She-Hulk vol3 #3

She-Hulk vol3 #3 (2014)
by Charles Soule & Javier Pulido
cover by Kevin Wada

I think this is the lesser known She-Hulk series. I can see why: it lasted only 12 issues, it has a VERY unique art style, and it leans more on legal drama than on comedy or on action.
It has some rough patches, but I think it’s worth checking out.

The previous issue ended with Kristoff showing up at She-Hulk’s new office to ask for political asylum.

The fourth wall breaks are mostly confined to the recap page.
There isn’t much you must know to follow the story, other than Hellcat is basically the co-protagonist. I’m not sure if this is the series that introduced their friendship, but it stuck: She-Hulk and Hellcat are almost inseparable after this series.

Despite my praise, though, when it comes to Doom stuff this two-parter is all over the place.
First of all, last time we saw Kristoff he was as loyal to Doom as always… to the point it wasn’t entirely clear if he was still technically the King of Latveria.

Second, good luck figuring out how old Kristoff is supposed to be! Which was already a problem for his appearances in Hickman’s Fantastic Four run, but he was in full armor there so it wasn’t clear how old he was.
He was roughly the same age of Cassie Lang during the DeFalco run, and she was explicitly 16 years old when she died. So Kristoff should be AT MOST around 18 by now.
Except this series writes him as older.

And more importantly, he acts as a jackass WAY more than he ever has.
Even DOOM would tell him to town it down!!!

Also you might spot She-Hulk’s current paralegal Angie and her pet monkey in some of these scenes. The mystery surrounding what she is what ties together a large part of the series so I won’t spoil it, but she’s far from being just a quirky supporting character.

As mentioned this series leans more on the legal stuff than She-Hulk typically does, so she immediately gets down to business.

A neat easter egg: the conversation is taking place at the Coffee Bean… which was the Spider-Man supporting cast used to hang out in the 60s!
Technically speaking it first showed up in 1967, but the “since 1962” is a reference to Spider-Man’s debut. They’ve gone a long way since then, because it most definitely did NOT look this fancy.

I feel like Charles Soule did not read a single story featuring Kristoff before writing this one, because he seems to completely misrepresent the character.
By the way Kristoff describes himself, he makes it sound like he was part of the aristocracy since he was born… when he was actually just a random kid that Doom adopted after his mother died.

That being said, this interpretation is not without merit.
The observation that Doctor Doom is obsessed with warping everything around him into a reflection of himself is spot-on, as is his difficulty to see other perspectives.

And having Kristoff wanting to get out of Doom’s shadow to become his own person is the right direction for the character… although I found his journey during the DeFalco run to be VASTLY superior to this.
And I don’t even like most of the DeFalco run!!!

This is also the first time where we actually SEE the Latverian
currency!!!I’m fairly certain that the name “Latverian francs” originated in an handbook, but it’s been namedropped once or twice in the comics since.
Still, very interesting to see the actual notes!

To nobody’s surprise, Latveria didn’t join the Eurozone (although Latvia did, in the same year this comic was published!).
The 500 Latverian Franc note does resemble the 500 Euro note (which has been discontinued since 2019).

Although the Latverian Franc note is definitely smaller… those things were HUGE.

Back to the office, we find a detail that kind of breaks any attempt to fit this issue with the other Kristoff appearances.
There is NO WAY WHATSOEVER Kristoff has been in the United States for a straight year at this point!!!

She-Hulk is going to have to rush through this thing if she wants to get paid.

I’m not feeling this as Kristoff. AT ALL.

I’m assuming Kristoff has lost the super-intelligence he gained with Doom’s memories, because otherwise he couldn’t possibly be SO FREAKING DUMB he didn’t expect this.

Yes I’m calling it now: Charles Soule had NO IDEA of who Kristoff was, because this doesn’t track ANY OF HIS HISTORY.

As a reminder, the first time we saw Kristoff in Fantastic Four #247 he was DEFINITELY too old for a wet nurse!!!

Of course the driver is no match for She-Hulk.

The tension is coming from the time-sensitive legal stuff.

The story has been a huge disappointment so far, but THIS panel made me laugh out loud.

But She-Hulk knows there’s a backup Fantasticar© in a nearby hangar, so… oh for the love of Doom, Kristoff, YOU KNOW WHAT A FANTASTICAR IS!!!
YOU LIVED AT FOUR FREEDOMS PLAZA FOR MONTHS!!!

There’s a slight problem waiting for them at the tribunal.

Which is what She-Hulk expected, so she had Hellcat take Kristoff’s place.

Their friendship is the highlight of the series. Sometimes… like in this issue… it’s the only thing that’s actually working.

Kristoff was actually already inside the court the whole time.

Despite the shenanigans, I think She-Hulk makes a surprisingly compelling argument here.

And it works! Case closed!

Or not.

And we end the issue with Kristoff just… giving up???

But that’s just the first part. We’ll see in the next issue if she’s able to bring Kristoff back.

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Doom significance: 0/10
Completely ignored by future Kristoff appearances.

Silver Age-ness: 7/10
Doom creating robots to act as nurses for his son would be quite Silver Age IF THAT EVER HAPPENED.

 Does it stand the test of time? 4/10
I have a soft spot for some parts of this series and as a whole it’s still worth checking out… although the Pulido artwork is an acquired taste that doesn’t always work. And which isn’t particularly suited for my style of review, since there are some complex layouts here and there.

But these two Doom issues are rough.
There’s some interesting stuff about Kristoff wanting independence and on the legal side of what should be considered oppression… but it’s a small part of the screen time, which is often dedicated to tangents that don’t go anywhere or that are irreconcilable with the Kristoff we know.

A better She-Hulk series would balance things out with characterization or humor, but instead whenever the legal stuff is out of focus…

It was a Doombot all along
There’s absolutely no way Doom bothers to do this in person. Heck I’m not even convinced “Kristoff” isn’t a robot!

 Crazy tech
Nothing stands out.

Number of superheroes who have fought Dr. Doom: 132
Adding Hellcat, since she fights the Doombots.