I don't like Jonathan Hickman's charts and diagrams, but I was just thinking I could almost use some to try and picture some of this continuity: how long were
Betty and Bruce married, then how long was she dead, then how long was she Red She-Hulk before talking to Bruce? That might help the reader get where she's coming from this issue: from 2011,
the Incredible Hulks #626, "The Spy Who Smashed Me, part one: When in Rome" Written by Greg Pak, pencils by Tom Grummett, inks by Cory Hamscher.
Bruce had apparently thought he and Betty could get back together again, but that may have been jumping the gun: Betty doesn't seem to want anything to do with him. Or the army, as she smashes a truck. She's then approached by someone dressed as a "gladiator," which she thinks is Bruce cosplaying from
Planet Hulk, but it's actually Tyrannus. (We saw the next issue
some time back, but
Dale pointed out Betty could feel sympathetic towards him from
Incredible Hulk Annual #17. OK, he kidnapped her and bitchslapped Rick, but still.) Man, I've even seen
Tyrannus wearing that helmet before on the blog; and I didn't think he usually got that kitted out: he wasn't a lead-from-the-front kind of guy.
Meanwhile, Bruce and his brainiac fan Amadeus Cho are wondering what to do about Betty, who may be smashing stuff just to smash stuff. Uh, no: Bruce admits, the house she smashed was the last place they lived together. So it's somewhat understandable? Feel like if Bruce smashed something like that in an emotional fit, it wouldn't even be mentioned. But Betty was now in Italy, and Cho explains her gamma power may be shifting: if she changes three or four more times, she wouldn't be able to change back. Is...is that bad? Jen didn't seem to have a problem with it. Maybe warn Betty that could happen, but the choice should be hers. Somewhat typically, Bruce opts to go alone on this one, with any other Hulks: Jen, Rick, Skaar...I was already concerned this was another of Marvel's periodic contractions, where they decide to rollback to a lone hero and phase out auxiliary versions, like your Scarlet Spiders, Beta Ray Bills, War Machines. The original
She-Hulk would be a prime example, but Jen had been around since 1979 and feels more central than most:
Jame Rhodes predates her by a year, but wouldn't be Iron Man or War Machine until 1983 and 1993, respectively. Technically,
Ben Reilly predates them both? But, we're getting off-topic.
With an unstable-molecule tux and some gear from Amadeus, Bruce heads over to Italy, and finds Betty the center of attention at a museum bash. (I like that Grummett draws her somewhat more petitely, possibly to contrast with Red: there are times in Peter David's
Hulk run where Betty is as built as any superhero!) Bruce steps in, but immediately kills the mood by bringing up her gamma levels. Betty's a little buzzed, but also there with Tyrannus: Amadeus warns Bruce that his credentials for the party check out, but can't talk Bruce out of Hulking out at the sight of Betty and "Rommy" dancing. Still, not wanting Betty to do the same, he takes off outside, to get shot at by the cops. Betty takes a healthy drink, but that may be part of the plan: Tyrannus lets the Hulk see him carrying the unconscious Betty, then tells Hulk she was locked in the museum's vault...I didn't think the Hulk was dumb anymore, Bruce.
Tyrannus and Betty played Bruce, to get into the vault, then Red She-Hulk knocks him out. They leave the Hulk to take the rap, as Amadeus tries to figure out what was stolen: Pandora's Box.
Betty still had another crossover before getting depowered; and she and Bruce may have tried to reconcile again: Bruce may have wrecked that one, but Betty was still upset when he died in
Civil War II. I see why she turned into the Harpy in
Immortal Hulk:
way more body horror in that image. But I wouldn't mind seeing her as Red She-Hulk again, and maybe happy? Happier?
