Mallory Book

Mallory Book
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	She-Hulk #1 (May 2004)
Created by	Dan Slott
In-story information
Species	Human
Place of origin	Earth
Team affiliations	Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Book (previously Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway) Fourth Wall Enterprises
Partnerships	Awesome Andy
Notable aliases	The Face Who's Never Lost a Case

Mallory "Mal" Book is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is depicted as a lawyer who is a rival of She-Hulk, and later the secret supervillain chairwoman of Fourth Wall Enterprises.

The character made her live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022), portrayed by Renée Elise Goldsberry.

Publication history

The character first appeared in She-Hulk #1 (May 2004) and was created by Dan Slott.

Fictional character biography

Mallory Book is a lawyer employed by Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway. She has a reputation for not only being beautiful, but also for being a tough defendant in court. She had garnered the nickname "The Face Who's Never Lost a Case", which does not intimidate Jennifer Walters. In her first appearance, Mallory shows disdain towards Jennifer having to step out as She-Hulk so she can save the world. ^[1] In her next appearance, she represents a man who Doctor Strange had "wrongfully" captured. When the man is let go, Strange admits that he will be gunned down days later, shocking Mallory. ^[2] Mallory begins working with Jen, but this does not change her opinion of her. ^[3]

When Mallory represents Hercules, who has caused considerable physical injury to Constrictor, in court, Jen suggests that Hercules settle and pay damages. ^[4] While being reprimanded by the law firm's senior partners for losing the case, Mallory is seriously injured when Titania attacks the firm and attempts to kill Jen. ^[5]

As Mallory recovers from the attack, Awesome Andy secretly assists her with physical training and develops a crush on her. ^[6] Mallory starts defending villains in court, representing Ox and Boomerang against Young Avengers Stature and Vision. This angers Jen, who felt that representing villains is ethically wrong. ^[7]

Mallory begins falling for the Two-Gun Kid, but comes under the influence of Starfox's powers, forcing her to fall in love with Awesome Andy instead. ^[8] Andy copies Starfox's powers, thus continuing to influence Mallory into loving him. When Mallory learns that she has been manipulated, Andy becomes guilty and stops influencing her. Mallory becomes furious with Andy, demanding he stay away from her. ^{[9] [10]}

Mallory takes revenge on Jen when she defends the Leader, Samuel Sterns, in court and makes Jen testify against him. On the stand, Mallory forces Jen to list all her sexual encounters as She-Hulk to both humiliate her and build a defense for Sterns that gamma-radiated superhumans have no control over their actions. ^[11] Mallory's successful defense of Sterns results in her being made a partner of the firm, and she seems to make peace with Jen. ^[12]

Mallory assigns Jen the defense of Arthur Moore, a supervillain named 'Dark Art' whom Jen subsequently assaults as She-Hulk after Moore shows her false illusions of him murdering children, resulting in Mallory being furious with Jen and accepting her resignation from the firm. ^[13] Mallory is ultimately revealed to be the supervillain chairwoman of Fourth Wall Enterprises, seeking to bring an end to all metafictional beings. Having gained Jen's respect, Mallory elects to temporarily shut down the She-Hulk Project due to the cancellation of the ongoing She-Hulk title, with her board speculating she will resume her plans once a new ongoing She-Hulk series featuring her is commissioned, lest "Book's cancelled" become a reality. ^[14]

In other media

Mallory Book appears in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law , portrayed by Renée Elise Goldsberry. ^[15] This version works in the same law office as Jennifer Walters. She is not as malicious as her comics counterpart, slowly becoming friends with Walters when she declares her as her best friend.

References

1. She-Hulk #1 (May 2004)
2. She-Hulk #2 (June 2004)
3. She-Hulk #3 (July 2004)
4. She-Hulk #9 (January 2005)
5. She-Hulk #11-12 (March - April 2005)
6. She-Hulk (vol. 2) #5-6 (April - May 2006)
7. She-Hulk (vol. 2) #1 (December 2005)
8. She-Hulk (vol. 2) #6 (May 2006)
9. She-Hulk (vol. 2) #11 (October 2006)
10. She-Hulk (vol. 2) #14 (February 2007)
11. She-Hulk (vol. 2) #19 (July 2007)
12. She-Hulk (vol. 2) #21 (October 2007)
13. She-Hulk (vol. 2) #29 (July 2008)
14. She-Hulk (vol. 2) #38 (April 2009)
15. Anderson, Jenna (July 26, 2022). "New She-Hulk Featurette Confirms Renée Elise Goldsberry's Character". ComicBook.com . Archived from the original on July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022.

External links

• at Marvel Wiki