[Ashlee]

So no character development .I hated the relanch
of she hulk that dredful artist did such crappy job.

[raylight]

Ed McGuinness is one of the better artists in the game right now, IMO.

My main problem with Jeph Loeb is Ultimatum, which basically trashed ten years of stories in a bloodthirsty desire to kill as many people as possible off in five issues. Granted, the Ultimate Universe needed rebooting as all but Ultimate Spider-Man wasn't doing so hot quality or sales-wise, but what Loeb did was break it beyond repair.

. . .

At least Brian Michael Bendis will still be writing Ultimate Spidey so there'll be something readable out of THAT reboot.

[zimbra1]

Using my patented bullshit translator – Loeb is saying something along the lines of "I haven't got a clue where this story is going, I'll be throwing in a lot of twists which are at best random and often nonsensical – not to mention that no one is going to bother checking continuity, so expect plot aspects to be raised and dropped arbitrarily. Red She-Hulk is just going to be cheese cake for the sake of it – any chance at character development is pretty small."

I'd say there's a pretty high probability that there will be a snippet of dialog similar to:

Rulk: You?

She Rulk: Surprised to see me?

Rulk: It messes up all our planning for you to show up! It may even provide an obscure clue to my identity, but oh well.  Think I'll beat up… oh I don't know, the Thing.

The possibility that it may be Domino is really really exciting for me, I can't quite say why. Maybe it would be the brains/brawn dynamic, or that one of Liefield's "characters" is going to be bastardized long after her shelf date.  Or maybe that the Marvel U can stand to have a few more TF'ing heroines, and that if done properly She Rulk could be a better compliment to She Hulk that Titania.  One can only hope.

[Case]

When I first saw the pictures of the red She-Hulk, I immediately thought of Domino.  I haven't followed any Marvel title with any regularity for some time now, but something about the (bits of) costume and the gun makes it seem to fit.  Would it make any sense for Domino to become a red behemoth?  Probably not, but how the hell should I know?  I'm interested in what Marvel is doing with Shulkie, though, with the introduction of Lyra and the new "wanna see my impression of a fire truck?" Shulk.  I'm admittedly ignorant as to what goes on behind the scenes in the Marvel studios, but I can't see it as a bad thing that we now have an opportunity to find three She-Hulks where there used to be only one.  Is there any way that such an outcome could really all bad?

[ze fly]

This is so typical.

Comic books are just dead set on making sure that muscle mass on females is a strictly villain trait.

Too true, alas :'(
Look at muscled characters: titania, Stunner, Punchout… all villainesses.  >:(
Except maybe "Rigger" Ruiz of Code: Blue  🙂

[Lurker]

Hm.

Isn't the big bulky look in general used for characters who are supposed to be ominous/intimidating?

I realize we are talking specifically about female muscle, but generally, the bigger character automatically has a certain kind of (I'll exaggerate slightly for effect) oppressive presence, and I suspect that for heroes they might want to avoid that.

That seems to hold true for male characters as well.

Take the normal Banner Green Hulk. He's big and buff–but that very big buffness often symbolizes just how dangerous he is. Same with Juggernaut, even when he was not a full-on villain.

I wonder if, artistically, part of the willingness to have the female villains have more obvious muscle than the female heroes is simply to help show, visually, that they are aggressive in a way the heroes are not.

[Evan Stanley]

That doesn't explain why male character without superstrength (Ex: Cyclops, Bishop), have more muscle mass than female character that do have superstrength (Rogue, Mary Marvel)

[Lurker]

That doesn't explain why male character without superstrength (Ex: Cyclops, Bishop), have more muscle mass than female character that do have superstrength (Rogue, Mary Marvel)

No, it doesn't at all, and is not intended to be a comprehensive explanation. I am throwing out a theory, that it does seem that, within gender (ie, comparing men-to-men and women-to-women), there does seem to be a general trend that the physically larger characters are intended to be more aggressive in attitude than the less obviously buff ones.

Heck, compare Spider-Man to Cable, for example.

I don't even think I'm necessarily correct–just that it does seem that, very generally, this tends to be the case.

[Prophet Tenebrae]

I think it all comes down to the false assumption that muscle and strength are specifically male traits.

But like I've said elsewhere, no point acting like things aren't better than they've ever been. I mean, I was reading She-Hulk #38 the other day and even if she isn't quite as buff as she is on the cover, she's pretty damn buff – dare I say, hulking. Not only that, Jazinda is half-naked and that girl had abs of steel and to stick with the green girls… Lyra was certainly depicted as well built (and her aunt too).

So, I feel that… we've never had it so good and that anyone bemoaning the state of affairs should have a bit of perspective. Yes, things can always get better but while we may have to endure Whedon Waif Syndrome… there's plenty of good stuff out there. They aren't pulling any punches with Powergirl these days. Which makes her secret identity HILARIOUS, as Lingster points out.

[Evan Stanley]

Which makes her secret identity HILARIOUS, as Lingster points out.

I must have missed that. What did Lingster say?

[Author]

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