I never wanted this to happen, but now you have to learn the other part of being a Hulk. The part where the people you fight to protect sometimes fear and hate you. And it's the hardest part because sometimes to protect what you love, you have to walk away from it. 
- —She-Hulk[src]
History
Jennifer Walters as Lawyer
Jennifer Walters, the meek and mousy lawyer cousin of Bruce Banner, was the daughter of 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 her cousin was in town. Bruce 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 She-Hulk.
Although Jennifer was at first savage while in her form as She-Hulk, she eventually gained the same intelligence she had as the normal Jennifer Walters. She 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 she has gradually 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.
On 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 the Fantastic Four , 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 super heroine 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.
She-Hulk was a member of the short lived hero group the Fantastic Force. Later, while doing some legal work for Heroes for Hire, she also went on a few adventures with them and spent some time dating Luke Cage.
Eventually, Jen returned to the Avengers and remained with the team for some time. On one adventure, the She-Hulk was exposed to fellow Avenger Jack of Hearts radiation powers causing Jen to lose control of the savage side of her personality. She injured several Avengers and went berserk in Bone, Idaho, virtually destroying the whole town. With Jen's fear and rage at an all-time high the assembled Avengers couldn't stop her.
Only the Hulk himself was able to slow her down until Jack of Hearts was able to use his powers to balance her Gamma levels and she regained control over her savage side. Jen's normal personality was restored for a time but her worst fear came true when Scarlet Witch went temporarily insane and used her magic to cause Jen to lose control again. This time, she nearly killed Captain America and tore the Vision in half with her bare hands.
Although she had been manipulated, She-Hulk was devastated at her part in the Vision's death and the destruction of the town of Bone, Idaho. Ashamed, She-Hulk quit the Avengers to resume her law career and spend more time as plain Jennifer Walters.
Civil War
Jennifer worked as a lawyer for the Superhuman Law division of the New York law firm of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg, & Holliway. Able to change forms at will again, Jennifer rediscovered she sometimes had wildly different views and opinions in each form, where as the She-Hulk she came out publicly in favor of the Superhuman Registration Act, yet as Jennifer Walters she understood the views of those against the Act.
She-Hulk discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. knew of her cousin's whereabouts after sending him of into space. Anticipating a problem, Tony Stark secretly had her injected with S.P.I.N. Tech that transformed her to human form. During World War Hulk, Amadeus Cho temporarily restored her powers and she defeated Doc Samson in battle. Later Tony Stark temporarily restored her powers so she could help evacuate New York City. She tried to convince the Hulk to stop his attack, but she was defeated and held captive with the other heroes at Madison Square Garden, which the Hulk had converted into a gladiatorial arena. Jennifer Walters regained her powers after visiting an alternate universe.
Red Hulk Saga
Jennifer tasked Ben Urich to discover the identity of the Red Hulk. While She-Hulk went M.I.A. following a battle between the Hulk and the Red Hulk, a Red She-Hulk appeared claiming Jennifer Walters was dead. It was later shown in a flashback that Red She-Hulk prevented Jennifer Walters from escaping from AIM custody. During this battle, Red She-Hulk brutally beat Jennifer and snapped her neck with a cable. In the last panel Jennifer Walters appeared to be dead with the Red She-Hulk standing over her body. Though the Red She-Hulk claims she didn't know her own strength then questions Doc Samson whether it was the real She-Hulk or a Life-Model Decoy to which Samson answers "You're here to Follow orders, not to ask questions". Lyra later infiltrates the Intelligencia, where she finds Jennifer in stasis.
She-Hulks
After the defeat of the Intelligencia, Jennifer takes Lyra to live with her in New York. One day, during a charity event, she spotted the newly-rebuilt Vision and promptly sought to make amends with him due to her being driven to her primal Hulk state and tearing him in half when Scarlet Witch lost her grip on her sanity and the control of her powers. They have a brief conversation, when she expresses her regret for what happened, and Vision forgives her. She then tells him not to get mad at Wanda before leaving.
