The She-Hulk Lives

Bruce Banner walks up the few steps to an office building in Los Angeles. Bruce thinks to himself that he can’t take it anymore. He says that sooner or later the police are going to catch up with him. He says that he needs to confide in someone. Bruce says that the last time he saw Jen that she was just his kid cousin, but that now she is a lawyer there in Los Angeles. Bruce says that Jen is his last hope. Bruce walks into Jen’s office and asks her if she needs some help because the book she is holding is as big as she is. Jen says that she would know that voice anywhere and turns to see “Doc”. She says that she hasn’t seen him since he quit med school for nuclear physics. Bruce says that only Jen ever calls him “Doc”. Bruce says what about her becoming a big time criminal lawyer. Jen hugs Bruce and starts to say that she wants to hear all about him, but stops as she senses that there is something wrong. Bruce says that he might as well come out with it, but that he isn’t sure how to tell her. Jen says that they were like brother and sister, and that they told each other everything. Bruce tells her that he is a wanted man. He says that the police and army are after him. Jen says that she can’t believe it and asks what he has done. Bruce says that it isn’t what he has done, but what he has become. Bruce goes on to tell Jen the story of how he became the Hulk. Jen looks down at Bruce and realizes that he really means it. Bruce says that it is a chemical reaction that happens within him that he cannot control of cure. Bruce says that he feels like he is going mad. Bruce apologizes and says that he has no right to lay this on her. Jen tells him not to say that. She says that she wants him to come home with her, and that there must be an answer.

Outside in the parking lot, Bruce warns Jen that there may be danger involved. Jen tells Bruce that she is a criminal lawyer and that she lives with danger. Bruce says that it is not the same. As Jen pulls out of her parking space, two thugs watch her. One notes that she has someone with her, but the other one says that it isn’t going to do her any good. As they’re driving Bruce asks Jen what she has been doing. Jen says that she is keeping busy, and that she is defending a hood named Monkton that is accused of killing Nick Trask’s bodyguard. Jen says that Monkton is no saint, but that in this case he has been framed. She says that Trask hates Monkton, and that she thinks that Trask set him up though she hasn’t been able to prove it. Bruce asks Jen how she plans to defend her client. Jen says that she has a plan. She says that she planted a rumor that she has secret evidence proving that Trask himself killed the bodyguard. Bruce says that if Trask really is the killer that he might try to kill her. Jen says that those things only happen in the movies. Jen pulls into her driveway and the car with the thugs also stops. As they get out of the car, Bruce is warning Jen that she is playing with fire when Jen is suddenly shot in the back by the thugs. One thug gets out and says that he is going to finish her off and that “Trask said to make sure”. Bruce sees that Jen is still breathing and says that he has to save her. Bruce picks up a hose and sprays it into the thug’s eyes. Bruce grabs Jen and runs down an alley with her. The thug gets off a shot, but he misses because of the water in his eyes. Trask’s thugs decide that there have been too many shots fired and take off.

Inside the house, Bruce watches the thugs driving away. He says that he has to remain calm, and that only he, and not the Hulk, can help Jen now. Bruce sees that she has lost too much blood and figures that she is going to need a fast transfusion to save her. Bruce says that he needs equipment, but that he can’t wait for an ambulance to arrive. Bruce carries her out the door looking for a nearby doctor’s office. Bruce’s heart is pounding, but he manages to stay calm for Jen’s sake. Bruce spots a doctor’s shingle and runs up. There is no answer at the door, but Bruce says that he can’t fail her now. Bruce punches out a window and lets himself in. Bruce says that he will do the transfusion himself. He says that he remembers that they have the same blood type. Bruce performs the transfusion and then says that the worst part is going to be the waiting. The minutes crawl by until Jen wakes up and asks Doc what happened. Bruce says that thank god that she made it. Bruce gets up and calls the police.

