Shanna, the She-Devil [Paperback]

Frank Cho (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Shanna | Publication Date: November 22, 2006

She's bold, she's beautiful, and she's your best hope of escaping the raptors nipping at your heels. She's Shanna, the She Devil! Award-winning creator Frank Cho brings you Marvel's bodacious jungle girl as you've never seen her before: Reborn from Nazi science gone mad to battle her genetic destiny on an island full of prehistoric horrors. Shanna has never looked this good... or acted this bad. Collects Shanna, The She-Devil #1-7; Steranko covers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (November 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785110380
• ISBN-13: 978-0785110385
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #662,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eye-popping, November 19, 2006

By 

Tom Knapp "Rambles.NET editor" (Lancaster, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shanna, the She-Devil (Paperback)

Frank Cho knows women, and few comic-book artists today can draw them like he can. For a regular fix of Cho's women (and anthropomorphic animals, if that's your thing), check out "Shanna the She-Devil," an eye-popping miniseries collected by Marvel. Talk about your action-adventure delights. You've got a heavily-armed paramilitary group marooned on a remote island. You've got a Lost World environment, with dinosaurs and other giant predators galore. You've got copious death and maimings. You've got a lost Nazi fortress where scientists labored over illegal genetic experiments. You've got a plague, little medication and dwindling supplies.

And you've got Shanna, a biologically engineered killing machine with a body that ... well, while the dying won't be pleasant, at least the view will be nice as you go.

The nice thing about Cho's women is, they look real. Sure, they typically have a bra size (if they typically wore bras, that is) higher than most folks' IQs. But gravity works, and when Cho's women move, their bits move accordingly. They're also appropriately muscled; no teenyboppers with a waifish bod, spindly limbs and strength like a rhino here. Shanna has muscle definition, and when she lifts a velociraptor and hurls it over a tree, her arms and legs are thick enough to make it look possible.

If you haven't caught on yet, the art in Shanna is extraordinary. And not just because Shanna wears loincloths, either; the characters and settings are realistic and expressive, and the dinosaurs just rock. I mean, there's teeth and claws and blood and wow! Oh, and the story's good, too.

No, really. The Lost World plot isn't the most original tale in the world, but heck, you rarely go wrong when you throw dinosaurs, Nazis and superstrong supermodels into the pot and stir. It's told well, with interesting plot and character development. I mean, I'd read this story even if Shanna weren't so, well, Shanna.

But I'm glad she is.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.NET editor

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Surprisingly Fun Romp, January 20, 2008

By 

CB - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shanna, the She-Devil (Paperback)

I should say up front that I am a big fan of Frank Cho and, as a result, simply had to pick this book up. As a comic book artist, he is probably among the top five or six pencilers/inkers working today, and Shanna The She-Devil proves why: brilliantly illustrated and entertainingly written (also by Cho), it's a worthwhile and energetic read for the more mature comic book fan.

Readers should take note, first off, that this "Shanna" is not the Shanna the She-Devil who is married to Lord Kevin Plunder, better known as Ka-Zar of the Savage Land; nor is this Shanna the sort of "ultimate" re-vamp of the character that Marvel seems to fond of these days. Essentially, this story is totally out of regular Marvel continuity - the only reason the main character is called Shanna is because, as one character, "Doc", notes, she happens to look like a "certain" comic book character.

Here's the story: A group of soldiers, lost for three years on a dangerous island filled with prehistoric horrors, finds a secret Nazi lab harboring a dark experiment in genetic manipulation. The final survivor of this is "Shanna," a clone built to be the perfect killing machine. She is taken in by the soldiers, and educated by the kindly "Doc," in the ways of humanity. However, when a mysterious plague suddenly strikes the soldiers, it is up to Shanna, "Doc," and two other soldiers to set out in search of an antidote, braving a horde of hungry raptors along the way. Can they survive - and make it back to the camp with the antidote in time?

You can tell that Cho had a blast working on this comic - all of the standard elements of his art that you would expect are here: beautiful women, heart-pounding action, and dinos, dinos, dinos. There's also a healthy dose of Cho's trademarked bawdy humor, often at Shanna's expense, as well as plenty of (sometimes excessive) gore - to be sure, this isn't a comic book for children, by any means. This comic is, essentially, a creative take on the standard "10 Little Indians" scenario, with a group of people confronting a stalking horror that knocks them off one by one. However, it's a lot of fun and has a surprise ending. Highly recommended for any fan of Cho, or of a good comic book read. If you enjoyed this, you may also enjoy Frank Cho's entertaining comic strip, Liberty Meadows, Vol. 1, or Modern Masters Volume 14: Frank Cho (Modern Masters (TwoMorrows Publishing)) (Modern Masters (TwoMorrows Publishing)) which contains a great, long interview with the master interspersed with excellent artwork and sketches. Enjoy!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Frank Cho Draws Women the Way Women Should be Drawn, June 23, 2008

By 

Edward Lee "Trekscribbler (NCC1205)" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shanna, the She-Devil (Paperback)

"Frank Cho draws women the way women should be drawn." Yes. I said that, and a truer statement -- be it sexist -- has never been uttered. Nor will it. Ever. Cho has taped into the male mind, identified the perfectly voluptuous comic book heroine from those neutrons, and presents her here -- in vivid color and (thankfully) few clothes -- in SHANNA, THE SHE-DEVIL.

Now, about the story ...

There are a few a major hiccups here:

A group of military commandos serving an undeclared nation on an unspecified mission [apparently] crash on an unidentified island in the middle of nowhere. On the island, they find a deserted bunker [apparently] set up by the Nazis before the end of World War II where the nefarious scientists were [apparently] interested in recreating various species of dinosaurs AND engineering an Aryan race of blonde, voluptuous super soldiers. Think ABC TV's LOST -- without the pesky character-defining flashback -- coupled with Michael Crichton's JURASSIC PARK and you get the idea.

Ignore the fact that some of the decisions these soldiers make don't make sense. For example: why would you ignore the safety of staying in a secure and deserted Nazi military bunker in favor of setting up camp in the wild of an island virtually overrun with velociraptors? Ignore the fact that no real satisfying explanation for the why, when, how, or where are ever really ponied up -- at least, not satisfyingly -- for the characters, events, and situations. Even ignore the fact that this first installment doesn't really even bring the whole affair to a satisfying conclusion. SHANNA, THE SHE-DEVIL is about SHANNA, THE SHE-DEVIL, and nobody -- I mean nobody -- can put a pencil to paper and create a creature more lovely, more inspiring, more adventurous, more vivid, and more primal than Frank Cho.

This book is about the lady, and this lady ain't no tramp.