Marvel Presents No. 18 page 24

I always loved John Byrne’s art, but to me his She-Hulk run is unique. Not only did it seem to truly allow him the freedom to express his creativity in storytelling and humour, but he also found and developed a great character to do this with. Where the Graphic Novel feels like he is still trying to figure out what the character is about, she finds her unique, fun and wall-breaking voice in Marvel Presents No. 18 and the following She-Hulk run.

So, reading the 'X-Mas Tease' in Marvel Presents No. 18 left me baffled. I expected She-Hulk to be beautiful to watch, but her satirical insights into the comic industry and what it would be like to be a superhero was surprising, honest and very refreshing. With a good sense of humour, she cuts right through established standards of an industry that lives off - and sometimes gets carried away with - selling dreams.

The final two panels highlight this nicely and set the tone for her standalone book. She unpacks her own upcoming book and then - beautiful as she is - looks you right in the eyes and playfully says “How about that kids? You just read eight pages of hype for a new comic! Oh well…”. I was smitten, intrigued and very much looked forward to the first issues to come out.