Phil Jimenez

Wowsers!

Even as she stands among queens and goddesses, Hippolyta is THE QUEEN.

Kelly Thompson teams up with three superstar artists to give a beautiful and enthralling new perspective on the history of the Amazons.

For a long-time Wonder Woman fanboy like me, this is pure catnip: a tribute to all that has come before that also shows why these characters will persist for ages to come.

FOR REFERENCE:

Trivia: Gene Ha has one two-page spread in Book Two that pays tribute to women throughout history. He lays out the names and inspirations behind all the cameos here:
https://www.tumblr.com/thegeneha/681432602771636224/more-wonderwoman-historia-vo...

Contents: Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, Book One / Kelly Sue DeConnick, writer; Phil Jimenez, illustrator -- Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, Book Two / Kelly Sue DeConnick, writer; Gene Ha, illustrator -- Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, Book Three / Kelly Sue DeConnick, writer; Nicola Scott, illustrator -- Guide to the Amazon Tribes, with Design Notes / Phil Jimenez -- Hidden Figures / Gene Ha -- Behind the Panels / Nicola Scott -- Variant Covers / Olivier Coipel, Becky Cloonan, and Yanick Paquette, illustrators -- Wonder Woman Historia: The Pitch / Kelly Thompson -- Wonder Woman Historia: The Awards / Phil Jimenez -- About the Creators

(Best of 2023 Project: I'm reading all the graphic novels that made it onto one or more of these lists:
• Washington Post 10 Best Graphic Novels of 2023
• Publishers Weekly 2023 Graphic Novel Critics Poll
• NPR's Books We Love 2023: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels

This book made the NPR list.)… (más)

Well this was quite a tour de force. Angela (of Spawn fame) found her way into the Marvel universe. To give her presence in this world she is made daughter of Odin kidnapped by Heven Angels aeons ago. So when she finally finds her way back home she performs something that completely fires off everyone in Asgard.

In order to help her friend she will start series of events that, combined with Angela's nature (that makes Wolverine look like pacifist and peoples man in comparison), will bring the entire universe in state of utter destruction.

I like how people see Angel's and their "nothing for nothing" approach as "capitalism at maximum" :) Angel (beside being ultra Amazon society of bounty hunters and bad-ass warriors in general) are based on old ways so to speak. Even today in good part of the world it is custom to give something in return for anything received. It is just a way people try to enforce the idea that nothing comes free.

Of course for Angels (that are as warm people as Siberia in winter) this concept is basis of everything. If someone is indebted he better return the favor or ..... oh boy :) As a matter of fact all Angela's actions are as they are because she tries to pay off all of her debts in a way that will give her freedom.

So in all of this mayhem (center of which is Angela) we see Asgardians chasing her, Angels trying to figure out why is everybody from Asgard so hellbent to destroy them, Guardians of the Galaxy finding themselves played around by almost everyone (but hey in for a penny in for a pound, right:) ), Hella caught in a very surprising role of helping (instead of destroying :)), Malekith and Dark Elves getting struck by Angela (you truly feel sorry for them) and Surtur, that malevolent giant, trying to pry its way back into Nine Realms. Its constant action, action, action.

And ending, ending makes me eager to get the next volume as soon as it gets published.

Art is pretty good and I have to say consistent through all issues of this volume.

Highly recommended to fans of action stories full of exotic and ancient space civilizations.… (más)

My second—and very likely last—exposure to Grant Morrison's writing. I love Phil Jimenez's art and it was almost...almost...enough to help me forget a lot of the dumb stuff Morrison had the characters jabbering on about.

There's a story in here somewhere, but you have to hack at all the self-indulgent crap that Morrison throws in—pop psychology examination of movies, discussion about bleeding edge tech (he tries to out-Warren Ellis Warren Ellis and fails...no one talks tech like Ellis) and he populates the Invisibles with edgy characters (he tries to out-Garth Ennis Garth Ennis with out there characters and fails...no one writes edgy characters like Ennis).

Overall, for such a slim volume, despite the gorgeous art, I had far too many "get on with it" moments over the pages and pages of Morrison trying to show how clever he can be.

Decades ago, I read Morrison's Arkham Asylum and remember loving it at the time. This time around, not so much.… (más)