She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #17

Mar 12

Mar 12 She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #17

Shock After Shock

In the comic book reference library of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg, and Holliway, two of Stu Cicero's assistants are complaining about the wasted value of showing a massive SHIELD helicarrier across a two-page spread of a comic book. When Stu suggests that instead of that they could feature a page of two nerds whining about it, his assistants begin to believe that something is different about Stu.

Meanwhile, She-Hulk continues to hunt down old Hulk foes as part of SHIELD's new Hulkbuster unit. Along with Agents Clay Quartermain, Crimson and Cheesecake they capture the Glob, some Toad Men, the U-Foes, and Zzzax before returning to base. There they are met by SHIELD's resident inventor, Gaffer, who is not happy to see the She-Hulk aboard the helicarrier. This is because Jennifer is the first superhero responsible for taking down a SHIELD helicarrier, ruining their perfect record. They then report to Tony Stark, the new director of SHIELD. With the information from the latest Project: Achilles captures, Tony insists that he be debriefed by She-Hulk, much to the chagrin of Clay Quartermain. While down below, Gaffer brings the containment unit carrying Zzzax and gets a status report on how they are doing with the other Hulk foes they have captured. As they discuss the difficulty they have experimenting with non-corporal beings, the two scientists fail to see a surge of energy leap out of the Zzzax containment unit and strike a control panel.

Back at the offices of GLK&H, Mallory Book is furious that her relationship with Awesome Andy has been plastered all over the tabloids. She meets with Arthur Zix and insists that they sue the publisher, but Zix declines to do so. This angers her even more, and Mallory vows to get her supervillain client base back or else there will be hell to pay. While back on the Helicarrier, She-Hulk and Tony Stark have just finished fooling around in bed. Jennifer asks him how he can get away with sleeping around without getting a negative stigma attached to him. Before he can answer, the automated systems come to life and try to blast them. As She-Hulk disables the weapons, Tony gets into his Iron Man armor and they head out to investigate the cause of the attack. While in the mess hall, the rest of the agents of SHIELD find the helicarrier's defenses come to life, this includes Life Model Decoys like Cheesecake. While in the hanger, She-Hulk and Iron Man are suddenly attacked by the SHIELD's fleet of flying cars.

As Iron Man tries to fend them off, She-Hulk is approached by what appears to be Nick Fury. This Fury explains that the ship is under the control of Zzzax, including every Nick Fury LMD. Suddenly, Jen is swarmed by an army of Fury LMDs, all repeating various phrases that Fury has said in the past. It's then that Zzzax begins gloating over his ensuing victory, as he suddenly begins releasing the captured Hulk foes. Back in New York, Mallory Book goes to the Bar With No Name to confront the villains there over dropping her as their lawyer. They all mock Mallory for her relationship with Awesome Andy, leading to the Two-Gun Kid attacking them. After the fight is over, Mallory points out that the Bar With No Name has a strict no violence policy and she wasn't in any danger. Although this didn't do much to help her with her problem, she decides that she needs to do something big to win back her reputation. The Two-Gun Kid, however, doesn't like the sound of that at all. Back on the helicarrier, Clay Quartermain gets down to the lab, and is surprised to see Gaffer and the other scientists safe and most of the captured villains knocked out. Gaffer informs Clay that the weapon developed as part of Project: Achilles was a success, although Vapor and X-Ray managed to escape.

Gaffer quickly repairs the flaws in the Zzzax trap and tells Clay that he needs to isolate the creature and attack him. Meanwhile, She-Hulk has trashed all of the Fury LMD's while Iron Man tries to regain control of the ship by direct linking into it. When Clay arrives and tells them what's going on, Jennifer realizes that Zzzax will try and take over Iron Man's armor. Her hunch proves correct and as the energy creature tries to jump into the armor, She-Hulk redirects the line into her trap, capturing the villain. With the battle over, Jennifer is berated by Gaffer for the LMDs that she destroyed. Suddenly, one of the decapitated Fury LMDs begins talking about sending her cousin Bruce on a mission. Jen believes that this LMD might hold the key to the mystery of the Hulk's disappearance.

Recurring Characters

She-Hulk, SHIELD (Iron Man, Clay Quartermain, Agent Cheesecake, Agent Crimson, Gaffer), Nick Fury LMD, Mallory Book, Artie Zix, “Stu Cicero”, Two-Gun Kid, Zzzax, Glob, U-Foes (Vector, X-Ray, Vapor, Ironclad), Abomination, Wendigo, Vulture, Shocker, Batroc the Leaper, Mongoose, Lightmaster, Electro

Continuity Notes

Gaffer complains about how She-Hulk lost a SHIELD helicarrier to a bunch of sentient Cockroaches, he is referring to the events of Marvel Graphic Novel #18. However, She-Hulk has pointed out times that they were destroyed by Blade (Blade Vol 4 #1), Wolverine (Wolverine Vol 3 #27), and Spider-Woman (New Avengers #23)