| Title | : | DC Comics Bombshells, Vol. 3: Uprising |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1401268773 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781401268770 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 200 |
| Publication | : | First published March 21, 2017 |
The incredibly popular DC Collectibles line is brought to life in these stories that reimagine the course of history! From writer Marguerite Bennett (BATGIRL, EARTH 2: WORLD'S END) and featuring artists including Marguerite Sauvage (HINTERKIND), Laura Braga (Witchblade) and Mirka Andolfo (Chaos) comes DC COMICS: BOMBSHELLS VOL. 3 collects #13-21.
DC Comics Bombshells, Vol. 3: Uprising Reviews
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Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
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Probably my least favorite of the series so far, but still plenty of silly fun to be had with the Bombshells!
This volume opens with a Batgirls story back in Gotham City, where they mess with the plans of a certain Mr. Cobblepot with the help of a spunky reporter named Lois Lane. We then move back to Europe, where Batwoman gangs up with Ivy, Harley, Zatanna and Raven to organize an uprising in a Jewish ghetto. Meanwhile, Mera wakes up on the shores of Ireland and makes a, ahem, friend who will help her fight to get her kingdom back from her traitor brother-in-law.
I especially liked the glimpse into Harley's backstory (yes, this includes a version of my beloved Mistah J!) and Batwoman's Spanish Civil War tale. While the overall story feels a little scattered, the plus side is that the art remains vibrant and gorgeous, that characters' alternative history evolution are great re-imaginings of the canonical stories - and the (not very subtle) messages of female empowerment, solidarity and resistance in the face of human evil are still strong.
Onward to volume 4 soon! -
Okay, not nearly as good as the first 2 volumes but still fun.
Also gonna warn that one part of this review gets a bit political.
What’s it about?
That’s sorta hard to explain. Basically, it continues the story of this series.
Pros:
The story is still very interesting. I said in my review for the first volume that I like war stories and superhero comics so mixing the 2 makes for a really good story and I haven’t got fed up of it or anything yet so there’s a good sign.
The characters are still awesome! We’re introduced to a few in this volume, most notably (to me) Raven. This book’s rendition of her is pretty awesome. Oh and I can’t say much without spoilers but the take on SHAZAM that is introduced is cool. Like I said in previous volume reviews these heroines are a great mix of strong, powerful, full of emotion that some superhero characters don’t show and cute AF!But it’s not just the ladies that shine in this, the male characters are often interesting too (I wouldn’t say their cute though since I ain’t into guys but good characters either way 😁).
This comic has some fucking awesome action scenes! Seriously: shark attacks, tanks, explosions, a surprising amount of bloodshed, giantess Raven and more! What kind of person doesn’t enjoy that?
This comic is still suspenseful. People who follow my reviews know that I sometimes think superhero comics, while fun, are too predictable but this series is definitely an exception.
There are multiple romantic subplots and they’re all interesting and sweet. My personal favorite is probably Zatanna and Constantine.
Cons:
The social commentary just... (sigh). Okay, so the feminist messages are still done well but other than that this volume’s social commentary gets dumb. Most notable is how the whole first issue is basically “How could we lose an election after 8 fucking years of our way? NOOO!” and no matter how you see politics the execution is a bit ridiculous and the way it’s forced as fuck (there’s even a fourth wall breaking joke in the issue that acknowledges that)... I get that some people don’t like Trump, fine, hell I even like seeing other points of view but poorly written commentary and taking up an entire issue with what felt like a tantrum will just encourage people to vote Trump if anything. At least it ain’t the whole book like I’ve seen some people do.
The comic relief is pretty weak in this volume. A few laughs but most of the jokes try too hard or are just plain stupid.
There are a few parts that are occasionally confusing.
Mixed thoughts:
The art is mixed. I know that might surprise some of you because in my reviews for the first 2 volumes I was talking about how amazing the art is but in this you sometimes get stuff that looks amazing but other times you get stuff that looks a bit off, especially with a few of the faces.
Overall:
Good but not nearly as good as the first 2 volumes.
Yeah, the whiny first issue, poor comic relief and confusing moments are annoying but are far from being able to fuck up a good time with all these interesting characters, bad-ass action scenes and a suspenseful story.
I would say while the first 2 volumes are masterpiece level, this is just slightly above the quality of an average superhero comic to me but hey, I enjoy superhero comics quite a bit so it’s mostly a winner to me!
4/5 -
My gender and racial identities are warring with each other. I don't know how to explain that this book appears to represent everyone EXCEPT black women well. It feels like a glaring absence and I just don't understand it.
This is a tough one to rate and I don't really know how to write a review that doesn't come across as somewhat bitter without getting a few things out of the way:
1) I have a lot of respect for Marguerite Bennett as a creator. Not only is she managing a lot of storylines here and doing so effortlessly, she has written books in the past that felt quite female centric and rather brave.
2) I'm shocked DC allowed for such a queer positive book to exist on their main line.