Avengers vs X-Men
Jennifer sides with the Avengers in the conflict against the X-Men and was sent to keep an eye on the Jean Grey School together with Moon Knight and Falcon after some of the schools teachers decided to join Cyclops. A fight soon breaks out however as Frenzy goads Moon Knight into a fight. Jennifer seriously injures some kids who tried to attack her, not realizing they were just kids which leads to the rest of the schools faculty attacking them as well.
Future Foundation
When the original Fantastic Four planned a trip through time and space, they decided to call four replacements just in case something would happen. The Thing's replacement was Jen, and the four original members indeed got lost in their adventure.Attributes
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Powers
Jennifer Walters turning into She-Hulk
Physical Transformation: As a result of a blood transfusion from her cousin Bruce Banner, AKA the Hulk, Jennifer Walters is able to alter her physical form into a female version of the Hulk. As She-Hulk, Walters' skin, hair, and eyes all turn green. Her frame also gains another 9 inches in height and 560 lbs of muscle and bone tissue. Unlike her cousin, the Hulk, much of Jennifer's gained muscle and bone mass is condensed and several times as dense as that of a human. As a result, though she is noticeably much larger than she is in her normal form, she looks much lighter than she actually is. Also unlike the Hulk, or rather certain Hulk incarnations, Jennifer retains her full intelligence and personality in her She-Hulk form. Most of the time, Walters is able to control her transformation, enabling her to change back and forth at will. Thus, her specialized adrenal gland is not as advanced as that of the Hulk. And while it can augment her abilities, she can still remain more in control than the Hulk.
Superhuman Strength: As She-Hulk, she is proportionally stronger than her Jennifer Walters form. This means that any extra strength gains as Jennifer Walters through intense physical training will be amplified, making her She-Hulk form that much stronger. As a result of her intense training, She-Hulk's calm strength currently surpasses the base strength levels of the Gray, Savage, and Professor incarnations of the Hulk, at least while they're in a calm emotional state. Originally She-Hulk was listed as only "class 50" (this is only a comparison scale regarding which character is stronger than who, and should not be taken literally. For example: Thor was listed as "class 95" at the time, and Hercules at exactly 100). [1], right after she came back from the first Secret Wars as Thing's replacement in the Fantastic Four she began to workout with Thing's weights and got her strength up to at least 75 tons [2] but through her career she continued to lift even greater weights, and the uppermost limit of her potential remains unknown. However, she is currently listed as above "class 100". It has been stated that like her cousin, her strength increases with her fear and rage.[3] She-Hulk's strength has extended into her highly developed leg muscles, enabling her to leap great distances or heights. She is capable of leaping to a height of over 800 feet and a distance of over 1,500 feet in a single bound. She achieves less heights and distances than that of the Hulk or Abomination due only to her smaller frame.
Superhuman Speed: Due, at least partially, to the great muscular strength and development of her leg muscles, she is capable of running and moving at speeds that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete.
Superhuman Stamina: She-Hulk's highly advanced musculature produces considerably less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human. She can exert herself at peak capacity for about 48 hours before fatigue begins to impair her performance.
Superhuman Durability: She-Hulk's body is highly resistant to all forms of conventional injury. Her skin is capable of withstanding tremendous pressures and temperatures, falls from great heights, field-artillery canon shells, and powerful energy blasts without sustaining any injury.
Superhuman Agility: She-Hulk's agility, balance and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete.
Regenerative Healing Factor: Despite her body's extremely high resistance to injury, it is possible to injure her. However, she is capable of rapidly regenerating injuries that result in great tissue damage and blood loss within a matter of minutes. However, she is not capable of regenerating missing limbs or organs. She-Hulk's highly efficient metabolism renders her immune to all drugs and toxins as well as total immunity to all known Earthly diseases.
Body Switch: 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. 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.
