Published by Marvel Comics
Written by Dan Slott
Art by Juan Bobillo
Dan Slott must feel like a man out of time. He writes what I call, for lack of a better term, old-school Marvel comics. Action, humor, and character moments all in economic proportion to form damn good stories. I use the term ecomonic because a Dan Slott comic is always worth your money. While other authors have embraced decompression, Slott almost seems to rally against it, giving you a 22 (or 20) page complete story.
Case in point: She-Hulk #4. The title character's personal drama and her relationship with Pug somehow find time to advance, even with a guest-starring role by the show-stealing Spider-Man. She-Hulk, as an attorney for super-types, finds herself aiding the webslinger as he looks to sue his public nemesis J. Jonah Jameson for slander. Yep, it seems years of accusations of being a "menace to society" have tied a knot in Peter Parker's webs and he's had it. One minor detail derails his case, but I won't spoil it here.
Then there's the Scorpion. Dopey Mac Gargan (can you believe this guy was once a P.I.?) and Alistair Smythe make an appearance as well, wreaking havoc right in front of the courthouse during Jolly Jonah's trial. Spidey and Jen (that's She-Hulk by the way) make a comedic duo for the ages under Slott's pen, and Spidey's explanation for why he thinks Jameson hates him so much was such a funny and inappropriate line I laughed out loud. How many times have you ever actually laughed OUT LOUD at a comic book?
It's been a few years since the ink was still warm on this issue and Mr. Slott has carved quite a niche for himself within the Marvel bullpen as the main Spider-Man writer since then. Even when incorperating events like Spider-Island and the Doc Ock brain switch scenario, he still manages to satisfy his readers and make character the most important aspect of his stories. Not bad for the guy who once wrote Ren & Stimpy stories for Marvel back in the 90's.
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