Sha Shan
Attributes
| Eyes: | Brown |
| Features: | Vietnamese |
| Hair: | Brown |
| Height: | Average |
| Weight: | Average |
Powers
| Abilities: | Normal Human |
| Limitations: | Currently forgotton by Marvel |
| Strength Level: | Normal Human |
Summary
| Citizenship: | Permanent Resident |
| Created By: | |
| Current Occupation: | Unknown |
| Dual Identity: | Not Generally Known |
| Education: | Unknown |
| Former Aliases: | Sister Sun |
| Former Bases: | New York |
| Former Groups: | Brother Power & Sister Sun |
| Former Occupation: | Unknown |
| Known Allies: | Brother Power |
| Known Confidants: | Flash Thompson |
| Known Relatives: | The Holy One (Father), Achmed Korba (Husband, Deceased) |
| Legal Status: | No Criminal Record |
| Marital Status: | Widowed |
| Place of Birth: | Vietnam |
| Real Name: | Sha Shan |
Background
Sha Shan joined the Spider-Man cast as a supporting character for Flash Thompson after he served his country in Vietnam. He had been wounded and separated from his platoon and stumbled across a sacred temple in the jungle. There, he was nursed back to health by the temple's monk and his daughter. He was attracted to the young woman but knew that he had to return to the outside world. However, upon returning to his platoon, Flash learned that "sector B" was scheduled to be shelled to prevent enemy infiltration. He rushed back to the temple to warn the monks but they refused to leave, as every man must die at some point.
The shelling destroyed the temple and Flash assumed that the monks must all have been killed. The local people blamed him for the destruction of the temple and Flash was haunted by the memory of the kind natives that saved his life. After Flash returned to New York, he was attacked by a group of Asian men and was saved by Spider-Man. Flash was sent to a federal building for his own protection but was kidnapped by the men again. (Amazing Spider-Man #108)
As Spider-Man searched New York for his friend, he was interrupted by Doctor Strange, who led him his to Sanctum Santorum to show the webhead where Thompson was being held. Strange used his magic to show that Flash was at another temple, where the high priest was alive but in a state of magical suspended animation. Sha Shan then entered the room in the temple to explain that Flash was to be sacrificed to undo "the sleep that has no wakening." The hour of sacrifice was drawing near and Dr. Strange and Spider-Man quickly moved to save Thompson. Meanwhile, Sha Shan tried to free Flash, who had been tied up and left in a dark room. She told him that she remembered that he had returned to the temple to warn them of the shelling but that the other monks were so outraged by the destruction of the temple that they wouldn't listen to reason. After Dr. Strange and Spider-Man saved the day, Sha Shan and her father the monk left. (Amazing Spider-Man #109)
She reappeared some time later, working as a waitress at an Asian restaurant. Peter was at the restaurant with Glory Grant and Flash, whom immediately recognized her. She denied that she was Sha Shan and the restaurant owner threw them all out. Peter returned to the restaurant the next day and the store owner again told him that no one by the name of Sha Shan worked there. Meanwhile, she was sobbing behind a curtain. (Spectacular Spider-Man #3 and #4) Flash was certain it was her, and he started to keep watch outside of the restaurant and saw her in a window. (Spectacular Spider-Man #7) He later broke into the building and found her with the man that had told the group that she wasn't there. Sha Shan told Flash that the man was Achmed Korba, her husband. (Spectacular Spider-Man #8)
At a later date, Flash and Peter were playing tennis in Central Park when a mob of young people in a daze walked past them carrying signs and chanting. Flash followed the group and found a man and woman in costumes waiting for them in a bandstand. When "Sister Moon" began speaking, Flash recognized her voice. "Brother Power" forced her to join hands and a beam of light threw Flash backward. The police arrived and Brother Power complained about the interference to a peaceful religious ceremony. Sha Shan reluctantly agreed with Achmed. Peter went to ask a professor about the cult, whom filled him in on Achmed Korba. After returning to his apartment, Peter found Flash had gone to see Sha Shan. Achmed also found Flash with his wife and forced her to use the light beam to force him out. Spidey saved Flash at the last minute but was hit by a beam himself.(Spectacular Spider-Man #12)
Brother Power and Sister Moon fled but were followed by Spider-Man and his new ally...Razorback and his big rig, the Big Pig. (Yes, really.) Sha and Achmed were ordered to return to their master's headquarters, who turned out to be the Hatemonger. On the way to the hideout, which they knew of because of the tracking device Razorback placed on Bother Power, Flash told Spidey and Razorback the back-story on Achmed Korba. Sha Shan's father had told her in Vietnam that a being of darkness had come to earth and needed a mortal to be his emissary. Korba was that emissary but he needed another being of pure heart to use his power. The old man hoped that Sha could lesson Korba's evil, which obviously didn't turn out so well. The trio were captured by the cult at the hideout and chained together, their deaths by dynamite a framed suicide attack on the Legion of Light. (Spectacular Spider-Man #13)
