Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Avengers (1998) (New Editions) #9

Avengers: The Search for She-Hulk

Rate this book
With her powers out of control, She-Hulk goes berserk in the town of Bone, Idaho, and the assembled Avengers may not be enough to stop her, even when Hawkeye and the Hulk return to aid them! Plus, the Wasp and Yellowjacket versus Whirlwind in Las Vegas! And when Ant-Man's daughter gets kidnapped, an Avenger sacrifices his life to save her!

Collecting: Avengers 71-76

136 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2004

1 person is currently reading
134 people want to read

About the author

Geoff Johns

2,718 books2,408 followers
Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.

His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.

Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
20 (7%)
4 stars
60 (21%)
3 stars
137 (48%)
2 stars
52 (18%)
1 star
11 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
Profile Image for Ray.
Author 19 books435 followers
December 12, 2021
Meh ending for Geoff Johns' brief Marvel period. And usually his collaborations with Scott Kollins are much better than this.

The Ant-Man and Wasp chapter was just cringe, and while She-Hulk in a "Smash!" version is a good idea (even embraced for a while in the current Avengers), the execution was just an average story. With a final disappointing issue and that's it, if you want more from this writer then it's only DC for the next two decades

Disclaimer: I am not a fan of Bendis's New Avengers which immediately followed this. It would be many years until Avengers became any good again...
Profile Image for Craig.
6,366 reviews179 followers
September 13, 2023
It's not a great book, but I rather liked most of it. Johns' work at DC far overshadowed all of his Marvel time, and his run on Avengers was sandwiched between two wildly popular other writers, so I think this one tends to be overlooked. There's a nice variety of storylines that play out, including one with Ant Man Scott Lang and his daughter Cassie that's quite good, one with Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne that's icky, a Jack-of-Hearts that's sad, etc. The main story is that Jennifer Walters has been turned into a rampaging Hulk, and the Avengers deploy to save her and the day. Curiously, it's not the Avengers on the book's cover, but Hawkeye and Wasp who accompany Wanda, Cap, and Tony. There's a "Previously" page before the start, a very nice addition that all sequential graphic novels should have, rather than a note listing ten other books you have to read if you want to know what's happening in the current one. The art is mostly okay (at least it doesn't look like a computer-generated cartoon), except for the embarrassing and degrading ongoing depiction of Jennifer romping and rampaging in her underwear. (If you ever wondered what the Green Giant would put on his garage wall for cheesecake pix...) It's a fun, quick read and better than average.
Profile Image for Nicolo.
3,471 reviews204 followers
March 30, 2013
I have been waiting for collected edition of Geoff Johns' brief but acclaimed run on the Avengers. Marvek released four premiere hardcovers of that run and I was lucky enough to have found 3 of those volumes in a bargain bookstore. I just need one more volume to complete the set. Avengers: The Search for She-Hulk is the last of the series and my recent find. I have three of the original individual issues of what is collected here and I am glad to finally read the complete arc of Johns' possibly last Marvel work for the foreseeable future.

I'm fortunate to have a copy of issue 71 of which Marvel did not include the first few provocative pages that should have opened this collection. I am not sure if this will be included in a future hardcover omnibus but what was censored is a first couple of pages of a standalone issue where Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne were rediscovering the spark of their once failed relationship and creative use of their size-shifting abilities.

As Johns' final say on the characters, he resolved a lot of the hanging plot threads he initiated, like Jack of Hearts unstable powers, his testy relationship with his teammates, especially Scott Lang and She-Hulk's savage transformation. He did left a parting gift for the incoming writer by returning popular classic Avenger Hawkeye to the fold.

Steve Sadowski provides the art for the bookend standalone chapters and Scott Kolins does the main She-Hulk multi-parter. The contrasting art styles of Sadowski and Kolins makes the art change a little jarring but Johns' scrpting each chapter to suite the skills of his collaborators mitigated the transition.

This a good story, Johns's is one of my favorite writers of the medium but one thing that I couldn't help but wonder if She-Hulk uses undergarments made from unstable molecules. She manages to retain a modicum of modesty despite her transformation shredding her outer clothing.

I am glad to finally read the complete story. Now I just need the second volume to complete the set.
Profile Image for Anthony.
813 reviews62 followers
December 7, 2020
I don't know what they were thinking when they assigned this artist to do an arc that centred on She-Hulk, but my god, he draws her horribly. She's overly large and muscly and quite frankly, she looks disgusting. There's no sense to it at all.

The art that book ends the She-Hulk story is better. Although you do have to wonder what Geoff Johns was thinking when he came up with THAT bedroom scene between Janet and Hank.

