She-Hulk #18
She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #18 is the narrative hinge that pivots Dan Slott's post-Civil War run directly into the World War Hulk event: it is the issue in which Jennifer Walters discovers the Illuminati's secret exile of Bruce Banner, attacks Iron Man in a rage, and is stripped of her gamma powers via S.P.I.N. (Super-Power Inhibiting Nanobot) technology — marking the first deployment of that weapon against a hero and seeding the depowered-Jen subplot that runs through the World War Hulk tie-ins. By forcing Jen to fight back as a plain-clothes lawyer rather than as a gamma powerhouse, Slott crystallizes the series' defining thesis: Jennifer Walters is a formidable figure with or without green skin. The issue also features the in-story cameo presence of Amadeus Cho remotely assisting the decryption of Illuminati footage, tying the title tightly into the broader Pak-era Hulk mythology unfolding across multiple Marvel books simultaneously.
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Dan Slott had been writing She-Hulk continuously since the 2004 relaunch, and by 2007 the title was navigating the crosscurrents of Civil War and the Planet Hulk/World War Hulk mega-events that constrained Marvel's line-wide storytelling. Editor Tom Brevoort oversaw the arc, which required Slott to coordinate closely with Greg Pak's Incredible Hulk run — the story is explicitly continued in Incredible Hulk (Vol. 2) #106 the same month. Rick Burchett, who had debuted on the series in the previous 'Laws of Attraction' arc, drew all four parts of 'Planet Without a Hulk,' giving that stretch of the run a visual consistency it had not previously enjoyed.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Written by Dan Slott, penciled by Rick Burchett, inked by Cliff Rathburn, colored by Andy Troy, lettered by Dave Sharpe, and edited by Tom Brevoort; cover by Greg Horn.
- Part 4 of 4 of the 'Planet Without a Hulk' arc (She-Hulk Vol. 2 #15–18); the story continues directly in Incredible Hulk (Vol. 2) #106.
- First deployment of S.P.I.N. (Super-Power Inhibiting Nanobots) against a hero: Iron Man uses the technology, developed under Project: Achilles, to strip Jennifer Walters of her She-Hulk powers after she attacks him upon learning of the Hulk's exile.
- Jennifer discovers, via an LMD video playback, that the Illuminati — including Iron Man, Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, and Black Bolt — secretly exiled Bruce Banner into space, a revelation that drives her into World War Hulk as a supporting character.
- Amadeus Cho (alias Mastermind Excello) appears in the issue assisting the decryption of encrypted Illuminati files, connecting Slott's She-Hulk to Greg Pak's concurrent Amadeus Cho/World War Hulk storyline.
- The Hulkbusters sub-plot resolves the 'Planet Without a Hulk' arc's gamma-villain hunt: the team tracks a gamma signature to one of Bruce Banner's old labs and apprehends the Leader, who had faked his death.
- Collected in She-Hulk Vol. 5: Planet Without a Hulk (2007 trade paperback, ISBN 978-0785123996), which collects She-Hulk (2005 series) #14–21, and again in She-Hulk by Dan Slott: The Complete Collection Vol. 2 (2014, ISBN 978-0785154709).
- Dan Slott's overall She-Hulk run, of which this issue is a culminating chapter, was cited as a direct inspiration for the Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022).