Protection Spell (formerly): She-Hulk was granted a protective ability by her Avengers teammate, the Scarlet Witch, when She-Hulk's job required her to spend extended periods of time as Jennifer Walters. The Scarlet Witch cast a spell which rendered anyone intending to harm the She-Hulk incapable of recognizing her as Jennifer Walters. However, the spell actually rendered Jennifer Walters completely undetectable to these individuals. While this had its advantages, it also left Jennifer unable to communicate with certain people whose knowledge or information it was vital for her to acquire. The spell was eventually removed by Dr. Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Universe.
Template:New Power GridAbilities
Expert Combatant: The She-Hulk is a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, having been trained by Captain America and Gamora. Even in her Jennifer Walters form, she possesses sufficient skill in the martial arts to dispatch several would-be muggers much larger than she is. She is also highly trained in the use of weapons and battle tactics and strategies.
Skilled Pilot: Jennifer Walters is a good pilot, as has been shown in multiple issues of Avengers and Fantastic Four.
Expert Attorney: Extremely intelligent, the She-Hulk is a skilled and experienced lawyer. She has won many cases proving various civilians, costumed heroes, and even villains innocent.
Gifted Intellect: In spite of the character's party-girl image, she is a bona fide intellectual, being one of the few superheroines to have attained an advanced post-baccalaureate degree. Jennifer attended UCLA School of Law, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif, a national merit society for top legal scholars. It is revealed in the Savage She-Hulk that Walters has also attended Harvard Law School; though details are not provided, it is probable that she earned a master of laws (LL.M.) degree at Harvard to complement her juris doctor (J.D.) degree from UCLA. She has shown great versatility in her legal practice, representing criminal defendants, corporations, and even domestic violence victims.Weaknesses
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
Transportation
Notes
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Grey She-Hulk
- She-Hulk has a gray version of her own (The Sensational She-Hulk #15), just like her cousin. In this state, Jennifer loses complete control of herself, is far larger and stronger (equal to Mr. Fixit), and has a broken speech pattern.
- In a few occasions, when exposed to excess Gamma Radiation her body goes into a overloaded state (The Sensational She-Hulk #56-57, Avengers Disassemble). She has control over her body and can speak but acts on emotion only. Her strength and fighting ability out-classes Hulk. Her overall size also doubles as she is exposed to more radiation.
- Celebrating her 100th issue, (She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #3, 2006) several of the original artists returned. Including Scott Kolins (Pages 7-9), Mike Vosburg (Pages 10-12), Mike Mayhew (Pages 19-20), and many more. All her past and present greatest moments where featured, including all her different uniforms. In addition, Savage She-Hulk #1 and Sensational She-Hulk #1 where reprinted to bring the page total to 100. As a final bonus, Jennifer breaks the 4th wall again, by looking at the readers.
- She currently shares her Savage title with Lyra (Hulk's genetic offspring), in the limited/Back-up series "All-New Savage She-Hulk".
- In her 30th anniversary issue, She-Hulk: Sensational. Jennifer brings up all the fan complaints, and argues about them (comic cancellation in 2008, Lyra taking her name, lost all team affiliations). Other references from her past issues are: Doctor Bob Doom (The Sensational She-Hulk #18), Weezi (Retired Blond Phantom, The Sensational She-Hulk #4-60) being the bailiff in her court hearing. Re watching her past self, when her father was attacking She-Hulk, in The Savage She-Hulk #4. And her future self: The Misstro.
Comic List
- The Savage She-Hulk #1-25 (1980-1982)
- Marvel Graphic Novel #18: The Sensational She-Hulk (1985)
- The Sensational She-Hulk #1-60 (1989-1994)
- She-Hulk Ceremony Vol 1 Parts 1 & 2 (1989)
- Thing/She-Hulk: The Long Night Vol 1 1 (One-Shot) (2002)
- She-Hulk #1-12 (2004-2005)
- She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #1-38 (2005-2009)
- She-Hulk: Cosmic Collision Vol 1 1 (One-Shot) (2009)
- She-Hulk: Sensational Vol 1 1 (30th anniversary celebration) (One-Shot) (2010)
- She-Hulks Vol 1 #1-04 (2011)
Re-Released Issues
- The Savage She-Hulk is available in the Essential line as "Essential: The Savage She-Hulk Vol. 1" (Essential series is printed in Black and White)
- Marvel Graphic Novel #18: The Sensational She-Hulk, and Thing, She-Hulk: The Long Night have not been re-released (as of April 2009).
