She-Hulk
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She-Hulk is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine in Marvel Comics. She first appeared in Savage She-Hulk #1 (February 1980).
She-Hulk was created by Stan Lee and John Buscema in Savage She-Hulk #1. Although the first issue had an official cover date of February 1980, it actually was on newsstands before Christmas 1979. (This is shown by the Christmas-themed advertising inside both the first and second issues of the magazine.) Thus, the She-Hulk possibly was the last major, published creation of Stan Lee during his most prolific and critically acclaimed period, the 1960s and '70s.
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Biography
Jennifer Walters, the meek and mousy lawyer cousin of Bruce Banner (The Incredible Hulk), was the daughter of Los Angeles County Sheriff Morris Walters. Agents of Nicholas Trask, a crime boss who had crossed paths with her father, shot and seriously wounded her on a day when Bruce Banner was in town for a visit. Banner gave her a blood transfusion, as no other donors of her blood type were available; the radioactive blood mutated Jennifer as it had her cousin, transforming her into the green-skinned She-Hulk. As the She-Hulk, she possessed powers similar to her cousin, though at a reduced level and with a less monstrous, more amazonian appearance. Jennifer's early adventures were chronicled in the 1980 Marvel Comics series The Savage She-Hulk, and were written by David Anthony Kraft.
Although she was at first savage while in her form as She-Hulk, she eventually gained the same intelligence she had as the normal Jennifer Walters. By the time her character's first anniversary rolled around, and she made a guest appearance in Spidey Super Stories, the She-Hulk was lucid enough to encourage the Rhino to seek a fair trial for an alleged crime he had committed. Jennifer Walters quickly came to appreciate the confidence and assertiveness that had come with being She-Hulk. For a long time, she felt more comfortable in her form as She-Hulk than in her "normal" form as Jennifer. But in recent issues she gradually has grown comfortable in both forms, and realized that she has much to offer the world in both her forms. After a brief solo career, she joined The Avengers and temporarily replaced the Thing in the Fantastic Four.
During her tenure with the Fantastic Four, the She-Hulk had to prevent a radiation leak in a downed S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. This radiation exposure apparently mutated Jennifer to the point that she could not transform back into her original form. But this was an agreeable turn of events for her, since she preferred her She-Hulk form anyway. It was revealed much later that the "genetic block" was in fact purely psychological, shortly before a similar block locked her in non-Hulk form. That block proved to be temporary.
After her Fantastic Four years, the She-Hulk rejoined the Avengers and joined the staff of District Attorney Blake Tower, where she met Louise "Weezi" Mason, formerly the Golden Age superheroine called the Blonde Phantom; during this period, she discovered that Mason had manipulated Towers into hiring She-Hulk so that Mason could again star in a comic book and thus avoid dying of old age. Mason's husband, also a former comic book character, had passed away three years ago, but other, more popular characters from the era, such as Captain America and Namor the Sub-Mariner, were still around and full of youthful vigor.
While doing some legal work for Heroes for Hire, the She-Hulk spent some time dating Luke Cage, the African-American superhero also known as Power Man. The characters were open-minded enough not to let their respective skin colors interfere in their mutual attraction and romantic interest. The characters are dating other people now, however.
She-Hulk has also been a member of the short-lived hero group Fantastic Force, which included a young adult version of Franklin Richards, the son of Fantastic Four members Reed and Susan Richards. The cover art for She-Hulk's first appearance in Fantastic Force parodied the cover art for her first appearance in Fantastic Four as a member of that group.
She-Hulk currently works as a lawyer for the Superhuman Law division of the New York law firm of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway. Note that the law firm is partly named after founding fathers of Marvel Comics: Former publishers Martin Goodman and Stan Lee (whose original last name was Lieber, like that of his brother, early Iron Man writer Larry Lieber), and former artist Jack Kirby (whose original last name was Kurtzberg).
Powers and abilities
In her She-Hulk form, Jennifer possesses vast superhuman strength. When she transforms back and forth, she gains/loses considerable mass (much of it muscle) by an unknown means.
