Frank Cho: Devil Woman On His Mind
By Tim O'Shea
With this first issue of the series shipping this Wednesday, Frank Cho’s reinterpretation of Shanna, The She-Devil has been two years in the making. Originally conceived as a Marvel MAX series, the title has labor of love plastered all over it, with Cho, perhaps best known for his work on Liberty Meadows and Marvel Knight’s Spider-Man, rewriting and redrawing pages at a time. Now a Marvel Knights series, Shanna has been heating up the message boards in anticipation of this week’s release. Tim O’Shea talked to Cho about his new comic, and the year ahead for the artist.
[The illustrations that accompany this interview are courtesy of Frank Cho, and comprise a sneak peek at Shanna, The She-Devil #6!]
Tim O’Shea: Much has been made of the fact that the target audience/rating and look for Shanna has been modified in order to be reach a larger audience. Granted, comics by their nature are a visual medium, so the attention has been drawn to the visual changes made (elimination of nudity mainly). But in terms of the other storytelling aspects, the plot/dialogue/nonvisual elements, did you actually have to adjust the story that much, if at all?
Frank Cho: There weren’t too many changes that needed to be made. Sure there were few pages that had to be adjusted to fit the rating but overall the story didn’t suffer. I didn’t put any nudity for the sake of putting nudity. If the story didn’t call for a nude shot, I didn’t put it in. So the transition from Rated R to PG-13 was pretty smooth.
To be honest, it wasn’t the nudity that I was afraid of being censored. It was the violence. Much to my relief, Marvel didn’t tone down any of the violence. (I guess that says a lot about this country.)
TO: In redefining Shanna's origin, what were some of your top priorities/goals for strengthening the character?
FC: I always had problems with the original Shanna in the Marvel Universe. A young city woman with no powers leaping around in the jungle, beating up wild animals and men with guns just didn’t fly with me. That concept may have worked 30 years ago but it wouldn’t work on today’s audience. Today’s audience is more sophisticated with realistic views of the world. So I had to power Shanna up, and make her into this unstoppable force with questionable moral compass.
TO: Does it frustrate or bemuse you that despite creating a seemingly strong female lead character, some critics fail to note that aspect and rather focus on if the line between appreciation and objectification of the female form has been crossed with your work?
FC: Uneducated criticism comes with the territory. I expect some Shanna bashing from the internet trolls and prudes. Criticisms don’t bother me too much. I try to ignore it. But it is funny that these critics fail to notice the strong noble personalities of my female characters and only focus on their physical body images.
TO: How much of a supporting cast will Shanna feature?
FC: There will be no Nancy Boy Kazar if that’s what you mean. She’ll have a whole new cast of supporting characters to interact, and new situation to deal with.
TO: From your perspective, what value does the colorist add to the project? Have there been any particular scenes that have left a major impression on you?
FC: Colorists are vital to color comics. I’m lucky to land the two extremely talented colorists, Dave Stewart and Jason Keith, for this book. Dave is coloring the first two issues and Jason Keith will finish off the series. (Dave had to unexpectedly drop out due to scheduling conflict and health reasons.) Colorists set the mood and tone of the book. Colorists add that “sparkle” in the art. Both Dave and Jason have done an extraordinary job of making my vision of Shanna that much richer and vivid.
TO: In a market where many creators are trying to modernize a character; I was curious why you opted to have Shanna's origin stem from "Nazi science gone mad"?
FC: Nazis are the only villains that we can still use without any or little prosecution in this politically correct world. Nazis are universally recognized as being evil. Also there is a certain pulp novel charm to having Nazis as your opponent.
TO: By the nature of your work, folks tend to appreciate/comment on the cheesecake aspect. Do you wish there was another strength to your art that audiences noted to a greater degree?
FC: Storytelling is very important to me. I hate sloppy storytelling and I try my best to make my sequential storytelling clear and dynamic as possible. I hope that people will notice the care and hard work that I put in my graphic storytelling as I do in “Good Girl” art.
TO: Is there anything else you'd like to discuss regarding Shanna that you want prospective consumers to know about?
FC: Shanna is a fun book. It’s a kind of book that I like to read and see in comics. It’s written and drawn to entertain people. If you’re looking for War and Peace, I suggest that you go elsewhere. But if you’re looking for high octane adventure book full of cliff hangers and lovely imageries, Shanna is definitely for you.
TO: What else is on the horizon in 2005?
FC: I’m working like a fiend right now expanding my horizon. Once I wrap up Shanna, I’ll be co-writing and drawing a secret project that involves a certain female hero for Marvel. I’m still working on Liberty Meadows for Image Comics. As matter of fact, I’m working on the 4th Liberty Meadows collection book, Liberty Meadows Full Color Sunday strip book and the belated issue #37. Also for Image Comics, Zombie King is the latest project that I’m sweating over. It’s a comic book and a movie pitch. Brandy statue and Liberty Meadows figures through Clayburn Moore. Couple of oil paintings, and a brand new sketchbook for San Diego Con. It’s going to be a very full and exciting year for me.
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