Peak

Danny Fingeroth writer not Walt Simonson

This is peak Fantastic Four right here. I was not expecting to find so much base material for the Loki tv show when I started reading this. Art is stunning and I’m a sucker for awesome last pages like this

Completely entertaining issue from start to finish

Poor kid. Dont know if this how DeConnick intended the reader to feel about the boy but that was brutal

This was okay. The writing seemed a little more bland for some reason. Just felt like it lacked the grandiosity and epicness of the first issue. And obviously the art took a big step back, but I expected as much since nothing could've compared with the perfection Phil Jimenez treated us to. Taken on its own, Gene Ha's art is not bad, it's just much, MUCH weaker than Jimenez's, so it seems bad by comparison.

One nitpicky problem I had was it seems like Gene Ha just completely ignored Jimenez's character design of Hera from the first issue and decided to do his own thing, cause she looks completely different in book 2! She's decked out in a totally different wardrobe, her facial features seem radically different, and she's very clearly put on more than a few pounds for some strange reason. Just out of curiosity, I flipped ahead to peep on Nicola Scott's design in book 3, and it looks very similar to Phil Jimenez's, so I don't know what Gene Ha was doing. I honestly don't much care how she's supposed to look, but at least be consistent. more

Was KSD very on the nose with whole “men bad, women good” theme? Yes

Did I understand what was going on for the first half of this comic? Not really

Am I mad that Aphrodite, some D tier character, is fat? I dont really care either way

But this art is generational. I can’t imagine how much time and effort it took to make this. Hang it in the Louvre

Listen...did this book have its problems? Yes, it did. Did it smell a little too strongly of thinly-veiled misandry? You betcha. DeConnick clearly has beef with not only certain men, but all men, everywhere, throughout history. She seems to think that because some men have horrifically abused and mistreated some women, therefore all men are bad simply because they are men. Was the portrayal of Aphrodite ridiculous? Absolutely it was. The Goddess of love and beauty being depicted as morbidly obese? I eye-rolled so hard I saw my prefrontal cortex. You can argue all you want that beauty standards have changed through the years, but there has never been a time in history when someone THAT large would've been regarded as the highest standard of physical beauty.

So this was by no means a perfect issue. It was well-written in parts, had an epic feel to it (which I liked), and set up an interesting plot going forward, but it did have some glaring problems that cannot (and should not) be ignored.

HOWEVER.

All that being said, I don't think I can say that I have ever witnessed art so breathtakingly gorgeous, so staggeringly intricate and detailed, so utterly and completely stunning in my whole entire life. I'm certainly not buying whatever message Kelly Sue is very clearly trying to sell here, but dangit...I can't bring myself to give this issue lower than a 10 for the sole fact that Phil Jimenez's art is, quite simply, perfect. It's just...perfect. It's so good that it deserves bonus points that make up for the marks I would've taken off for DeConnick shamelessly clubbing me over the head with her fourth-wave feminist cudgel.

Knowing that Jimenez isn't drawing the rest of the series, I don't expect to enjoy the next two issues very much, but at least I was treated to an absolute visual FEAST for one issue. more

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons Book One
Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick | Artist: Phil Jimenez | Publisher DC Comics/Black Label

Review ✍

Kelly Sue DeConnick is not a writer I usually check for while visiting my Local Comic Shop. She famously stated that if “don’t like her politics, don’t buy my books”. Being conservative this is normally the point when I check out on a creator and their works. I doubt that Kelly and I agree on most issues but I am a fan of Wonder Woman and DC Black Label has not let me down so I figured I’d give the series a shot.

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.


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.

The story does take some warming up too but by the end of Book One, I found myself heavily invested in the direction of the series. The comic begins with the Pantheon of Goddesses airing their grievances to Zeus regarding Men. The segment could have been cringe with a lesser writer. However, the complaints are valid in their own right. Kelly also uses Zeus to push back on the idea that men are all bad and suggests that each side has a role to play in the grand scheme of things.


For some reason whenever the Amazon’s and Greek Gods and Goddesses are written into a story the dialogue gets pretentious and I start to zone out. This isn’t a Kelly Sue issue, it happens in every Wonder Woman story I’ve ever read. I wish DC would do a better job grounding these characters but it will probably never happen.

Once the grievances are aired and Zeus dismisses the Goddesses they hatch the plot to create the first Amazons. The lore and world-building here are stellar and the situation picks up steam when Hippolyta is introduced to the story. She is called to midwife and deliver a child.


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.

I’m glad I gave the book an honest shot. Kelly and Phil have great chemistry and I do not doubt that Historia will be a complete epic by the end of the series.

In short: Wonder Woman: Historia presents a compelling origin to the Amazons. This is an amazing start and one of the best Wonder Woman stories I’ve ever read.

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Overly and unnecessarily wordy at times but besides that this was great. Not crazy over the Kal-Elf character.

Pretty fun issue. The art in all the 5th dimension scenes is incredible yet somehow Lex stole the show as the best part of this comic. My one complaint would be I don’t like when the writers aggressively push and tell the theme instead of naturally revealing it to the reader

Liked this better than the first issue. Prince and Morazzo nail the silver age vibes. The colors are beautiful

Extremely creative premise and execution. Some of the dialogue reads super awkwardly, which kept me from rating this higher

Waid and Bryan Hitch are both legends

Mark Waid is perhaps the most consistent writer in modern comic's.

Luthor has always fascinated me and Waid's love of the character is felt. How I wish this was a normal series.

His Batman and Robin comic is one of the best DC books I've ever read.

Cant believe it took me all these years to finally read this

i used to be the king of gotham :(