As She-Hulk, she is exponentially stronger than her Jennifer Walters form. This means that any extra strength gained as Jennifer Walters through intense physical training will be amplified, making her She-Hulk form that much stronger. This was shown when she single-handedly lifted the Thing's heaviest training weight (somewhere in the region of 100 tons) and successfully arm wrestled the demigod Hercules. (It should be noted that Hercules still does not have his full "godly" powers since it was removed by his father Zeus of Olympus.) She used this exponential strength and training to her advantage when she fought the Champion of the Universe on an alien world where court cases are decided in boxing arenas.
On first becoming She-Hulk, she had the ability to lift 50 tons. Since then, she has increased her strength-level through training to the point where she can lift 100 tons. The She-Hulk's specific workout routine was described in Marvel Illustrated: Swimsuit Issue #1 (1991). At the time she appeared in that magazine, she used 30-ton weights for warmups, and she could lift a maximum of 75 tons just one, single time during the course of a workout, before fatigue set in. Assuming that She-Hulk's muscle-growth patterns are similar to those of normal humans, she can perform her maximum exertion only a few times per day, at most, without potentially hurting herself, but if she rests a day or two between routine workouts (which include brief periods of maximum exertion), her muscles gradually grow stronger during that rest time. The Marvel Illustrated article subtly implies that this is the case.
Thanks to training by the Ovoid alien race, She-Hulk can exchange her physical characteristics and powers with the physical characteristics and powers of another being by simply focusing on a mental image of the person and willing the transfer to take place. The actual intent of the Ovoid skill is to exchange the minds of the user and another being, but it was theorized by the Ovoid who trained the She-Hulk that some factor of her gamma-mutated physiology causes her use of this talent to manifest in a different way. It should be noted that she rarely uses this power; unless she initiates this exchange with another superhuman being, she will become basically human in ability, but still green-skinned and generally recognizable as the She-Hulk, and thus vulnerable to attack (a fact that the super-villainess Titania took advantage of the one time the She-Hulk did use this ability).
She-Hulk was granted a protective ability of sorts by her Avengers teammate, the Scarlet Witch, when She-Hulk's newest job required her to report to work as Jennifer Walters. The Scarlet Witch cast a spell with the intent that no one who had harmful intent towards the She-Hulk would be able to recognize her as Jennifer Walters, despite the fact that her identity as She-Hulk is public knowledge. However, this spell has manifested itself a bit more extremely, actually rendering Jennifer Walters completely undetectable (invisible, inaudible, etc.) to the senses of anyone who wishes to harm the She-Hulk. This has its advantages, certainly, but this also has the downside that Jennifer is completely unable to communicate with anyone who harbors ill will towards the She-Hulk, even if she has information that might be helpful or even life-saving to the individual. It has yet to be seen whether this "harmful intent" provision applies only to those seeking the She-Hulk--i.e., if someone who intends harm to Jennifer Walters, for reasons completely unconnected to her She-Hulk persona (such as a criminal whom she successfully prosecuted and incarcerated), will be able to recognize her despite the spell.
One of She-Hulk's greatest powers is her capacity for love and kindness to people in need. Ultimately, that power convinced the Time Variance Authority she was worthy to continue her work as a superheroine. That power also has helped keep the Incredible Hulk from becoming meaner than he is already known to be, he has said.
Skills
The She-Hulk is a good hand-to-hand combatant, having been trained by Captain America and Gamora in the past. Even in her smaller Jennifer Walters form, she has enough skill in the martial arts to dispatch such common nuisances as street muggers.
She-Hulk is also an extremely intelligent and highly skilled attorney. It should be noted, in terms of professional accomplishments, that the She-Hulk is one of few superheroines with a doctoral degree. During law school, she was a member of the Order of the Coif, a national merit society for top legal scholars. She has shown great versatility in her legal practice, representing criminal defendants, corporations and even domestic violence victims. Thus, in spite of her party-girl image, She-Hulk is a bona fide intellectual.
