| Title | : | DC Comics: Bombshells, Vol. 1: Enlisted |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1401261329 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781401261320 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 144 |
| Publication | : | First published March 2, 2016 |
DC Comics: Bombshells, Vol. 1: Enlisted Reviews
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I loved it!! Here’s the DC Vynls I was talking about. I had to pull them off my shelf because it was too dark! 🙄
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾 -
Bodacious Babes Battle Brazen Balding Bi-speckled Baddies
Desperate times at DC (New 52, Rebirth) saw the publisher use a line of statuettes for inspiration for a comic title – Bombshells.
Hey DC, I can ask my Mom to dig up my old comics that I wrote and drew myself when I was 8 years old. Sure the art is minimalist (read: stick figures) but I’m sure you can pull something together from my grade school “genius”. Note the use of only five or six main colors (black – people, guns, cars, etc. , orange – fire, blue – water, green – trees and grass, yellow – the sun, red – blood. I used lots and lots of red.)
Although stick figures do have their limitations, the bonus is you never have to worry about complex facial expressions or drawing feet or hands.
So…I’m available…just need to ask my mom.
Dashing Dazzling Dames Demolish Dastardly Demonic Deviants
Yeah, so this book. It’s re-imagined World War II-era adventures, with an all-female super hero cast. With this kind of non-continuity world, it’s always fun and interesting to see where the creators take established characters.
Some of the choices are interesting…
…others leave you scratching your head.
This iteration of Harley Quinn wears pretty thin here too.
The Wonder Woman story hits the usual tired beats…
…but Mera can be my aqua-super hero any day. Heh.
Where are the dudes?
Steve Trevor is a head case, Lex Luthor is a weasely lackey and Constantine…
…is a bunny rabbit.
Drinking game idea: In this topsy-turvy world, with most of the men either weak or criminal, what’s a gal to do? Why look for some f/f loving, that’s what. So, take a gulp of your favorite alcoholic beverage for each panel containing same-sex smexy times.
Fightin’ Femme Fatales Flatten Fatuous Flatulent Foes
Bottom line: It takes a while for this concept to take off, but when it does, its fun in a dopey way.
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So on the one hand, I adore WWII era bombshells/pin up art, and when you use that as an inspiration to re-imagine the kick-ass ladies of DC, I am definitely throwing cash in your face and buying the book. But on the other hand, as this series was based on a line of (I kid you not) statuettes that were originally probably more about fan-wanking and inspiring sexy cosplay than about decent storytelling, I have to give you a cautiously skeptical raised eyebrow. But I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to see that this series definitely goes beyond the (admittedly) very cool and sexy art work: this is an alternate history retelling of WWII, where the female superheroes are front and center, punching Nazis and putting the male superheroes in their place.
I always loved the female heroines in the DC Universe, but I also always felt like they were could have had much richer and more original story lines if they were not constantly orbiting the male superheroes - which isn’t always easy considering the canonical continuity their franchises are stuck in. So this standalone series, which essentially ignores all the previous ones, is refreshing, fun and explores the well-known characters with a brand new perspective. A little digging showed that this was actually the aim of the graphic novel series’ creators: to make the female characters not dependent on their male counterparts and really push their own stories and agency.
The first volume of the Bombshells series introduces us to Batwoman, nicknamed thus because of her talent for baseball... and for fighting criminals with her trusted bat, of course. She is recruited by Commander Amanda Waller, who is in charge of a very special army intelligence and tactical unit, dedicated to fighting the Nazis in Europe. In parallel, we see how an American solider crashed on a small Greek island, and piques the interest of an Amazon princess; while in Soviet Russia, two sisters known as the Supergirl and Stargirl realize that their military is using them as a tool for propaganda. A few other well-known DC characters are reintroduced, such as Catwoman, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Lex Luthor.
The diversity in the story doesn’t feel forced, and while there is some very era-realistic sexism for the Bombshells to deal with, the message here is a truly positive and empowering one. This was a very fun read: the artwork is stunning and the characters are beautifully reinvented. Some details are a bit rushed, hence the 4 stars, but I'm looking forward to the rest of the series! -
Literally the only thing i liked was Constantine as a bunny, that's it.
