edward J Cunningham
01-06-2005, 05:30 PM
Originally posted by grphxkindaguy
waitasecond, there was an Essential Howard the Duck?!? WTF?!? :eek:

Exactly. I'm sure that's a great book to get, but why no "Essential She-Hulk"???

Eddie Cunningham

paulski
01-06-2005, 07:56 PM
Originally posted by Kolimar
I completely disagree.

Me too. For me, the first 8 issues of this book (by Byrne) were as good as the title got. Even when he came back with issue #31, things never reached the heights of his first go-round.

Even though he tried hard, the Gerber issues just came across as far too silly and 'out there' and I didn't enjoy them anywhere near as much.

RyanMcLelland
01-06-2005, 09:15 PM
Originally posted by grphxkindaguy
waitasecond, there was an Essential Howard the Duck?!? WTF?!? :eek:

It was the first 'Essential' book I bought...but then again...how could I NOT run out and buy a book on Howard the Duck!?!?! It's Howard!!!

BurgundyTears
01-06-2005, 10:04 PM
I had almost forgotten about this fun old story and especially a character I think should be used a lot more... The Critic.

Apparently a sort of renegade Watcher who follows fashion trends and critisises things instead of just watching them.

Dan Slott, the current She-Hulk writer, even did an old 'What The!?' feature where the Critic and Uato did a Siskel&Ebert on various really dumb alternate realities. Man, I'd really love to see that concept revisited some day. :D

Studio D Comics
01-07-2005, 12:38 AM
Originally posted by Scavenger
....but when they mended fences with Byrne, Marvel dumbed Gerber and pretty much disavowed those issues of the series.


Took away his mouth, did they?? Ouch! ;) ;) ;)



later
don

OcCaM
01-07-2005, 04:20 AM
Originally posted by twoarmman
I love the current series. I was under the impression that the book was doing far better than anyone ever hoped. That is why they are "canceling" the book so they can put the same book back out a month or two latter with a big opening marketing push. I think everyone at Marvel was surprised by the books success.

Well like most series that aren't the same old same old boring crap (i.e. Blah Man, StupidMan, Dreks Men, and Spidey etc.) the books tend to do worse.

She-Hulk is doing fairly poorly. I got these figures from comicon.com since someone was kind enough to do the work for us.

Mar She-Hulk #1 - 34,499
Apr She-Hulk #2 - 30,779 (-10.8%)
May She-Hulk #3 - 29,662 ( -3.6%)
Jun She-Hulk #4 - 27,648 ( -6.8%)
Jul She-Hulk #5 - 25,788 ( -6.7%)
Aug She-Hulk #6 - 24,751 ( -4.0%)
Sep She-Hulk #7 - 25,303 ( +2.2%)
Oct She-Hulk #8 - 24,929 ( -1.5%)
Nov She-Hulk #9 - 23,869 ( -4.2%)


This book isn't doing so hot. Books like District X and Emma Frost doing around 25K are already axed.

Now, maybe they've had an upswing in the trades, I know that's who I bought this and will be buying the second trade when it comes out, but the figures look bad.

But, when mini-series like Bullseye, Madrox and even Amazing Fantasy are doing better (slightly) than this, it just looks bad.

Then again Spider-Girl seems to be selling around 21K and Invaders at 23K and poor old Spidey Unlimited at 20K and they haven't been cancelled yet. Maybe a new #1 will entice new readers that didn't want to jump into the party in the middle of it, having heard how great this is after the fact.

Least everyone SHOULD have heard how great this book is. Hell, I'm not even a She-Hulk fan and I love this. I think the 8 issues by Byrne and a few of the Gerbers are the only She-Hulks I really like until now. Very pleasantly surprised by the new series.

grphxkindaguy
01-07-2005, 09:19 AM
Originally posted by OcCaM
This book isn't doing so hot. Books like District X and Emma Frost doing around 25K are already axed.


FYI

District X has been extended to at least issue #18, but Emma Frost is already gone w/last months issue #18. :(

tyopot
01-07-2005, 11:10 PM
well,i`d buy this issue just because of hitch.