Profile: Jarella

Jarella
First appearance: The Incredible Hulk 140, 1971. She was the queen of a magical kingdom on a subatomic planet called K’ai.

Current status: dead and buried

Was subjected to the following act of discrimination: in The Incredible Hulk #205 in 1976, she was killed by a falling slab of concrete from a damaged building while the Hulk was clashing with a robot called the Crypto-Man while saving a little boy from the same fate.

What’s wrong with how this was done? Nothing at all, really. It was pretty well handled in its time. Jarella died heroically while saving an innocent life from harm’s way.

Was there anything good to come out of this? Jarella’s story made for a very good one in its time. Even after her death, there was still much to be wrapped up, as the Hulk had to return her to her home planet where she could be given a decent burial, as was done in 1980.

It’s an all but overlooked story that, if and when published in trade paperback, would be quite worthwhile to try out.