Marvel Legacy is about bringing the best elements of Marvel’s back past into its present, and while the jury’s out on how well it’s succeeding overall, The Sensational She-Hulk is a book that really benefits from the spirit of the character’s past stories. Hulk’s final issue before being retitled had writer Mariko Tamaki tapping into a comedic mode that brought new life to her scripting, and she found a way to maintain the dramatic stakes of Jennifer’s current status quo while bringing more humor to the story. That issue used a date night to comment on the tropes of romantic stories about single women in New York City, and the meta-comedy of Jen literally putting her own caption boxes on top of overblown romantic narration was a welcome nod to the playful spirit of previous She-Hulk series.
Reverting to The Sensational She-Hulk would suggest a major tonal shift for the series, but this exclusive preview of next week’s She-Hulk #160 shows that Tamaki is still committed to Jen’s struggle with PTSD and the volatile emotions it creates. Jahnoy Lindsay’s widescreen panels set a rhythm for the page that is broken when Jen transforms and her perception changes, revealing glimpses of events instead of showing the whole experience. Federico Blee’s coloring reinforce the emotional shifts, starting with a calm blue that gives way to a bright green when Jen snaps, then ending with gray for the rampage of the gray Hulk. There’s a real sense of tragedy in these pages, and lighter chapters like Hulk #11 provide a contrast that makes these darker moments hit even harder.