Scott's Take: Amazons Attack by Josie Campbell, Illustrator Vasco Georgiev

Amazons Attack by Josie Campbell, Illustrator Vasco Georgiev, shares the name with several previous books that used that same title, but it has nothing to do with those. This is a miniseries that expands on Tom King’s Wonder Woman run following the first issue. After the bar fight where an Amazon killed several people, now known the “West Billings Massacre” there has been a serious rise in terrorism.  Several Amazon supporters are engaging in terrorist attacks on innocent people with no apparent reasons. The original murders during the bar fight have triggered more killings and violence.

 

Queen Nubia (the new queen of the Amazons as Wonder Woman’s mom, who was queen, died and became a god) is attempting to have a meeting with the United States President to hopefully find a peaceful end to the killings and violence. Somebody talked and the resulting security breech is first apparent because several secret service agents have eyes that suddenly glow yellow. Things, of course, go wrong and the Amazon Queen is soon on the run while trying to figure out the identity of the person or persons setting them up and proving her innocence.

 

Queen Nubia is soon joined by Faruka 2nd, Yara (the newest Wonder Girl), Mary Marvel, Hoppy (the magical bunny that Mary owns), and way later Cassie (the 2nd Wonder Girl). There is action and plenty of humor. The art works really well. Overall, there is a general positive message for women and young girls in this tale. The same is not true for the men.

 

Faruka is sexist, at points, towards men. She never experiences a comeuppance for her behavior and other characters consistently ignore her comments. If it was the reverse, one would think it would be addressed. I did not care for her at all.

 

While Nubia is often featured as the main character, I still don’t really have a good understanding of the character. She remains pretty shallow for me. She is a good person, she is a queen, she is a lesbian, she used to guard the entrance to hell, and that is pretty much it. Not a lot of depth there. Yara was fun as the grumpy character who does not want to be there. Mary Marvel and Hoppy were my favorites in it. They bring the humor and help the read a lot. Cassie has some fun moments when she shows up in the last few issues. The villains are overall decent, but could have used some more time to be expanded into a greater depth.

 

Overall, despite some of its flaws, as I perceive them, this is a fun read. It is hurt by its format of being a limited run miniseries. It has a positive message for women while telling a good story. This is a good book that expands on why the Amazons are now so hated by the general public. Not a must read for the Wonder Woman Tom King run, but does help flesh out the story.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3zmk4Yf  

 

My reading copy came by way of Hoopla through the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A Tipple ©2024

Scott's Take: Wonder Woman Vol 1: Outlaw by Tom King, illustrator Daniel Sampere

Wonder Woman Vol 1: Outlaw by Tom King, illustrator Daniel Sampere, deals with a complicated situation. During a bar fight, an Amazon allegedly kills several dudes. Somehow, the media and the government turn it into an indictment on all Amazons. All Amazons are ordered to leave the country by the United States government. The government creates Amazon Extradition Entity to hunt down any Amazons who refused to leave the country. Amazons like Wonder Woman. She is attempting to uncover the truth of what really happened and why. Of course, things get complicated fast.

 

Wonder Woman has not had a big-name writer in years until now. Frankly, DC has mishandled the franchise for several years. The last few runs were not bad, but they were not good. They were just okay. Each writer tried something different and none of it worked.

 

This run, so far, is both acclaimed and criticized in equal measure. More importantly, it is getting talked about. That is far more than I can say about previous runs. People are interested, they care, and they are actually reading it. This time, the interest is expanding past the usual base as many people are making this their first Wonder Woman book. I enjoyed it, but I also agree with the criticism.

 

The two main villains are sexist and dumb. They underestimate Wonder Woman to such a large degree, that might be the point. But the idea that even a sexist would come up with a plan of sending basic infantry with tank support against Wonder Woman who fights gods, monsters, and supervillains, and expect to win is laughingly bad. The idea that Steve, on and off boyfriend, is depicted as concerned for her against these enemies is dumb. Yea, babe, I saw you wreck a god just a few months ago, but these guys with guns are a concern.

 

Tom King never writes a character like anyone else. Tom King writes his version of a well-established character so everyone is either going to be slightly off or way more off.  All the character development to make several of her rogue’s more frenemies over the last years seems to be gone here. The government is always bad or incompetent. One expects that as he always does this because he is a former employee of the C.I.A. and clearly has issues with his employment and expresses that in his work.

 

Wonder Woman Vol 1: Outlaw does have its positives as well. The art is incredibly good. Daniel Sampere does some really impressive work. The fights are action packed, Wonder Woman is complicated, she is kind but fierce, her rogue’s gallery is used well even if character development has been changed back to what was previously done in some cases. The new villain is interesting commentary on the country.

 

The Wonder Girls actually are all here and play a role. Most of the time the Wonder Girls are usually either not in a run or only one of them. All four have a role to play. There are some humor moments too. Tom King is clearly a fan of Wonder Woman and has done his research. Not many people remember that Wonder Woman has a pet kangaroo, for example, as the Kangaroo is allowed a small cameo.

 

I am looking forward to reading the next volume called Sacrifice which is coming out in November. Despite DC planning on rebooting a lot of the lines later in the year for their new All In (the new banner/marketing term for the DC books which has nothing to do with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his rants) campaign, this title is one of the few which should not see major shakeups as DC is happy with the product.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3YqTtDe

 

My paperback reading copy came from the Timberglen Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2024

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