Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons (2021-) #1

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In our Wonder Woman Historia review, we explore why Wonder Woman’s new origin story feels like the story that should have been told all along. Historia has completely redefined the Wonder Woman mythos not just for comics, but at a visual and conceptual level itself. I’m thrilled to see the impact this series will have on Wonder Woman’s future stories across mediums. This is one of the best issues of a comic I have read all year, if not the best. And even if you dont agree with that assessment, after having read this you'll see that its creators have made quite a hearty stake for that claim.

Required reading for fans excited about the upcoming television series PARADISE LOST, announced by James Gunn as part of the first chapter of the new DC Universe media slate!The goddesses of the Olymp have had enough of the cruelty against and marginalisation of women that they had to witness throughout history. And it's not like they have been treated any better by the male gods of the Olymp. The art might seem overwhelming, but do not be deterred: Wonder W oman Historia is an essential, enjoyable, and eternal masterpiece. Historia is a Feminist story but it's not one of those Feminist stories that exist only to bash Men. There is a fair bit of Man bashing in the book but there there are several poignant points in the book that elevate the material beyond the typical hatefest. Well hoss, since you’ve called my bluff, it behooves me to lay my cards on the table: I’m just not a big Wonder Woman person. Restrain your anger, please. This is a very well put together piece, both in its writing, art, and thought is given to how Greek gods interacted with themselves and humans. The role multiple goddesses and eventually Hippolyta play in forging the society meanders a little, but is the creation of any society truly a straight line journey?

Jimenez’s introductory issue is the most riotous and colorful. Accordingly, there are three credited colorists: Hi-Fi, Arif Prianto and Romulo Fajarado, Jr. The color seems so integral to the finished product, I’d be interested to see what the files looked like prior. The tribe of demigoddesses created at the conclusion of the previous chapter live at night, well accustomed to hiding themselves, but eventually they attract a following, and soon that following becomes difficult to hide. This leads, with sure and certain inevitability, to the eventual reveal. This comes in the form of a murder in the temple of Apollo. The main draw to Historia is the art. This book looks different from most other titles on the shelves today. Phil Jimenez’s art is intricate, striking and at times feels ethereal. The art is perfect for this format and worth the cover price alone.What also is breathtaking about this comic is the glorious artwork. Yep, I called it glorious. It must be some of if not THE best artwork I've EVER seen in a comic / graphic novel: Every aspect of the artistic direction in this is inspired, refined, executed near flawlessly. Every goddess design, is something inventive, creative, unique.... this is almost a character design class in and of itself. Even simplistic designs like Aphrodite bear clearly untold hours of intent and though put into it. And as an aside, yes, she is portrayed as rather "plump" here. Some may complain about that. But keep in mind... a goddess has no need for human nutritional health. Much like I wouldn't scoff at Thor being shown as a potbelly viking of immense strength(which we have also seen multiple times) I would not expect any gods to kowtow, to be restricted or burdened to human standards of beauty, form, health or anything else. Personally though, I'd say my favorite design of this is Athena. Its truly an inventive look to see in both concept and execution. Its phenomenal work.

After the unreality of the first volume and the oft-muted twilight of the second, Nicola Scott gives us a climax in the full light of day. Annette Kwok’s colors are vivid and rich, lively and natural in a way that seems to exist in a balance between the first two, very different issues. The gods themselves even make note of the artistic change, as creatures of the aether pulled gradually but implacably into the realm of flesh and blood by the restless affairs of man. The artistic evolution of these three chapters makes literal the descent from myth down through legend and finally history. That process of historical descent was familiar to the Greeks themselves - from ages of gold to silver and bronze, and finally the age of man. It may seem improbable that such a thing could be - an artist might just sit down and draw something so unspeakably beautiful as all that. Surely not! I have in the past accused modern artists of cowardice for neglecting the ink wash, and must hereby exonerate Scott from any such critique. Nicola Scott doesn’t take any shortcuts. She’s the closest we’ve got to Russ Heath. We should probably put her in a box somewhere so she doesn’t get hurt.Ok, so first of all, the art from Jimenez here is just gorgeous, he really outdid himself big time. He did some great work on Batman too, but this is next level stuff. I like the fact that DC gave this book to an artist, regardless of his sex, and they reaped the rewards in spades. Good job there!

Why Hera hasn't joined them and what it all has to do with a female baby that is supposed to be left in the wold because her family can't afford another daughter, we'll find out in the subsequent books, I guess. The hardcore fanboys and canon holders will give their gripes, I'm certain. Those who are better versed in Greek myths than I likely will to, if they read this. As for the story, well, its deceptively simple. But for a book so visually dense, it was the right decision. Hippolyta is put into a rough position and choice that many women have to face daily and is nearly lost before the Goddesses intervene. I won’t spoil the book but the last third of the comic was genuinely powerful and leads to what I believe will be the birth of Diana. That would be a sufficient response to reading a book like this as I have just done. But it certainly isn't sufficient to my tastes.So I came in a good ways through William Messner-Loeb’s run (1992-95). He’s one of our more underrated writers, someone who focused on the human element of his stories at all turns. I was buying as much for the Brian Bolland covers as anything else, truth be told, but you probably could have guessed that. And I bought it through the Mike Deodato period at the tail end of Messner-Loeb, because I generally had and have no problem with Deodato’s art. Very dynamic, even then. And then he passed the torch to John Byrne (1995-98) - and I’m not going to lie to you, I enjoyed that run very much. At least the first half. The second half had a surprisingly strong Roy Thomas vibe. Lots of continuity work that not a lot of people ever wanted to deal with. But the first half was a dedicated fight book, where Byrne tried to prove a point: that Wonder Woman is really damn strong and should maybe have a big fistfight once in a while. Literally anything is possible in this brave new world of the future. Including, strange as it might seem, good comic books. Pérez’s reimagining is so iconic that it has influenced almost every iteration of Wonder Woman’s world for the past 35 years. However, with nine prestige-sized volumes and a modern woman’s perspective, the story style of Historia is very different from any previous versions fans have seen before.