Issue(s): She-Hulk #15, She-Hulk #16
Cover Date: Apr-May 81
Title: "Delusions" / "The zapping of the She-Hulk"
Credits:
David Anthony Kraft - Writer
Mike Vosburg - Penciler
Frank Springer - Inker
Mary Jo Duffy - Editor

Review/plot:
These two stories utilize Jennifer Walter's lawyer side, which is nice to see, and also include some interesting development for the She-Hulk's character. At the same time there continues to be really goofy stuff going on with She-Hulk's love life and with her father.

On the legal side, Zapper's father, a doctor that works at a free clinic in a ghetto, is being sued by a young lady with mental problems that claims that he didn't do a good job detecting her mental illness. The woman is a singer, and at first it just seemed like she had a case of Lead Singer Syndrome...

...but we later learn that she's delusional and makes up lies to cover up for her failures in life. Jennifer Walters, defending Zapper's father, eventually convinces the singer to take responsibility for herself, but her method of accepting responsibility is a suicide attempt. She-Hulk gets her to a hospital in time, but that obviously wouldn't be the end of it, and it's a pretty dark story.

The second story is equally serious. I have to be careful here because i don't have the scientific background to say if what's depicted in this issue is accurate. But the story is that She-Hulk comes across someone trying to sabotage a microwave tower that was built on top of a child daycare. He claims that the tower gave him cataracts and is likely damaging the children as well.

Eventually Jen agrees to take the case as She-Hulk, convinced that "microwaves can kill and main... and cause genetic mutations that will pass from generation to generation". Jen fails to convince the city commissioners to remove the tower, despite one of the commissioners, a doctor, agreeing with her. But later, as She-Hulk, she destroys the tower.

My admittedly cursorily research indicates that the concerns advanced by Walters' side in this story are unfounded. But there's no room for a nuanced scientific debate; more time is devoted to some really blatant sexism directed at Jen.

Most of it comes from a spectator at the hearing, who is really invested in seeing the "lady lawyer" lose the case..

...and after that happens is still not satisfied, so he steals a weird armored suit that was used at the hearing to demonstrate the safety of microwaves to try to kill her.

But of course, that puts him in conflict with the She-Hulk.

So big, so fast alert:

On the personal side, issue #15 starts with She-Hulk and Zapper having a sexytime at the beach.

But he gets jealous when She-Hulk transforms back into Jen Walters and goes home to her live-in boyfriend, Richard Rory.

So things are pretty weird there. It had been looking like Jen and She-Hulk were the same personality, but this complicates things. Additionally, She-Hulk doesn't like transforming back into Jen and thinks to herself that she just might stop doing so.

And later we see Jen say that she wishes she was She-Hulk.

Regarding dad, it turns out he's got a love interest of his own. In this first scene introducing her, she's set up as an antagonist for Jen, but you can read her as having a legitimate point of view. In her later appearances she'll become more and more manipulative and eventually we'll learn she's a criminal out for revenge on Sheriff Walters.

Sheriff Morris didn't really need a third party helping him stay mad at Jen. Here's his contribution to the microwave tower debate:

Um, dad? I'm sure we could build you a tower even if it didn't have a microwave transmitter on it.

I continue to like the way Kraft scripts She-Hulk, having her call the cops "jerks", for example.

Even though the plotlines of these issues are the polar opposite of the previous Man-Wolf arc, i enjoyed them and think they worked well for the She-Hulk (even if the science behind microwave story is inaccurate, it works fine if you accept that it's the conclusion that Jen came to). And the conflict being set up between the Jennifer Walters and She-Hulk personas is interesting and going in the right direction. But as with last time, the subplots and supporting characters continue to be gratingly bad. No one needs to see She-Hulk rolling around on the beach with "Zapper".

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: These stories are unrelated but take place within the same day or so. Issue #15 ends with the She-Hulk delivering the singer to an emergency room, which puts her on the police's rader, and she's hiding from them at the beginning of issue #16 when she discovers the guy tampering with the microwave tower.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Essential She-Hulk vol. 1