Sensational She-Hulk #10: The Last Fancy Dress Wednesday

Jen is a lawyer, a founding member of Fancy Dress Wednesdays, a founding member of Punch Club, and an Avenger. Beyond that, she has friends and a loving boyfriend. That’s…a lot. Rowell seeks to balance it all in her swan song for the series, Sensational She-Hulk #10.

Rowell doesn’t necessarily tie up any story threads in Sensational She-Hulk so much as end the series with a thematic choice and an overarching mood. There’s nothing to wrap up in a traditional sense. Rather, it’s a matter of showing off how Jen’s life will continue after the experiences of her last two series.

If ever a comic needed an extra long final issue, it is Sensational She-Hulk #10. That isn’t to say that Rowell doesn’t conclude the series satisfactorily. She does. Indeed, it is more than satisfactory. But when the final page turns, it’s impossible not to want more–more of Jen and Jack, and Jen and Mallory, and Jen and Fancy Dress Wednesdays, and Jen and Punch Club.

This is the virtue of a series that prizes characters and relationships above everything else. Rowell didn’t abandon superhero conventions. Stretching back to the beginning of Rowell’s She-Hulk, Jen has faced her share of battles to save the day, however unusual. But they have always been depicted as part of Jen’s strange but everyday life. The result has been to see Jen as a fully rounded person rather than someone defined by spandex and smashing. Indeed, “mundane” scenes like the quiet interactions with Jack are almost always the most compelling part of the issue.

Genolet is as critical to Sensational She-Hulk’s success as Rowell. Ig Guara delivered two strong fill-in issues, but Genolet established the series’ identity. His ability to find and convey a full range of emotion on the characters’ faces has been critical in selling the series’ narrative tone.

Sensational She-Hulk #10 relies heavily on his strong work. Rowell’s script leaves a lot of Jen’s thinking in this issue unsaid. The subtext is as rich as the dialogue, perhaps even more so. Without Genolet’s ability to add nuance to Jen’s expressions–subtle differences in her eyes and mouth from one panel to the next–that subtext would fall flat.

Jack, on the other hand, is more communicative via body language. His expressions are more broad than Jen’s. His heartbreaking moments come from a slouch (and there is a great example in this issue). When he’s happy Genolet usually draws him ramrod straight with his arms wide–the look of a very open person.

Various examples of Genolet’s skill with characters are on display elsewhere as well. Mallory’s predictable frustration and lowkey anger, Ransak’s dismissive impatience, and so on.

Cunniffe’s color palette for the series is a vibrant one. It keeps every issue lively. And he also chooses colors that rarely blend too much with Jen’s green skin. The contrast makes her stand out in almost every setting and in comparison to almost every other character. Jen’s conspicuousness complements Genolet’s reliance on subtle expression, always drawing the reader’s eye toward her.

Caramagna’s placement of dialogue bubbles is very unobtrusive. When space permits, they are further removed from the characters. The choice to not use all capital letters allows the bubbles to be smaller. The dialogue seldom comes across as the focus of any page or panel. Instead, Genolet’s character work stands out which communicates the all important subtext.