the art in historia is so phenomenal

In the weirdest “life comes a full circle” moment: I spent my undergrad reading Captain Marvel, grad school screaming at the movie, and now as a doctor, teaching a class about Captain Marvel, Kelly Sue, and the Carol Corps.

This is the very best use of my PhD.

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons

Saturday morning, I cracked open Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons.

It is an incredibly beautiful book. I think there should be a coffee table version of this book. (At its size, it's probably already close to one; however, there's no way I'd put my only copy of this on a coffee table xd)

My first thought on opening it was: My God is there a lot going on in the artwork. Seriously. So much. I knew I'd never be able to attempt to read it without flipping through it and just looking at the pretty pictures at least once, so that's exactly what I did.

I flipped through it, skimming the artwork, until I found the stuff at the back - the bits from each of the artists on how they went about creating the art.

Reading how they did that, flipping back and forth between that section and the finished art and seeing things I most definitely would not have noticed without being guided (or at least, not on a first or even a fifth viewing), thinking of everything that went into all of it...

I fell in love. I'm in love with a book I haven't even read yet. I know that it'll be one of those books I can read again and again and again and always find something new in it - whether a detail I'd missed or a connection/reference I hadn't picked up before - and there's even more opportunity for me than perhaps usual, as I really don't know that much about myth. But the writer posted a photo of all her pre-writing reference reading, so those are now all on my TBR list lol.

Today, I went over some of the art again, especially from the first book, and one of my initial feelings is being strengthened: I don't think I'm going to be able to read this book without assistance (i.e., digitally, using guided view on ComiXology).

It is incredibly complex, made more so by how detailed and overwhelming the artwork is.

I'm still going to try, because I really want to read this book and I don't want to wait until I can afford to buy it again digitally, but. If it goes, I think it's going to be very slow going.

"I'm very aware of the fact that I'm just a conduit for a concept. It always, for me, was the star. I just wanted to imbue that symbol. That was my goal. If I could help imbue that star and that symbol to mean something, to help you get out of a tough situation, to give you strength when you feel like you don't have it. That we're free. We're completely free to be as we are.

"I see people in like a leather Captain Marvel jacket or a keychain or a pin with that star. If that can be a reminder of inner strength and power? It's a powerful concept. "

-- Brie Larson, on playing Carol Danvers in MPowered on Disney+

Sharon-A-Day, Day 731 (1/1/24)

Age of Heroes V2 3. On sale 7/21/10. "Girls' Night In"

Sharon makes Absorbing Man absorb bullets.

Out this week: Wonder Woman: Historia (DC, $29.99):

Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick teamed with artists Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha and Nicola Scott on this Black Label miniseries, which set out to tell the definitive story of the Amazons and their relationship with the gods. The art is beautiful, which you’d expect given the creators involved, but each of them went above and beyond to bring DeConnick’s vision to life. And it’s a vision that’s worthy of an Eisner. 

See what else is arriving at your local comic shop this week.

Prometheus: Fire and Stone - Omega [one-shot] (February 11, 2015)

writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick | artist: Agustin Alessio | letters: Nate Piekos of Blambot | editor Scott Allie | assistant editor: Shantel LaRocque | designer: Sandy Tanaka | publisher: Mike Richardson | publishing company: Dark Horse Comics

This moment.

This moment right here. It made me think of that iconic line. The one we all know.

“Have you ever seen a little girl run so far she falls down? There’s an instant, a fraction of a second before the world catches hold of her again… A moment when she’s outrun every doubt and fear she’s ever had about herself and she flies... Maybe, if I fly far enough, I’ll be able to turn around and look at the world… And see where I belong.” 

This scene made me feel things. And by feel things, I mean I starting bawling in the theaters because I felt this on a metaphorical level. On an innate, human, wanting to be understood, level. This moment where everything is still. Where she's free- falling in a background of stars, allowing herself to float in the silence before igniting...

It's beautiful.

I drew the cover for March’s Image 30th Anniversary Anthology. We have a new Pretty Deadly short in that one. 

ok so Wonder Woman Historia is about to be legitimately insane

DC’s Amazons Week -  Day 3: God(desses) & Monsters

@dccomicsamazonsweek

WW Historia Divine designs: Hera (1)

Outfit 1

Hera’s most defining feature in the first issue of WW Historia is how she actually changes her outfit for every scene, each one more gorgeous than the other (which notably differentiates her from the other goddesses, who have a mostly “static” appearance). 

