#Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons

[booksandchainmail]

Hugo Best Graphic Story or Comic Finalists 2024

To start out with a disclaimer: I have not read the Saga volume. I was last caught up with Saga in ~2018, I'd have to reread it all, and there are only three days left. Normally I try not to vote for categories I don't fully know, but it's already won a Hugo, and been nominated for most volumes, so I don't feel too bad about leaving it out.

Rankings for the others:

Shubeik Lubeik This absolutely slapped. I started reading it not knowing what to expect, and very shortly went, "oh, this is Art". It's a story in three parts, set in a modern-day Cairo in a world where wishes are bought and sold, centering around the three valuable first-class wishes a kiosk vendor inherited. It's deeply funny in places: I kept reading parts out loud or showing pages to explain why I was laughing. It's also deeply sad: the central characters are all grappling with the kinds of problems a first-class wish might address: grief, and depression, and the prospect of loss. In particular the first section was deeply moving, starting with a loss and then unfolding the weight of it. This also feels like a story taking full advantage of its medium: the middle section in particular uses frequent graphs to great effect, but throughout I was struck by how it uses varying line weight for impact. I am not someone who often notices much subtleties of art, but individual pages kept striking me as the kind of inkblock print style I would frame on a wall.

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons First: the art for this is gorgeous. It's lavish to the point of being overwhelming, in a way that is entirely appropriate for its mythical subject. This is a superhero comic, but only technically: it's a backstory for DC's Amazons which means it's mostly greek mythology. I don't know enough about existing DC lore to be sure, but I get the sense that it's patching together multiple contradictory backstories from comic history into one thematically-consistent origin. The story isn't complex or particularly subtle (which admittedly is not what you go to a wonder woman comic for), but it really shines in the depictions of the goddesses, at once very human in their interactions and alien in their being. There are some great panels where small art changes shift them from human to animal to spirit.

Bea Wolf This was very cute! A retelling of Beowulf aimed at small children, that nevertheless keeps the vocal patterns of the original old english. I was extremely not the target audience for this, and I can't say I was deeply moved by it, but I respect the craft of it and really like the concept.

The Three Body Problem, Part One This was... fine? It is very very clear that it is an adaptation, and I honestly don't think the format is adding anything. It also cuts off rather abruptly, in the manner of adaptations whose source materials does not neatly fit into the size range of the new format. I think in particular the fact that the back ~1/3 of this is the main character playing a VR game, but we don't get any payoff of the significance of the game works against it. I have no desire to continue with this graphic novel, but might check out the original

The Witches of World War II I think I am being unfairly harsh by ranking this last, but also I stopped midway through reading it to wonder if I maybe just didn't like graphic novels as a format, which I think is a bad sign. The plot was hard to follow to me, especially at first, and I found the characters generally uninteresting. The pacing also seemed strangely compressed, but that could be common to the format. The most interesting part to me was the afterword, which explained that all the characters were occultists who offered to do anti-nazi magic in real life, but I think the comic as a whole would have read better if I had known that going in. Also, having read the afterword, I am baffled at the fact that it seems to have changed many of the characters/historical figures to the point of unrecognizability for no clear reason. I also really did not like the art style.

[smashedpages]

Happy birthday to Kelly Sue DeConnick!

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

GREAT HERA! AND THEN I REMEMBERED IT WAS "WONDER WOMAN WEDNESDAY."

PIC INFO: Resolution at 1610x2048 -- Spotlight on the Goddess of Women and Queen of the gods on Mount Olympus, Hera, cover art to "Wonder Woman: Historia" Vol. 1 #3. February, 2023. DC Black Label. Artwork by Nicola Scott & Annette Kwok.

Source: https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Wonder_Woman_Historia:_The_Amazons_Vol_1_3.

[bookswordsworlds]

REVIEW - Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons

Writers: Kelly Sue DeConnick

Artists: Phil Jimenez (#1), Gene Ha (#2), Nicola Scott with Annette Kwok (#3)

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐  -  A beautiful journey into mythology. 

I picked up this series when it was first published in November of 2021, and it has sadly sat on my shelf since then. Why I foolishly waited so long to read this limited series is beyond me, but I’m glad I had the foresight to buy it. 

At the time, I was trying to scoop up as much of DC’s Black Label as I could. Black Label allowed DC to reprint issues that had been published under other imprints (like the discontinued Vertigo imprint), but it also allowed DC to publish stories with its cannon of superheroes and villains aimed at mature audiences. 

Aside from the sometimes naked goddess Aphrodite and a little violence, the mature label on Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons stems more from the fact that this is a very different comic story. Ultimately, this is a reimagining of the formation of the Amazons and Hyppolyta’s ascension to the role of Queen of the Amazons. 

Those looking for Wonder Woman will be sorely disappointed - she doesn’t show until the final pages of the final issue - as this isn’t Diana’s story but rather that of Hyppolyta and the Amazons. 

