She-Hulk's Anatomy

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©Marvel Comics, Savage She-Hulk, No. 1, February 1980

She-Hulk's Artistic Surgeons

Dish Out More Cheesecake

She-Hulk's body has been drawn anatomically incorrect since 1980. As Jennifer, she weighs 140lbs and is 5' 10". As She-Hulk, she has a base weight of 650 lbs and height of 6' 7". That means that when Jennifer becomes She-Hulk, the additional 10" of height enables her to carry the near 400% increase in bone mass, muscle tissue, and superhuman gamma-radiated strength. Everything on She-Hulk becomes enlarged, elongated, and engorged. In many ways, the Savage She-Hulk is her own phallus as she becomes a super-erect and frustrated member in society. Another post-feminist interpretation is that her "supersize-me" body enables her to deal with equal rights issues that she could not handle as a normal sized woman. This interpretation also comes into play during her second run as Sensational She-Hulk. Current issues of She-Hulk as cheesecake and weightlifter are synonymous with the idea of a poised woman comfortable with her sexuality on public display but emphatically more so in the bedroom. There's more to this thirty-one year old She-Hulk than a pretty green face and muscular body, so it is necessary to visit her origin physiognomy.

In the initial origin phase of the Savage She-Hulk, petite Jennifer becomes masculinized when she changes into her superhuman alter ego. The Savage She-Hulk is a prime example of how popular culture in the comic book form interpreted the social changes for women. Through out her introductory storyline, Criminal Defense attorney Jennifer Walters is consistantly undermined by assistant District Attorney Buck Bukowski. His male ego is directly threatened by Jennifer's success as he embarked on a sexual harrassment campaign to put her back in her place.

©Marvel Comics, Savage She-Hulk, No. 2, March 1980

                                                       Two years later in January 1982, right before the Savage She-Hulk is about to lose her comic book series due to low sales, she becomes the pin up sex kitten familiar with the Good Girl image. Here she is curvy, not too muscular, her facial features are soft and inviting as are her breasts. Her usual angry scowl is now a smile. She questions "Who says it isn't easy being green?" She-Hulk has come a long way from the petulant and puny Jennifer Walters. She-Hulk had become comfortable in her green skin, was sexier sans the masculine features, and accepted who she really was, a new kind of superheroine. The same could be said of the eighties woman who broke the glass ceiling and promoted the active and intelligent image of women.

©Marvel Comics, Savage She-Hulk, No. 24, January 1982

The Sensational She-Hulk arrived after seven years of respite.Though She-Hulk made appearances in other Marvel Comics, she would not appear in her own solo series again until 1989. This time around, her personality was paired with moxie and her new body showed she had not been sitting at home eating bon-bons. Notice her arms in her first issue. Even if she had supernatural strength, She-Hulk's weight-lifting certainly paid off. Rather than losing breast tissue, as any hard-core female bodybuilder does, She-Hulk's breasts defied reason and grew a few sizes. Perhaps the extra-skin from chiseling her jaw and cheekbones went to her breasts. Additionally, it is evident that she also spent time at the salon with her wavy hairstyle, manicured nails, and perfect make-up.

©Marvel Comics, Sensational She-Hulk , No. 1, May 1989

The Sensational She-Hulk issues above depict two near nude She-Hulks. She-Hulk is questioning why she is being made to jump rope in the nude on the far left. Incidentally, the frames following the jump rope stunt reveal she had been wearing a skimpy bikini all along. She protested that she was a well-educated lawyer, while in the middle cover, She-Hulk makes light of the Vanity Fair cover with the nude and pregnant Demi Moore. The cover on the right depicts She-Hulk all covered up, obviously the fans and critical press wanted to see a credible She-Hulk or her artist/writer David Byrne was injecting humor. Here, in the sarcastic form of humor, She-Hulk addresses the difficulty of sexuality and respectability. Notice the CCA stamp of approval on the issue in the middle. Byrne was known for pushing the limits of the CCA. Perhaps in partiality, Byrne could be credited with the inspiration for Marvel's walking away from the CCA in 2001.

She-Hulk's comic books show her as a bodybuilder. Her musculature is more refined, making her a better superheroine and role model.

Though She-Hulk could withstand bullets her clothes often got ripped to shreds. In her trade paper back, a raggedy shirt ensemble exposes her green nipples. It's quite a fetish statement.

Another part of She-Hulk's anatomy, not well investigated, is her mouth and tongue. From left to right her mouth is open and inviting, showing her perfect pearly white teeth. Her tongue is inconsistently green suggesting she is less gamma-radiated when the artist/writers are not paying attention because it has nothing to do with her anger levels. This inconsistency is more so with new She-Hulk's of Horn, Slott, and David, as opposed to Kraft and Byrne's. Another theory is that she may have contracted some sort of STD which alternates the color of her tongue at random. That would be a Space Tongue Disorder, not a Sexually Transmitted Disease.

Aside from the inconvenience of She-Hulk's occasional clothing loss, is her shapely gluteus maximus. The frame in the middle suggests that She-Hulk may have been out riding horses for too-long. The third frame exposes the new work-out wear which had a tendency to ride-up. She-Hulk may want to have that altered for comfort reasons. Super-wedgies are not comfortable!

She-Hulk as the peaking justice and sword is again anatomically incorrect. Take a look at her left leg, viewers right. Muscles don't curve in like that unless there is some critical DNA missing. Furthermore, even starving people don't have abdominal muscle definition like that, where is her six pack in relation to her diaphragm?