This is the first outfit we see her in - a white dress with red touches here and there. We see a great love for majestic and extravagant jewels, clearly posing her as a “queen”. Gem-incrusted leg pieces ; a metallic engraved girdle ; forearm pieces and numerous rings… Her most noticeable jewel is however her headpiece, a grand glowing piece incrusted with numerous colored gems, and evoking the colorful tail of a peacock (peacock appearing right by her side, as her sacred bird). It is clear that this headpiece is supposed to be a crown, or rather an extravagant diadem, as her veil is tied to the back of it, similar to how some Greek queens had a veil tied to their diadem. Most of her jewels are pale blue in color, while her metallic “jewel/armor pieces” (such as her leg pieces and forearm pieces) are all seemingly made of gold. This overall appearance is one of a very rich goddess.

You can also notice a bizarre, palm tree-like scepter with one black stone at the center ; and by her side the pomegranate, the Greek fruit of wedding and female fertility - by extension, Hera’s own sacred fruit, used to celebrate marriage rituals.  Other interesting details is her eye-makeup, green and purple, and how she wears fur on her shoulders. 

So overall this outfit recaps Hera’s roles as both a queen (crown and scepter, extremely rich and luxurious outfit) and as a goddess of marriage. The pomegranate, yes, but also the enormous amount of jewels. If you don’t know, a bride in Greece typically had to wear a lot of jewelry, as the idealized bridal attire required a lot of precious stones and gold - so it makes sense we could see this extravagant dispaly of riches as a tie to Hera’s function. 

Outfit 2

Of course the exact material of her second dress is actually the most interesting thing in this outfit - it is literally made of birds, a whole bunch of golden (still gold, Hera really shows off) cuckoo birds. This is a VERY interesting choice, especially since this second outfit was designed to confront Zeus and the other gods. Why? Because the cuckoo is more than just one of Hera’s sacred bird (here seen as much as the peacock around the goddess) - it is also the form Zeus took to trick Hera into loving him, at least according to one version of the myth of their marriage. 

You can also notice at the base of her dress golden tree-like motifs - maybe a call-back to the sacred tree bearing the Golden Apples, a marriage gift she received when she became Zeus wife. The cuckoo and the apple tree - all this outfit seems to be designed to remember to Zeus their love and marriage, and her position as his wife. 

I was a bit confused as to why in the picture above she was surrounded by big savage felines (saber-toothed on top of that!), until I read on Wikipedia that apparently the lion was one of her sacred animals… Personaly I never heard about it. I only knew of the cow, the peacock and the cuckoo being her sacred animals, and even the Wikipedia page doesn’t list any source to how the lion could be her sacred animal… but I guess Jimenez thought a cow wasn’t badass enough for the goddess.

Of course, it is also very noticeable that the cuckoo-dress is coupled with a “peacock-feather cape”. I think it might be more than just another reference to the peacock being Hera’s sacred bird:  it might be a call-back to the 2011 run of Wonder Woman, where one of Hera’s defining design trait was that she wore a cape of peacock feathers at all time (opposing Zeus’ cloak of eagle feathers). 

You can also see she has two scepters here - one is still the “palm-tree” like one (I am certain this references something but right now the symbolism eludes me) ; and the other is a smaller scepter ith a globe on it. I think it is a call-back to the world-globe we saw previously in her chamber (outfit 1). I will talk about this later. 

Just like in outfit one, we find back a gorgeous and extravagant wide headpiece, here being much more than a simple “crown” - it also seems to act as a devorative or ornative helmet, reinforcing the “martial” feeling all the goddesses have when they march towards the gods. Here you can see much more what I meant by the headpiece being like a “peacock’s tail” : while the material is gold (again, Hera seems to love gold), the disposition of the round/oval gems, and their blue color, seem to evoke the blue eyes on a peacock’s tail (and given Wonder Woman Historia focuses a LOT on the idea of the peacock eyes for Hera, I don’t think it is a coincidence). Another difference with the previous headpiece, that highlights Hera’s “martial” or “dangerous” aspect here is how it is surrounded by spikes (evoking the spikes of a sun, as much as the spikes of dangerous animals). 

We also get to see clearly Hera’s eyes glowing green here. Again we can possibly find a call-back to the 2011 WW series, where another defining trait of Hera was that her eyes glowed green when using her powers (as opposed to Zeus’, who had blue-glowing eyes) ; but it might also be a possible pun on Hera’s reputation as a jealous goddess. After all, being “green-eyed” has been known as being synonymous with being envious. 

We also see from side and back shots that Hera is a red-haired woman. 

The “artistic vision”

I will put here an aside not for an actual “outfit” of Hera, but for a brief moment in the issue where we see an artistic rendition in-story of Hera and Zeus as a couple. It is very interesting to compare this artistic representation presumably made by humans to the actual gods we see. For example Zeus is still blue-skinned and wearing a golden laurel crown, but he loses his horns and his giant stature, plus his beard is black instead of white (though the latter might make sense if this is supposed to be a “younger” depiction of him at the time of their mariage). 

