BIOGRAPHY - page 9
The Fantastic Four called up many of their friends and allies when Onslaught threatened Manhattan, including She-Hulk. [Fantastic Four (1st series) #416] However, only some were present in the final battle at Central Park, where the Fantastic Four and most of the Avengers’ active roster seemingly gave up their lives to stop Onslaught from evolving into an even greater threat. The Black Widow was the last Avengers chairperson, and she tried to reassemble the team with a new roster even with the founders and most of the mainstays gone. She-Hulk was interested, but she couldn’t commit to the team as she was overseeing a class action lawsuit against RoXXon Oil out on the west coast for months. [Avengers Annual ‘99]
[Note: In Heroes Reborn: The Return, the She-Hulk from the Franklinverse was seen boarding the ship back to Earth-616 along with the other heroes lost to Onslaught. This is an error as She-Hulk was active with Heroes for Hire and other places during the disappearance.]
Jennifer’s renewed interest in civil litigation brought her to the attention of Jeryn Hogarth, who lured her away from the D.A.’s office full-time to become a partner at his firm. Hogarth’s old client Rand-Meachum had been absorbed by Oracle, Inc., and Jeryn wanted Jennifer’s expertise with superhuman law to assist Oracle’s team known as the Heroes for Hire. Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch, was acting CEO of Oracle, but Jen made it clear to him she intended to act with the team in a legal capacity, not as a hero. The Heroes for Hire had taken some public relations damage in recent weeks, so Jennifer encouraged them to work with the U.S. Marshal’s office to hunt down the Punisher. [Heroes for Hire (1st series) #8-9]
She-Hulk couldn’t resist the call to action for long, though. Shortly after the Avengers returned, alive and well, a call went out for all former members to assemble, and She-Hulk answered. She chose to return to Heroes for Hire instead of joining the Avengers’ new permanent roster, but it 
was only a matter of time before she was lured out of the office again. [Avengers (3rd series) #1-4] Heroes for Hire got involved in a scheme by the Master of the World to sterilize the planet to prevent over-population, and they needed all hands on deck. She-Hulk joined the mission, but she cautioned Hammond she would be billing him at her hourly legal rate. [Heroes for Hire (1st series) #12]
The Heroes for Hire were drafted into another conflict between the High Evolutionary and Exodus’ Acolytes when their member, White Tiger, was revealed to be one of the Evolutionary’s creations. The High Evolutionary was himself mad, however, and he devolved the Heroes’ advance team when a conflict broke out with his Knights of Wundagore. She-Hulk and Thena were called in to assist the injured Heroes and reclaim Isotope E from Wundagore to stabilize their evolutions. Several factions sprouted up at Wundagore to complicate matters, including the Evolutionary’s evil creation Man-Beast, forcing the Knights to battle the Heroes to protect their lord. She-Hulk battled Acolytes and New Men over the course of the siege. [Siege of Wundagore crossover]
Jennifer had not had a good working relationship with Luke Cage and Scott Lang on the Heroes. As a former D.A., she had preconceived opinions about the trustworthiness of ex-cons. Cage liked 
a challenge, though. On a mission with She-Hulk, he bet her he’d reach the targets before she could, and won a dinner out with her. Jennifer got to know Luke and his history better over dinner, and she warmed up to him considerably. Their date was interrupted with a robbery by Titania and Absorbing Man (off the wagon and back to crime), but only briefly. After dinner, Luke walked Jennifer home and got a kiss goodnight as her apartment. [Heroes for Hire (1st series) #17] Unfortunately, Heroes for Hire disbanded shortly afterwards, and so any potential romance between them fizzled once they were no longer working together. [Heroes for Hire (1st series) #18-19]
Meanwhile, the Avengers had been having a tough time since they reformed. A quasi-religious organization called the Triune Understanding had orchestrated a public relations campaign against the Avengers for their own purposes. A roster shake-up led to Captain America quitting as chairman and demands for greater minority representation on the team to appease detractors. This in turn meant the team was forced to accept the Triune’s personal super-hero representative Triathlon on the roster. The Vision was on extended leave of absence and the Scarlet Witch was touchy about replacing him completely, so the new chairwoman Wasp reached out to She-Hulk. Jan hoped Jennifer would be a suitable temporary replacement for the Vision, and her light-hearted and outgoing personality would help off-set the recent Triunes and tribulations. [Avengers (3rd series) #27]
She-Hulk performed exactly as Jan had hoped, being a reliable and uncomplicated addition to the team. Having missed out on the recent troubles, Jen entered with fresh eyes and could be welcoming to Triathlon in ways longer-serving members could not. During her tenure, the 
Avengers battled Kulan Gath, Killmonger and the Maggia. The Vision returned after the clash with the Maggia and so She-Hulk’s temporary membership ended, although she did return for one last clash with Count Nefaria. [Avengers (3rd series) #27-34] Jennifer’s legal practice was interrupted a few more times when she became in demand. The Human Torch recruited her for an ad hoc Fantastic Four against the Gideon Corporation when Reed and the others were trapped in the Negative Zone. [Fantastic Four (3rd series) #42-44] When the Defenders went mad and formed the Order, the Avengers assembled many reserve members, but She-Hulk was kept on the bench. Feeling she was sidelined because of her ties to her rogue cousin, Jennifer joined up with the remaining sane members of the Defenders to assemble a group of female counterparts for the Order. These Defenders successfully helped restore the Order to their true selves and end Yandroth’s curse over them. [The Order (1st series) #3-6]
