The Search for She-Hulk, Part 4: With Friends Like These…

The Avengers have tracked down the She-Hulk, whose power have gone out of whack, turning her into a savage.[1] While she rampaged through the town of Bone, Idaho, both Hawkeye and her cousin Bruce Banner came to her assistance. However, when Doc Samson arrived with a Hulkbuster team, Hawkeye realized there was only one way to salvage this situation. Shooting Banner through the shoulder with an arrow, Clint causes him to transform into the Hulk to stop her from harming innocent people.

Rather than back down from her cousin, She-Hulk attacks him. The force from their blows causes the entire side of the mountain to shatter, sending Hawkeye falling to the ground below. Luckily, Captain America managed to scramble up into a tree fast enough to grab him before he hit the ground. They are soon joined by Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch, the only other two Avengers presently available.

As the military begins trying to bomb the two Hulks, Hawkeye hopes his former teammates have a plan up their sleaves. Iron Man has one, but it will be risky. Tony then places a call to Avengers Embassy in New York. The only Avengers present are Ant-Man (Scott Lang) who is on monitor duty, and Jack of Hearts, who is sealed in his Zero Room to drain off his excess energies. Iron Man tells Scott that they need Jack of Hearts. However, the brand new lock placed on the Zero Room makes it nearly impossible to get Jack out before his fourteen hour time limit is up. Stark tells Lang to use his skills as a former burglar to get Jack out.[2]

Back at the scene of the battle, the Scarlet Witch endures a broken wrist as she casts a hex spell that will kick up snow and ice in the hopes it the sudden white out will confuse and disorientate the two Hulks. Unfortunately, all this does is get the Hulk’s attention on them instead. When the man-monster tries attacking them Hawkeye fires two arrows directly at his eyes. Astonishingly, even the Hulk’s eye tissue is super strong and the arrows shatter harmlessly on impact. Captain America then tries to throw his shield at the Hulk which, surpisingly, the monster is able to grab in mid-air. Clint and Steve then look at each other in the hopes that the other has any other ideas.

Meanwhile, Ant-Man — armed with a paperclip — shrinks down in size to enter the lock on the Zero Room door. Summoning two ants to help, he then goes to work disabling the three timer clocks that keep the door sealed until Jack’s time limit is up. He succeeds in getting the door open. Jack comes tumbling out of the room, still glowing with energy. He is disorientated and doesn’t know why he has been let out of his room so early. Ant-Man tells Jack that it is an emergency situation and that there’s a job to do.

While in Bone, Doc Samson meets with the local sheriff, Sheryl Howards. She insists that the threat to the town is the She-Hulk and that the Avengers have the situation under control. Samson doesn’t care, since the Hulk is in the area as well and they aren’t going to allow Banner to escape them again.

Up on the mountain, the battle is not going very well for the Avengers. Things take a turn when Iron Man sustains a blow that wrecks most of his armor’s on board systems. That’s when Jack of Hearts arrives just as his body is about to reach critical mass. Iron Man quickly flies his other teammates to safety and orders Jack to charge at the two Hulks. Iron Man hopes that the Hulks will soak up all the energies when Jack explodes. Sure enough, the gamble pays off and the blast also knocks both Hulk’s out, causing them to revert back to human form. Before he passes out, Jack of Hearts is able to transfer all the gamma radiation into his body into Jennifer, allowing her to change back to her more stable She-Hulk form. Moments later, Bruce Banner wakes up and after making sure his cousin is still alive decides it’s time to take off.

When She-Hulk wakes up she is back to her old self and is greeted by Captain America and the others. With Jack of Hearts placed in a containment unit he is loaded back onto the Quinjet. In the aftermath of the battle, Iron Man says that now that they know that Jack and She-Hulk’s unstable powers are connected, they are going to have to decide which one of them has to quit the Avengers.[3] She-Hulk then thanks Hawkeye for helping him out with a kiss, she then tosses him to the ground for shooting her cousin in the eyes with his arrows.[4] The Scarlet Witch asks if this means Clint is back, and he smiles and says “Yeah. I’m back.”[5]

She-Hulk then joins Captain America as he overlooks the town of Bone and the relief effort following her rampage. Jennifer blames herself, but Steve reminds her that it’s not her fault, besides the media is blaming the damage on her cousin, Bruce.[6] This makes She-Hulk cry and she wonders how Bruce manages to deal with all the pain, fear, and guilt all by himself. Cap doesn’t know and is glad that neither of them will ever have to know. As the Avengers head back for home, Bruce Banner hikes out of town along a lonely stretch of highway.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Jack of Hearts, Ant-Man), Hulk, She-Hulk, Lance Howards, Sheryl Howards

Continuity Notes

1. She-Hulk’s sudden change in powers is linked to similar instabilities in her teammate, Jack of Hearts. Jack of Heart’s powers have been growing out of control since Avengers (vol. 3) #58 as explained in issue #61. Since then, he has had to spend many hours of the day in the Zero Room to drain his excess powers or else he will reach critical mass and explode. In issue #67 it was revealed that this was due to the fact that Jack had been unknowingly absorbing She-Hulk’s gamma radiation. Due to the affect Jack was having on her powers, Jennifer fled while in the middle of a mission in Avengers (vol. 3) #68.

2. As explained in Marvel Premiere #47, Scott Lang was a burglar until he got caught and went straight.

3. It’s ultimately Jack of Hearts who ends up leaving the team, as we’ll learn next issue.

4. She-Hulk kissing Hawkeye for helping her out is a call back to when she previously did so in Avengers #222.

5. Hawkeye had left the team in Avengers (vol. 3) #9 in order to mentor the reformed Thunderbolts. He took over leadership of that team in Thunderbolts #21 and continued to lead until they no longer needed him and he left in issue #75 of that series.

6. This won’t be the last we see of Bone, Idah. Jennifer will come back to the town to help the Green Cross with its relief effort in She-Hulk (vol. 2) #4.