The arrogant Assistant District Attorney Buck Bukowski knows exactly how to push people’s buttons, especially his rival in the courtroom Jennifer Walters, AKA She-Hulk.
Winning Cases
Dennis “Buck” Bukoswki lives off his family’s money and becomes Assistant District Attorney in Los Angeles, California. His cocksure and confident attitude may win him cases but it drives away everyone else, including his rival, lawyer Jennifer Walters, AKA She-Hulk, but he remains unaware of her alter ego.
Lawyer Up
Buck arrogance could be considered his ability, but he is a trained lawyer who rises to the ranks to Assistant District Attorney. He’s also a budding investigator, who puts two and two together, except when it comes to Walters whom he hasn’t yet connected as She-Hulk.
Rivals in the Courtroom
Buck’s competitive attitude and sexist condescension towards rival lawyer Jennifer Walters causes a lot of conflict between the pair. His misogynist comments challenge her to the point where she storms off in his presence. Unbeknownst to him, she absconds because of her magnificent ability to transform into She-Hulk. Buck also has a sour opinion of She-Hulk because he believes she's responsible for the death of an innocent, plus she often damages or uses his sports cars. He comes to realize that he misjudged She-Hulk.
Few Allies in Number
Buck’s allies are few in number, amounting to Sheriff Morris Walters and his parents, though he keeps things close to the chest when it comes to the latter.
A Lawyer’s Lawbook
When Buck was following Walters in her car, he spotted the She-Hulk ahead of her in the street. Worried for Walters’ safety, he rammed his corvette into the savage monstrosity. Thinking he had saved Walters, he watched as her car crashed and bounced off a bus and careened off the overpass and into a flammable tanker. The vehicle went up in flames and She-Hulk pulled Jill Stevens out, Walters’ best friend, but she had perished in the crash. The world believed that it was Jennifer Walters driving the car and she let them think it. Afterward, Buck erroneously thought the She-Hulk had killed Walters.
He encountered She-Hulk again on a bridge and accused her of tearing it up and killing Jill in cold blood[3]. Little did he know, it was a plan between Jill and She-Hulk that went awry when he intervened. While acting as a detective, he joined Walters’ childhood friend Dr. Daniel Ridge, who goes by the nickname Zapper, and stuck his nose in the middle of a face-off between She-Hulk and grieving Sheriff Morris Walters—Jennifer Walters father, who also believed She-Hulk had killed his daughter. Morris had a formidable weapon strapped to his chest which he discharged with She-Hulk taking the blast. Zapper tried to stop Morris from taking another shot and Buck didn’t understand why he’d protect a killer that wasn’t human. Morris threatened them to get out of the way and when they didn’t, he struck both Zapper and Buck with the weapon. She-Hulk came to and tossed a vehicle into the wall creating an escape path for Zapper and Buck. Though Buck was worried that She-Hulk planned to hurt Morris and wanted to help. Before he could, She-Hulk ripped the gun to pieces. When Walters was discovered in the rubble, Zapper helped make excuses for her seeming death.
After Walters cleared Roxxon Oil Company of any wrongdoing concerning disappearing oil, Buck saw her victory, as well as She-Hulk whom he kept coming across, as a problem. He was especially sour after his new Porsche fell into a river when a bridge crumbled, due to an earthquake, but She-Hulk also happened to be on it (since Buck was giving Walters a ride who then departed the car after being disgusted by him). He vowed that neither Walters nor She-Hulk would get the upper hand.
After Walters snapped at Buck in court, she later apologized but he used it as an opportunity to insult her. He also introduced her to Arnold and Mabel Harrison who believed their son was being held captive and hoodwinked by a powerful lecturer known as The Word. Buck thought it was a career-making case but informed Walters that if she found anything illegal, he’d step in, infuriating her.
When She-Hulk was caught and jailed, Buck pleaded to be the prosecutor and he got the job. He made time to visit her in lockup to gloat, still believing she was a savage, and he wanted to pay her back for wrecking his precious Corvette and his Porsche, both of which raised his car insurance. He got a new car, a Triumph TR-7, and just as he was getting out of the car, She-Hulk had escaped prison, threatened him, and stole his car, leaving him furious.
Buck tracked down Walters after she left her legal briefcase behind during a court hearing and when he got ahold of her by phone, he relayed that her father was worried about her. Walters hung up on him after telling him to mind his own business, which made him question her dodgy behavior. Buck used his official power to trace the call, discovering that she was at The Experimental Neuro-radiology Center at UCLA where Dr. Michael Morbius, AKA Morbius, the Living Vampire, was being detained prior to his trial. He suspected that Walters was going to represent the mass murderer but knew if he warned her that it would end her career, she wouldn’t listen. Instead, Buck leaked the story to the papers, hoping to put public pressure on her to quit. He admitted his hand in the leak to Walters’ face after overhearing Sheriff Walters yelling at his daughter for taking such a client.
Motivated to get some dirt on She-Hulk, he sought out a report on Walters’ car since it had gone off the rails and seemingly killed her. The auto mechanic reported that the brakes had been tampered with as well as the ignition and the gas pedal was jammed wide open. Buck realized that She-Hulk wasn’t trying to kill the woman driving, Jill, she was trying to save her. Feeling powerful guilt over his interference, Buck sulked and walked away from the auto mechanic. He presented his findings to Sherriff Walters, clearing her name. Sherriff Walters called off his all-points bulletin.
The next time Buck and Walters were on opposing council, he could barely deliver cross-examination, having shifted from the cocksure A.D.A. that he was. He traveled home to his parents, wracked with guilt. Wanting to be alone, he went to his room.
After a handful of felons were wiped out, Sheriff Walters called Buck in to have his office investigate. He suspected it was Nicholas Trask, the underworld leader that had his wife and Jen’s mother Elaine murdered. Meanwhile, Buck continued to struggle with grief and guilt over Jill’s death.