That is not to say that She-Hulk is above using her looks and sex appeal to tactical advantage in a fight. She did so against a then-single Hawkeye during a conflict in their early appearances together in Avengers. She-Hulk 100 also notes that she once distracted and destroyed some alien villains by having an accidental wardrobe malfunction, which revealed what official court testimony said were the largest unmentionables of any Marvel Universe heroine.
A major weakness for the She-Hulk is a habit of being late for appointments -- such as on the splash page of Avengers Unplugged #4 (April 1996). Because of habitual lateness, she once missed an opportunity to appear with other Avengers on a segment of the David Letterman talk show.
A second weakness is that the She-Hulk has sometimes let people take advantage of her compassionate nature. In her appearance in Spidey Super Stories #50 (January 1981), Jennifer Walters served as the criminal-defense attorney for the Rhino because she naively believed he was innocent of a crime that he was accused of in the book. Later, after discovering that the Rhino intended to have her commit perjury, she was forced to testify against her own client.
Breaking the fourth wall
One interesting quirk of the She-Hulk is that she apparently has some form of "cross-dimensional" awareness, as Jennifer is capable of breaking through the so-called fourth wall. Some stories have revealed that she knows that she is a comic book character, a situation now virtually unique among mainstream Marvel superheroes. That awareness has allowed her to perform such oddities as tearing through the page and running over a page of advertisements in order to reach the otherwise-inaccessible control center of an enemy. On numerous instances, she even ended up arguing with the author of her comic, John Byrne, or appealed to the comic's editor at the time, Renée Witterstaetter, when Byrne appeared to be out of control.
It's worth noting that this awareness is dependent on circumstances beyond the fictional events in the Marvel Universe, and comes and goes on the whim of writers and editors. As a rule of thumb, it can be assumed that in any story that does not specifically mention or feature said ability, she is not aware of being a comic book character. Other characters write her off as delusional on this point.
Another strange form of penetrating the fourth wall appears in the latest She-Hulk series written by Dan Slott, where she is a lawyer specializing in superhuman law. Here, as has been previously established at various points in the Marvel Universe's past, Marvel Comics actually exist as licensed publications chronicling the real adventures of the world's superheroes. Since they bear the seal of The Comics Code of America - a federal agency - they are considered legal documents, which the characters are able to cite for legal cases. Here, comics readers inhabit the same basic universe as She-Hulk and her law firm, because readers have access to the same comics that she does. In one issue, while doing research for a case against the Roxxon corporation, Jennifer Walters discovers her origin issue, Savage She-Hulk #1. This conceit proved handy when the law office was destroyed and she needed to find information on Infinity Gems, so she visited a comic-book store. Additionally, writer Dan Slott makes a brief cameo appearance in the main story of issue #3, volume 2 (or issue 100 following the original series' numbering), complaining about the continuity.
The same issue features a coda page after its reprint of the first John Byrne issue. In that segment, one of the characters asks Jennifer if she really can talk to the readers. Jennifer Walters coyly replies "No" while looking straight into the camera with a look that makes it clear she probably is aware of readers.
However, she had multiple reasons not to acknowledge her awareness at the time. First, as a lawyer, Jennifer's law license -- and livelihood -- might be at stake if judicial authorities thought she was delusional. Second, she might scare away clients. Third, she was not testifying under oath in a judicial proceeding, and therefore she probably felt it was not worth discussing the matter outside such an official setting, where expert witnesses could vouch for her sanity. She-Hulk obviously is a sane, intelligent lawyer and under no obligation to volunteer potentially self-incriminating information.
It should be noted that many characters are aware of their likenesses being made into comic books, particularly members of public teams like the Fantastic Four and Avengers - both of which have included She-Hulk as they actually sign off on the comics. As another example, Steve Rogers was the writer of the Captain America comic book at one point. Conversely, comics based on "outlaw" characters like Spider-Man and the X-Men do exist, but are not accurate to the characters within the fictional universe, as information about their secret identities and other aspects of their lives are not public knowledge.
