Marvel’s annual Women of Marvel returns this week with She-Devils, a multi-part story by three creative teams. It’s a slight change of pace for the anthology, which usually has disparate tales, but this time, the focus is solely on Wolverine, Daredevil, Shanna the She-Devil, and Bloodline.
Women of Marvel: She-Devils #1 opens with an introduction by Angélique Roché, who talks about how she grew up with boys who were bewildered when she read comics. It’s a personal introduction that lifts up past female creators who helped build Marvel, as well as more recent women of color and nonbinary writers. She also helps set up the story, as it’s a bit different being a wraparound story.
Kicking off the tale are Stephanie Phillips and Federica Muzzo, who get to feature Shanna and Zabu in the Savage Land. Something evil is there and it wants to use Shanna as its vessel. She isn’t having any of it in an action-heavy chapter. The monster has a great supernatural look and feel, and this opener sets up the monster that’ll be attacking the other heroes in the comic.
Next up is Charlie Dimaline and Kelsey Ramsay, who open on Daredevil (aka Elektra) and Bloodline training at the Avengers Cademy in the Savage Land. With them is Wolverine (Laura Kinney), who watches on casually. It’s made clear Bloodline is still very new at fighting and is outmatched by her counterparts. Soon, however, the monster in part one arrives and seriously screws up Daredevil’s day.
Pretty cool opening.
Credit: Marvel
Closing out the issue is Alison Sampson with Cris Peter on colors. This chapter carries forward Wolverine’s abduction of the monster while lifting up Bloodline as a formidable hero. My only gripe is that Shanna doesn’t appear again, making her opening fleeting.
Sampson’s art is incredible, with a unique chaotic vibe that suits the supernatural elements that occur thanks to the monster. Her double-page layouts are incredibly varied and draw your eye this way and that. The final page is also cleverly constructed with a road running down the left side and panels with lines drawn to it to show us where they are saying things while they drive. A neat idea, to say the least.
Overall, this is a solid one-shot tale that delivers engaging action and inventive visuals. Though it leaves some character arcs and larger story threads underexplored, its fresh perspective and heartfelt tribute to Marvel’s diverse legacy make it a compelling read for fans seeking innovative storytelling.
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