She-Hulk Volume 3: Girl Can’t Help It is out October 25th, and it brings author Rainbow Rowell’s run on the Jade Giantess to a close (until it reboots as Sensational She-Hulk next month). Joining Rowell on this volume are artist Andrés Genolet, colorist Dee Cunniffe, and letterer Joe Caramagna.
In this volume, Jen Walters is navigating her new relationship with Jack of Hearts when a new villain, The Scoundrel, enters the fray to add some complications. Meanwhile, in typical She-Hulk fashion, Jen is trying to balance her superhero life with her lawyering and other extracurricular activities — like Superhuman Fight Club.
Rowell’s She-Hulk run has been delightful. That seems to be the most fitting descriptor for a comic where the main character has a standing “Eat Cake in Fancy Dresses” date every Wednesday. It’s a charming and whimsical look at the other side of superhero life, the side where these heroes who we typically see saving the world need to blow off steam and find some joy for themselves. This series has been like the best parts of Dan Slott’s quintessential run on She-Hulk, the parts that focus on Jen as a lawyer and a person first and a superhero second.
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The art by Genolet and Cunniffe plays directly into that same fun and whimsy. This is not one of those dark and gritty superhero comics that radiate doom and gloom; She-Hulk‘s world is bright and full of life (and love). Genolet’s work focuses heavily on facial expressions to emphasize emotion. When She-Hulk smiles, the reader smiles; when she’s sad, it tugs at your heart. And when the action hits (this is a comic about a Hulk, after all), Genolet’s work is fast, fluid, and full of energy to carry you from one panel to the next.
Cunniffe’s color palette is full of pastels to help establish the mood and telegraph emotion. Blues are used to stress colder environments (in a metaphorical sense). Bright pinks and purples are used during fight sequences to make certain panels stand out with some punch — and in the case of fights with The Scoundrel, the pinks also hint at some complicated romantic feelings.
(Also, it’s wonderful to read a superhero collection that retains the same art team throughout the whole book. It’s becoming all too rare, but the consistent tone really allows you to sink into the story.)
She-Hulk is both a slice-of-life romance comic and a superhero action comic; the two sides rely on one another to tell a compelling story. You get plenty of cameos on both sides of the aisle. Jen gets lunch with Hellcat and represents a myriad of supervillains at work. She also teams up with the Fantastic Four on a more traditional mission, which in turn has her cross paths with The Scoundrel, which ties back into her complicated relationship with Jack of Hearts. It all weaves together. The superhero element is not the primary focus of the book, but it always adds to the more personal story being told. When Shulkie is fighting The Scoundrel while on a mission with the FF, the reader is less concerned with why the two are fighting and more concerned with the ramifications this new character will have on the heroine’s personal life, and that’s exactly how the creative team wants it.
This volume ends the series, but it feels less like an ending and more like a promise of things to come — which makes sense, because Rowell and Genolet’s Sensational She-Hulk #1 will be on shelves before this paperback releases. If you’re looking for a fun, breezy superhero read with likable characters you can invest your emotions in, catch up on She-Hulk now.