Other Marvel characters possessing the knowledge that they are characters in comic books include She-Hulk's friend Louise Mazon, the Blonde Phantom, and Deadpool.
Relationships
Image:Shejugons.JPG Her affectionate nature has made the She-Hulk somewhat hyperaggressive in her romantic pursuit of some men, for example, the Thing. The two met in Marvel Two-in-One (#50, June 1982); the She Hulk helped him save a power plant, and pressured the Thing into spending a weekend with her. She later appears to have engaged in casual sexual trysts with several other characters, including an Avenger, Starfox (Avengers 234, August 1983). However, since those stories were published under the Comics Code, (which specifically forbade illicit sex between characters), and in the She Hulk title all Code-era comics are considered to be legal documents that accurately portray events, it might be assumed that the She-Hulk did nothing sexual with any other characters.
Some readers interpret events differently, such as when She-Hulk flirted with Luke Cage when they were both members of Heroes for Hire and, later on, when she had a very passionate one-night stand with the Juggernaut. However, because there is no official record of specific, explicit sexual activity between She-Hulk and other characters, sex did not necessarily occur. What specifically constitutes the Comics Code definition of "sex" is a matter of debate. (But, for the record, She-Hulk has denied anything unsavory happened with Juggernaut.)
Since Marvel Comics abandoned the Comics Code, the creators can be more forthcoming with She-Hulk's sexuality, although nothing is depicted in explicit detail (the book is rated for teenagers and older). Brian Michael Bendis's Alias (aimed at a mature audience) revealed there that Luke Cage slept with the She-Hulk in the past.
In terms of longer-term relationships, she was briefly engaged to the younger Wyatt Wingfoot, whom she first met 12 days into her tenure with the Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four #269 (August 1984). He initially referred to her as "this large lady," and seemed a bit bemused when they first shook hands, but their relationship soon became a passionate one. She is currently in a relationship with John Jameson, the former Man-Wolf. She shares an apartment with her colleague, Augustus "Pug" Pugliese, who holds an unspoken crush on her.
The Savage She-Hulk series established that the 6-foot, 7-inch, green She-Hulk can be in love with one person at the same time that the 5-foot, 10-inch, white Jennifer Walters is in love with someone else. This may be partly due to hormonal differences and personality differences between the "two" women, despite the fact they share the same basic intellect.
Publication history
At the one-year anniversary of the character, the She-Hulk made a guest appearance in Spidey Super Stories # 50 (January 1981). Spidey Super Stories was a Spider-Man title marketed to children just learning to read. (For people too young to remember, Spidey Super Stories were sponsored by The Electric Company, a PBS show that featured a young Morgan Freeman and the first, ongoing live-action Spider-Man stories.) She-Hulk later met Spider-Man again in a Marvel Team-Up #107 (July 1981) in a story that seems to fit between issues #16 and 17 of the Savage She-Hulk series (published in May and June of 1981). That chronology is suggested by the behavior of Jennifer Walters' nemesis Assistant District Attorney Buck Bukowski, in spite of the fact the Savage She-Hulk issues in question were published right before the Marvel Team-Up issue.
The Savage She-Hulk series lasted until 1982 where it ended with #25 (March 1982). A few months later, the She-Hulk appeared in Marvel Two-in-One #88 (June 1982), in which she tried to seduce the Thing and helped him stop a supervillain who attacked a power plant. She also appeared in a three-issue limited series, Marvel Super Heroes Contest of Champions (June to August 1982), in which numerous superheroes were kidnapped from Earth to fight in space. That miniseries was sort of a low-rent predecessor of the more expansive, 12-issue Secret Wars miniseries a few years later. She-Hulk's main participation in Contest of Champions was a fight in issue #2 (July 1982).
Shortly after her post Savage She-Hulk guest appearances, the She-Hulk became a member of the Avengers, in Avengers #221 (July 1982). Although Contest of Champions continued until August of that year, it was obvious that She-Hulk was not yet an Avenger during that miniseries' storyline. However, her Avengers membership may have been partly due to prior members of the team getting to observe her battle performance during the Contest of Champions.
