Whatever you might think of the prospect of reading She-Hulk, know that it is, first and foremost, a story about a lawyer.

Marvel NOW!’s She-Hulk, written by the lawyer Charles Soule, takes as the central question not “What is it like to have She-Hulk work as a lawyer?” but rather “How is Jennifer Walters getting on in her law career?”

As it turns out, not great. Issue #1 starts with Walters heading in for her annual review in her current job. She works at a large firm but is let go after her personal contacts (The Avengers, et al.) failed to bring new clients or business to the partners. It’s possible that in different hands, a firing like this would establish a She-Hulk adventure, one that seeks to place Walters squarely in a superhero story. She was a lawyer, abused by scheming New York law firm, and leaves behind her career for SMASH!

But this is the story of a lawyer. So Walters instead drinks, and looks for work. A great first issue has a round arc, and Soule understands that action and conclusion make for the better introduction to a new title than a wandering intro story with no exit. And so the plot of #1 sees Walters takes up pro-bono work-a copyright case against Tony Stark-that ends in a large settlement paid to Walters’ client. Walters gets an unexpected and large check for her troubles (Stark payouts likely end in many zeroes), and she opens her own practice in the Dumbo neighborhood of Brooklyn.

That’s pretty much it. It’s not a brilliant first issue but it’s a fun one. There’s some requisite action but not much. And in a story like the one Soule builds, not much is necessary. She-Hulk #1 is simple and in this case that simplicity is a service to the reader. The legal work provides humor, but not in the manner one might expect-be it fish out of water (caveman lawyer this is not) or superhero life interferes with professional demands. Rather, Soule’s jokes are based chiefly in the mundane life that comes with working the law. Like Tony Stark’s network of protective webbing that keeps Walters from reaching a fellow Avenger when she comes on business. Or those same lawyers piling one objection after another on Walters.

As a reader, it’s not hard to see the joy Soule takes in such humor, as an army of lawyers does battle against a single opponent.

I imagine there are a few readers who will be turned off by Javier Pulido’s artwork in She-Hulk. Pulido provides a cartoony style that allows him a fluid motion between Walters’ lives. The flat images and simple color tones took a few pages to accommodate, but I find it hard, after two issues, to think of She-Hulk working with any other look. The cartoonish nature of our green lawyer requires matching artwork to provide a natural transition between She-Hulk and Thor pounding a few rounds and Stark Industries’ motley haired legal team (not since Mr. Burns has such an impressively obstructionist team of lawyers been put to work) piling procedural objections on Jennifer Walters’ case.

Perhaps more importantly, however, is the manner in which Pulido’s artwork-especially the many close-ups he provides of Walters-shows the mental shifts that Jennifer Walters the Lawyer and She-Hulk the hero undergo. A shift seen in the second issue, as the lines between struggling lawyer and friend and hero get blurred by drinking.

When #2 picks up, Jennifer Walters has relocated to Brooklyn, opened her new practice, and waits on work.

The move to Brooklyn reasserts Jennifer Walters as the center of her book, and it’s a great move by Soule in positioning the story. It’s not surprising that in the first pages of #1 we see She-Hulk and Thor slamming beers together, and later Jennifer Walters and Tony Stark engaged in a lawsuit. Like Thor, Jennifer Walters has always been just left of center-stage in the Marvel Universe.

It’s the nature of a character like Jennifer Walters, and Soule is wise to own it: Jennifer is center of her own story, somewhere in Brooklyn. The crux of #2 is the expansion of the life of Jennifer Walters, and it, like #1 is largely the story of a lawyer looking for work.

#2 also introduces the cast of characters that surround Walters. A landlord, Sharon King, once a student of Xavier’s who lost her powers after M-day, now provides rental space to New Yorkers with powers. Angie, an eerie new assistant with a pet monkey, hired to help Walters maintain her office and practice. Angie’s hire seems more an act of optimism than necessity. And, in this issue, a desperately down on her luck Patsy Walker who, after too many drinks, gets herself and She-Hulk into a scrape with some low-level evil looking to raise their profiles.

She-Hulk‘s first two issues are efficient and fun and the picture of entertaining. Both have an air of lightness that lets readers know exactly what you’re in for. This is a good vs. evil title, and the outlook of She-Hulk is a generally positive one. Walters is good, her intent pure and her desire to help people a motivation unlikely to be swayed. And that fits somehow perfectly into Pulido’s vision for Jennifer Walters. Pulido’s penciling takes the page over in a way that reminded me more of the early 1990s television cartoons than comic books past.

She-Hulk has already seen numerous comparisons to Matt Fraction’s celebrated Hawkeye (Pulido is the artist on both titles). It’s clear the impulse behind these stories comes from a similar place, and Pulido’s style serves both well. Though Soule has work yet to do before he achieves what Fraction has with that title (we’ve only seen 2, so there’s plenty of time), it’s not surprising to see the Hawkeye comparison so early. Soule has taken the title and created a distinctly non-superhero story for readers to embark on. This becomes more common as the Marvel NOW! series takes shape, and it’s only making that world a more enticing one to inhabit.

Also, I have to note: Kevin Wada’s covers are incredible. My favorite cover work in a long while, Wada’s #1 sold me on She-Hulk before any other factor.

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