She-Hulk kept tabs on her cousin and tried to help Bruce when she had the opportunity. When the Hulk was framed for killing an airliner full of innocent people, Jen Walters defended him in court. Unfortunately, even after clear evidence was uncovered proving him innocent, Jennifer faced pushback getting the charges against him officially dropped. Military and government agencies had their own agenda for the Hulk, and the law was manipulated against him, despite She-Hulk’s efforts. [Hulk (1st series) #11, Incredible Hulk Annual 2000] Still, she stood by him when Bruce was diagnosed with ALS and was liaison between Bruce and the Fantastic Four when Reed Richards helped the Hulk with an experimental treatment for his illness. [Incredible Hulk (3rd series) #32]
Jen was unable to stay out of the Avengers’ orbit. She was called back into action several times as Kang the Conqueror threatened 21st century Earth, stirring up trouble around the globe. She-Hulk was summoned from the reserves when Deviants attacked China on Kang’s behalf, driving them back underground. [Avengers (3rd series) #43-44] She and Hercules fought with the armies of Europe during the land invasion by Kang’s own forces. [Avengers (3rd series) #46] She ended up imprisoned in Kang’s camps along with many other heroes during the period where 
Kang forced a surrender by the nations of Earth. [Avengers (3rd series) #51] Still, the Avengers eventually rallied and the heroes were freed from captivity. She-Hulk was present in Paris when victory was declared over Kang and gathered at Avengers Mansion afterwards to celebrate Kang’s defeat. [Avengers (3rd series) #54-56]
She-Hulk officially returned to the active roster of the Avengers when the world’s major cities began disappearing through dimensional rifts. Many governments lost their capitals and the United Nations turned to the Avengers to lead them through this crisis. Avengers who were existing leaders of nations like Black Panther and Namor aided the efforts, while Jen dug deep into the United Nations’ charter and international law to support Captain America and the others in propping up global order. Jennifer hadn’t had an all-night cram session like this since law school 
and worked herself to exhaustion. As She-Hulk, she also got into the field when the culprits Scorpio and Zodiac were uncovered. After the crisis was averted, the team received official status as a member nation of the UN representing superhumans, with Avengers Mansion becoming the Avengers Embassy. She-Hulk chose to remain on the roster full-time during this transition. [Avengers (3rd series) #57-61]
However, there was an unexpected complication. She-Hulk’s new teammate, Jack of Hearts, was a human reactor powered by Zero radiation. Jack’s own radiation-based abilities were passively absorbing her gamma rays whenever they were close. Over a period of weeks, Jennifer 
experienced the occasional dizzy spell and partially shifted back to human, but she dismissed it as signs of the stress she was under with the UN. The problem reached its tipping point when She-Hulk and Jack of Hearts were part of an Avengers unit entering the Red Zone, a cloud of flesh-eating bacteria scouring South Dakota. Jen was cautious enough to wear hazmat gear along with the less-invulnerable Avengers entering the Zone, but her suit was damaged when they found A.I.M. at the military research site from which the cloud had escaped. Captain America ordered Jack of Hearts to fly the exposed She-Hulk out of the cloud before she succumbed further. This close proximity between them was the final straw for the gamma/Zero interaction. She-Hulk first reverted back to an even-more-vulnerable Jen Walters, before her unstable gamma levels shifted again to call forth a truly savage She-Hulk. Possessing uncontrollable rage and even greater strength than normal, Jennifer fled into the wilderness, and the Avengers had to remain and fight the Red Zone before they could pursue her. [Avengers (3rd series) #65-68]
Now a human with an unstable gamma form, Jennifer went on the run looking for help from her cousin Bruce. While the Hulk was an expression of Banner’s rage, She-Hulk was now an expression of Jennifer’s fear, as reverting back to petite Jen Walters for the first time in years left her feeling vulnerable and out of control. She tracked Bruce to the remote town of Bone, Idaho, but the Avengers located Jennifer at the same time. The Scarlet Witch tried to comfort Jennifer, but she succumbed to her fear and unleashed a savage She-Hulk. The Avengers tried to contain her rampage, joined by a visiting Hawkeye and Bruce Banner, but the fighting merely escalated as Hulk battled Hulk, to the detriment of the town. Iron Man radioed back to the mansion for Jack of Hearts, hoping Jack could intentionally disrupt the gamma mutates this time and end the 
devastation. Jack had his own issues controlling the build-up of his Zero Power, but he flew out to Idaho and impacted the Hulk v. She-Hulk fight scene with a Zero radiation blast zone. Both Hulks reverted to human form from his Zero blast, and Jack used the last of his available power to restore Jennifer’s “gamma equilibrium” before collapsing. The media chose to blame Bruce Banner for the devastation in Bone and, to her shame, Jennifer went along with it. [Avengers (3rd series) #72-75]
The Avengers had to decide what to do with She-Hulk and Jack of Hearts, as the radiation of their conflicting powers made it dangerous to keep them both on the roster. It was agreed that one of them needed to leave, and most Avengers supported keeping Jennifer on the team. Besides seniority, she had a number of friends on the team, while Jack’s attitude and behavior had been on a downward spiral because of the other problems he had been suffering with his powers. Some Avengers even thought so little of Jack that they worried he might have deliberately (or carelessly) affected She-Hulk. Despite the tense atmosphere, Jack of Hearts made a point of apologizing to She-Hulk and expressing how he would never intentionally hurt her. In the end, the question became moot as Jack soon chose to die, launching his exploding body into space to rid the world of a child murderer, rather than continue on as he was. [Avengers (3rd series) #76]