She-Hulk #25

Good news - according to ICV2, sales of She-Hulk #25 outstripped #24 by more than 1,300 copies, propelling She-Hulk back up into the top 100 titles for the month.

Those still aren't great numbers, but at least the downward spiral has been arrested. As long as we fans keep buying the book, we'll forestall cancellation. Even though the storyline may not be grabbing you, Shawn Moll's work is the best art any She-Hulk title has seen in a long time. You may find it's worth your time for the art alone.

She-Hulk #25I'll make this quick because it's not worth much of my time. In She-Hulk #25 I found:

• Lots of under-characterized new characters whose problems I don't care about.
• She-Hulk behaving utterly out of character.
• Sloppy handling of setting. ("Allentown National Park, Pennsylvania"? Are there so few parks in Pennsylvania that PAD has to invent one? Or is he just too lazy to use Google?)
• A generally slapdash storyline with inconsistent pacing.

There's also a "parody four-pager" at the end that pokes fun at anyone who's unhappy with inconsistent handling of the She-Hulk character. If you were looking forward to being laughed at for feeling dismayed or confused about all the changes to the character and title since Peter David took over, you will love it. Otherwise you may come away wondering, "Is this guy mocking me?"

Because when sales are going down the toilet and the new writer has alienated people who have been reading the book for years, the best plan is to ridicule the concerns of the readers who are still hanging in there. After the writer fails, he can blame it on the readers for not getting the "joke".

Still, by all means please go buy the book so that it doesn't get canceled before Marvel finds someone else to write it.

She-Hulk #25She-Hulk #25 is at your local comics retailer today. If you're like me, you probably have some ambivalent feelings about the comic these days. The anticipation I felt when Dan Slott was writing the book has been replaced by a feeling of dread.

Look at it this way: as long as we keep buying the book, there's always a chance Mephisto might take us back to the status quo ante PAD. However, if we all stop buying the book, it will just get canceled. Which would be unfortunate.

(If it makes you feel better, stop buying X-Factor instead. I did.)

Wizard Entertainment has some preview images of She-Hulk #25. Shawn Moll doesn't disappoint; his art is very good.

[Preview She-Hulk #25 - Wizard Entertainment]

Suggested Variant Cover for She-Hulk #25

This is me dropping a hint.