She-Hulk - Marvel Comics - Earliest - Jennifer Walters

Context

I was really into the 1970s/1980s television show, The Incredible Hulk. And this comic was directly inspired by it, even mistakenly referring to Bruce Banner as “David”.

She-Hulk also was the last Marvel character created by “Stan the Man” himself until the 1990s.

The idea of a female Hulk seemed a novel idea back in the late 1970s. Especially a female character that was aggressive and, well, savage.

So, on the spur of the moment, I decided to make it my next project.

Time is on her side

As per usual writeups.org policy, I place the beginning of the story in August, 1979. Which is when the first issue actually hit the stands. I prefer that stories not keep time-shifting.

In other words, I don’t care for “updating” her origin so that it was 1979 then 1989 then 1999 then 2009. It happened when it happened and, if I do subsequent write ups, I’ll deal with her longevity.

(This is also discussed in our “Ageing in the Marvel Universe” article – ed.).

Sequence

We have three She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters) profiles:

1. She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters) — 1979/82 — Doug’s take. This here entry.
2. She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters) — 1979/82 — Seb’s take.
3. She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters) — old notes, mostly intended as a TTRPG stats benchmark. These will be overwritten once the chronological coverage has advanced far enough.

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Background

• Real Name: Jennifer Walters.
• Known Relatives: Sheriff William Morris Walters (father), Elaine Walters (mother, deceased), Dr. Robert Bruce Banner (cousin).
• Group Affiliation: None.
• Base Of Operations: Los Angeles.
• Height: 5’1” (1.55 m). Weight: 110 lbs. (50 Kg.). Eyes: Brown. Hair: Brown (as Jennifer Walters).
• Height: 6’7” (2 m). Weight: 650 lbs. (295 Kg.). Eyes: Green. Hair: Green (as She-Hulk).

The not-so-long arms of the law

Marvel Handbooks have Bruce Banner at 5’9” (1.75 m) and 128 pounds (58 Kg.), and Jennifer Walters at 5’10” (1.78 m) and 140 pounds (63 Kg.).

That presents a problem. Because, in the original run, there are a fair number of panels where they are standing next to each other – and he was about half a foot taller than her. Every panel where we can judge verifies that.

In fact, he carries her across the street in his arms. She was presented as a small woman.

So I go with what was shown and said in that run, not the current rewrite of history.

I estimate Bruce is about 5’10” in the original run, and probably 150 pounds (68 Kg.) – a completely average man physically. One could compromise with early Jennifer Walters at about 5’4” (1.62 m) (the average height for an American woman of her generation) and 115 pounds (52 Kg.).

My values ignore official numbers, and are solely based on the art in the original series.

Powers & Abilities

Jen Walters possesses no superhuman abilities.

As the She-Hulk, she possesses superhuman strength and durability. At this point, she seems to be about “Class 60”.

At first, Jen had no control over the changes. She became the She-Hulk when angry, and reverted when calmed down.

She soon learned to control the changes. However, it took extreme concentration to trigger the change to the She-Hulk. And the process of her body shifting caused intense pain.

She seemed to have no trouble changing back to Jen, but developed a preference for staying the She-Hulk.

Soundtrack

There are some effective ways of saying “1979” in music. Here’s a great one, wot also was a huge worldwide hit.

https://youtu.be/WGU_4-5RaxU

Available for download on Amazon.

History (part 1)

Jennifer Walters was born in 1950. She and her cousin Bruce, who was four years her senior, were more like brother and sister.

She called him “Doc”. Since even when they were children, it was obvious to her that he would become a great physician or scientist.

Death of Elaine Walters

Jennifer might have completely lost it when her mother died had it not been for Bruce.

Gangster Nick Trask attempted to have Los Angeles County Sheriff William Walters killed. But the hitmen accidentally killed his wife instead. Sheriff Walters could not prove Trask’s involvement.

This tragedy may have motivated Jen to go to law school and specialize in criminal law.

As she was in high school, Jennifer was saddened that Bruce had to leave for college. She felt as though she had lost her big brother and best friend.

1979

In the summer of 1979, Dr. Bruce Banner reached the end of his rope dealing with his plight alone. He needed to talk to somebody.

As an introverted and shy person, Dr. Banner found it challenging to talk to people and make friends. But to him, Ms. Walters was friend and sister. And he knew she had become a hotshot young attorney.

When Bruce walked into Jennifer’s L.A. office, she still called him “Doc” as a term of affection. He mentioned that she was the only one who ever called him that.

She ran to him and hugged him. Then he explained why he was there and that he was on the run from the police and military.

Adνеrtisеmеnt

• The Savage She-Hulk omnibus collection
• A She-Hulk figure, statuette or funko
• A white teddy, since in the comics these seem incredibly resilient

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A study in green

Jennifer learned about the Hulk, since it was not yet known to the general public.

They talked about how life had caused them to drift apart, and how much they both regretted that. Bruce then explained how he became the Hulk.

(The version Bruce tells involves Rick Jones, but no Soviet Block spy, and happened “a few years ago”. For purposes of the “She-Hulk continuity”, this could mean 1977. Conveniently, this is when the Television Banner became the Hulk).

Jennifer asked Bruce to drive to her home with her. She felt there must be something she could do to help him as a criminal lawyer.

He warned her how dangerous it could be to travel around with the man who becomes the Hulk. But she brushed it off, saying she faced regular danger as an attorney – though she was mostly joking.