The three escaped by calling the Big Pig via a remote control on Razorback's belt buckle. The rig smashed through the wall allowing the heroes to escape before the bomb exploded. They headed to Yonkers Stadium to thwart the next step in the Hatemongers plan to gain more followers. Hatemonger used his mind control on Spidey and Razorback to make them fight but they were stopped when Flash removed the Hatemongers mask, revealing him to be the Man-Beast. (Spectacular Spider-Man #14) After weakening a load bearing wall below the stadium, Man-Beast arrived in the stadium to address the crowd and use his sunbeam device to control them, as well as the people watching the ceremony on TV. The stadium begins to crumble without the wall and the people start to become afraid, with Man-Beast using their fear to his advantage. With Spider-Man trying to steady the crumbling beam, Sha Shan tried to calm the panicking crowd. Many in the crowd began to be influenced by Man-Beast's hate and when they found Spider-Man and Razorback, they wanted to kill them. Sha continued to try and resist Brother Power and Man-Beast and was blasted by Korba for her efforts. She recovered and delayed the Man-Beast's plot, fulfilling her father's hopes for her. Brother Power and Man-Beast were killed in an explosion. (Spectacular Spider-Man #15)
Sha and Flash finally began their romance, meeting at Empire State University. There they met Hector Ayala and Holly Gillis. (Spectacular Spider-Man #18) Soon the group (Peter, Flash, Sha, Holly, Harry Osborn, Liz Allan, Betty Brant and Mary Jane Watson) went to a club called the "Beyond Forever Disco" where they saw a band called "The Mercy Killers." Little did they know that the band was headed by the Hypno Hustler, who used his music to hypnotize the crowd so that the band could rob them. They were beaten by Spidey. (Spectacular Spider-Man #24) The gang also had trouble when they took a midnight cruise around Manhattan and the ship was hijacked by the mobster called Jigsaw. Liz Allan and Harry Osborn were taken as hostages. (Amazing Spider-Man #188)
After Peter Parker was attacked at E.S.U. by Carrion, he was taken to a hospital by Hector (the White Tiger). Flash, Sha, Holly and Hector came to visit him and tried to help him determine Carrion's identity after Peter was discharged. (Spectacular Spider-Man #29) She also paid Peter a visit with the others at Aunt May's house to talk with Peter after May seemingly died in her nursing home. May's "death" was all part of a scheme by Mysterio to find treasure at the Parker home that had been left behind by a mobster. (Amazing Spider-Man #199) Peter ran into Liz, Harry, Flash and Sha and they went out to lunch. Peter was hesitant, as he was about to go face to face with Doctor Octopus but, fearing that the coming encounter might be his last, he agreed to join them. (Spectacular Spider-Man #78)
Signs of trouble in Flash and Sha's relationship began to surface after Harry and Liz announced that they were going to be parents. They were strangely quiet at the gathering and Flash didn't want to talk about it when Peter asked. (Spectacular Spider-Man #85) At a later evening, Sha was waiting up for Flash in their apartment, as he hasn't come home yet. When he did finally arrive, he looked beaten up and refused to talk about the injuries. (Spectacular Spider-Man #92) She kept trying to talk to him about the injuries but he never let her. Sha met with Harry, Liz and Peter at a restaurant to talk about her fears and Harry told her not to worry. He and Liz left, and Peter stayed with Sha. Flash came looking for Sha when he learned that she hadn't gone to class and was shocked when he saw her holding hands with Peter at the restaurant. Flash swore to himself that they'd both be sorry. (Spectacular Spider-Man #94) Later, Sha watched as Flash got into a car with two strange men, who told him that being in their organization was dangerous. (Spectacular Spider-Man #95)
Sha asked Peter to look into Flash's strange behavior but he didn't do it, as he was busy with the Black Cat and her debt to the Kingpin. (Spectacular Spider-Man #99) Sha soon called Peter and told him that she suspected that he was having an affair and asked him to follow Flash. Peter put on his Spider-Man costume and tailed his friend. He found Flash playing semi-pro football, convincing him that Flash was not having an affair...until Betty showed up and gave Flash a very intimate hug. This was a double affair, as Betty was married to Ned Leeds. (Spectacular Spider-Man #100)
Flash returned to his apartment and found Sha placing a call to the Daily Bugle to talk to Peter and accused her of cheating on him. Sha said that she knew that Flash was the one having the affair and chided him for going out with a married woman. In a rage, Flash hit her, sending her to the floor. Ashamed of himself, Flash ran out of the apartment. Sha was soon packing her bags, saying that she refused to be humiliated. Ned Leeds then arrived at the door, looking for Flash. Sha said he wasnt there and she didnt know or care when he would came back. Ned said he understood and said that he and Flash had deadly serious business to discuss.