Also, Johns does a lot with She-Hulk, Jack of Hearts and Scott Lang in this arc. All 3 of which Bendis would either kill or have turn insane in his debut Avengers arc DISASSEMBLED. Funny how comics work, isn't it?
Profile Image for Mike.
1,586 reviews149 followers
March 21, 2014
Wow. Underwhelming writing, bad-but-not-so-bad-that-I-can-tell-he's-an-amateur art. What goes on in pre-Bendis Avengers? Glad I didn't start out with this schlock.

I know Johns has gone on to great writing for DC, and is blowing everyone away with his satisfying and prolific output, but this sure ain't it. Humble beginnings indeed. This story didn't grab me at all, and never really made sense as anything but "let's let Johns do whatever kind of team-up foolishness he wants to - this book ain't selling anyway so what harm can it do?". No wonder Marvel let Bendis shred this down to its roots.

The art? I can't quite out my finger on it - does the artist just know how to draw gargantuan bodies, but never studied heads, faces or people who don't show up in airplane-pulling strongman competitions? it's a dog breakfast of "good potential" but "needs a lot of practice". Too bad he had to take it out on us.
Profile Image for Jordan Anderson.
1,742 reviews46 followers
August 24, 2025
Geoff Johns has delivered some absolute gems in his career (Red Zone being the crown jewel of his Avengers run), but Search for She-Hulk feels like a decent side quest rather than a main event. There’s definitely fun to be had here but compared to Johns’s stronger Marvel work, it just kind of peters out.

The premise starts strong: Jennifer Walters, aka She-Hulk, is on the run after losing control of her powers, and the Avengers have to track her down before things get ugly. There’s some solid action sprinkled throughout, including a few pages of Hulk versus She-Hulk, which is as chaotic and smashing as you’d hope. Toss in Hawkeye cracking jokes to break the tension, and you’ve got some classic Avengers flavor.

But here’s the issue: while it entertains in bursts, it never really measures up to its own potential or to the source material it’s pulling from. The story doesn’t feel particularly urgent or impactful, especially after the high-stakes brilliance of the previously mentioned Red Zone. Instead of pushing the characters or the narrative forward in any meaningful way, it mostly treads water until it wraps up with a shrug.

Not a bad read by any means; it’s colorful, fun in spots, and Johns’s dialogue is as sharp as ever but this isn’t the best showcase of what he’s capable of. Coming from the guy who gave us some of the greatest DC stories ever and one of the most gripping Avengers arcs of the 2000s, this feels more like a casual filler episode than an epic event.
Profile Image for Nicko.
208 reviews1 follower
April 5, 2021
This was a really fast read for me. It’s the worst of Johns’ run, but it wasn’t terrible. The main arc of this book is She-Hulk, and it’s basically her coming of age. Having to believe in herself that she is good enough. We get a bit of backstory on her and how she was raised and what kind of home she grew up in and how Bruce, her cousin, played into that. It starts out pretty nice but for 3 issues, becomes full of bombast with her hulking out with Bruce and the Avengers trying to find a way to contain their fight. Johns’ smartly utilizes Jack of Hearts, who’s been a character he’s put focus on throughout these 3 books, and uses his power to get Jennifer back to normal. Jack then sacrifices himself at the end when a serial killer kidnaps Cassie and Jack has just had enough and believes he’s found his purpose and sacrifices himself in space (with the serial killer) using his daily “internal bomb” that goes off. It’s kind of a cool finish to his arc not knowing a lot about the character. A bit of a disappointing finish to Johns’ run, but WORLD TRUST and especially RED ZONE were really good..
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Todd.
984 reviews14 followers
May 22, 2013
Shulkie and Hawkeye!

I really want to read some of the build-up to this point with Jack of Hearts. It was weird reading about his death in only the 3rd volume I've ever read with him.

It was good to see Hank and Janet kicking ass. It's a bit strange that it was happening while the rest of the country was fighting a huge plague and somehow they didn't hear about it.
Profile Image for Sananab.
291 reviews15 followers
January 14, 2023
It was very ambitious and not really capable of taking on such big themes. An little subtlety would have gone a long way here. I still enjoyed it, though. There were a couple moments where the stories really shined, for all their faults.
Profile Image for Ronan Barradas.
51 reviews
October 22, 2018
Bruce Banner nem sempre foi um herói, diversas vezes ele foi um grande problema para os Vingadores. Muito forte, furioso e incontrolável, já foi o mote de muitas histórias dos Heróis Mais Poderosos da Terra. O que vemos em Marvel Apresenta #18 é quase isso, só que com a sua prima, Mulher-Hulk, na função de quebra-tudo-que-vê-pela-frente.