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WWII reimagined with DC female characters working against some kind of vomity clay-based monster and for justice and against racism/anti-semitism, with nods to today's politics. SO many women and teen girls line up, led by Wonder Woman--Batwoman, Supergirl, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, the Queen of Atlantis, Queen of Zambesi, Mistress of Magic, The Question, Batgirl, Hawkgirl. ... so you can't tell the players without a scorecard heah, get yr scorecard! (Right, too many characters, who all join the "Bombshells" [babes and bombs, get it?!]). I do like the women's solidarity here, women coming together across the political/social spectrum, of course, but the storyline isn't really strong.I know it's a "pussy hat" book, and this is important, women (and men) need to set aside they differences and get busy and save the planet.
Marguerite Bennett tells the story, such as it is, and Marguerite Sauvage is the lead illustrator early on, but then in Big House fashion, sometimes five illustrate each issue. . . so it feels less like an artistic creation suddenly and more like a Big House production. But hey! Kick-ass girl-centric, almost no males in it, bring it on! -
From statues...
to a series of variant covers...
to a fandom phenomenon...
...the DC Comics: Bombshells series is now one of the most FUN and exciting and feminist story lines DC has ever produced. Why? Because in the hands of a woman writer and (I think) predominantly female artists, these powerful iconic characters get to live stories that are worthy of them.
The bottom line is that Marguerite Bennet is KILLING IT with this book. The myriad of characters are introduced with rich stories that made me immediately invested. It's a WWII context that is completely fresh, and the stories are woven together in an exciting way that is filled with surprises.
This is a book I can't wait to share with my nieces!!! But moreover, it's a series that I love reading and can't wait to keep reading.
Lady DC readers, between this book and Renae de Liz's
The Legend of Wonder Woman, I'm beginning to feel like DC is taking us seriously as readers, and maybe even seeing the tremendous benefit of getting more women creators to come play in their sandbox.
Can I just also express my undying love for the awesome Jewish representation with the badass Ms. Kane and a half-Jewish Zatanna!!!!!!
And I CAN'T WAIT to see where this storyline goes!! -
DC's cheesecake statues comes to life as they move beyond alternate covers and into stories of their own. DC may have done away with the Elseworlds moniker but they haven't done away with the concept. The ladies of DC take center stage in an alternate World War II where most of the men are off fighting the war and these girls are ready to do their part. As this book ramps up, the girls slowly coalesce to enlist in the Bombshells even if we're not sure what that is, just that it's run by Amanda Waller. This was surprisingly fun. Marguerite Bennett does a great job of juggling the vast amount of characters while keeping the book from being exploitative. As with most of DC's digital first initiatives, the art changes often, with multiple artists per issue. I did find this didn't always follow the same page layouts digital books do and was lost every time a 2 page spread appeared and the panels read across both pages. Most of the time it wasn't visually clear that it was a 2 page spread until I got to the second page and realized the panels were out of order.
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Based off a line of "Bombshells" variant covers and statues of the female characters done in 1940s pinup style, this comic book is set in an alternate universe during the Second World War. In this world, the female superheroes came first, and we follow them as they get their starts.
This book was a surprise delight. For a series based off a series of pinup pictures and statues, I was not expecting something so feminist. The women still face all the sexism that would have been typical for that time and get none of the respect they deserve, but that doesn't stop them from being amazing.
The book starts off with Batwoman who rescues the Wayne family when they attacked coming home from a movie, stopping Bruce Wayne's journey to being Batman right in its tracks and establishing firmly that this book was for the female superheroes. When not protecting the city as Batwoman, Kate Kane is the captain of a female baseball team and lives with her girlfriend Maggie who works with the police until she is recruited by Amanda Waller to join her organization: The Bombshells. Her first mission has her working with Catwoman
We switch over to the USSR where two sisters, Kara and Kortni (Supergirl and Stargirl respectively), join the Night Witches to be pilots in the war. But Kara must keep her powers secret, which becomes impossible when an accident while flying forces her to save her sister's life. The two are then forced to become Supergirl and Stargirl and fight for their country.
