If there’s one complaint about Wonder Woman, it’s the perceived lack of classic, monumental, stories or storylines incorporating the character or her Amazonian heritage and history.
Certainly, there’s the long-running George Perez monthly comic book issues featuring the character from the late 1980’s and into the mid 1990’s that remains a high watermark in the Wonder Woman oeuvre. You can catch our love for the collected omnibus of that particular run right here. Among other notable works, there’s also the more recent Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette series of critically acclaimed Wonder Woman Earth One graphic novels that are well worth your time in reading.
Most recently, DC Comics, under their Black Label banner, which is meant to highlight comic book publications that fall outside the boundaries of character continuity and push boundaries into more mature-reader fare, published the highly anticipated three-issue miniseries, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, something we first suggested back in late 2021. Taking a cue from the very early Perez issues, the story makes a deep plunge into the history of the Amazon race and their place within the pantheon of Greek gods and an earth ruled by men.
And it’s a beautiful sight to behold!
Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick (Bitch Planet, Captain Marvel, Pretty Deadly) and illustrated by three of the comic book industry’s finest artists and fan favourites in Phil Jimenez (Wonder Woman, The Invisibles, Infinite Crisis, New X-Men) for the first issue, Gene Ha (Top 10, The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, Mae) for the second issue and Nicola Scott (Black Magick, Birds of Prey, Earth-2, Secret Six) for the third and concluding chapter, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons is a story written as a history lesson in mythology and the founding of the Amazon empire. It’s beautifully rendered by all three artists – perhaps the most beautiful comic book publication you’re likely to ever see. Their love for the material and their caring sense for the importance of DeConnick’s story within Wonder Woman’s published history, is presented on every detailed page and found in every breathtaking panel.
If there’s a lack of outstanding and memorable Wonder Woman stories in the comic book medium, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons fulfills its original promise to begin filling that lack of attention regarding one of the world’s most iconic superheroes. Here is the story of the Greek god Queen Hera and the despairing Hippolyta and the birth of the secreted Amazonian race – a race of women that would begin a war of gods and mortals and give birth to the greatest of heroes!
DeConnick mixes real-world mythologies along with new fictional creations into an astonishing tapestry that reinvents the origins of the Amazonian race and Wonder Woman herself. She weaves a compelling tale that feels as much a fascinating and engaging university-level history lecture and twenty-first century treatise on society and a woman’s role within it. The art in each issue leaps from the page, a shattering of senses that elevates the story into something truly divine. Phil Jimenez won the 2022 Eisner Award for Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team for his work on the first issue and he and DeConnick together won a second 2022 Eisner Award for Best Single Issue/One Shot.
Really, it’s a remarkable work and an astonishing achievement over all three issues.
At 232-pages, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons H/C is both an important and entertaining addition into the historical context of Wonder Woman lore. Make the run to your local comic book shop and pick up the collected hardcover edition today!
For another glimpse into Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons you can watch the DC Beyond the Panels: Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons video direly below.
