Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons review: Every page of DC’s comic is epic

By the second page, it’s immediately obvious why Wonder Woman Historia: The AmazonsIt took three years to create. The long-awaited title from DC’s Black Label imprint is a cup that runneth over, a series of page spreads that drop like the BWOMMM of a Hans Zimmer score, a masochistic commitment to decoration turned to decadence on paper.

It’s not all. Too much?

(Spoiler: It isn’t. Or maybe it is, but it doesn’t matter. Or maybe it’s the thing that matters most.)

Wonder Woman Historia: Who are the Amazons?

Wonder Woman: The AmazonsKelly Sue DeConnick wrote #1 and Phil Jimenez drew it. They are both synonymous with feminine power depictions.

Jimenez’s work is characterized by clear lines, impeccable anatomy, stunning detail, and mesmerizing layouts — he also has a long and beloved history with Wonder Woman. DeConnick is the author behind Bitch Planet Captain Marvel, it’s almost shocking to say that this is her first work ever in the world of DC’s Amazons.

Hi-Fi and Arif Parianto colored the book. Romulo Fajardo Sr. also contributed to its coloring. Gene Ha, Nicola Scott will draw the next two issues.

Wonder Woman Historia: Who are The Amazons #1?

This first issue retells and adapts the creation story of DC’s Amazons, borrowing much from George Pérez’s 1987 Wonder WomanThe run is a race in which several Greek goddesses make a new class of female warriors, from the souls formerly murdered by men. It is called The raison d’etre of the book’s mysterious narrator is to tell the Amazons’ own version of their history, contrary to the stories that have been told about them by others.

Not surprisingly, at the end of each issue, you will find the complete version. HistoriaThis is just a partial list.

Wonder Woman History: What’s the deal with Amazons?

Wonder Woman HistoriaThis was one of the first DC titles to be announced in the spring 2018 when the imprint’s scope and themes were revealed. The idea behind Black Label was to create a new place for the biggest creators in comics to make canon-optional DC Comics stories at a high production value — and even a (literally) bigger page — a role that the company’s Vertigo imprint had been struggling to perform for the modern market.

There is no corner of the American comics industry that hasn’t suffered from delays since spring of 2020, whether because of the Diamond shutdown, the paper supply chain, or the simple uncertainty of the market. But Jimenez’s usual process and the larger size of of Black Label books are certainly unique factors here. Wonder Woman HistoriaIt is more than two inches longer (going on an additional five inches for double-page spreads) and over half an inch higher than standard staple-bound American Floppy.

Are you looking for more than 64 pages of art? That’s a lot of art.

Are there required readings?

Absolutely none. The whole point is Wonder Woman Historiait is best to start from the beginning. Wonder Woman lovers will be delighted to see so much in this book, as will Wonder Woman fans. HadesNeil Gaiman and Greek mythology. Anyone who would enjoy a story of gods and mortals that’s been illustrated to within an inch of its life.

Wonder Woman History: What is the #1 Good of The Amazons?

Wonder Woman: The AmazonsJimenez was afraid #1 would become the last drawing he did. So he made it. Most thing’s he’s ever drawn. It’s a colossal volume.

DeConnick’s lyrical texts are top-notch, and she has a talent for drawing out the best of the artists with whom she works. Here she sits back so that Jimenez can summon an entire symphony from his pencil, and with a slight tip of her conductor’s baton includes lines like: “The first [Amazon]Goddess of the Harvest, is her name. For it is Demeter who ensures that man reaps what he sows.”

There’s barely an inch of the book isn’t a flex on Jimenez’s part, whether it’s packing about a dozen panels into every page, drawing a few arks worth of animals, 30 distinct character designs based on deep Greek lore for the Amazons Alleine, pits of writing snakes a double page spread wide, dresses made from a hundred individually depicted birds, panel borders crenelated with rococo flair, or the casually imperious way Zeus sits so you can’t ignore the bulge of his rapist crotch.

Are you putting too much in? The digital texture in the coloring was too much for me. Jimenez’s art is so intricate, his lines so black and four-color clear, it clashes with overly mechanical gradients, glows, and patterns. But I also think “too much” is exactly how DeConnick and Jimenez have advertised the book — I think too much is exactly the point. I have only ever done it once Historiadescends out of Olympus so to speak. Detail recedes and color cools. It’s as if the gods and god-touched beings are SupposedIt can be difficult to keep everything in your head at once. I have the largest iPad on the market and I still feel like I can’t quite get a grip on the pages here. This book is one I must have in my hands.

One panel that stood out

Jimenez, DeConnick, and Jimenez present us with a prescribed page spread featuring 10 Grecian urns portraying patriarchy’s crimes against people who are less than the men. Next, you can turn the page…

It makes your breath skip a beat.