Minutes later, Jen is loaded into an ambulance. The police also arrive and say that they want to question him. At the precinct, the police say that Bruce has no identification or credit cards. They ask who he is. Bruce says that he is a friend of Miss Walters. The police says that what he is, is a suspect. The police leave to go talk to the district attorney. Bruce starts freaking out that he can’t let them find out who he is. When they police return, Bruce Banner is gone and there is a giant hole in the wall.

The next day, Bruce looks through the paper until he reads that “Miss Walters will recover”. He says that now that he knows she is safe that he has to be going since they will be looking for him.

Jen sits in her hospital bed. She says that her skin and bones seem to be tingling, but figures that it is just the medicine that they gave her. Jen thinks to herself that she should have listened to Bruce about Trask. She figures that Bruce must have run off because he was afraid they would discover that he was the Hulk. She decides that she had best forget about Bruce for now, and try to think of a way to prove that Trask is guilty. Suddenly three men in doctor’s clothes walk into Jen’s room. One of them says that it is time for her medicine. Jen says that she doesn’t know him. She asks where her own doctor is, and asks why it takes three of them to bring her the medicine. The man holding the “medicine” says that she asks too many questions, and that she isn’t going to like the answers. Jen shouts that they aren’t doctors. Trask’s man pours the “fateful chloroform” onto a rag while the other two men hold Jen down. They put the rag over her face, but as her breathing is growing heavy her pulse rate is still speeding up. Suddenly the three men are sent flying. The three men look up confused and see a giant green woman looking down at them. She says, “Now let’s see how tough you are… against me!” One of the thugs dubs the giant green woman “some kind’a She-Hulk!” One of the thugs pulls a gun and fires. She-Hulk lifts up the hospital bed and blocks the bullet. She says, “You called me a She-Hulk! And a She-Hulk I’ll be!” She then takes the bed and throws it at the three of them.

The three men go running out of the room to the elevator. She-Hulk reaches the doors too late, but she grabs the closed doors and rips them apart. She grabs hold of the elevator cables and pulls the elevator itself back up to her. She-Hulk then tears through the ceiling of the elevator. The three thugs push the open button, and magically the door open somewhere that they can run out of. She-Hulk gets angrier and angrier. She says that she is going to get them. The hospital staff tries to stop She-Hulk as she makes her way to the stairs, but She-Hulk just shoves them out of her way. As she runs down the stairs, She-Hulk says that she has “never felt this way before! I can do anything! I’m throbbing with power!”

She-Hulk runs out of the building just as the three thugs are pulling away in their car. She-Hulk pulls a lamppost out of the ground and throws it into the getaway car’s tires knocking them all off. She-Hulk grabs one of them out of the car and says that he has some explaining to do. The man begs her not to hurt him, and says that it was Trask that paid them “to kill the Walters dame! He was afraid she’d prove he framed Monkton for murder!” She-Hulk asks if he means the murder that Trask himself committed. The man swears to it. She-Hulk tells the surrounding police that they all heard that. She-Hulk starts to run away. One police officer tells her to come back, but She-Hulk says that if he wants her that he is going to have to catch her. The other cop tells him to let her be, as there is no law against green skin.

She-Hulk feels her anger and strength fading so she hurries up the fire stairs. She says that no one must see her. When she gets off the stairs she notices that the hall is empty. She is halfway done changing back when she realizes that her room was ruined and goes instead to the room next to her room. A nurse looks in and asks Jen why she is in this room. Jen says that she was frightened by all the yelling and fighting. The nurse says that she is lucky that she wasn’t hurt. The nurse says that the female savage was just horrible, but that it is over now. When the nurse leaves Jen says that she doesn’t know how wrong she is. Jen thinks that this isn’t over, but that it is just the beginning. She realizes that it must have been the blood transfusion that caused it. She says that she has “become a gamma-ray monster… like poor Doc! But I’ll learn to live with it! From now on, whatever Jennifer Walters can’t handle… the She-Hulk will do!”

Recurring Characters

She-Hulk, Bruce Banner

Continuity Notes

• Bruce Banner recounts the events that led to his transformation into the Hulk as they were first seen in Incredible Hulk #1.