RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books Peter David taking over She Hulk

MattBrady

HEROES CON/WW PHILLY '07: PETER DAVID TAKES OVER SHE-HULK

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All of the clues were right there, and for She-Hulk and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man readers, we’ll pause an allow for a forehead-slapping moment if you wish.

…

Okay – got it?

Putting the pieces together, we’ve announced that writer Peter David would be leaving the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man - and that the series itself will be ending as Amazing Spider-Man expands to thrice-monthly shipping. We’ve also announced that writer Dan Slott would be leaving She-Hulk, but that series would be continuing.

Both series are edited by Steve Wacker.

See where this is going?

(No – the other direction)

Following Dan Slott’s exit on She-Hulk, Peter David will step in as the new series writer, beginning with #22 in September.

Like Marvel could keep him away from gamma action for that long.

We spoke with the writer about his new digs, and how he got there.

Newsarama: So how did this deal come about? Was it a quick one-for-one exchange when you left Friendly Neighborhood or was there some lag time?

Peter David: Steve Wacker started talking to me abut She-Hulk several months ago. He wanted to know what direction I would take her were I writing the series. I don't know if Steve thought of me for it because he knew I wasn't going to be on FNSM, or if he would have spoken to me about it even if I were remaining with the Spidey title. But the way it timed out ultimately was that I wrote my last issue of FNSM and my first issue of She-Hulk within a week of each other.

NRAMA: If you could, take us into the decision process for you when you took the series on - was it an automatic, and a quick, "Here are those She-Hulk stories I could tell..." or was there more time, coming up with some ideas, first, and then some back and forth with the editor?

PAD: A back and forth. Steve was very participatory. What it came down to was that my vision for the tone and style of the series matched up with his, so that prompted him to continue the conversations. After some preliminary notions that were, I would term, creative misfires (they weren't bad; they just weren't good) I hit upon the direction I wanted to go with her and Steve was all for it.

NRAMA: Have you been keeping up with what Dan has been doing in the series to date? Thoughts on how Jen is portrayed these days in the Marvel Universe?

PAD: I think Dan's done a brilliant job His knowledge of the Marvel Universe's continuity and his ability to develop stories out of them...he's like Roy Thomas 3.0. And I mean that in a good way. His take on her has been both a logical progression on what's gone before, and yet is clever and original in its own right.

NRAMA: You most recently handled She-Hulk/Jen in the World War Hulk Prologue. Although she was under some pretty righteous stress and anger, would you say that episode typified Jen?

PAD: It certainly typified her under stress and angry. She's always been fiercely devoted to her cousin. This was a classic example of a character discovering that everything she "knew" was wrong. That all the people she thought she could trust, including one she bedded, were lying to her. That has to hurt. That has to leave a mark. Indeed, that's one of the aspects that I'm going to be playing off in the future.

NRAMA: When we spoke with Dan about leaving the series, he explained how he was looking to wrap up as many, if not all of his storylines in the issues he has left. Has he given you an indication where Jen will be when he's done, or does that really matter as far as your plans are concerned?

PAD: I know some very basic aspects of what her status quo will be, but none of the details or story elements. Indeed, that made it slightly problematic for my first issue. I couldn't just flow organically out of the previous issue because at the point at which I wrote it, there were no scripts for the issues right before it (or if there were, I sure didn't have them.) I solved the problem by setting my first issue three months after the end of the previous one. There have been story developments that have left Jen in a very different place. But they're only alluded to to start out. Once I've actually had a chance to read the issues that come right before, I can then go back and write flashback issues that fill in the gap.

NRAMA: What about the larger picture - will she still be with G, L, K & H? Will she still be lawyering at all?

PAD: She won't be directly involved with GLK&H; instead she's going to be attached to a related business concern. And she won't be lawyering, no. I look at it this way: Dan did such a fantastic job with stories involving Jen as a lawyer that if I try to imitate what he did, it's going to come across as watered down Dan Slott stories. I simply can't do it better than he did. I think it will be better for Jen and for the readers to take her in a substantively different direction...but, again, one that flows naturally and logically from what's gone before. I'm not going to assign her an arbitrary mission or situation in life simply for the purpose of doing something different. Once you read it, you will say, "Oh, okay, that makes sense based upon what's gone before."

That said, I fully expect readers to have at least three...not one, not two, but three "What the hell?!?" moments in my first issue. You will see things happen, not believe you're seeing them, and then once you think you've got a handle on it I'll knock the props right out from under you again. I want people to get to the last page, say "Wait a minute" and go back and reread it immediately.

NRAMA: So – with the three month jump, you’ll be out of scope of World War Hulk as well?

PAD: That’s the idea. I've no idea if it will still be playing out in the Marvel Universe, but since my launch jumps ahead three months, that time gap alone should be enough to distance it. Then we just wait for the rest of the universe to catch up.

NRAMA: Throughout her history, She-Hulk has played on the lighter side of the Marvel Universe, from Byrne's breaking of the fourth wall to Dan's wink-nudge approach to Jen's self-awareness and the fans. Is humor something inherent in the She-Hulk character, or is it an idea that's just stuck?

PAD: I don't think it's necessarily inherent. She wasn't exactly a laugh riot in her earliest incarnation. But it's the way that Byrne approached her, and that view has stuck with her for some time.

NRAMA: Looking at that continuum of humor that Jen's been on - where will you be placing her?

PAD: Let me put it this way: Considering my track record, everyone is assuming that I'm going to play up the humor aspects. Maybe even go back to the Fourth wall breaking stuff that John did. So if everyone is going on that assumption, then naturally my impulse is to go in the opposite direction. Not grim and gritty per se, but not the laugh riot that people are expecting.

NRAMA: In your view, what elements make for a great She-Hulk story? What larger "role" does she fill in the Marvel Universe that no one else does?

PAD: She-Hulk has the potential to be our Wonder Woman. A powerful female with a strong moral center and a determination to do what's right. She's also a unique combination of brains and brawn. The ideal She-Hulk story is one that plays on both aspects of her make-up, the intelligence combined with her strength.

NRAMA: Any favorite She-Hulk stories over the recent years that still stand out for you?

PAD: Anything involving Titania.

NRAMA: Closing things out - any cagey teases as to who readers will see in the series when you get rolling? Locations? Situations?

PAD: Absorbing Man. Minneapolis. Some serious action sequences, and sequences that will ideally have people talking for the next month trying to decide just exactly what happens next.