Over the island of Themyscira, an air battle between fighter pilots gets interrupted when the Amazons appear and kill everyone to protect their people from the bombs raining down on them. Diana finds the one survivor of the battle, Steve Trevor, who tells her of a terrible dictator threatening the world. She turns to her friend, Mera of Atlantis, to help her rescue Steve and save the world.
Zatanna finds herself facing the Joker's Daughter who holds a dangerous secret over Zatanna's head as she's forced to help her with dark magic. And John Constantine gets turned into Zatanna's pet rabbit.
Harley Quinn is on a mission to find her man and gets Poison Ivy to join her on in wreaking havoc across Europe along the way.
I adored every one of these women and loved every page of this book. It was just so much fun, and they all fit into their alternate universe roles so well. I especially enjoyed Diana and Mera's friendship and want to see much more of it. I don't think I've ever seen them be friends in the main universe, so this was a surprise, but a really nice one. And Mera sings to use her powers. She doesn't have to, but she likes to, and I am all for it.
The art is lovely, the characters are excellent, and the story is a blast. Overall, this series is a ton of fun, and I'm looking forward to continuing it. -
This is fun :-)
The basis of this series with kick-ass heroines in the lead were a line off 1940s pinup style Bombshells variant covers and a series of statuettes. Set in a WWII alternate universe we follow our female superheroes and how they came to be. I really like how this is done.
Themes: DC Comics, female super heroes kicking ass in WWII, alternate universe, super powers, feminists.
4 stars -
I didn't have high hopes for this one, almost didn't read it. It's based off a series of expensive fanservice statues, so I was expecting a bunch of cheesecake. I wouldn't have read it at all, except that I saw Marguerite Bennett was writing. I don't love everything she does, but I can at least trust her to write female characters. My faith was rewarded. Because it turns out that Bombshells is a solid Elseworlds-esque story. Set during World War II, the series reimagines DC's iconic female characters in that context. Supergirl and Stargirl become sisters, and Soviets. Mera is a bathing beauty. Batwoman becomes a baseball themed vigilante and sometimes spy. It's an incredible amount of fun. Granted, this volume is all exposition, totally taken up with introducing the large cast of women, so what story there is doesn't show up until quite late in the game. I didn't really mind. I especially appreciated the lovely way Kate and Maggie's romance was portrayed. It certainly helped that the art in the Batwoman sections is so pretty to look at.
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I'm in love. Need more immediately.
Update: I figured out what I love most about this, thanks to the wikipedia page for the series (technically the wiki page is for the statues, which came first, but there's a section about the comics too): "We wanted to make a principle of the series to have the conceit that in this alternate history World War II the women came first. No heroine is derivative of a male counterpart. They are the heroes". Bennett’s rhetoric is seen in the first issue of the comic book series where Batwoman is not a reaction to Batman. The refusal to have female characters seen in relation to men is also evident in Mera, Aqua Woman’s, conception. Mera is not seen in relation to Aquaman, as he does not appear until the second act of the series."
The concept of them NOT being counterparts to male superheroes blows my mind like you wouldn't believe. I mean, Batwoman PLAYS BASEBALL. It's fantastic as fuck. -
*2.5 stars*
What I liked:
☛ Diversity; there were two queer characters, one of them being a main one in the story.
I remember seeing two non-white characters, which sometimes is a lot.
☛ The art in the first 4 issues.
What I didn't like:
☛ The art in the last issue; I don't know what happened with issue 5 but the art was rough and uneven.
☛ The plot; I think this is a comic series you can't get into without knowing the basic stories of the characters. I didn't know shit and it was kind of confusing.
I'll probably read something about them and their back stories and re-read this volume before the next one comes out.
Overall, I was expecting a little bit more. I feel like I was just reading this only for the art. -
I was expecting this to be a fun little DC Elseworlds kinda book with bad-ass female heroes in WW2. I was not expecting a masterpiece.