The Trask case

When Bruce asked what was going on in her life, Jen explained that she was currently defending mobster Lou Monkton. He was accused of having murdered Nick Trask’s bodyguard.

However, Ms. Walters believed Trask murdered his own bodyguard. Then framed Monkton.

She had started a rumor that she had evidence to prove it. That was to draw Trask into doing something she really could prove.

Bruce observed that if Trask really was a murderer, his most likely choice would be to kill her. Again, she brushed it off.

But deep inside, she was burning with rage over what she knew Trask had done to her mother. Ms. Walters had, for years, carried an obsession with seeing him punished for it.

Get Walters

As they parked and got out of the car, one of Trask’s hitmen fired a shot. It mortally wounded Jen.

As the man ran up for a follow-up shot, Bruce grabbed a hose and sprayed him in the eyes. He then dragged Jennifer in and locked the door, just as a bullet went through it.

The gunmen took off. There had been too much noise and obvious gunshots.

Realizing that only he could save her, Bruce carried Jennifer across the street where he noticed a house bore a doctor’s shingle. Nobody was home, but Bruce did everything he could to stay calm. He broke in.

Fateful transfusion

Knowing Jennifer was the same blood type as he was, Bruce gave her a transfusion of his gammaIn the Marvel Universe, the sort of fantasy radiation that empowers the Hulk and others. -irradiated blood. He waited until he was sure she would survive, then called an ambulance.

After Jen was taken to the hospital, the police took Bruce in for questioning. But he finally panicked when he realized they would find out who he was.

The next thing they knew, his alter ego smashed through the wall – and was gone.

History (part 2)

The next day, while Jen was still recovering in the hospital, three hoods disguised as doctors tried to kill her.

As they suffocated her, the rage at losing her life, and at Trask murdering her just as he had her mother and walking away free, overcame her.

Within seconds, a new creature where she had been threw them off easily.

Birth of the She-Hulk

One of the thugs named her, stating that she was “some kind’a She-Hulk”.

She pursued them, pulling the elevator they were in back up by the cables. They nevertheless reached their car, but she ripped up a street sign and threw it hard enough to knock one tire out.

Yanking one of them from the car, she forced him to admit that Trask ordered the “hit” on Jennifer Walters – and had framed Monkton for murder. Two police officers witnessed this.

She-Hulk then ran off. Knowing her anger was fading, she got back to the hospital as she changed back to Jennifer Walters.

She vowed that, from then on, whatever Jennifer Walters could not handle, the She-Hulk would.

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Still after Trask

Immediately upon release from the hospital, Jen had her best friend, Jill, drive her to the courthouse. Lou Monkton was about to have his pre-trial hearing.

But the confessions of the three hoods, made under duress, were thrown out. Monkton still had to stand trial.

However, Jen convinced the hoods to testify against Trask. In return, she would drop the attempted murder charges she had filed against them.

Jen then stopped to see Sheriff Walters – who had never stopped trying to bring Trask down. He told her the mobster’s current location.

Ms. Walters visited Trask to goad him into making a mistake. They exchanged words.

Another murder attempt

Jennifer was invited at a party across the street, at Dr. Ridge’s home. There was a phone call telling Jennifer to pick some papers at her office. But Jill left in Jennifer’s stead so her friend could relax.

Realising that the phone call had been a fake, Jen ran out. She spotted the thugs tailing Jill’s car, but her wounds made it impossible to run after them. The pain and rage caused her to become the She-Hulk, who caught up with both cars.

Jill realized the brakes were not working. Nor could she cut the engine or slow down once she reached a certain speed. The She-Hulk threw objects, even parked cars, to knock obstacles out of Jill’s path.

Tragedy

Jen’s legal adversary, Assistant District Attorney Dennis Bukowski, saw the chase and joined it.

The She-Hulk blocked rush hour traffic with a city bus. She was about to grab the car with Jill as it went by, saving her.

But Bukowski rammed She-Hulk with his car at the critical instant, thinking he was stopping her from killing someone. Jill went off the overpass and crashed onto the road below, dead.

She-Hulk wanted to kill Bukowski. But she retreated rather than fight the police.

Crude impostor

Monkton was freed because of the testimony of the three hoods. A warrant was issued for Trask’s arrest.

Jen was reported to have been killed in the car crash. Monkton, the presiding judge, and all other present were sworn to secrecy about her being alive. This way Trask would not know he could send men after her, or threaten her loved ones.

However, this left Jen with the guilt that her friend had died in her stead.

The day before they were scheduled to testify, the three hoods were murdered in jail – seemingly by the She-Hulk. Meanwhile, Jen was staying at the beach house of Dr. Ridge being cared for by his son, Danny aka “Zapper”.

Trask had found out that Walters was alive. He sent an outdated robot, stolen from Stark International, to kill her. This “She-Droid”, crudely disguised as the She-Hulk, had murdered the three henchmen.

Wanted for murders she didn’t commit

Just before it arrived, “Zapper” Ridge realized Jen was the She-Hulk. She said as much while unconscious.

When the robot broke in, she managed to become the She-Hulk and destroyed it in a pitched battle.

Jen soon realized that her She-Hulk persona was changing.

• At first, she was intelligent enough to speak and remember her life as Jen. But, otherwise, the She-Hulk was driven by emotion.
• Soon, she was able to think clearly. There was no mental difference between them, except when she got angry.
• Then, she reverted to a more brutish mentality.