Nubia: Queen of the Amazons #1 – Stephanie Williams; Writer; Alitha Martinez, Artist; Mark Morales, John Livesay, Inkers; Alex Giumaraes, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: Coming off Trial of the Amazons, we have books exploring more corners of the Amazon universe than ever before. Diana has her own book, Cassie will be headlining a Dark Crisis mini, and Yara and even the deceased Hippolyta get their own one-shots soon. And then there’s Nubia, the new Queen of the Amazons, who gets this new series following up on the previous arc. While co-writer Vita Ayala has departed the book, there’s no real shift in writing quality—which makes me think it’s in good hands with Stephanie Williams. Kicking off with an assassination by a mysterious assassin with ties to Nubia who recognizes her amulet, it’s a tense first issue that sets up a lot of new things. As Themyscira repairs itself, Nubia prepares for her first major diplomatic mission now that the Amazons have gone public. She appoints Philippus as regent and picks her diplomatic team—and we’re off.
This issue juggles a lot of tones, and usually they work together pretty smoothly. The most charming part of the issue is when the Justice League meets the Amazon delegation. Some of these scenes are funny—like Bruce and a young Esquecida warrior discussing social media. A chat between Bia and Black Adam is surprisingly heartfelt. And Nubia and Hawkgirl have an epic sparring match that turns into a strategic discussion. But as Nubia prepares to make a stand against illegal deforestation in the Esquecida territory, a new enemy appears—and it seems like they have massive-scale plans that could end Nubia’s reign before it’s barely begun. Williams seems to be characterizing this second act as an international thriller, giving it shades of some of the best Black Panther runs at times. I was surprised to see DC give Nubia such a push recently, but it’s paying off in some great stories so far.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