What’s it about?
This book follows elseworld takes on various DC female characters during WWII. Various superpowered women end up involved in the war both on and off the battlefield.
Why it gets 5 stars:
The story is interesting. Being a fan of DC comics and war comics I greatly enjoyed seeing the mix of those 2 in this.
The artwork is beautiful! Holy shit, it is so great! Almost every page is a stunning piece of artwork!
These renditions of the characters are so damn good! Alright, I’ll try to go over them quickly. Wonder Woman is pretty much the Wonder Woman we’re used to but she’s cool so it works. Supergirl and Stargirl are fantastic! I loved the Mera is pretty bad-ass! Zatanna is very interesting. Batwoman is just as bad-ass as she usually is. Catwoman is pretty cool. Harley Quinn is actually interesting in this (I usually don’t care for her). Poison Ivy seems kinda bad-ass. Lots of strong, stunning female characters. I recently posted a thing on Twitter saying that it’s amazing how women are so adorable yet powerful at the same time and that fits the description of these beauties! There are also a few interesting male characters (esp. Constantine).
This book has outstanding action scenes throughout! My favorite is probably
This book has some good comic relief.
This book is pretty suspenseful. At first I thought it was sorta predictable but it’s one of those great times when I thought it was predictable at first but just a bit before the half-way mark BAM! All kinds of shocking twists and suspense. Love that!
While I would not label this as horror it has some horror elements that are pretty damn cool.
The feminism stuff is done well. So I’m a guy who thinks women can be bad-ass and support equality as women are just as smart, strong, etc. as men but too often books with feminist messages go into the “I’M TRIGGERED BY EVERYTHING AND FUCK ALL STRAIGHT MALES!” bullshit which is shitty and can ruin the fucking book.
This however just puts bad-ass, strong women doing awesome things in the spotlight with a message of equality and not being a fucking pig.
The romantic subplot with Batwoman and... okay, I forgot her girlfriend’s name is very sweet and well written. Very interested to see where that goes in future volumes.
The ending is fantastic.
Overall:
At the time I am writing this review none of my Goodreads friends gave this the same 5-star rating I’m giving it but I have no idea why.
It’s an interesting story with stunning artwork, bad-ass characters, amazing action scenes, some good comic relief, suspense as well as many other things.
It’s everything you could want in a superhero comic and more. This is fucking awesome, can’t recommend it enough!
5/5 -
I had originally attempted to read this story through the individual comic issues, but gave up after the first or second issue. Reading the collection of 6 issues reminds me that I cannot judge anything off of one issue.
In theory there’s an interesting possible story here – looking at Superheroes (mainly female) back during WWII, many of whom (all?) are modeled on superheroines and supervillains operating in modern times. In practice? Eh. It isn’t really what the people behind this comic did. They just took modern heroes/villains, and shoved them back in time. Including side characters like that Amanda Weller (whatever her name is). Some of whom actually existed back then, some didn’t – some could have based on what they are and how long they might live, some couldn’t have and still be here in their modern form.
I mean, like, for example, Wonder Woman was around in WWII – both literally in real world terms (first appearance of Wonder Woman in the comics: 1941), and in story terms (depending on the origin story, Wonder Woman has been around since WWI, WWII, or relatively modern times. So having Wonder Woman, the actual one not someone modeled on the concept, operating in World War II is doable. And reading the comics that feature Wonder Woman, read like the Wonder Woman movie – except instead of WWI, stuff is happening in WWII. Oh, and, apparently, Wonder Woman is quite friendly with Mera (who later gets called Aquawoman in the comic issues).
And . . . I’ve lost the plot already. Mmphs. The idea I wanted to note was that some of these people could have been operating back in WWII, but that isn’t the point of the series, apparently. The point is to take people from ‘our’ time, and shove them back in WWII time. Like Zatanna, Harley Quinn, Supergirl, Batwoman, Maggie Sawyer, Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Poison Ivy. And have them be basically themselves. Instead of having them be similar and/or parents of them. Well, there’s the ‘Joker’s Daughter’ one, but . . . I’m not really sure who she’s supposed to be.
