The Savage She-Hulk # 1
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: John Buscema
Inker: Chic Stone
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Cover Date: February 1980
Rating: 
With the premiere of “She-Hulk” just a day away via Disney+, I am going to take a tour of duty by reviewing some key She-Hulk issues, starting with “The Savage She-Hulk # 1” that brought back the duo of Stan Lee and John Buscema to tell the origin of one of Marvel’s most enduring heroes.
She-Hulk’s origin is just like the origins of Spider-Man, Captain America, and The Fantastic Four as it’s very memorable to the point that anyone can recite it by heart. In this issue, we meet Jennifer Walters, a criminal attorney living in Los Angeles who gets an unexpected visit by her cousin Bruce Banner (The Incredible Hulk; Tragedy strikes as Jen get shot by operatives of a crime boss named Nicholas Trask (Turns out Trask cross paths with Jen’s father who’s an L.A. county sheriff) so it’s up to Bruce to save her by giving her a transfusion of his own blood since they share the same blood-type and DNA, Bruce’s gamma-irradiated blood mixed with Jen’s anger suddenly transforms her into a She-Hulk when Trask’s henchmen tried to kill her while she was in the hospital.
Stan Lee’s writing never changes as proven in this issue because it’s straight up to the point where we get a beginning, a middle, and a satisfying ending that most fans will love and it really brings with it a true Silver-Age feel to it since this series kicked off at the height of the Bronze Age era while John Buscema’s artwork looks polished which I feel helps in making this origin story so astonishing. She-Hulk served as an Avengers and a member of The Fantastic Four over the years which really helped in getting her noticed after this series got canceled, her stellar work as an attorney was also put on display with much fanfare by later creative teams who got their chance to leave their mark on the character. Next to Matt Murdock, she excelled as a lawyer, but Jennifer Walters also turned out to be a sensational (pardon the pun) superhero all while being an integral part of the Hulk’s history and still is to this day.
Well, that’s it for me this week. I’ll be back with another She-Hulk review, this time I’ll take a look at the John Byrne era so be on the lookout for that. See you all next time.
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