Sha-Shan New Art

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Youre writing sucks, dude. Like I can even read it bro. […]
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I'm so sorry, Michael. I left out Marvel because Mr. Terrific had mention the top smartest people quote in Crisis. I also was just attacking Business Weekly's motives. With the Fall of the Hulks storyline, we know have confirmed:Reed Richards (Mr Fantastic) Dr. Doom The Leader Black Panther Dr. Hank Pym (Ant Man) Hank McCoy (The Beast) Bruce Banner […]
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Sha-Shan, Flash Thompson’s ex-Girlfriend from Spider-Man

Written by The DailySkew on 27 February 2010

The ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT Sha-Shan

Hey folks, bottom line is that real life has taken over and I can’t write my new comic book reviews anymore for the time being [all I can say is you MUST get DOOMWAR #1 and RED HULK #2- still on newsstands- ed.] but thought I would discuss Sha-Shan’s new look since I was overcome by geek emotion.

Okay, who’s Sha-Shan, right? Well, if you’ve read every issue of Amazing Spider-Man like I did (or if you collected in the 1970′s and 1980′s) you should know that Sha-Shan was Flash Thompson’s Asian girlfriend. Truth be told, she only made under 40 appearances in Marvel Comics, but she’s always been memorable to me. You see, I hated the way the insensitive and bully Flash Thompson treated her; Flash committed criminal acts against her- I mean Flash was DONE in the 1980′s. I also had some problems with Spider-Man creative teams jobbing Sha-Shan out all the time, and making her submissive with stereotypical Vietnamese attributes.

Here's the real Sha-Shan

So lo and behold, Sha-Shan is BACK in Marvel continuity as of this week’s Amazing Spider-Man #622…and she’s at Flash Thompson’s birthday party…and she is his physical therapist (Flash had lost his legs in “the war” after Brand New Day).

Yeah, the one in the green

Okay, but that’s not all. The reason why I’m taking the time out of my busy schedule is to comment about Sha-Shan’s NEW MODERN LOOK. You see back in the 70′s and 80′s it seemed as if Spidey’s artists went OUT OF THEIR WAY to draw Sha-Shan less attractive than the other Spidey girls. In a comic book with Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane, and the Black Cat, Sha-Shan was drawn inferior and “normal”- not a sex symbol. (Granted, I liked her more than those girls because of her personality.)

As you can see, the old art wasn't flattering

So FAST FORWARD TO 2010, Tony Schiavone- ha- and what do you have? Sha-Shan totally looks different. It looks like she had a boob job, butt job, and face job, i.e. a different character. Ya gotta love artistic license, huh? Totally different Sha-Shan.

Welcome to 2010! Two more years until 2012

On one hand perhaps Marvel finally realized that an Asian woman can be drawn sexy in Spider-Man comics. Yet on the other hand (my first reaction) it’s pure commercialism and has no faith that younger readers of today could accept a “normal” looking woman. Once again, there’s no easy answer here.

Just sayin’.

After a few days of digesting this, I gotta say that once again I feel real old, because since Brand New Day, the Spider-Man universe just feels totally rebooted and like Smallville. I known JMS messed with continuity, but I always was under the impression the past happened, and the timeline wasn’t messed up. Sha-Shan seems to have more self-esteem this time around- I guess- but I doubt she’ll ever get a good push in Spider-Man comics, especially since Flash Thompson is pretty much backup story material now being in a wheelchair and all.

I should be happy that the Marvel artists gave her an upgrade, in fact I’m sure new fans are taking more of a notice of the character, because Sha-Shan really didn’t get a fair shake in the 1970′s and 1980′s, but I’m not.

Is Sha-Shan even Vietnamese anymore?

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