Just like my review, actually more so than my review, the story line is confusing and disjointed. On the one hand, the story keeps being interrupted so other characters could suddenly have the focus; on the other hand when the story shifts back to a specific character, the story seems determined to be as weird as possible. Like, Batwoman is introduced as being a baseball player playing in the female league while ‘the men’ are off at war; and a vigilante . . . who wears the same costume as the baseball player; the police act as if they wish to ‘question’ Batwoman but do not know who she is as both wear masks. Except . . . . you’d think it wouldn’t be that hard for police to know where and how to contact a baseball player/team/team manager/etc. Then again, it is play acting since Batwoman actually is dating the police in the form of Maggie Sawyer (see, lesbian action! See implied lesbian sex! Etc etc). Except, that baseball story line was there and gone again in like three seconds. Then a weird spaceship like thing (okay, some kind of early helicopter, but still) lands on Batwoman’s roof. And . . . Batwoman is recruited to join the Bombshells, being led by the same woman who formed Suicide Squad in a different universe. Then . . . several other people are visited . . . and when we return, Batwoman is in Berlin, being a spy. As herself. That story line is relatively straight forward, albeit disjointed. Other story lines? Super disjointed and confusing.
Like the one where Supergirl and her twin sister (seriously, I can’t tell Kara and Kostanri (however her name is spelled) apart) join the Soviet air force. I know the Soviets are supposed to be seen as evil and stuff, but there were some good people here and there. And turning the Night Witches, the female piloted air force, into evil harlots is just wrong. Just . . . mmphs.
I’ve read stories wherein Superman landed on Soviet controlled land. This one just happens to have that, but it being Supergirl land there. But . . . the Soviets decide to see Supergirl as a traitor and evil and must die . . . instead of using her for their own objectives? I . . what?
Bah, my brain is kind of messed up, this review is messed up.
All the story-lines are super weird and confusing. Like when Harley Quinn finally turns up. She appears to be sane and working in a hospital. She talks to a patient who used to be her colleague. Then Quinn’s eyeball grows to three times normal, and she rips her clothing off, dances around singing and beating up people and flying randomly to France. WTF? Quinn’s a chaotic character, but there’s usually something more to her actions than random insanity. Though it might sometimes look like random insanity.
So – Supergirl’s story line is fucked up; Quinn’s is random insanity; Zatanna is super powerful but . . . ‘trapped’ by circumstances – her story line is fucked up more by the circumstances than anything else; haven’t mentioned it, but Wonder Woman’s story line is also fucked up (seriously, at some point she ends up in prison because the allies wanted to kill some prisoners and WW wouldn’t let them). Individually fucked up story lines, and together a disjointed mess.
On the positive side, there are both lesbian superheroes and Jewish superheroes in attendance – sometimes at the same time. Talking about Batwoman and Zatanna here.
I read this collected volume in one sitting while ‘wasting time’ before a movie. For what it is, and what I used it for, it entertained me. Story line was too annoying, though, for me to continue the series. If series continued, no clue if it did.
Oh, one last thought – getting back to my inability to tell Supergirl apart from her sister – that happens a lot in this collection. Too many of the characters look the same/similar to other characters. Like I could have sworn Harley Quinn was one of the other baseball players since one of them looked like her, but that doesn’t correspond to her storyline. Then Batwoman runs into another Harley Quinn like person but . . . again not her. And there were times I found it hard to tell Supergirl/supergirl sister and Maggie Sawyer apart. Other times I had trouble telling Zatanna and Catwoman apart. Bah, my poor eyesight? The art itself? Pfft, don’t know, probably my eyesight.
Rating: 3
April 27 2018 -
I am all about female driven comics and a huge fan of DC's roster of females so I naturally had to read this. And it was really good.
The art, in general, was really good with pinup style costumes for all the women and lots of bright colors. It's set during World War II which felt like a natural fit and a bit of a throwback to be honest, which I appreciated. But all of that worked together well with the style of the comics.
