Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons #3 – Kelly Sue DeConnick, Writer; Nicola Scott, Artist; Annette Kwok, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: After an extended wait, this Black Label reimagining of the creation of the Amazons finally concludes. This is a common problem with Black Label, with many of them releasing on nothing resembling a regular schedule and hurting the momentum of the series—which is a shame, because many of the series are exceptional. That’s definitely the case with this series, which brings Nicola Scott on as artist for the final issue—which finally brings us to the event we’ve all been waiting for. After their creation by Hera and the other goddesses created a stir on Olympus, the Amazons are going to war with the Gods themselves. That coming cataclysm is made all the more painful by the fact that we get to know the Amazons, including the young woman they take in, so well before all hell breaks loose. And when the war does find them, it comes with a familiar face—the arrogant demigod Hercules.
Obviously, we know how this story goes in mythology—humiliation and degradation, with Hercules usually cast as the hero. Here it goes very differently, as the Amazons score a major victory—but one that may be pyrrhic, as it enrages Zeus and makes him want to not just defeat the Amazons, but destroy them. What follows is a brutal war comic, with many painful losses along the way, until Hippolyta is pushed too far and ascends to Olympus herself to make the deal that will eventually define the Amazons for all time. In many ways, the ending of this story is preordained, but it’s given a unique twist that changes the tone of this creation—and one that is very called for given the recent changes to Wonder Woman’s origin in the last decade. The three issues of this series ultimately feel very separate, and maybe this was intentional given the different art teams, but I am fascinated to see how this beautiful series reads as a completed whole.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