She-Hulk joined the Avengers at the same time that Hawkeye rejoined, after he previously had been kicked out. She also made occasional guest appearances in The Incredible Hulk, such as Incredible Hulk #282 (April 1983). Then, at the conclusion of the first Secret Wars miniseries, she joined the Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four #265 (April 1984). Avengers #243 (May 1984) also records the She-Hulk's return to Earth as a member of the Fantastic Four at the conclusion of the Secret Wars.
During She-Hulk's tenure with the Fantastic Four, she appeared in Marvel Graphic Novel #18 in November 1985.
She regained a solo series in 1989, The Sensational She-Hulk. In 1990 she appeared in the two-issue She-Hulk: Ceremony. The Sensational She-Hulk lasted until issue #60 in February 1994, making it the longest-running She-Hulk series so far. Fortunately, the She-Hulk retained her membership with the Avengers throughout the run of Sensational She-Hulk, and she continued to appear in The Incredible Hulk from time to time.
After the cancellation of her second solo series, the She-Hulk continued making backup and one-shot appearances -- such as in Marvel Fanfare (December 1989) and Avengers Unplugged #4 (April 1996) -- and made appearances in The Incredible Hulk (including December 1993) and The Avengers, plus a guest-starring role in the late 90s miniseries Doc Samson. Her next major appearance was in May 2002, a one-shot called Thing and She-Hulk: The Long Night.
She regained her own book, She-Hulk, two years later. Despite favorable critical notices, and publicity from a cover article in Wizard magazine, the new series reportedly was not a commercial success. Marvel cancelled the book with issue #12 in April 2005.
But the Jade Giantess wouldn't give up. Marvel Comics announced plans to relaunch her solo title in October 2005 with a new #1 issue. It retained writer Dan Slott and the legal setting. The new series' third issue was billed as the 100th issue of a She-Hulk comic book, and it had story art by numerous artists who sported their own interpretations of the character's looks. Conspicuously absent from those artists was John Byrne, whose She-Hulk stories for The Fantastic Four, a She-Hulk graphic novel and Sensational She-Hulk helped popularize the character during the 1980s and '90s.
The issue also included complete reprints of the first issues of the Savage and Sensational series, and even incorporated them into the story, breaking the fourth wall as was commonplace during Byrne's Sensational run.
Judging from the vast number of bootleg Web sites with fan art and fiction featuring She-Hulk, it would appear that she remains quite popular.
Personality and costumes
Throughout the years, the She-Hulk has had numerous different appearances and costumes, arguably more than any other superhero in modern history. One reason for her various outfits is because of her affiliations with different supergroups. The She-Hulk's personality has gone through significant changes as well; from aggressive and short-tempered, to free-spirited and vivacious. Because of her various outfits worn over the years, no one costume can be considered iconic (compared to, for example, Superman's blue and red 'tights', or Spider-Man's red and blue costume and mask).
In her first appearance, the She-Hulk was a massive, towering amazon, with wild, untamed, nearly waist-length hair. She wore a ragged white dress (the dress ripping and tearing as Walters turns into her giant alter-ego), and always went barefoot. Her personality was quick-tempered, uninhibited, and at times fierce and ferocious (especially when provoked). This look epitomized her 'savage' nature (at that time).
After her 'Savage era', the She-Hulk joined the Avengers and began dressing in a one-piece aerobics suit, with leg warmers and sneakers. This incredibly uninspired look probably had more to do with comic book writers being unable to decide on a definitive look for the character. Another equally uninspiring costume during the Avengers era was a purple, one-piece bathing suit type outfit, with a white belt and black boots.
Still later, the She-Hulk became a full fledged member of the Fantastic Four, donning the iconic blue and white costume the group is so well known for. After leaving the Fantastic Four, she rejoined the Avengers, donning a white one-piece costume with the Avengers insignia emblazoned in blue.
Currently, the She-Hulk wears a purple and blue one-piece outfit similar to a jumpsuit, with military style boots. Her hair is usually long and straight, as opposed to the long, thick, curly tresses she had in the past.