The story too was really interesting although frankly I think it was a little too big. It honestly felt like they were trying to cram every possible female on the DC roster into this comic and there were probably too many. I liked some stories more than others but in general the constant switching of perspectives kind of led to a lack of a cohesive story throughout the entire volume. Fewer characters and a tightening up of the plot would have taken this to the next level.
But on the whole I really enjoyed Bombshells and I'm excited to now pick up Vol. 2. If you like female driven comics and are a fan of any of DC's superheroines, check this out. -
This started out strong, but it suffered from having too many artists. Marguerite Sauvage handles the art in the first issue, and everything she draws is amazing. After the first issue, there are usually two or three artists per issue, and in the later issues the art is particularly bad. Inexplicably, the writing gets really bad by the final issue in this collection as well, despite the fact that the writer doesn't change.
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Wow, I really enjoyed this. I love all the female characters and the WW2 setting and the art is amazing. Everything about this is great so far.
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I LOVED THIS SO MUCH. If you haven't read these yet, pls do. Wish they'd do a Netflix series or something.
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I had reservations about a comic book series based on a statue line, but okay, sure, I used to read comics based on toys all the time (Rom, Micronauts, Transformers, etc.) so I guess that's not a big deal. And I enjoyed flipping through The Art of DC Comics Bombshells a couple years back.
The statues and the art book are just basically cheesecake, so I was surprised that beyond Marguerite Sauvage and cover artist Ant Lucia, the other ten artists who illustrate the stories in this book aren't very strong when it comes to that style of art, churning out fairly generic superhero pages. (And some of them really need to dig out some WWII photo reference once in a while, because their uniforms and equipment are shamefully shoddy.)
To offset the cheesecake, there's an attempt to give the story a feminist slant. And I like that the writer wanted to give the heroines strong, independent personalities and storylines, but too many characters are juggled in too many settings doing too many things to give any individual much chance to actually develop as a person. And of course whatever they are doing still has to generously focus on T&A.
Not well drawn, not well written, not much more than a time-wasting muddle. -
Thisssss book was so good! I wasn't expecting this. I actually don't know what I was expecting but I loved the historical background of WWII and the fact that there were so many DC characters involved! The artwork was ok and of course I noticed the changes between issues, but the plot was great! I can see why people may not like the fact that the main characters have their own backgrounds throughout the volume however I feel like it's going to all come together. I definitely feel like the writers invested time into this comic and I can see why people liked it so much! I definitely will be picking up the second volume.
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A fun story but it had potential to be a bit better. It's world war 2 and all the men are off fighting so the woman super heroes are left to defend us. I was excited for this book and it starts off O.K. but rapidly fails to produce an exciting plot of villain. They introduce a lot of heroines, each with a unique and interesting backstory but it is clunky coming together and takes time to develop the so called "bombshell" team. The art is a done by a lot of artists, some great, some poor. Overall it's worth a once over.
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What an absolute delight this series is shaping up to be. To bad Marguerite Sauvage didn't do the art for all the issues, as her line work and coloring is fantastic and a perfect fit for the bombshells idea/image.
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V Good!!!!!
theres queers and cuties and nice outfits and girl power and violence against nazis!! -
Alternate WWII universe in which my lovely DC heroines take center stage? Yes, please!
Yeah, they're dressed as 1940s pin up girls and still have to endure the occasional sexist remark from stupid men, but that doesn't stop my girls from being their badass selves! -
This was just as great as I remembered! I'm all in favor of wlw kicking Nazi ass and fighting for the underdogs.
Marguerite Bennett manages a lot of threads in this volume. In this WWII AU, we're introduced to the famous Batwoman and her parter Maggie Sawyer, Harley Quinn and smuggler Poison Ivy, contessa Selina (I forget her last name in this book), the Russian Stargirl and Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Mera and Zatanna. It's a lot, there's a lot of backstory to be explained and I never felt like Bennett struggled at all. We're told just enough to follow the story and the world Bennett creates is so rich and intriguing. It's based around the most central concept of what superhero comics are for: superheroes fighting bad guys. Who's worse than a bunch of Nazis?
