Today, when Marvel or DC want to introduce a brand-new character, they usually do it gradually, by bringing them into the pages of an established comic. So, that’s a big difference between now and 1980. What’s similar? Legacy heroes.
But what drove them to create She-Hulk was copyright concerns. Their Marvel TV show was doing well, and they were worried that CBS execs would create a female version of the licensed hero, making it hard for Marvel to get ownership of a new supercharacter. Also, Stan Lee needed something to do. She Hulk was his last creation for Marvel for 12 years, and really the last one that ever mattered.
Issue #1 was an origin story: Jennifer Walters, Bruce Banner’s cousin, gets shot and needs an infusion of blood.
Note the upper narration box, which acknowledges (kind of) that TV Hulk wasn’t named Bruce.
Her cousin provides it. And then…
She Hulks out. Only…
She’s a smart version, who can work with cops.
It’s a fairly simple story and issue–something Stan was always really good at–but one thing they do right: Banner doesn’t Hulk out. This is about She Hulk, not him, and they let her origin story take the spotlight.
One of the top 10 John Buscema comics.