Character spotlight on: She-Hulk

Welcome to the debut of my character spotlight segment. I plan on shining some light on great characters that may not be getting proper treatment. This is me, doing my part to help raise awareness and trying to stop the horrible and unaddressed issue of character neglet!

Image via Wikipedia

This entry is to spotlight one of the strongest women in comics, the Sensational She-Hulk. This 29 year old, emerald skinned, comic book good girl is an incredible asset to a character stable. As Jennifer Walters, she is a skilled attorney that is just as passionate about fighting legal battles as her 6' 7", superheroine counterpart is eager to bust heads! Always thinking of more than just mercenary tactics and brawling, She-Hulk has even been able to put her villain bashing abilities to professional use as she has been recently seen traveling across the country as a bounty hunter for bail skippers.

She-Hulk is one of the last characters that Stan Lee created for Marvel and has starred in no less than four on-going series including the Savage She-Hulk (her first comic which lasted to nearly 30 issues) and the Sensational She-Hulk which saw John Byrne take the emerald Avenger through 60 issues of comedy, parody in which her jade jaws were often talking directly to the reader.

She may not be a requirement in the Marvel stable like Spidey, Mutants, or even the Hulk, but her depth and richness of character is one that could go toe to toe with her cousin and win, every time!

Comics Price Jumps Again

1. When I first started buying comics, the price per book was around 75 cents, which was soon to hit a dollar.
2. By the time I was 18, there was an experiment going within the Marvel comics camp in which each of the many popular titles titles had two options; the standard paper stock with a $1.50 price or the glossy paper with a $1.95 tag. Shortly after the success of that, all titles went to $1.95.
3. A few years later, Marvel creeped the prices on their popular titles to a safe $2.25 with some of the edgier titles seeing $2.75 a book.
4. A few years back, they all hit $2.99 each.

These hikes have typically risen in times of financial hardship, either for the company or for the country. Inflation affects more than just the price of tomatoes in the grocery store, for comic companies, it hits with paper, ink, wage hikes and many other costs. The increased price has been an attempt to offset these charges in the past.
Now, with nearly ten of the popular titles in the Marvel stable jumping like the Hulk from the already high $2.99 to an astonishing $3.99, it is easy to see that an over-all price jump is in the near future and understandably so, with the poor shape of America's economy.
The unfortunate aspect of this hike is, not just the whole dollar increase, but the many times Marvel's speaker and EVP of the executive office, John Turitzen talked about "maximizing profits" and referring to Marvel as a "cash machine". Classy, Mr. Turitzen. I come from a business background and understand the need to make a profit, but I also understand the need to satisfy the customer and keep integrity within a brand, even if I'm not an Executive Vice President for a multi-million dollar organization.

With the increase in video games and other digital media, I didn't think the 4 color world could take a much harder hit...I guess I was wrong.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

This prequel to the mediocre X-Men trilogy takes Marvel Comics' most popular mutant and provides a full-length feature all to his hairy self! Some would argue that this was not true to the source material and others claim the story is more important than original history of the character but one thing stands clear, the time and film they used to portray some of this hairy mutant's history was rich in action and mutant cameos, from the humorously portrayed Fred Dukes (a.k.a. Blob) to Ryan Reynolds' perfectly accurate Wade Wilson.

Without providing much of a spoiler, I will say that, though the history and proximity of the storyline does not fall in line closely to the source material (where was Department H- the Canadian program? What was the deal with the runt's heightened senses only working when it helped further the plot?) the plot line and the flow of the movie was incredibly adrenaline filled which forces you at blade point to use no more than the front edge of the seat.

Among the many other aspects of beautifully crafted eye candy that this film offers to the uninitiated and fanboy alike, the opening title sequence is actually one of the highlights of the film as it follows the world's favorite furball through nearly every major war in United States history, and does so in a tasteful manner.

Hugh Jackman, though a full foot taller than Marvel's mutant, nails Wolverine yet again and this time, is afforded a full lead role to provide a solid feel of the character. He may not have the blond mane, but Liev Shreiber portrayed a wonderfully maniacal Sabretooth and the not-so-surprising appearance of Gambit was a fun addition to the already mutant rich story, even if actor, Taylor Kitsch couldn't retain the Creole accent Gambit is famous for.

Being a long time X-Men fan, I was put off by some of the modifications made for the 'benefit' of the average movie-goer, but was happily willing to forgive these things due to the high volume of hidden fanboy fun and the excellently crafted visual effects. I give this great comic adaptation three sharpened claws up!