For those looking for Diana’s story, there is a DC Black Label book called Wonder Woman: Diana’s Daughter that may focus a little more on Diana. It’s got a TBD publishing date though. Ultimately, nothing is likely to top Wonder Woman: Dead Earth by Daniel Warren Johnson, published under Black Label in 2019. 

While there is little in Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons to satisfy the traditional comic fan, this is a magnificent book that everyone should read. Some have criticized it for being an overly feminist presentation of the story, but I have to question what those people are doing reading Wonder Woman in the first place. 

The story does get a little thick at times - there is a whole pantheon of gods, goddesses, and Amazonian tribes to keep track of - but it is a masterful story, and the art is something I’ve rarely seen in a comic. It looks more like an illuminated mythological text than anything. My only real criticism is that I wanted more, and it seemed like DeConnick probably could have fleshed this out to at least double the length. 

Favourite Moment? Hyppolyta’s journey as the very human heart of a story of gods and goddesses. 

Who Should Read It? Anyone interested in Greek mythology. Comic fans looking for work pushing the boundaries of the medium. 

Rating & Content Concerns? 14A. As noted, Aphrodite often appears naked or in a state of undress, and there is a fair amount of violence (including one complete dismemberment). There is some discussion of sexual slavery but nothing detailed. This goes a little beyond what 14A might be on TV or in film but not by much. 

Would I Read the Next Installment? I would kill for a follow-up. I’ll definitely take a closer look at DeConnick’s work when I have the chance. 

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons

Writers: Kelly Sue DeConnick

Artists: Phil Jimenez (#1), Gene Ha (#2), Nicola Scott with Annette Kwok (#3)

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐  -  A beautiful journey into mythology. 

[graphicpolicy]

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It’s a new day and we’re kicking it off with some comic news and a review from around the web you might have missed! Kotaku – Deadpool & Wolverine: 8 Great Comics To Read After Seeing The Movie – What would you suggest to add to the list? The Beat – SDCC ’24: Library catalogs offer a unique perspective on comics history – A big space for comics to continue to grow! The Beat – SDCC ’24: Is it…

[ultrameganicolaokay]

Read Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, it's a modern masterpiece.

did you end up reading Wonder Woman Historia?

It is an utter masterpiece in every possible way. The writing is impeccable, the art knocks you on your ass with every page. I am wholly unqualified to critique it, but I give it my most enthusiastic endorsement. Every Wonder Woman fan should read it. Desperately hoping we get the other 6 issues that KSD wants to do.

[wonderciaaan]

Wondersisters🙅‍♀️

[laufire]

yesterday I read wonder woman historia. I loved it. I'd almost go as far as saying it's reconcilled me with modern comics. now whenever dc Does Some Bullshit I'll just hold my physical copy of it (it'll arrive in june) and touch is infinitely beautiful artwork and all will feel right in the world.

anyway. wonder woman historia is a fantastic comic and you guys should read it and give it attention so dc greenlights the rest of the run (which otherwise stands on its own), but that's not the point of the post.

the point is that the third issue made a choice that might, would have likely bothered me in another context, by another author. but it wasn't the case here, and I've been thinking about why that is.

(spoilers for #3, ig).

trying to keep it brief: in wonder woman (1987) #1, we're told the story of how herakles and his men tricked the amazons, drugged them, and slaved them. how they raped them, how herakles took hippolyta's girdle as a war prize. hippolyta prays to the gods, who free her and ask her that the amazons don't violently retaliate against their captors, and when that doesn't happen, the amazons are punished for it.

this one goes differently; there's no mass rape and enslavement (the way the amazons are robbed of their freedom happens in a different, quite interesting way, btw). herakles, sent by the gods, attacks, and the leader of each amazon tribe fights him, subduing him and killing him all together. hippolyta's "girdle" here is a mere rope she had around her waist, now used to tie the bag holding herakles's dismembered body as it's flown towards olympus (which was meant as a more respectful gesture than what the amazons did to other men they killed to save and avenge brutalised women).

the writing even makes a point of it, saying that we, the audience, might've heard different stories of how herakles "got" hippolyta's girdle.

I think in a different story, this change would bother me. I would wonder (and in some cases I would different sense) if there was an implication than the rape of the amazons makes them lesser in the eyes of the author, when it says absolutely nothing about them as people. it's just something that happened to them, and that's how I think it should be treated.

