A room full of girls and we acting real rowdy”- Princess Nokia[/quote_simple]
Writer: Kevin Grevioux / Artist: Ryan Benjamin /DC Comics
All I’m saying is, a story about the Amazons years prior to Diana becoming Wonder Woman is what the fandom’s been needing for the longest. We got Black Amazons and women of color popping off in this book too?! Say word is Hera. This is a series that is long overdue. We know the Amazons are the original warriors from Themyscira instead of Coney Island, but what we haven’t always gotten was much of their history that doesn’t revolve around Wonder Woman’s involvement. We’re now getting the lore behind these warriors expanded on within a six-issue miniseries and I’m all about that life.
Kevin Grevioux is the writer on this series and has us first meet these Amazons on the battlefield of a (fictional) African country Zhu’Kara, helping out their allies against an invading horde of O’Kungans. What better way to get familiar with a new cast than seeing them throwing hands in the flame emoji of battle? We got Amazons fighting back to back, crossing soldiers over and one busting out the Bushido blade so you know it’s real. Off the strength, we can tell that these Amazons come from different corners of the earth before we’re introduced to their leader, Hessia.
*Makes a disgusted face that rappers make when they hear a hard ass beat. Follows up with a small growl* Grhmmmmm. Look at god flourishing on page right ‘chea. Kevin Grevioux gives us the run down of where Hessia’s crew is at after the battle. We see the young upstarts that want more responsibility, the artists of the warriors, as well as those that tire of having been away from home for so long — a feeling that may either foreshadow or sow the seeds of mutiny.
Hessia has been tasked by Queen Hippolyta herself with gathering Amazons from different nations, cultures, and countries to come back to Themyscira. We don’t know the exact reason yet but we do know it’s been five years and they’ve been through mad battles. We also see Hessia is having thoughts about what lies beyond the life she always knew on Themyscira, and how perhaps it’s time to rejoin the world of man to teach them the ways of the Amazon (sound familiar?). The best part of this issue is how quickly the story moves and how long it felt, as well due to how engaged it keeps you. Hessia’s team faces major conflict when a few members are abducted and tempers come to a head. We see more Greek characters from lore come into play as well, which is where the actual journey begins. This journey they’re about to embark on though? That shit ain’t nothing nice, man. Trust me on that shit right there.
Ryan Benjamin does the damn thing on the art. I like how we get to see deep in the thick of the hair and features of the Amazons that show their ethnicities as different from one another. The detail on the Amazons’ weapons is another standout detail as we see with the triaxe. The action was very well plotted, yet the scenes where the Amazons are being the great ambassadors of peace is where the art depicts them remarkably as (non-bullshit) politicians in a sense. Especially their faces upon telling tales of Greek myths and what are actual facts (as in what really happened when Hercules tried to run up on Hippolyta). All of which is to say, get you an Amazon that can do both, and an artist who can draw both. We gotta shout out Richard Friend on the inks, too. The team has each panel looking like they could be their own “Fight Like a Girl” shirt.
Grevioux and Benjamin set the bar very high in their first issue for this series, then did a one-arm pull-up on the bar like it’s nothing. If the creative team keeps pumping out work with this great formula of pacing, action, engagement, and world building then a miniseries ain’t going to be enough. We’re going to need a volume 2, ASAP.
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