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Red She-Hulk
New for Patrons: Red She-Hulk AKA Harpy
I’m back today with a highly-specific guide for “pledgeonaut” Patrons of CK. This one also spun out of last week’s update to my Guide to She-Hulk, because it’s also a Guide to She-Hulk! No, not that She-Hulk, the other She-Hulk – it’s a Guide to Red She-Hulk!
Be warned: Even though the guide itself is careful not to spoil details of Red She-Hulk’s secret identity while covering pre-reveal issues, I’m talking about it openly in this post.
Honestly, it was only a secret for nine months 12 years ago! But, I think it was a fun secret executed well, so I try not to ruin it for people who might be coming to the run for the first time.
Marvel was going through an interesting period from 2005-2012 where at first they were revitalizing lines and characters purely out of the business instinct to stay alive, but then they started adjusting them even more due to the popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
To me, this began with the period of Bendis launching New Avengers through the death of Captain America at the end of Civil War, with House of M sandwiched between them. Despite Marvel using the “All-New, All-Different” tagline since the Bronze Age, this was the first time in a while that the main 616-Marvel Universe felt like a truly new and different place.
(A lot of that was down to the sales and popularity pressure from the Ultimate Universe, which at that point was threatening to subsume the main one.)
One result of that period was character lines that felt larger than they used to. Marvel’s major Silver Age characters feel encouraged to reinvent their casts and build their own huge events. That was certainly true for Hulk, which went from a Marvel also-ran to one of their hottest titles on the strength of Greg Pak’s “Planet Hulk” storyline, which spun into the line-wide “World War Hulk” event.
In the wake of that, Pak and Jeph Loeb had more leeway than ever to expand the scope of Hulk comics. Suddenly, there were a lot of Hulks and Gamma-powered characters. We had Bruce Banner as Hulk, Jennifer Walters as She-Hulk, Doc Samson, Rick Jones as A-Bomb, the newly-birthed Skaar, and even Lyra – Hulk’s daughter from a potential future!
(Spoilers begin here.) [Read more…] about New for Patrons: Red She-Hulk AKA Harpy
She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters – The Definitive Collecting Guide and Reading Order
The She-Hulk comic books definitive issue-by-issue collecting guide and trade reading order for omnibus, hardcover, and trade paperback collections. Find every issue and appearance! Part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated September 2023 with titles scheduled for release through April 2024.
It was 1980 and Stan Lee was in a pinch.
The Lou Ferrigno Incredible Hulk TV series was wildly popular at the time, and based on the recent precedent of The Bionic Woman being launched from The Six Million Dollar Man, Lee and Marvel Comics were concerned that CBS could spin off a female Hulk character who would not be copyrighted by Marvel.
In Lee’s last act of Marvel Comics creation until the 1990s, he dashed off the first issue of The Savage She-Hulk. It’s a classic Lee contrivance. Bruce Banner’s mild-mannered lawyer cousin Jennifer Walters is nearly killed by a gang seeking revenge, and Banner is the only one that can provide a blood transfusion in time to save her life. With the blood comes the green alter ego – and a second Hulk in the Marvel Universe!
She-Hulk’s path has been distinctly different than Bruce Banner’s. Not long after her introduction she began to retain her every day personality while in Hulk form. This lead to her eventually eschewing her human body and living almost permanently as She-Hulk.
Due to this key difference, She-Hulk is a social butterfly compared to her cousin. She is a long-running member of Avengers and only the second replacement member of The Fantastic Four (she subs for The Thing after the original Secret Wars). Also, after her first series, her titles are typically humorous – thanks to John Byrne’s 4th-wall breaking take on The Sensational She-Hulk.
Despite a few periods of scarcity, She-Hulk has remained a regularly appearing hero in the Marvel Universe ever since her debut. Marvel also added a Red She-Hulk to their roster in 2009. [Read more…] about She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters – The Definitive Collecting Guide and Reading Order