Elizabeth "Betty" Ross is the love interest of everyone's favorite jolly old green giant, The Incredible Hulk, aka Bruce Banner. She made her first appearance in the Incredible Hulk #1. In this issue, including Bruce Banner and her father, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross also made their first appearance, which was published in 1962. It has been confirmed that General Ross, aka Red Hulk, will be appearing as early as the upcoming Black Widow movie.
It is important to note that Betty herself undergoes important transformations where she could be linked to the upcoming Marvel TV shows. With this link, she could be a key character for the MCU going forward, as the "Hulkverse" seems to be expanding in the upcoming phases.
Incredible Hulk #168
Being the love interest of the Hulk means your life will always be in immediate danger. Sadly, for Betty, she is captured by the villain M.O.D.O.K and subject to experimentation. She is exposed to a higher level of radiation than Bruce. The result is, she becomes an insane, lethal woman hybrid creature called the Harpy. The first appearance of the harpy is in Incredible Hulk #168.
In addition, her link to the MCU is her imprisonment by M.O.D.O.K. Marvel is in development with Hulu for an adult animated comedy television show featuring M.O.D.O.K and his personal life. Speculation-wise, comics do not tend to rise in value due to animated shows, but with Marvel, anything is possible. To conclude, the book has a great cover and it is a very affordable price from 1973.
Hulk #15 (2009) & Hulk #16 (2009)
Poor Betty! She cannot catch a break! MODOK and other villains get ahold of her again for more experimenting. Betty is subject to the same process as her dad and transforms into the Red She-Hulk. She is brainwashed and actually engages in fights with Bruce. Bruce does save the day and bring things back to normal for Betty.
Betty makes her first cameo appearance as Red She-Hulk in Hulk #15 (2009). The issue does come with a 1:15 variant cover by Ed McGuiness. Her first full appearance as Red She-Hulk comes in the next issue, Hulk #16 (2009). This issue comes with a 1:15 and 1:200 variant cover done both by Ed McGuiness. Raw sales for both appearances are pretty affordable if you grab the regular covers.
If you are really all in with Red She-Hulk, consider picking up Hulk #14 (2009). Weirdly enough, this is the first cover appearance of the character. She does not appear in this issue until issue 15. This issue also comes with a 1:15 variant cover by Ed McGuiness.
Hulking to the End
To sum up, the love interest of a major Marvel character cannot be overlooked. My spider senses tell me Red She-Hulk may not play the anti-hero role like in the comics. With She-Hulk getting her own show and maybe showing up in Spider-Man 3 (fingers crossed), the "Hulkverse" is getting much bigger. Also, Mark Ruffalo does not appear to be leaving his current role as the Hulk. So we should expect much more from the "Hulk Family" down the Marvel pipeline.
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