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The Women of Marvel team up to tackle a mysterious sinister force in Women of Marvel: She-Devils #1, written by Stephanie Phillips and Alison Sampson, with cover art by Nina Vakueva. Daredevil, Wolverine, Bloodline, and the She-Devil herself, Shanna, must defend themselves and their lands from an all-consuming life force before it claims them as its vessel.
In three parts, these street-level heroines tackle an enigmatic threat. Shanna and her trusty companion, Zabu, encounter the unnamed spirit in the Savage Land. It controls the raptors and the land itself and attacks the She-Devil. Thankfully, the duo is able to put an end to it…at least for now. Elsewhere, Daredevil, Wolverine, and Bloodline are training at an empty Avengers Academy during Spring Break when the spirit returns and lures Daredevil out into the woods to carve symbols into a tree, which would give it control. Wolverine and Bloodline are unable to stop Daredevil and now must face the threat together. As it starts to overwhelm the trio, Bloodline hatches a plan to have her magical pet, Walpurgis, teleport them to safety. Wolverine and Bloodline end up at an active volcano in Iceland and must come to terms with their inner-demons and the force behind all of this.
Chapter 1: “Primal Procession”
Shanna and Zabu Fight the Unnamed Spirit
Chapter 1 wastes no time as it throws Shanna into an unfamiliar situation in her own backyard. The Savage Land is quiet, the calm before the storm. An evil spirit erupts from “the very roots of” the land and declares that Shanna is its path to freedom. It’s fast-paced, action-packed, and it’s a little disorienting. However, that feels intentional. Like Shanna, readers are curious about who this is, how they are doing all of this, and how they can be stopped. But there’s no time to ask these questions. As the raptors circle Shanna and Zabu, there is only time to act. Thankfully, Shanna realizes that the foreign symbols on the trees must be how this spirit is controlling the Savage Land. She quickly destroys the symbols and, just like that, the threat is eliminated. The story is seemingly over, but it certainly feels more like it’s just getting started. Shanna has a feeling it won’t end here and that serves as both a weak resolution to this story and an intriguing hint at what’s to come. This whole thing feels less like a chapter in an anthology and much more like the first chapter in a longer story.
Chapter 2: “Let Me In”
Daredevil, Wolverine, and Bloodline Train for the Untrainable
At the end of a long day of training, this trio goes their separate ways for the night. But the eerie spirit returns and convinces Elektra to wander out into the woods by Avengers Academy to carve its creepy symbol into a tree. Bloodline and Wolverine quickly take note and try to intervene, but the spirit, and its command of the surrounding land, is too much for them to handle. This chapter builds on the previous one with a lot of interesting developments. Readers see the spirit doing similar things, but this time it has taken control of Eletrka, heightening the tension. It also provides cool insight into how different heroes tackle the same problem. Shanna was quick to realize that the symbols were important, whereas Elektra quickly realizes that this thing feeds off of different organisms, so they need to get it somewhere that is deserted.
Chapter 3: “Things My Father Definitely Didn’t Teach Me”
Trippy Artwork Elevates a Trippy Climax
The distinct artwork throughout this chapter goes a long way to help convey how the characters are feeling. On top of that, the panel layout makes readers feel the surreal atmosphere that Bloodline and Wolverine have found themselves in. To go from Avengers Academy to this really raises the stakes. The characters feel like they are in trouble and they can barely navigate these lands.
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The chapter culminates in what feels like an abstract catharsis. Readers don’t get all the answers, but they get closure in the form of character resolutions. Bloodline and Wolverine debrief on the long drive back to Laura’s Dad’s Cabin. They apologize to each other and agree that the best course of action moving forward is teamwork. It’s a nice, prolonged, moment where readers really get a sense of who these characters are and how they’ve grown over these two chapters.
Anthology or Not to Be?
That is the Question
There are a lot of fun and interesting ideas throughout this issue. If there was one nitpicky thing that readers could complain about, it lies in the structure and presentation of the chapters. These three distinct parts certainly work together, but the clear connective tissue of chapters two and three make chapter one feel more isolated. It feels as though each and every chapter could have been a self-contained adventure, featuring this same antagonist, with unique, satisfying conclusions, or Shanna could have made her way back into chapter three to tie everything back together. As it stands, this feels structurally lopsided in spite of it being an enjoyable read.
“}]] The Women of Marvel team up to tackle a mysterious sinister force in Women of Marvel: She-Devils #1. Read More