My only complaint about this volume (and I believe the series doesn't really remedy it but I only got to like volume 3), there's no real focus on people of color, especially women of color. Aside from Zatanna, there's Amanda Waller and one of the other women in the background that just exist for exposition and to create bombshell costumes. Vixen comes later on (and the colors they choose for her skin kinda made me squint because she's normally made much darker in other comics). And even then, I don't remember feeling as though she was given a lot of weight as a character. In a book that's centered around the strength of marginalized people fighting against oppressive systems that seek to punish/demean/even outright kill LGBTQ people, Jewish people, Romani people and basically anyone that doesn't fit the Fuher's idea of "normal", it seems odd that women of color are appear to be largely left out here.
But aside from that, what is here is great and it's definitely one of the best books I have on my shelf. Definitely a recommend. -
Considering this was written to go along with a series of cheesecake statues (at least that was my impression), I didn't really have that high of hopes for this. But instead of getting 1940's pinups finding ways to be alluring, what I read was probably one of the best titles since New-52 began. It captures the energy and charm of the best of the classic Elseworlds titles. Focusing almost exclusively on the females of the DC universe, and setting them all in World War 2 leads to some great fun. Especially as the characters are spread out internationally (so Supergirl and Stargirl are Russian, Catwoman is Italian, Poison Ivy is French, etc.), giving even more characterization. And it's like Marguerite Bennett has distilled everything that defines these characters and strained it through the setting to make them even better. I love this Zatanna (and her Constantine), and Wonder Woman has rarely been portrayed so well. I was a little nervous about Harley's presence, but once she connects with Ivy it really works. And that's true of everyone here - it all just works. Even Batgirl's new profession makes sense in a comically ironic way. The story is just starting, as the characters start to get drawn together into the war, but it bodes well. And the artwork is beautiful without being exploitative. I can't wait to see where this story goes, and I strongly recommend this for anyone looking for strong female heroes, or just a good story using interesting characters.
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I really liked this. Along with
Superman: Red Son, this comic is an alternative history, which really makes it a lot of fun!
It also stars a lot of women superheroes (and villains), some of which I've never heard of. (I've always been a Marvel girl.) The characters are well fleshed out and the comic is unabashedly feminist.
Can't wait to check out #2 in the series! -
There are several different stories in this which I can guess are going to come together. Telling the difference between Kortni and Kara was frustrating at first since she was introducing herself while her sister was in the picture. It's a different look at female super heroes, and it works. But apparently I like new takes on familiar ideas.
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A great start to what is easily going to be (and already is) a brilliant series!
This concept is just so incredible and it is very well constructed!
There are so many fantastic female characters in this series already, and I'm excited to see where it'll go and if the different stories overlap. -
3.5 stars
I love the concept of this run so much and I cannot wait to read more of it (meaning that if I find the second volume at my local comic store tomorrow, IT SHALL BE MINE)!
I’m already really attached to those characters: having an all-female crew fighting in World War II is everything and I need to see more of them already. If we don’t count Mera (I’m always there for Mera, what a surprise), I’m most attached to Kate (Batwoman) so far, but we’ll see how my love for everyone grows as we go!
This first volume set up the series and as there are many characters, it was a bit hard to follow and to wrap my head around it sometimes, but it got better and better as I understood what was actually going on. I already knew most of the characters, so it wasn’t too confusing, but it’s better to go in with some prior knowledge of the main characters. I did feel like some scenes started/stopped abruptly when I’d have needed more, but I get that they have a limited illustration space, so. Plus this is the first volume and a set-up! The plot lines will get stronger and as I know the characters, it’ll be easier to read now!
Also can we talk about how beautiful the art was??
Overall, I really liked this, it was a good introduction to this universe, even if it might have been a little bit confusing at times. I’m super excited to see where this is going and to stare at the art for an hour for each page.
