Reviews
Wonder Woman is my favorite superhero of all time. I've had my hands on some of her issues in the past, but was very disappointed in the way they were written and how flat she appeared as a character. I've heard lots of things about the New 52 run and many are negative about her arc (her basically being the superficial "strong woman" type and only that). With this in mind, I was skeptical at the start of reading this series. I did enjoy most of the artwork, but since I'm not the biggest Greek Myth buff I did get lost with some of the gods mentioned. I still don't really agree with making Zeus Diana's father for the story, but I'm willing to stick around and see how this pans out. I thought Diana was illustrated (and I do mean illustrated by drawing - not otherwise) beautifully, but her character gave off a slight coldness that I normally wouldn't put on Diana.
I liked this but I didn't love it. It is a gritty version of Wonder Woman therefore Vol. 1 Blood is an apt title. There are obvious problems with the storyline. In short: Diana, Amazonian Princess aka Wonder Woman, finds herself protecting a young woman impregnated by Zeus from his vengeful wife Hera. But Wonder Woman is about to find out her own dubious parentage, a secret her mother Hippolyta has kept from her for years. So, yes, the Wonder Woman origin story is thrown out the window with this one. So if you're a purist, forget reading this. But, the drama that ensues between the gods and between Diana and Hippolyta is interesting enough to be enjoyable.
I am falling in love with this series. Volume 2 is a smart, rich and surprisingly humorous installment of Brian Azzarello's stellar Wonder Woman run! Azzarello really has reinvented Wonder Women in an engaging way. In this book, our Amazon Princess literally goes to the underworld to marry Hell himself, as a price for the bargain she has with Hades, and in attempt to rescue the woman she swears to protect from the conspiring Gods. Many folks are uncomfortable with the "retelling" of the amazon mythology but in some versions of the myth, no men were permitted to have sexual encounters or reside in Amazon country; but once a year, in order to prevent their race from dying out, the Amazons visited the Gargareans, a neighboring tribe. I mean, where did you think the Amazons came from? Are they all Goddesses? There were two special months in the spring in which they would go up into the neighboring mountain which separates them and the Gargareans. The Gargareans also, in accordance with an ancient custom, would go there to offer sacrifice with the Amazons and also to have intercourse with them for the sake of begetting children. They did this in secrecy and darkness, any Gargareans at random with any Amazon, and after making them pregnant they would send them away. Any females that were born are retained by the Amazons themselves, but the males would be taken to the Gargareans to be brought up; and each Gargareans to whom a child is brought would adopt the child as his own, regarding the child as his son because of his uncertainty. To the naysayers, I'd say take a look at the ancient mythology this series is drawing from. You'll learn much.
Decent start to the series. I'm glad they dont shove it down your throats that she is a girl and we should acknowledge that. They just let Wonder Woman show us what she is capable of.
superheroes plus mythology = love
apparently Wonder Woman is 23 in this series, which is awesome since that's my age
I had Angel Sanctuary flashbacks the entire time they were in Hell. Not necessarily a bad thing.
