Frank Cho

Frank Cho (born Duk Hyun Cho; 1971) is a Korean-American comic strip and comic book writer and illustrator, known for his series Liberty Meadows, as well as for books such as Shanna the She-Devil, Mighty Avengers and Hulk for Marvel Comics, and Jungle Girl for Dynamite Entertainment. Cho is noted for his figure drawing, precise lines, and depictions of curvaceous women.

Early life

Frank Cho was born near Seoul, South Korea in 1971 to Kyu Hyuk Cho and Bok Hee Cho. He has two brothers, Rino and Austin. The family moved to the United States when he was six in search of better economic opportunities. he attended Prince George's Community College and was offered a scholarship to the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, which he declined because he disliked the school's academic focus. Cho's parents were not particularly supportive of Cho's interest in art, so he placated them by transferring to the University of Maryland School of Nursing, which he says was his parents' idea. Cho graduated with a B.S. in Nursing in 1996.

Career

1990s

Cho wrote and drew a cartoon strip called Everything but the Kitchen Sink in the weekly Prince George's Community College newspaper The Owl, where he was also comics editor. At the University of Maryland, College Park, he drew the daily strip University² for The Diamondback, the student newspaper.

After graduation, Cho adapted elements of University² for use in a professionally syndicated strip, Liberty Meadows. Cho signed a 15-year contract with Creators Syndicate, Cho eventually won two Ignatz Awards that year for Outstanding Artist and Outstanding Comic, and although he did not cast the winning vote, he called his self-nomination a mistake he would not repeat.

2000s

As he worked on Liberty Meadows, he also did occasional cover work or anthology work for other publishers. These included Ultimate Spider-Man Super Special for Marvel Comics in 2000, The Savage Dragon #100 and The Amazing Spider-Man #46 in 2002, Hellboy: Weird Tales #6 in 2003 and Invincible #14 in 2004. He then began doing full interior work on other Spider-Man books for Marvel, including issues #5 and 8 of Marvel Knights Spider-Man in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and The Astonishing Spider-Man #123, also in 2005.

Marvel Comics' then-senior editor Axel Alonso, who had been impressed by Liberty Meadows, approached Cho about revamping the third-string character Shanna the She-Devil, a scantily clad jungle lady who first appeared in the early 1970s, as a college-educated defender of wildlife and opponent of firearms. Cho, seeing possibilities, recast Shanna in a seven-issue, 2005 miniseries as an Amazonian naïf, the product of a Nazi experiment with the power to kill dinosaurs with her bare hands but an unpredictable lack of morality.

Cho then penciled issues 14 and 15 of Marvel's New Avengers in 2006, and illustrated the first six issues of Marvel Comics' 2007 relaunch of Mighty Avengers with writer Brian Bendis. He is the plotter and cover artist of Dynamite Entertainment's Jungle Girl. Cho drew issues 7–9 of Hulk, which were published in 2009. In 2010–2011, Cho illustrated writer Jeph Loeb's run on New Ultimates for Marvel Comics. In 2011 he worked on the miniseries X-Men: Schism with writer Jason Aaron.

2010s

In January 2013, as an expansion of the Marvel NOW! initiative, Marvel premiered Savage Wolverine, a series written and illustrated by Cho that stars both Wolverine and co-stars Shanna the She-Devil and Amadeus Cho. The "Lost World"–type story that comprises the first five issues is intended to evoke a "classic adventure feel", and is inspired by the Indiana Jones films and the pulp horror of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos.

In April 2015, Cho posted on his website an image he had drawn on a sketch cover of Spider-Gwen of that character on all fours, with her rear end pointing upward, which mirrored a Spider-Woman cover by Milo Manara that had caused a controversy the previous November. The Cho image drew criticism from Spider-Gwen writer Robbi Rodriguez, who, while expressing appreciation of Manara's work, feared that such an image might drive away prospective female readers. Sam Maggs of The Mary Sue also criticized Cho because the character Spider-Gwen is a teenager. Other artists like J. Scott Campbell and Rob Liefeld defended Cho. Cho parodied the controversy by drawing the character Harley Quinn in the same pose on a sketch cover of that character's series. In April the following year, Cho revisited the controversy by illustrating the character Cammy in the same type of pose on the cover of Udon Studios' Street Fighter Legends #1. When asked if these controversies hurt his career, Cho replied that the publicity tripled the traffic on his website, increased attention given to him by convention organizers and convention attendees, and led to an increase in job offers.

In February 2016, Marvel premiered Totally Awesome Hulk, a series written by Greg Pak and drawn by Cho which sees teenager Amadeus Cho become the newest incarnation of the Hulk. Cho drew the first four issues of the series, his final page of which represented the end of his 14-year exclusivity contract with Marvel. He was then hired by DC Comics to draw variant covers of the first 24 issues of Wonder Woman as part of the company's Rebirth initiative.

As of May 2016, Cho was writing and drawing Skybourne for Boom! Studios, a five-issue creator-owned miniseries that Cho describes as "a cross between Highlander, Game of Death, and Cthulhu." The story focuses on a god trying to find the one weapon that can kill him, the mythical sword Excalibur, before it is found by others. At the time Cho was also writing and drawing another creator-owned book, World of Payne with his co-creator, Tom Sniegoski, for Flesk Publications. World of Payne stars Lockwood Payne, a psychic private investigator, and modern day sorcerer from an ancient society of witches and wizards who with his urgent care expert friend Doctor Hurt, and the beautiful witch-in-training Michelle, find themselves embroiled in strange misadventures in the world of the occult. Cho describes the book part prose novel and part comic, and "a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter with a dash of Hellblazer." Skybourne #1 was published September 7, while World of Payne was set to premiere in late 2016.

Personal life

Cho met his first wife, Cari Guthrie, when they served together on a student residence council at the University of Maryland. They were married in 1999. Their first child was born in 2001 and their second in 2004. Cho and Cari separated in 2008 and divorced in 2009, after which Cho temporarily moved to a nearby apartment to be close to his two children, and began dating Mara Rose, a film major he first met when she cared for his kids.

Cho identifies as a "life-long liberal Democrat and advocate for free speech and equal rights."

Awards

• 1994 College Cartoonist Charles M. Schulz Award
• 1999 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic (for Liberty Meadows #1)
• 2001 National Cartoonists Society's Award for Best Book Illustration
• 2006 Haxtur Award for Best In Show
• 2006 Eagle Award for Best Artist for Best In Show (for Liberty Meadows and Shanna the She-Devil)
• 2011 The Emmy Award for the documentary Creating Frank Cho's World
• 2011 The Daily Record Influential Marylander Award for Communications
• 2017 Ringo Award for Best Cover Artist
• 2023 Doylean Honors for Best Illustration
• 2025 Raremarq Achievement Award

Nominations

• 2000 Eisner Award for Best Cover Artist
• 2006 Harvey Award for Best Artist
• 2006 Harvey Award for Best Cartoonist