All-New Savage She-Hulk #1

This was a pretty entertaining comic. Two things are keeping me from giving it full marks though. First of all, I really like Jennifer Walters as She-Hulk, so I don't really see a reason for this new character to take over the name. My second problem with this book is the 3.99 price tag. If Marvel wants people to try out and sample new characters in series like this, they need to keep the price point at 2.99. As for the issue itself, I really enjoyed Fred Van Lente's take on a new gamma-powered super-heroine. I don't have any idea who Lyra is, or what is going on with her weird other-dimensional home, but there are some things to like here. Lyra comes from a dimension where men and women have diverged into very different societies. Women procreate by growing what seem to be fetuses they store in big jars. These jars are manufactured by Oscorp, which is a nice touch. As for men, they have degenerated into totem-worshipping savages who try to kill the more civilized women whenever they can. The ones we see here seem to be idolizing Wolverine, unless I miss my guess. I'm not exactly sure how the dudes replenish their ranks, but there must be something. The first issue follows Lyra as she is gets an assignment to travel to the current Marvel U to seek out the Avengers for some reason. Most of the issue takes place in New York where Lyra is facing off against the agents of ARMOR, who I'm also not familiar with (I guess they are from the current Marvel Zombies books). Lyra is kind of out of control and she may be racking up a body count, I can't be sure. She is a likable character and giving her an amusing inteligent wristwatch is a nice way to see her interact with an ally. The high point of the book was of course the appearance of the "specialist" ARMOR brings in to take out Lyra. You can guess who is going to show up and kick butt in a comic called "Savage She-Hulk" right? I was pleasantly surprised at the interesting post-apocalyptic world in general and how fun Lyra is in particular as the champion of womenkind. Neat stuff. I'm in for the eventual trade.

Peter Vale's art was great. The characters had different faces throughout and his Wolverine and Spider-Man from the Dark Avengers looked very threatening.

Good