Everything You Need to Know for 'Sensational She-Hulk'

Nobody in the Marvel Universe does new beginnings quite like She-Hulk. From her SAVAGE years to her tenure with the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, She-Hulk knows how to make a fresh start feel sensational. 

Though she's had plenty of ups and downs, the Jade Giantess will do it all over again in SENSATIONAL SHE-HULK (2023) by Rainbow Rowell, Andres Genolet, Dee Cunniffe, and VC's Joe Caramagna, a continuation of last year's fan-favorite SHE-HULK (2022) series. Before her new adventure starts, here's everything you need to know to get up to speed on the life and times of Jennifer Walters, Hero at Law.

A PUNCHY START

SHE-HULK (2022) found Jen Walters at something of a low point in her life. She had no job, no active team affiliations, no home, and only one suit to her name… and then her nemesis Titania attacked. As usual for Jen, she managed to turn her situation around by burying the hatchet with Titania, and the two formed a mutually beneficial fight club—a "Punch Club," if you will—where they could cut loose. 

Fortunately, She-Hulk's friend Janet Van Dyne, AKA the Wasp, also swooped in to let Jen live in her fabulous (spare) Manhattan apartment—one full of glamorous, Hulk-sized clothes from the last time Jen stayed there. To top it off, She-Hulk got a job at the law office of another old nemesis, Mallory Book, although business was rough at first (on account of Mallory's "no cape clients" rule, which changed quite quickly).

While She-Hulk enjoyed her windfall, life threw her another curve ball in the form of Jack Hart. The former Avenger known as Jack-of-Hearts appeared on She-Hulk's doorstep in the middle of the night, amnesiac and barely holding it together. While Jen didn't hesitate to help a fellow Avenger in need, she did wonder why Jack came to her first, especially considering their fraught history.

Back in AVENGERS (1998), Jack-of-Hearts was still a powerhouse member of the Avengers, capable of absorbing and wielding so much nuclear energy that he needed a suit of armor to contain it, lest he explode with the force of an H-bomb. The volatility of Jack's powers turned on She-Hulk herself when, in the AVENGERS storyline "Red Zone" (beginning in AVENGERS (1998) #65 by Geoff Johns, Olivier Coipel, Andy Lanning, Christopher Sotomayor, Richard Starkings, and Albert Deschesne), Jack accidentally absorbed enough of Jennifer's gamma energy to make her lose control, leading her to level a city in Idaho. 

Jen never blamed Jack for her rampage, but he left the Avengers anyway and exploded in space shortly afterward, dying with the guilt he felt over the situation. This guilt, Jack theorized, was the reason he sought She-Hulk first—so he could apologize to her.

JEN & JACK

Once she took him in, She-Hulk quickly realized Jack had returned a changed man. He could hardly remember anything about himself, his immortal body now needed mortal sustenance like food and sleep, and most notably, his once dangerously volatile powers were harmless. In fact, he could barely use them at all. For the first time in his adult life, Jack was finally free from his containment armor and able to live as a normal human being. 

As he and She-Hulk traveled around New York, trying to jog his memory, Jack felt more alive as a mortal than he ever had with his powers. In between chasing memories and half-remembered sights—particularly one in which he awakened in a laboratory somewhere—Jack and Jennifer opened up to each other. They grew closer, eventually becoming a couple.

While following a lead in Brooklyn, the pair were attacked by a giant, Hulk-like man named Mark, who gunned for Jonathan. She-Hulk immediately sprang into action but was stopped by a woman named April, who drew Mark away and explained he meant no harm, though her hostile attitude set off She-Hulk's internal alarms. Following up on this hunch, Jennifer investigated Mark and April, which revealed they were actually husband and wife—and totally obsessed with her.

THE PERFECT HULK

When She-Hulk paid Mark and April a visit at their home to get some clarity on their situation, they quickly captured her and imprisoned her in their basement lab. It turned out that April and Mark were two brilliant scientists who coveted She-Hulk's power and control. Seeking to become "the perfect Hulk," they used Jen's blood and April's calculations to form a plan that would transform them into the ultimate combination of gamma-powered brains and brawn. Their plan went south, and Jennifer's blood turned Mark into an out-of-control pseudo-Hulk, while April's brain Hulked out and her body shrank. 

At some point, April figured out how to resurrect Jack-of-Hearts and harvest his Zero Energy—the source of his powers. In fact, it was her lab that Jack had escaped from, though how he got there in the first place remains a mystery. With She-Hulk now in her clutches, April used a machine to siphon Jennifer's gamma energy in the same way Jack once did accidentally. 

Before April could fully execute her plan, Jack arrived and distracted her, allowing She-Hulk to break free and hurl Mark at April. Mark landed on top of his wife, causing her to absorb his gamma energy and switch physiques with him. Now a pseudo-Hulk herself, April readied her machine again, but was foiled by Jack sacrificing his newfound freedom to reabsorb the Zero Energy. April and Mark escaped, but She-Hulk and her gamma energy were safe—at the cost of Jack's new lease on life.

ENTER THE SCOUNDREL

As Jack and Jennifer adjusted to life together with his reclaimed powers, it seemed as though April's machinations cost them even more. Since he lost his ability to eat, sleep, and touch Jen without putting her life in danger, Jack fell into a depression and the couple grew distant. These matters became worse when, on a series of missions with her old friends the Fantastic Four, Jen ran into a dashing—and persistent—thief with magical abilities called the Scoundrel. 

While Scoundrel stole parts for a bomb, he went out of his way to run into She-Hulk, attempting to sweep her off her feet even after his jobs were done. Eventually, he did just that, whisking Jen into the skies above Manhattan in his space yacht, where they nearly shared a kiss… before he revealed his alien employer was about to invade New York and nuke it with a bomb made from the parts he stole.

Jolted back to her senses, Jen busted out of his space yacht and hustled down to Central Park, where the members of Punch Club were already fending off alien attackers. As She-Hulk desperately searched for the bomb, Jack-of-Hearts arrived and absorbed the full power of the blast, becoming "fully charged." 

Since he was so full of energy, Jack had no room to absorb any of She-Hulk's gamma radiation, meaning the two were finally free to touch. Before flying off to shoot the excess energy into the sun, Jack revealed to Jennifer he was working on a plan and that they won't have fear his powers much longer. 

While plenty of mysteries remain about Jack, he and She-Hulk might finally be able to reclaim some of their lost normalcy now that he's discovered a work-around for his powers. However, with April and Mark still on the loose and a freshly jilted Scoundrel out there somewhere, Jen's life will be a far cry from normal in SENSATIONAL SHE-HULK (2023)—but then, that's nothing new for the girl in green!

Jennifer Walter's adventures continue in SENSATIONAL SHE-HULK #1, on sale now!

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