Sha was soon at the Port Authority, looking to leave New York when the Authority was attacked by the Hobgoblin (most likely Ned in the Hobgoblin costume.) Sha was taken as a hostage to draw out Spider-Man, who eventually arrived to face his arch foe. Hobgoblin kept Sha as a human shield until carrying her became a burden during the fight. Hobgoblin tossed her away, forcing Spider-Man to stop and catch her. She fainted during the fall and was taken to a hospital by a witness. (Amazing Spider-Man #275)
Flash showed up at the hospital to see her and demanded to know why she had moved her things out of the apartment. Enraged that he wasn't concerned about her well being after being kidnapped by Hobgoblin, she slapped him and said he was only interested in his own ego. She demanded to never see him again and the guard outside her room threw Flash out. The media was outside her room and Flash used them to call Hobgoblin a coward. Roderick Kingsley retaliated by framing Flash as the Hobgoblin. Flash was unmasked by Spider-Man and sent to prison. (Amazing Spider-Man #276)
Sha went to see him in jail and he begged her to testify on his behalf. She told him that he hadn't been there for her, so she had no reason to help him. Sha left the prison just as Betty was arriving, causing a brief glaring contest between the two women. Betty's lawyer was with her and asked to speak with Sha. She said that she had nothing to say, except that Flash was getting exactly what he deserved and that his key should be thrown away. She left, not to be seen again for years. (Amazing Spider-Man #280)
Many years later, Flash lost his legs in the Iraq War. Peter and Harry found Sha, who had since found employment as a physical therapist. She was a tough therapist, belittling him if she was unimpressed with his performance. For his part, Flash took her tutelage well. (Amazing Spider-Man #622) Sha's skills as a physical therapist again came into use after May Parker broke her leg during an emergency landing of an airplane as the hotheaded teenage superhero Alpha took on the inter-dimensional conqueror called Terminus. She was optimistic of May's ability to walk again with a cane, but warned "Peter" (who was really the Superior Spider-Man) to not get her hopes up for a full recovery. (Superior Spider-Man #4)
Sha continued to treat May Parker but also took on a new patient, Angelina Brancale. She advised Angelina to continue her therapy, but her patient claimed that she was as well as she needed to be. (Superior Spider-Man #20)
”Arachnobatics”
Peter took Miles Morales to the Coffee Bean cafe at Empire State University, where they ran into Sha. She had physical therapy clients that she met on campus. He briefly introduced her to Miles, who was reluctantly looking into attending ESU. They left her to read her book. (The Spectacular Spider-Men (vol. 1) #1)
Detective Shari Sebbens was speaking with Raymond Warren regarding the sudden appearance of a creature that resembled the Jackal. As they spoke, Sha mentioned that several regulars to the coffee shop had gone missing. The baristas hadn't been seen in two weeks and Cedric Harrison, Peter Parker and Miles Morales were gone. (Spectacular Spider-Men (vol. 1) #4)
She and Raymond discussed finding Peter but didn't want to wait for the authorities. Sha decided to look into the experiment that had been going on at ESU, from which several of the missing persons had taken part in. She went to the police and when Detective Sebbens suggested that Raymond was a clone, Sha said there was a problem. Raymond had said that he had resources to find Peter but she now wondered what he was going to do if he found him. (Spectacular Spider-Men (vol. 1) #5)
Sha explained to Sebbens when the missing persons disappeared and suspected that even more people were gone. Cedric had mentioned a phone number for a software beta test. Unfortunately, she had told her thoughts with Mr. Warren, who they guessed was the Jackal. Sebbens told Sha that Dr. Jane Foster was testing Warren's coffee cup for DNA to identify him. Meanwhile, a message on a phone led them to a building. (Spectacular Spider-Men (vol 1) #6)
"Strange Love"
Sha approached the Spider-Men and the police, saying Peter and Miles were still missing. Peter soon arrived with Miles still disguised, then Miles showed up with Peter dressed as Spider-Man. Later, he traumatized victims of the Arcadium still silently gathered at the Coffee Bean. Sha suggested they all get therapy and Peter got a recommendation from Cindy Moon. Later, she showed up to Raymond's funeral and asked Flash if he was still keeping up with his physical therapy. She didn't know that he was Anti-Venom and could walk again. (Spectacular Spider-Men (vol. 1) #8)
Image Gallery
Appearances
Thanks To
The assistance of the Marvel Chronology Project is gratefully acknowledged.
Some of the above information is extracted from the various versions of the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe and the more recent Marvel Encyclopaedias.