Issue Description

Janet Van Dyne, aka the Wasp, gives Jennifer a tour of the apartment she is going to loan her. Janet comments that she is pleased to see that the cleaning staff has still been on the job while she's been away. Jen perks up at that, and hopes that the cleaning staff are a bunch of handsome hunks in tight t-shirts. Janet smiles and says that it is actually four old ladies with mops. Janet jokes that it must have been a long while since Jennifer broke up with Wyatt Wingfoot, and Jen says that its been long enough. While Janet shows her the view from the terrace, Jen double checks to make sure that Janet won't need the apartment. Jan assures She-Hulk that she's been spending most her of time lately in California with Hank Pym and the West Coast Avengers, so she can have this apartment all to herself.

Elsewhere, the Headmen continue to monitor the She-Hulk. Morgan is worried about whether things are going according to plan. Nagan tells him that he is worried about the wrong things and asks Ruby to assure him that the new accomplice they have hired will not fail in his task to test She-Hulk. Satisfied for now, Morgan returns to his cellular acceleration experiments.

Back at the apartment, Janet continues to give She-Hulk the tour. Janet says that Jennifer can take care of hiring her own staff, and Jen responds that she doesn't even have a job right now. She isn't sure if she can go back to being a lawyer now that she is She-Hulk full time.

Later, as Jen makes herself some popcorn and settles down to watch TV, she thinks to herself that she needs to start looking for a job tomorrow. Her TV program gets interrupted by a news report that flying saucers have appeared over Manhattan! She-Hulk races out to the terrace to find that the sky is filled with alien ships! She-Hulk wonders how so many ships managed to get so close without anyone detecting them, and why the Avengers and the Fantastic Four haven't responded yet. A green gloved hand presses a button on a remote control, and suddenly the ships open fire on She-Hulk! Jen is shocked that with 8 million New Yorkers to choose from, they started with her. As She-Hulk gets to her feet, a squad of Toad Men land on her terrace!

Meanwhile, a woman named Wheezi brings a handsome blond man reports on Jennifer Walters' legal career. The man is impressed with her credentials. "Jennifer Walters is exactly what I'm looking for!"

Back at Jen's apartment, She-Hulk is dodging fire from the Toad Men. Jen notices that it is odd that the fleet is still just hanging there in mid-air, and they have dropped only a handful of troops... all of them after her. Just then the Toad Men's aim improves--and they manage to nail She-Hulk with a barrage of fire! It doesn't do Jen any serious harm, but it destroys her sweater. Angry that they destroyed her favorite comfy sweater, She-Hulk snatches one of the Toad Men's weapons, and snaps it in half. As it breaks, she discovers that it isn't an alien ray gun--it is an ordinary rifle disguised with plastic gadgets!

Now that She-Hulk has figured out the truth, the Toad Men try to retreat--but Jen grabs a hold of one of them! Her suspicions are confirmed when she pulls off the Toad Man mask, and there is a human underneath! Jen guesses that they work for the same people who hired the Ringmaster, but before she can question him, he fires a gun point blank in her face! It doesn't hurt her, but it blinds her long enough for the "Toad Man" to slip away. She regains her sight just as her jumps over the railing of her terrace! Afraid that he just killed himself, Jen rushes to go see--and bumps face first into some kind of canvas, painted to look like the view from her apartment!

She-Hulk rips through it to find that the entire "invasion fleet" was part of a painted backdrop that was lowered over her apartment by a dirigible! Jen then catches sight of the "Toad Men" climbing the rigging back to the ship. She decides to beat them back by leaping her way up to the airship. She comes aboard and is greeted by Mysterio! She-Hulk recognizes him as a foe of Spider-Man's, who doesn't have any real powers but relies on special effects. He turns one of his illusions on her to disorient her, but Jen knows that it isn't real. She ignores what her eyes are telling her, and digs her fingers into the deck beneath her--ripping it up and tossing Mysterio off balance! She-Hulk grabs him and demands to know what is going on, but he sprays her in the face with gas from his amulet!

Later, Mysterio delivers She-Hulk to the Headmen! Nagan offers him membership in the Headmen, but he declines. He just wants to take his money and go. Nagan gives him the briefcase full of money, and Mysterio vanishes in a puff of smoke. Morgan worries that Mysterio will realize that the briefcase is really full of newsprint underneath a layer of counterfeit bills, and come back for revenge. Nagan tells him that as usual Morgan is worried about the wrong things. He assures him that he has already taken steps to insure that Mysterio doesn't bother them. Nagan then turns their attention back to helping their colleague Chondu, who has been driven insane by his inability to cope with the hideous, inhuman body with Nagan created for him. The Headmen now plan to transfer Chondu's head onto She-Hulk's body!! Nagan activates a buzz saw, and lowers it towards She-Hulk's neck!

The Sensational She-Hulk

Publisher

Marvel

Volume Description

Sensational She-Hulk Volume 1

This is one for the record books. In the late 1980's and early 1990's, Marvel had a breakthrough in new ideas. Ghost Rider was being printed on all black pages, the junior team New Warriors was at bat, and She-Hulk was making us laugh. Not in the conventional "What The--?!" (a series back in the 1970's) way, but in a parody of Marvel and the comic book industry. Before this book, She-Hulk was a secondary character: her story lines were arguably medium to weak and featured lesser-known characters. She suffered much as Supergirl had suffered in the shadow of her big cousin.

Then, something weird happened: John Byrne relaunched her long cancelled solo book. He was the same writer/artist who had put the She-Hulk on the Fantastic Four and developed her from a 2-D character to a very well-rounded and lovable hero. At first, the title followed the Fantastic Four pattern: there was an alien invasion in issue 2, a classic Golden Age hero in issue 4 (the Blonde Phantom), and the villainous Doctor was in issue 5 (Dr. Bong, not Doom - though she met a Doom later).

The rules were thrown out the window: She-Hulk was jumping pages, tearing holes in the paper of the page to escape, and often yelling at the writer. The series was stand-alone, as in not part of the dozen or so crossovers with an X-Men or Spider-Man title. Remember when the X-Men were funny? She-Hulk was sort of like that... with more laughs.

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