Jennifer Walters, ao contrário de Banner, sempre teve a capacidade de controlar seu alter-ego. Mas isso mudou devido a radiação do Valete de Copas e agora a advogada vive fugindo tentando reprimir o monstro que a habita. Em suma, nada de novo fora o gênero do monstro.

O roteiro é um clichê "Hulk destrói o mundo" escrito por Geoff Johns e a arte é bem desenvolvida por Scott Kolins. O desenrolar dos acontecimentos é bem previsível do início ao fim, destaque maior para a participação do Gavião Arqueiro e para seu plano de solução final.
Profile Image for Rocky Sunico.
2,277 reviews25 followers
October 2, 2023
This was such a weak story. The aftermath of the last story has She-Hulk on the run with her powers being rather unstable after Jack of Hearts inadvertently absorbed a significant amount of her radiation. Thus the limited Avengers who can try to track her down and it leads to a bad Hulk out situation. Then it becomes a series of weird efforts by different individuals to subdue her including a rare appearance by Bruce Banner.

Despite the damage that comes with at least one being out and about, the fallout of this story seems rather minimal. Sure, you want this sort of story to get wrapped up by the end of the arc, but even this resolution felt a bit trite.

The volume also includes two standalone stories at the beginning and the end of the book and both were quite weird - especially the resolution that they come up with for Jack of Hearts.
Profile Image for Derrick.
308 reviews28 followers
October 21, 2017
Entertaining if fast-reading story. (I read the entire hardcover in about 30 minutes.)

Some of the art lets this book down, though, and the ending didn't pack the emotional punch it was supposed to do. (probably because I am not that familiar with Jack of Hearts)

Plus, did we really need to see the first issue's villain (Wasp and Pym story) graphically beat and murder a hooker just to prove he's evil?
Profile Image for ***Dave Hill.
1,026 reviews28 followers
December 21, 2017
Man, Geoff Johns' run Avengers was dark. This one has Jennifer Walters, the She-Hulk, out of control in her fear-driven rage, seeking out her cousin Bruce Banner, and being pursued by her team-mates. It's ... not an enjoyable for the small town where this all ends up, nor for me as a reader.

Also in this volume, the Final Fate of the Jack of Hearts. Screw you, Geoff Johns.
Profile Image for Michael Keskeys.
148 reviews
April 4, 2025
Filling in the gaps on my Marvel knowledge, had no clue the relationship between Jen "She-Hulk" Walter's and Jack of Hearts, as seen in Rainbow Rowell's She Hulk run had its roots 20 years prior. We also see a precursor to savage She-Hulk that would be a part of another Avengers run in recent years.
Profile Image for Argenis López.
6 reviews
July 16, 2021
Comencé por estos cómics según explican en internet como introducirse a los cómics de Marvel, es interesante como exploran la vida de los vengadores más allá de su rutina lucha contra los villanos. Acá si mal no recuerdo empiezan los atisbos de la locura de Wanda
Profile Image for Christina Nightengale.
72 reviews1 follower
October 27, 2014
The story about She-Hulk being triggered into full Hulk mode by fear of failure is interesting. I continue to love She-Hulk. She knows how to be fun and serious. I relate to her so much! Jack of Hearts stole the show in this though! I'd never known or cared much about him before, but after this I love his character! He is sooo underrated!!! You get to see just how much he's going through and yet he's still trying to be a hero! I thought Scott Lang was better, but after reading what a jerk he was to Jack of Hearts in this I kind of hate him! He was cold, insensitive, hypocritical, self-righteous and really mean! Other characters even kept telling him he was being a jerk and he kept doing it anyway! I was really appalled at Scott Lang's behavior! He compares getting to see his daughter only on weekends to Jack having to be in isolation for 14 hours a day where radiation is RIPPED from his cells! Jack says how painful the process is. When Jack points out how ridiculous a comparison that is, Scott tells him he makes everything about himself. Can Scott Lang be thrown out of the Avengers yet? What's with Ant-Man and being a colossal jerk?! At least Hank Pym takes some responsibility for his bad behavior in the past while he and Wasp are on vacation in Las Vagus. The best issue was the last one in this, #76- Full House. It is a tear jerker though. Ana amazing story! I now what to read a ton more about Jack of Hearts! <3
Profile Image for Ezma.
312 reviews2 followers
August 4, 2016
I give this a soft 4, maybe a 3.5. It's a shame because Geoff Johns obviously went from this to much better and bigger things over at DC, so you'd think that his Avengers run would truly be something to behold. But at the end of the day, it was just "alright".

The main story of this collection is the Avengers fighting against a more Hulked-out She-Hulk (despite being titled The Search for She-Hulk, they find her in the first issue of the arc). And it's just alright. There's a couple cool moments, especially when Banner himself gets involved, but it never manages to make a greater point.

