She-Hulk #3
Dead Certain
Weeks Ago
At a Hammer Aeronautics Plant in Upstate New York, Bailey Briggs is working on a new prototype jet engine. So much so that he is willing to ignore his girlfriend Evangeline Cryer on their anniversary. Seeing how he is more interested in getting his project just right, Evangeline walks out on him. While working in the artificial wind turbine, Baily finds himself trapped inside as someone activates the device sending him flying into the whirling blades to his death.
Today
This leads to a criminal trial against Bailey's boss Mr. Newton. In a meeting with Mallory Book and Holden Holliway of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway, they insist that their client is innocent. In order to make sure that Bailey Briggs has his say, they call in Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, who uses a spell to conjure up the spirit of Briggs before them. Book decides to take the case on one condition: that Jennifer Walters take on second chair on the case with her.
Soon, Jennifer Walters finds herself in the attic of GLK&H with Mallory Book. She's excited to be working with Mallory on such a bizarre case. When she learns that Mallory had Holden Holliway allow Jennifer to use her She-Hulk powers at Books' discretion, she is excited to change back into her alter ego. However, when Mallory has her get a legal book off of a high shelf, she realizes that this was just a means of demeaning her. Mallory walks out, telling Jennifer to get her friend the Thing to come in and testify on the trial as it will help their case. The next day, She-Hulk has Ben Grimm help her move into her new apartment at the Excelsior. He agrees to appear in court and believes he'll be back from the Negative Zone in time to testify. This makes Jennifer remiss about the adventures she used to have and complains how she doesn't get to do such things anymore. Ben points out that as someone who recently died and came back, she has to enjoy life while it lasts. While one door may be closing in her life a new one always opens up.
While they are unpacking, they are visited by one of Jennifer's co-workers Augustus Pugliese who officially introduces himself to Jen. He explains that most of the staff of GLK&H live at the Excelsior, as the building is owned by the firm. Pug offers to help, and Jennifer almost blows him off if not for the Thing reminding her of their pep-talk. On the way to Avengers Mansion, Jennifer apologizes to Pug about her behavior earlier as she is having her second thoughts about the firm. She feels like she is being manipulated for her connections to the superhuman community and isn't impressed with Mallory Book. Pug points out that while most people think what their firm does is a joke, Mallory takes it incredibly seriously. This gets Jennifer to ask Pug why he works for GLK&H and he tells her how he used to be a bouncer at a bar. One night he was attacked by some Maggia thugs and saved by Spider-Man. Because of Spider-Man's selfless rescue, he decided to do something to help the superhero community. They arrive at Avengers Mansion, he reveals that he asked to be put across the hall from Jennifer so he can look out for her and make sure she keeps her deal with Holliway.
As soon as they cross onto the property, the alarms going off, reminding Jennifer that she is not cleared for guests anymore, forcing her to smash the security system before Pug can get hurt. When Jarvis comes out to defend the mansion, She-Hulk explains what happened and both are adamant that Pug is not one of She-Hulk's new boyfriend.
Monday
The first day of the trial, Jennifer Walters decides to attend the case in her human form, and ignore Mallory's attempts to get her to Hulk out. As the trial begins, the defense motions to have the testimony from the ghost of Baily Briggs tossed out as dead men have no rights. This leads to a counter-argument from Mallory Book who states that her client isn't really dead and deserves the right to speak. To prove this, she has the Thing take the stand. He recounts that not only has he died and come back to life but a number of prominent superheroes, including the She-Hulk, have all died and come back. The defense objects, saying that this only true of the superhuman community. When this catches Mallory, Jennifer steps in and mentions the Infinity Gauntlet affair. After pointing this out, the Thing recalls how Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet to kill off half of the universe and that they were all brought back to life after the villain was defeated. With this brought to the attention of the court, Jennifer asks everyone in the court who were affected by Thanos to raise their hands. As expected, half of the court raises their hand. The judge finds this satisfactory and allows the ghost of Baily Briggs to take the stand.
Taking the stand, Baily Briggs shocks the courtroom by telling everyone that Maxwell Newton didn't kill him, instead, he accuses his girlfriend, Evangeline Cryer. Soon Ms. Cryer is brought in by the police for questioning, where she maintains her innocence. Watching the interrogation is Jennifer and Mallory. Book wants to know why they are here as the case is closed, however, Walters doesn't think so because this accusation doesn't add up. Jennifer then plays into Book's pride, convincing her to look into this further if for nothing but maintaining her perfect winning streak.
A Few Hours Later
The two women pay a visit to the scene of the crime, getting access to the crime scene thanks to Jennifer's credentials with the Avengers. Examining the prototype, they realize that Baily named it after his girlfriend. Jennifer then deduces that their client intentionally accused his girlfriend knowing that she will get the death sentence and be reunited with her in the afterlife. Why seek justice against the man really responsible when he will die and go to Hell anyway? As they deduce this, the ghost of Briggs appears in the control room and activates the artificial turbine to try and silence Jennifer and Mallory before they can reveal the truth. However, Jennifer allows herself to turn into She-Hulk so she can smash the engine before it can kill Mallory. After this failed attempt on their lives, Jennifer has Doctor Strange imprison Biggs in the Cage of Cyttorak to serve his sentence for perjury and attempted murder. They have him admit the truth to his killer (who will die of a coronary in a few days anyway) and Evangeline who no longer loves Biggs. With the case wrapped up, Bigg's cell is transferred to a prison where he will spend the rest of his afterlife.
Notes
Continuity Notes
The Thing mentions how he recently died, at the time of this story the Thing was killed during a battle with Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four #508. However, the Fantastic Four went to Heaven itself to bring him back to life. He was resurrected in Fantastic Four #511.
She-Hulk mentions how the Thing was a member of the Avengers "years ago". She is referring to his brief stint with the West Coast Avengers from West Coast Avengers Vol 2 #9 to 10.
The Thing rhymes off a number of characters who have cheated death in the past:
Wonder Man, who seemingly died in Avengers #9 and was brought back to life in Avengers #151.
Adam Warlock, at this point, had died in Avengers Annual #7 and was later resurrected in Infinity Gauntlet #1.
Drax the Destroy, as Arthur Douglas, had to die to become Drax, to begin with, as seen in Captain Marvel #32, but also died again in Avengers #220 and brought back in Silver Surfer Vol 3 #35.
It is mentioned that She-Hulk had died twice only to be brought back from the dead. She was killed by Thanos in during the Infinity Gauntlet affair in Infinity Gauntlet #4 and brought back in Infinity Gauntlet #6. She also was killed in Sensational She-Hulk #52 and brought back in Sensational She-Hulk #54.
The Thing also mentions all the times that Doctor Doom came back from the dead. However, at this point in time, Doctor Doom has never actually died as he always managed to cheat death.
Also mentioned is the Infinity Gauntlet affair that saw a half of the population of the universe killed and brought back between Infinity Gauntlet #1-6. Even though most people were made to forget following the end of that event, as revealed in She-Hulk #12 since it was later published as a comic book it became common knowledge again.
