She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #4
Back To Bone
Now:
At the facilities of the Time Variance Authority, She-Hulk is finishing up paperwork to transfer a time-displaced member of the Avengers into her custody. Taking a break, She-Hulk is visited by Mr. Mobius of the TVA who has brought her coffee. While he has a moment with her, he asks Jennifer to help the TVA fill in a gap of information of her activities in the recent past....
Sometime Earlier
Jennifer had returned to the town of Bone, Idaho to help the Green Cross with the relief effort following her rampage through the town. Pushing herself too hard, Jennifer is told to take a rest by Gary Swanson, the creator of the Green Cross. The job is hard, thanks to the spell that the Scarlet Witch previously cast upon her that makes Jennifer Walters invisible to anyone who wishes the She-Hulk harm. As most people in Bone hates the She-Hulk for her rampage, she is invisible to them. She takes advantage of the break to call her psychologist, Doc Samson, for some advice. He is busy working on her Gamma Charger device that will help her change into the She-Hulk. However, he informs her that it will only be able to trigger the transformation manually after it gets a gamma reading from her She-Hulk form. Unfortunately, for Jen, she hasn't be able to turn into She-Hulk since her battle with Titania, no matter how hard she tries. Samson suggests that she goes to a therapy session that is being held in a local high school gym.
When she goes there, she discovers that it is a support group for victims of her rampage through Bone. She is upset to discover that the people of Bone are not buying the Avengers cover story that it was the Hulk who went on a rampage. Her solace that nobody was killed is also quickly shattered when a young woman named Kristy Porter fears that her husband Travis is dead as his body has not been found. Jennifer is so horrified by this prospect she bursts out of the meeting in tears. That evening, while sleeping with other volunteers in the gym she has a nightmare where she turns into the savage She-Hulk and is swarmed by angry locals. Unable to go back to sleep, Jennifer goes outside and helps Gary Swanson with the relief effort. Around dawn, they are called to a collapsed street where a body has been pulled. Kristy identifies the dead man as her husband Travis. As the site is closed off as a crime scene, Jennifer decides to turn herself in.
However, when she arrives at the sheriff’s office, she is invisible to the officers there because of the Scarlet Witch's spell. This is good fortune, as she overhears the sheriff talking about how Travis' credit card was used after the rampage to hire a private eye in the next county. She calls the private investigation agency on her cell phone, unaware that she is overheard by Gary. Confirming that Travis was a client, Jennifer decides to look into this deeper. To this end, she takes advantage of the spell that makes her invisible to those who wish She-Hulk harm to snoop around undetected. That night she decides to investigate the site where the body is found. However, someone tries to bury Jennifer alive. She is able to partially transform into the She-Hulk, but she isn't strong enough to keep the debris off her for long. She is miraculously saved by Gary Swanson who uses a backhoe to dig her out. By this point, Jennifer has reverted back to human form and found what she was looking for.
Pulled out of the hole, Jennifer reveals that Kristy Porter murdered her husband Travis. Kristy denies this, but Jennifer produces an envelope that has evidence proving her case. Photos that Travis had taken proving that Kristy was having an affair. Hoping to inherit his money, she murdered him and used She-Hulk's rampage to cover it up while she tried to find the evidence. However, the only people who can hear her explaining everything are Kristy and Gary. When Jennifer says this disaster is all her fault, Gary corrects her, saying that it was his. Gary explains that he blames himself for the Hulk and every gamma spawned creature after the fact because he was the teenager who dared Rick Jones to go out on the test site on the day of the accident that created the Hulk. He goes on to say that he felt so guilty, he created the Green Cross to give relief to those whose lives were affected by the Hulk's rampages.
Deciding to take responsibility for what happened, Jennifer is able to transform into the She-Hulk and reveals herself to the town. Surprisingly, the people of Bone are very accepting of her apology and accept her assistance in the reconstruction effort....
Now:
Jennifer concludes her recollection and after explaining her need for a Gamma-Changer to the transformer, for now, is introduced to the Avenger she rescued: The Two-Gun Kid.
Recurring Characters
She-Hulk, Time Variance Authority (Mobius M. Mobius) Gary Swanson, Doc Samson
Continuity Notes
Mr. Mobius asks what She-Hulk was up to for an eight-month gap of time. This is a gap in publication between She-Hulk Vol 1 and She-Hulk Vol 2 and should be considered a topical reference as it is a measurement of real-time between publications. The Sliding Timescale compresses time so that every four years of publications into a single year of time in the modern age of Earth-616. As such, modern readers should interpret a shorter gap between publications.
The She-Hulk's rampage through Bone, Idaho occurred in Avengers Vol 3 #72-75.
The Scarlet Witch cast a spell to make Jennifer Walters invisible to anyone who wishes harm to the She-Hulk was put into place in She-Hulk #1.
Any statements that identify this story taking place in the year 2005 should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.
Continuity Errors
This story states that Gary Swanson was the person who pressured Rick Jones into going out on the gamma test site circa Incredible Hulk #1. In Incredible Hulk #268, Rick Jones recalls that the name of the person who egged him on was Johnny. It could be that Rick Jones misremembers Gary’s name, Johnny and Gary aren’t that different.