As for Hera, she appears here black-haired too (probably to have her match with her husband). Her grandiose dresses are reduced to a simple one, thought the green color stays here. Green, color of the peacock feathers, but also the traditional color of jealousy and envy. We also see back each god’s titular bird opposed, the peacock for Hera and the eagle for Zeus. 

Interestingly I might theorize that the two statues behind them could also represent a couple: the one behind Zeus is clearly Herakles. The one behind Hera is a bit more difficult due to there being a lot of female winged goddesses in Greek art, but I might theorize that it is Hebe. Indeed we see Hera being served by two winged goddesses in issue 1 - they might be the two daughters-servants of Hera, Hebe and Ilythia. If winged goddesses in this version are the servants or daughters of Hera, it makes sense here this would be Hebe, the goddess that ended up married to Herakles.

But I might be over-analyzing here.

WW Historia Divine designs: Artemis

The first feature of Artemis one might note is how here she is depicted as a child instead of an adult woman. It hasn’t been done much, the only other example I can think of being the very recent “Percy Jackson” series. But it does actually kind of make sense when you consider that Artemis was a virgin goddess who rejected all matters of sexuality and love - it makes sense that an enti-erotic eternal virgin would choose to take the shape of a young girl, the less sexualized thing possible. Plus, her and Apollo are clearly depicted in the first issue as the youngest of the gods, due to Apollo having a teenager-like appearance. 

As with all goddesses, Artemis is surrounded by animals - here wild animals which were indeed linked to the goddess in mythology. Bears, boars and deers notably - though she is also seen surrounded by wolves… and here I have to wonder a bit because wolves were rather associated with Apollo than with her. Or maybe those aren’t wolves but hunting dogs? After all Artemis was famous, before all, for being followed by a pack of hunting dogs, and yet here they don’t seem to appear… 

The animal link also appears in Artemis’ outfit, entirely made of animal pieces: antlers, feathers and bird skulls, mixed with pieces of gold and jewels. It seems pretty clear her clothes are made from the remains of what she hunted down. It all gives her a “wild child” look, which does fit very well a goddess of the wilderness and wild places. 

The animal link goes even beyond, as Artemis seems to have animal traits in her very being. Indeed a few times her face seems to take on traits much more animal-like than human (notably her nose changes shape, and her eyes grow further apart from each other). This mixed the horns she wears on her head (antlers + what seems to be ram horns) makes her face look a lot deer-like or goat-like in some panels. 

Another thing to notice would be her eyes - very clearly inhuman, with a black sclera, yellow irises that keep changing size regularly, and large pupils that are usually green but grow black or blue in some panels. The constant change of colors and size does make her eyes look even more animalistic.

Of course, we need to speak about Artemis “transformation sequence”. Each goddess gets one during the rescuing of the souls from the Well, and Artemis’ transformation is the most noticed and graphic. She turns into a centaur. Okay, alright. A bit of a weird choice due to centaurs being the epitomy of savage and brutal masculinity ; but at the same time, a fitting choice as the centaurs precisely embodied the wilderness and savagery of the natural world. This centaur has a BIG collection of horns of all kinds - which makes me think that a lot of the horned animals I identified as escorting other goddesses might have been Artemis’.

But the most noticeable element is what the centaur is made of… Raw muscles, exposed tendons, bloody flesh for the human part ; antlers, giant teeth and other bone pieces for the horse part. Artemis already had a link with bones and horns, but here this is pulled to its most extreme, Artemis making herself an entire body out of the spoils of the hunt. Of course, it also here fits with Historia’s vision of Artemis as a raw and savage goddess, wearing bones and escorted by killer animals: her very panel is her in front of a deadand bloody Acteon. As the goddess of wild animals, she becomes literaly teeth and claws, blood and bones, what natural savagery is about. 

A last note I would point out is that Artemis here seems to be a red-haired girl. You see, she is depicted as very pale with reddish freckles over her face and shoulders - traits typical of those we call “gingers”. We don’t actually see her hair because it is covered in a big mass of feathers - though it is VERY possible that those feathers are actually her hair, due to these feathers actually being red, and thus going well with the “red-haired girl” look here.

EDIT: Correction! These don’t seem to be feathers at all - actually this big mass over her head, upon closer inspection, does seem to be her hair, simply pull up in a wild look and held together by jewels, horns and dead animals skulls… Though again, the mixing with the feathers makes it hard to see where the hair begins and where the feather ends, which might have been the entire point

Queens of the Amazons - Comparison between Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha, and Nicola Scott's Depictions/Styles

Column 1 - Hippolyta

Column 2 - Antiope

Column 3 - Helene

Column 4 - Io

Column 5 - Penthesilea

Column 6 - Menalippe

Column 7 - Pythia