Appearances in other media
She-Hulk first appeared in television in the 1982 animated The Incredible Hulk series broadcast on NBC, where she was voiced by Victoria Carroll. This occured in the eleventh episode entitled, "Enter: She-Hulk." This episode briefly dealt with She-Hulk's origin (an emergency blood transfusion), while had Bruce Banner seeking She-Hulk's help in retaining his mind when he transforms into the Hulk.
Image:LiveSheHulk.jpg She-Hulk appeared in 1996 The Incredible Hulk animated series. She was voiced by Lisa Zane in season one and Cree Summer in season two. The series followed the comic book origins closely, having Jennifer Walters be Bruce Banner's cousin who receives a blood transfusion in a life and death situation. This caused her to become She-Hulk who pretty much becomes the Hulk's constant companion. She only appeared in two episodes in season one, but practically pushed Hulk aside for center stage in season two, going from a fun and interesting character to an over the top yet comical femme fatale in season two.
A live action motion picture was planned in the late 1980s. Marvel Comics had been interested in producing the film for several years due to the prior success of the Hulk television series. At the time Marvel Comics did not yet have the self-sustaining finances they have today to generate big budget films for their characters. Thus, they often sought out outside financial backers for various projects. The now bankrupt New World Pictures was one of the main studios used. Knowing that female characters were a harder sell on the big screen, Marvel Comics hired statuesque actress Brigitte Nielsen to pose for photos dressed in She-Hulk garb in order to give potential investors a visual idea of what can be done with the character. Brigitte had previously filmed a movie for Marvel Comics in 1985 (Red Sonja) and they felt she was the best candidate for the role. Not finding success with U.S. investors, Marvel took the photos to pitch the idea overseas to find little interest there as well. Alas the only real interest found were in comic book readers who discovered the photos printed in various magazines at the time.
The British comedy The Benny Hill Show once featured a character similar to She-Hulk in a brief sketch. A young woman sexually harassed at a bus stop gets angrier and angrier until she transforms into a savage creature that exacts revenge on her harassers.
Actress Jenny McCarthy provided a similar skit for her cancelled television series The Jenny McCarthy Show, in which she increasingly becomes angry in a restaurant until she becomes a blonde She-Hulk.
Ultimate She-Hulk
She-Hulk has yet to make an appearance in the Ultimate Marvel Universe although it is rumored that her ultimate incarnation will be introduced during or after the events occuring in Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk. The first issue of Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk features a scientist named Jennifer Walters, and in an earlier issue of The Ultimates 2 Bruce Banner's self-written eulogy at his funeral makes mention of a female cousin who is likely the same Jennifer Walters.
Bibliography
List of titles
- The Savage She-Hulk #1-25 (February, 1980 — February 1982)
- Spidey Super Stories #50 (January 1981)
- Marvel Two-in-One #88 (June 1982)
- Marvel Graphic Novel #18 (November, 1985)
- Avengers 221 and numerous issues afterward, until Avengers Disassembled (July 1982 - 2004)
- The Sensational She-Hulk #1-60 (May, 1989 — February, 1994)
- Marvel Fanfare (December 1989)
- She-Hulk: Ceremony #1-2 (1990)
- Thing and She-Hulk: The Long Night oneshot (May, 2002)
- She-Hulk #1-12 (May, 2004 — April, 2005)
- She-Hulk, volume 2, #1 - (fourth solo title, with the third issue dual numbered as #100 to signify the 100th issue of a She-Hulk comic book, October 2005 - )
Collected editions
- The Sensational She-Hulk (ISBN 0871358921)
- Avengers: The Search for She-Hulk (ISBN 0785112022)
- She-Hulk v1: Single Green Female trade paperback (ISBN 0785114432)
- 2005; reprints She-Hulk (2004 series) #1-6
- She-Hulk v2: Superhuman Law trade paperback (ISBN 0785115706)
- 2005; reprints She-Hulk (2004 series) #7-12