gorthon616
04-11-2008, 04:20 PM
A little backdrop as to why I'm bringing this topic up (as it not because of the She-Hulk MAX thread, that was just incidental), I consider myself to be an amateur writer, not a fan fiction writer, though largely because I haven't really written anything that extensive and when I do it usually isn't with regard to any story/character I'm a fan on. In any case, usually when I write I tend to have the protagonist as being the male. And largely it always ends up that it's some metaphorical extension of me as a whole or in part. To a certain extent the introspective or cathartic approach however tends to be a bit much, so I've actually started being more interested in writing stories with female leads. The detachments and wholly different point of view lends a much more interesting exercise in writing than would a male lead.
In any case, I've had an on-off affair with mainstream hero comics which is currently on, and I was thinking about which female character would I find most interesting. Being that we are in the mainstream hero comic area, the approach would be what would be the "post-adolescent female" fantasy character, the Spider-Woman to Spider-Man so to speak.
And ultimately I thought... She-Hulk. Of course, the modern version of She-Hulk would not directly be translatable to this manner. Not do to "mature" story lines, but also because Jennifer Walters IS She-Hulk. One of the primary conflicts which I could see as being integral to the She-Hulk character would be whether or not she is "compromising" herself by being the She-Hulk rather than Jennifer. My take on She-Hulk would require her to question the personal relevance of her decision to be She-Hulk or Jennifer Walters. For example, Jennifer (as I understand it) is/was a mousy rather plain-ish looking girl... short with (relative to the majority of women in the Marvel Universe) small breasts. Does her decision to transform into She-Hulk mean that she is relegating her prior state as inferior? Or is the transformation to She-Hulk an enabler towards reaching something internally true?
As I've taken recent decisions to try to get into better shape personally, the question has arisen to myself. Is an act of self-improvement an act self-realization or an act of self-denial? Can it have a dual nature? Is the difference merely perceptual or is there a substantive character to it?
See, Spider-Man is the wish fulfillment because he's the guy who always wanted to do the right thing, suddenly getting the chance to be a real hero. Of course, that is tempered by the internal struggle within the character so he's also legitimizing and elevating it by saying it's not something adolescent, but it's something that a man could be and aspire to rather than a boy.
She-Hulk is the same thing but in reverse. She-Hulk was already a hero. (Obviously, I'd be playing her as the lawyer in the white hat as opposed to the lawyers in the black and gray hats.) For her the wish fulfillment is being the carefree, sexy, and out-going She-Hulk. And just as the conflict for Peter is that at heart Peter is not really a hero (though he really is a hero, but I hope you understand my meaning) so his decision to be a hero is one that is difficult, for Jennifer it is that she is not really the She-Hulk. Sort of the good girl, who kind of wants to be a bad girl, but without actually having to be "bad."
In any case, I think the character would be a great female character for women, though as for reasons stated it wouldn't really work well in the 616 universe (though I do have ideas). And as my tastes have gotten tired of the same old Vertigo-style story, I've come to be a fan of the Marvel Adventures line and also a fan of what it could be.
So, in the vein of the MAX She-Hulk thread, any thoughts?
In any case, I've had an on-off affair with mainstream hero comics which is currently on, and I was thinking about which female character would I find most interesting. Being that we are in the mainstream hero comic area, the approach would be what would be the "post-adolescent female" fantasy character, the Spider-Woman to Spider-Man so to speak.
And ultimately I thought... She-Hulk. Of course, the modern version of She-Hulk would not directly be translatable to this manner. Not do to "mature" story lines, but also because Jennifer Walters IS She-Hulk. One of the primary conflicts which I could see as being integral to the She-Hulk character would be whether or not she is "compromising" herself by being the She-Hulk rather than Jennifer. My take on She-Hulk would require her to question the personal relevance of her decision to be She-Hulk or Jennifer Walters. For example, Jennifer (as I understand it) is/was a mousy rather plain-ish looking girl... short with (relative to the majority of women in the Marvel Universe) small breasts. Does her decision to transform into She-Hulk mean that she is relegating her prior state as inferior? Or is the transformation to She-Hulk an enabler towards reaching something internally true?
As I've taken recent decisions to try to get into better shape personally, the question has arisen to myself. Is an act of self-improvement an act self-realization or an act of self-denial? Can it have a dual nature? Is the difference merely perceptual or is there a substantive character to it?
See, Spider-Man is the wish fulfillment because he's the guy who always wanted to do the right thing, suddenly getting the chance to be a real hero. Of course, that is tempered by the internal struggle within the character so he's also legitimizing and elevating it by saying it's not something adolescent, but it's something that a man could be and aspire to rather than a boy.
She-Hulk is the same thing but in reverse. She-Hulk was already a hero. (Obviously, I'd be playing her as the lawyer in the white hat as opposed to the lawyers in the black and gray hats.) For her the wish fulfillment is being the carefree, sexy, and out-going She-Hulk. And just as the conflict for Peter is that at heart Peter is not really a hero (though he really is a hero, but I hope you understand my meaning) so his decision to be a hero is one that is difficult, for Jennifer it is that she is not really the She-Hulk. Sort of the good girl, who kind of wants to be a bad girl, but without actually having to be "bad."
In any case, I think the character would be a great female character for women, though as for reasons stated it wouldn't really work well in the 616 universe (though I do have ideas). And as my tastes have gotten tired of the same old Vertigo-style story, I've come to be a fan of the Marvel Adventures line and also a fan of what it could be.
So, in the vein of the MAX She-Hulk thread, any thoughts?