- She-Hulk: In Ceremony Parts 1 & 2 Will be reprinted in the "Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades" Hardcover book (Nov, 2010).
- Series 2 - "The Sensational She-Hulk" is currently being re-release in Trade paper back form. (April 27, 2011)
- The Sensational She-Hulk Vol. 1: #1-8
- Series 3, 4, and Cosmic Collision are available in Paperback collections "She-Hulk Vol. 1-9". Along with X-Factor #33 and #34.
- She-Hulk Vol. 1: Single Green Female #1-6
- She-Hulk Vol. 2: Superhuman Law #7-12 (end of Season 1)
- She-Hulk Vol. 3: Time Trials #1-5 (contains the series 100th issue)
- She-Hulk Vol. 4: Laws of Attraction #6-13 (contains the Civil War tie-in issue)
- She-Hulk Vol. 5: Planet Without A Hulk #14-21
- She-Hulk Vol. 6: Jaded #22-27 (beginning of Peter David run)
- She-Hulk Vol. 7: Here Today... #28-30 (contains the Cosmic Collision one-shot)
- She-Hulk Vol. 8: Secret Invasion #31-33 (contains X-Factor #33-34)
- She-Hulk Vol. 9: Lady Liberators #34-38 (end of Season 2)
Trivia
- Jennifer Walters' favorite drink is "Grape Nehi".
- She-Hulk routinely breaks the "fourth wall" with the use of what she calls "cosmic awareness."
- Much like Spider-Woman, She-Hulk was created primarily as a trademark effort. The popularity of the 70's Hulk TV series lead to Benny Hill creating a female Hulk for a skit, with Marvel scrambling to create their own in order to try and prevent others from doing so.
- Although the first issue of the Savage She-Hulk comic had a cover date of February 1980, its Christmas-themed advertising makes clear that it was released late in 1979. Therefore, the She-Hulk is perhaps the last major creation of Stan Lee during his most prolific and critically acclaimed period, the 1960s and '70s.
- A live-action motion picture for She-Hulk 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 film. 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.
- Benny Hill had created a spoof of the TV Series, "The Incredible Hulk," with Claire Smalley, one of his Hill's Angels hulking out into a taller, bosomy green-skinned actress, played by Allison Bell, at a bus stop on his popular British TV Series, "The Benny Hill Show," but Stan Lee didn't want to lose the rights to a female version of the Hulk and created the She-Hulk's origin shortly after that episode ran.
- Actress Jenny McCarthy provided a similar skit for her canceled television series The Jenny McCarthy Show, in which she increasingly becomes angry in a restaurant until she becomes a blonde She-Hulk.
See Also
- 1236 appearance(s) of Jennifer Walters (Earth-616)
- 34 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Jennifer Walters (Earth-616)
- 181 minor appearance(s) of Jennifer Walters (Earth-616)
- 123 mention(s) of Jennifer Walters (Earth-616)
- 24 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Jennifer Walters (Earth-616)
- 1626 image(s) of Jennifer Walters (Earth-616)
- 163 quotation(s) by or about Jennifer Walters (Earth-616)
- 6 victim(s) killed by Jennifer Walters (Earth-616)
- 6 item(s) used/owned by Jennifer Walters (Earth-616)
Links and References
- Marvel Directory
- Don Markenstein's Toonopedia: She-Hulk
- Marvel.com She-Hulk entry
- Comprehensive history of She-Hulk
References
- ↑ In She-Hulk's entry of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Volume One, Issue #9, page 31
- ↑ She-Hulk's entry of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Volume Two, Issue #11, pages 51-52
- ↑ Avengers (Vol. 3) #75
- ↑ Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades Handbook #1
- ↑ Fall of the Hulks: Gamma Vol 1 1
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