This is bookended with two standalone issues. One of them is about Hank Pym and The Wasp on a Las Vegas getaway, and the other involves the current Ant-Man, Scott Lang, having his daughter captured. Again, both are just fine. Despite being the end of Johns' run, the last issue is just there, which is a pretty good description for all of Johns' Avengers run.

The art is fine. The writing is fine. There's not much fault in it. But at the end of the day, it's hard to give any of this a hard recommendation. You read it, shrug, and move on with your life.
Profile Image for Sud666.
2,330 reviews200 followers
February 10, 2016
Finally! I had been reading Geoff Johns run on the Avengers and at first I was not impressed. The writing was weak and not at all like what I was used to seeing from Johns. He finally improved with the Red Skull storyline, but he injected so much of his doofy liberal beliefs into the writing of the story it actually became a hindrance and caused the quality of what would have been a great story to be just ok. But, with the Search for She-Hulk-I see the Johns I enjoy.

She-Hulk has gone on a rampage and run away from the Avengers. They track her down to a small town in Idaho, where she is looking for her cousin Bruce Banner. The rest of the story is vintage Johns. Exciting and borderline epic. It's Scarlet Witch, Iron Man and Cap (soon to be joined by Hawkeye) versus an enraged She Hulk and , yep you guessed it, the Hulk. It had excitement, a some good humorous moments (the look on Cap and Hawkeye's face when Hulk grabs Caps shield is awesome), and a touching story under it all. The artwork was well done. I really enjoyed this story.
Profile Image for Sean.
4,173 reviews25 followers
July 9, 2012
When these individual issues first came out, that was my introduction to Geoff Johns. Johns is now one of the biggest names in comics and I have been a fan of his ever since. First there is a touching/twisted story involving Wasp/Giant-Man/Whirlwind. It was great! Then the main portion of the book, dealing with the rampaging She-Hulk. The storyline and plot were very good with Johns making characters like Scott Lang and Jack Of Hearts interesting. The art by Kolins and Sadowski was fantastic! Overall a really good read that sometimes gets overlooked.
Profile Image for Jeffrey Jelmeland.
171 reviews4 followers
September 18, 2012
Yet again Geoff Johns delivers us a fantastically crafted tale of humanism and heroism. Much as it pains me to say it, Geoff Johns may actually craft a better story than Kurt Busiek, and I have been a die-hard fan of Busiek's work for decades. This volume primarily focused on She-Hulk, as is evidenced by the title, but more surprising to me was the character growth of Ant Man and Jack of Hearts. In the end the story was more about them than She-Hulk, and I find that I am ok with that shift of focus. I wish I had the next volume ready at hand because I want to see where this story goes next.
832 reviews16 followers
July 29, 2014
#3 in a series of 4 hardcover collections of this story arc, and not quite a standalone. The Avengers are falling apart, members have left - including Hawkeye - and She-Hulk (Banner's cousin) is on the loose and uncontrollable. Destroying a small town already affected by Banner's anger, it takes the Avengers pulling together to pull it all back from the brink.

Illustrations are good (was a bit worried by the coverart), but suspect I'm missing out on some of the emotional depth by coming in near the end
Profile Image for Devero.
5,016 reviews
March 3, 2015
Questo volume raccoglie i 4 numeri de "Alla Ricerca di She-Hulk" che on sono poi granché, più due storie singole che invece sono delle vere perle. Nella prima Henry Pym e Jan Van Dyne, tornati a frequentarsi e in vacanza a Las Vegas, si scontrano con David Cannon, la cui psicopatia è messa totalmente a nudo. Nella seconda il Fante di Cuori, malato terminale, aiuta Scott Lang a salvare sua figlia, scegliendo la via del suicidio.
Sono queste due ultime storie che danno due stelle in più.
Profile Image for Mitchell Friedman.
5,851 reviews229 followers
October 25, 2015
Pretty good read. A little bit of Hank Pym and Janet. A little bit too much Scarlet Witch and Jack of Hearts. But mostly She-Hulk. From this we get a little bit of Jennifer's childhood with Bruce. Otherwise kind of a random Avengers issue, though at least it felt somewhat thought out. I did like the Ant Man and Cassie bits too. 3.5 of 5.
Profile Image for Holden Attradies.
642 reviews19 followers
March 23, 2016
I picked this up because it centered on She-Hulk. I enjoyed that aspect of the story, although the art could have been better.

As far as the rest of it goes... I was a little lost but pretty damn intrigued. I haven't read a lot of Avenger stuff from this period and this leaves me wanting to get there so I can enjoy it, this author seemed to do a good job.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.