One of the best depictions of PTSD in a narrative I have seen. 'She-Hulk, Volume 1: Deconstructed' is a superhero comic book with a deep psychological edge packed with relevant social commentary. There isn't much "HULK SMASH!" here - the Hulk herself doesn't actually appear until the last issue - but the hard life lived through by Jennifer Walters is felt by the reader in every page.
Lawyer Jen Walters used to also be known as She-Hulk - aka Shulkie, the big green, smart, wise-cracking, confident, and relatively calm Distaff Counterpart to the Incredible Hulk. She has grown in popularity and respect over the decades, standing out as her own character. But after the events of Civil War II, where Bruce Banner died and Jen barely survived a critical condition and coma, she is not the same person anymore, nor the same Hulk. After nearly dying, she can no longer see the world the same way again. Just leaving her apartment is an effort for her, yet she forces herself back to work, taking in metahuman clients as she used to, trying desperately to pretend that nothing has changed, that she is herself again, with or without her Hulk form.
Jen's particular PTSD, culminating in anxiety and panic attacks, is dangerous to herself and others, for a trigger can set off her Hulk powers and lash out at the world. She listens to cooking programmes on TV and the radio as a coping mechanism, to keep these attacks under control as best she can.
Even though the comic volume's title is 'She-Hulk' (I'd heard it was originally 'Hulk' but was changed for the trade because... familiar brand name? The stupid, sexist comic book industry? Urgh!), Jennifer is referred to as just Hulk in it, which is progress in representation of female superheroes, and in context it makes sense seeing as (=ahem= currently =ahem=) she is the one Hulk left alive in the Marvel Universe. She is grey when she transforms, not green; also unlike before she doesn't completely retain her wits as a Hulk. A callback, or a symbol of what a certain mental illness could look like on the outside when it is not pushed down deeply into the psyche by a stigmatizing society, and has finally been let out?
Either way, 'She-Hulk, Volume 1: Deconstructed' is a damn interesting study. Quiet, with an underlining rage hidden within. Jen is never a rampaging monster; even when going through so much fear and rage, her moral code, her sense of right and wrong, remains unchanged about her.
I admit I've only read a few comics starring She-Hulk (it's here where I first found out she is Bruce Banner's cousin), and she's never been very interesting to me. Her lawyer job, as neat a twist as it is to see a hero like her approach a different way of seeking justice, takes up far too much of her stories and leaves her superheroing as an afterthought, in my opinion. Her supposed sassy persona - written in contrast to Bruce and his alter ego - doesn't really fit with her boring work, which is as mind-numbingly stressful for me to read about as it must be for her to live it.
'Deconstructed', as written by a woman, Mariko Tamaki, changed that, and I truly believed Jennifer Walters to be a real person - as real as a Hulk can be. Even though there is little action in the volume, and little of the gigantic Hulk in it, the slow pacing manages to work in this case because we focus on Jen as a character and how she copes with being "normal" on a day-to-day basis. Her job isn't tedious to read about, and we see more of her life outside of the office. Fresh air, plus a look into her spiraling, tumultuous thoughts and her false optimism projected by herself and others ("Everything will be alright", repeated ad nauseum), any person in her similar situation and position - coming back to life after a trauma - can relate. There are no courtroom scenes (thank Loki), and Jen's struggling to keep her anxiety and PTSD under control - which trigger her Hulk genetics- as her worst memories and fears steadily come back to haunt her, are fascinating to see.
It's a revolutionary testament to how great a portrayal of both a woman and a superhero can and should be in this day and age. A "PC-war" age where great steps are being taken for getting people to view tragically common types of mental illness as being just as serious as any other, more visible illnesses, without stigma or shame.
Hulk's condition, and the new way she sees the cruel, merciless world, reflects that of one of her clients, Maise Brewn, a once happy, healthy woman who became an anxious shut-in, stuck in her metahuman state, after she was attacked and left for dead by a man she had trusted as her aerobics partner. As well as the groundbreaking PTSD and anxiety rep, 'Deconstructed' subtly examines the patriarchy and the many, many ways it breaks and kills women, and takes away their humanity.
Another character who helps Jen along the path to an out-of-reach recovery is her new assistant Bradley, a gay man who is never really seen outside of his job, but he mentions having a boyfriend and he isn't a stereotype who exists sorely to help out the straight main character (I like to call that lazy archetype in stories the "manic pixie gay best friend"), so that's something. Jen's best friend Hellcat makes a cameo on a rooftop to talk to the lawyer, in one of the best drawn introductions of her I've ever seen. We get flashbacks of Bruce, and Captain Marvel visiting her friend in the hospital (thank goodness Carol seems apologetic and back to her old, thoughtful, friendly self after the second Civil War). Every interaction feels natural in 'Deconstructed'.
It is, indeed, one of the smartest, most sensitive, empathetic, tragic, delicate yet heart-pounding and grandly cathartic Marvel comics I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Sadly, there is hardly any POC representation, and the one gay character, whilst barely escaping a token status, could have been fleshed out more. I also don't think anything can make me forgive Marvel for cancelling too many of their titles starring minority heroes, such as Mockingbird, and a Black Panther run (just as he is finally going to star in his own movie, too! Idiots), as well as other terrible decisions made for shock value alone ("Hail Hydra", anyone?).
Well, 'She-Hulk, Volume 1: Deconstructed' proves that something good can come out of a major Marvel crossover event. Something original, something better, if Marvel cared enough to try. It made me like Jennifer Walters very much, and I am interested in this new twist, this new direction, on the Hulk.
Psychology, emotion, and seemingly mindless action and destruction - what a big green/grey monster concept can explore in depth, in an adult storyline, as a metaphor for humanity. This comic mixes in these elements and themes together almost flawlessly, subtly, with respect to the readers' intelligence. Without a doubt, it is one of Marvel's best in years.
Final Score: 4/5
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