She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #23

Mar 12

Mar 12 She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #23

Jaded: Episode 2

Working as a bounty hunter, the She-Hulk was attempting to bring in Rocky Davis. However, things didn't go according to plan as she has run afoul of Rocky's cousin, the Absorbing Man, and his wife, Titania. Because Titania was shrunken in size for incarceration, Creel had managed to get his spouse into the ear of She-Hulk, causing her extreme pain. The Absorbing Man uses this to his advantage, and their fight takes them crashing into the Mall of America. They land in the middle of a movie theater, where one of the patrons tries to shoot Creel with a gun. Carl knocks the man aside, allowing Jennifer enough time to gain her footing to knock him back outside. However, she still has Titania somewhere inside her ear pounding at the inside of her head.

While back at Rocky Davis' home, the authorities have arrived and are shocked to see the woman posing as Jennifer Walters coming out of the house with Rocky Davis as his prisoner, while her head is hanging off her broken neck. "Walters" shows the officer a warrant and deflects his questions about her injury and the weapon she is carrying. Once inside her RV with her bounty, Davis demands to know who she is, being smart enough to know that she is not human. As she pops her neck back into place, "Jennifer" tells him that she is his arresting officer and that is all he needs to know. With the prisoner secured, this woman gets into the driver seat of the RV and heads in the direction that Absorbing Man and She-Hulk went.

Meanwhile, back at the Mall of America, She-Hulk is still struggling with the pain in her ear when she is ambushed by the Absorbing Man. However, he strikes her with his ball and chain so hard he dislodges Titania from her ear allowing She-Hulk to recover. She then knocks Creel into a massive structure built out of plastic toy blocks. The Absorbing Man foolishly absorbs the properties of these toys and is easily shattered by a blow from his foe. As Creel reforms, he and She-Hulk continue their fight as the Jennifer Walters impersonator arrives on the scene. Using a tracking device, she manages to find Titania scurrying across the floor. Elsewhere, She-Hulk and Carl have taken their fight to a walking path that goes through a shark tank. During their brawl, the shark tank is shattered flooding the tunnel and dumping the sharks into it. Creel absorbs the properties of one of the sharks and uses the added strength to overpower She-Hulk. However, the woman posing as her alter-ego arrives with Titania she forces him to stop fighting. However, no sooner has Creel let She-Hulk go does the other woman toss Titania into the maw of one of the sharks. Crying out for his wife, Creel loses his concentration and absorbs the properties of the water around him and dissipates.

Later, She-Hulk is driving back with Rocky Davis as their prisoner with her partner, a Skrull named Jazinda. Jennifer insists that she used her Skrull physiology to survive having her neck broken she lost their bet, although Jazinda disagrees and tells Jennifer to pay up.

Recurring Characters

She-Hulk, Jazinda, Absorbing Man, Titania, Rocky Davis,

Continuity Notes

The movie preview that is being screened is the Incredible Hulk film. The narrator states that this film is coming soon in summer of 2008. The movie in question and the date referenced should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.

The reason why Titania is diminutive in this story is that she was shrunk in size when she was imprisoned in the Ant-House circa She-Hulk #12.

Carl Creel mentions all the times that She-Hulk hurt his wife. She-Hulk and Titania have had a long going rivalry since the first time they fought circa Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #7. Since then they have clashed in Solo Avengers #14, Sensational She-Hulk #49, Heroes for Hire #17 and She-Hulk #11-12.