I didn't sense any of it here, first of all, because of the way the story as a whole writes women; all women, from the goddesses (including hera, who zeus explicitly abuses and batters), to the thirty original amazons born from the souls of women murdered by men, to most importantly, the seventh tribe, hippolyta's. all made of mortal women who escaped some horror by men; women like hippolyta, who barely escaped murder, or who were about to be sold as slaves. wronged, hurt, mutilated women. they're all upheld as entire entities, by and for themselves, not defined let alone made less by the actions of others.

the story highlights patriarchal misogyny as the primary wrong that it is (hera's desperate fury when she says women won't get justice a thousand years from now was !!!); something that men, mortal and gods alike, utterly dismiss as unimportant. it never handwrings about the wrongs of revenge and retribution or trying to tell us they're remotely equal. its simpathy is firmly located with the women, even when they make dubious or difficult choices. the (male) gods's punishment upon them is framed as an injustice.

the other important bit is how it writes herakles. when I think of other stories that go out of their way to remove rape from the picture I think of cases like this, like the endless romantic retellings about hades and persephone.

the choices made in those are always about the hades of the tale. about cleaning up his image, in the end. but historia doesn't even come close to doing this with herakles: it's very clear what he would've done to the amazons if he'd gotten the chance (hippolyta puts it explicitly into words, when she says he would've defiled them). hell, the version of canon where he indubitably raped hippolyta romanticises them a lot more (george perez turn on your location so I can tell you how much I love your comics AND endlessly berate you for this).

but also. ngl. as dc's herakles #1 hater... I just loved seeing him be torn to pieces. that was very cathartic, honestly. it's exactly what he deserves <333

[miadeardensbow]

There’s just something so beautiful about this page.

The fact that there is only women, the colors, and the amazing artwork just in general, really brings it all together. I have always been someone who is more drawn to the clay origin, and Wonder Woman: Historia just handles it so beautifully.

Hippolyta’s smile and Diana’s name being written in the sand is just so cute. I wish I could read this for the first time once again.

[quietsharpeheart]

one of my absolute favorite things from wonder woman historia is how they waste no time on heracles. No romance, no betrayal, the amazons kill him as soon as he shows up, then send him back to zeus in pieces

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons #3

[thedarktowerdames]

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[smashpages]

Out this week: Wonder Woman: Historia (DC, $29.99):

Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick teamed with artists Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha and Nicola Scott on this Black Label miniseries, which set out to tell the definitive story of the Amazons and their relationship with the gods. The art is beautiful, which you’d expect given the creators involved, but each of them went above and beyond to bring DeConnick’s vision to life. And it’s a vision that’s worthy of an Eisner. 

See what else is arriving at your local comic shop this week.

[smashedpages]

Happy birthday to Phil Jimenez!

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"....A THREE-BOOK ODYSSEY CHARTING THE HISTORY OF PRINCESS DIANA AND THE AMAZONS FROM THE MOMENT OF THEIR CREATION..."

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on textless and published cover art to "Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons" #1 (of 3 issues) of the series "Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons" (Vol. 1). January, 2022. DC Black Label/DC Comics. Artwork by Phil Jimenez & Romulo Fajardo, Jr.

OVERVIEW: ""Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons" is a three-book DC Black Label series that shows us the first days of the Amazons like nothing before it. Spanning thousands of years, the book begins with the righteous rage of the goddesses and the passion of its pages never lets up from there.

Hestia. Artemis. Demeter. Hecate. Aphrodite. Athena. Hera. Their names are familiar and comforting, but you’ve never seen these mythological figures like this. Hera isn’t merely a jealous wife, as some of the stories of old would have you believe. The Goddess of Women, gifted with foresight, sees all and knows all. After witnessing the unending pain inflicted on woman after woman at the hands of men, the wife of Zeus burns with a fury brighter than any sun.  

Hera takes the grievances of thousands of women and the injustices of thousands of years to her husband and the gods of Olympus. The other goddesses stand at her side as she says plainly, “We have had enough of men.”

Zeus and the gods dismiss them with condescension. In the depths of Hades, at the Well of the Lost, the goddesses put their own plan into motion—one that will ultimately rock the very heavens themselves. As these powerful women create the Amazons from the souls of those lost to violence and massacre, their gifts are stunning in their generosity and power.

The first Amazons are as unique as the goddesses who create them. Their names can be found in both books of myths and comics: Penthesilea, Io, Pythia and Antiope. Each goddess, except Hera, calls forth a tribe of five. These first Amazons aren’t “warrior women”—they are warriors. As the book comes to a close, we meet Hippolyta and the fateful decision she makes that will eventually lead her path to cross with theirs."

-- DC COMICS/DC BLACK LABEL, by Kelly Knox, c. December 2021

Resolution from largest to smallest: 25550x3263, 1985x3052 (2x), 1080x1434, & 677x942.

Sources: https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Wonder_Woman_Historia:_The_Amazons_Vol_1_1, Washington Post, Modern Mythology Comics, various, etc...

[themyscirah]

Developing more Themysciran/Amazon language headcanons.... this is like drugs to me

[signalwatch]

do yourself a favor and pick up the DC Comics book "Historia". I can't really describe how much this work succeeds in form and function as a moving graphic narrative.

Pick up from your Local Comic Shop, but also available soon at Amazon