3) I appreciate that there are a lot of Jewish, Romani (although I believe they're only referred to with slurs but I'd have to reread), latinx and queer characters in this story.
4) I have read Bennett writing black women in Sleepy Hollow and she did a great job.
5) I did my research to confirm my suspicions and they're true: DC comics does not have great, prominent black female superheroes. You can name Vixen and Bumblebee, but they've never been huge characters and Vixen was only given a short solo series. You can name Thunder and Nubia but they have never been given solos or huge roles. You can name Amanda Waller but she's never been a superhero - at best she's been grey morally.
That being said: the reason the lack of black female representation hurts me so much in this series is that the canonical backgrounds of some characters were changed to suit this story. So, if they can be changed, why weren't they changed to add black women? Why do we only have the minuscule, expositional appearances of Amanda Waller and one Batgirl with no backstory or significant role?
Dudebros and racists can complain all the livelong day about DC having Iris West, Dinah Lance and Selina Kyle played by black actresses (light skinned only in the films, but that's a different conversation) but I swear DC did that because they looked at their selection of female characters and realized there were hardly any black women to be found. I will give Marvel one plus over DC, they actually have black female characters and they give them solo series and focus (we could always have more but still, I give them a plus over DC). I say this because I've seen quite a bit of DC's animated properties and read quite a few comics and I struggled for quite some time to name black female DC characters.
There's a lot to love about this series. I love the focus on Jewish people during this time. I adore Kate Kane's backstory and the flashbacks to the short lived life she shared with Renee Montoya. I really liked their story with Jason. I enjoyed the Batgirls short story for what it was. I really liked what was done with Harley and Ivy. While John/Zatanna and Mera/Arthur aren't my jam, I appreciate the effort with those storylines. The final battle in this volume was great!
I just felt like the absence of black women became so much more glaring in this volume. It did not help that this book ends with a "ta-da!" in presenting a I just don't know... I don't want to gloss over the wonder that this series was. I just feel conflicted because I am bisexual and I am a woman... but I don't feel represented or all that immersed in this series as I have with other diverse properties because the absence of women that look like me is so incredibly apparent.
Again, I think I'd feel differently if the backgrounds of other characters hadn't been changed. At least then there's the excuse of trying to stay close to canon (although, I don't really care about that sort of thing. Times have changed and people finally realized that black people weren't invented in the 1980s). It just feels like effort was made to allow for more representation... for everyone but black women. -
This was SO much better than the first 2 volumes! And I got Harley x Ivy, just like I always wanted!
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3.5 I didn't love this one as much as the last two, but I still enjoy this series. I love Mera's story here, but I missed Wonder Woman, Stargirl and Supergirl, who are absent from this volume. Also, I think I'm the only person who is completely indifferent to Harley Quinn (not just in Bombshells, but like, in general). Laura Braga and Mirka Andolfo have some spectacular art going on in this series.
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Onwards with volume #3. They're quick reads with very nicely done art work.
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,zombies, robots, feminists.
4 stars -
I stopped buying the individual comics for bombshells and decided to wait for the graphic novels as I like being able to read a longer story. This one picks up where I left off in the comics. It was good to go back and re-read the batgirls story again, (I skipped the straight Mera love story). But the rest I really enjoyed. It was good to see the villains not quite villains, and have a good ending and explanation for the Joker's daughter, Zantana and Constantine. I really do like this series. It's the only superhero comic I've really gotten in to. I'm looking forward to vol. 4.
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4.5 stars
I have so many feelings, I CAN'T. This series is getting better and better, I love how many DC comics characters are getting involved and I love Mera and Kate Kane with my entire heart. -
This series is SO GREAT, and also Shazam’s Origin Story is one of the best things I’ve ever read.
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This continues to be a really good series. The art is great, and I love that it is feminist without putting down men. The story is also really cohesive, which is great from a New 52 run. Overall, I higly recommend this!
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Possibly the timing helped, but I finally got around to finishing this today and I teared up at the last section.
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I still really love the concept and characters of Bombshells! I struggled a tiiiny bit with this just for "lazy DC reader" reasons, ie I refused to look up "tenebrae" even though they kept talking about tenebrae.... (Here: I just googled it for you, GoodReads. "Tenebrae is a being from another universe that is part of the Mergence, a group mind. She is sent to Earth prior to the Mergence's arrival to get everything in order for the absorption." Is that even this same thing? IDK IDK I don't care)
Also I don't know anything about Atlantean politics so I struggled a little bit to understand Mera's whole arc here...but still! Bombshells! Fun! The final scene was very moving I thought! I love Harley and Ivy! I love muckraker Cuban-American Lois Lane! The artwork is beautiful! -
These are the Jewish heroines I needed as a little girl - the ones who actively kick Nazi butt rather than live in fear. Not that I resent historically-accurate WWII children's books; they're incredibly important. But as a little girl, they were also the only books I had with Jewish characters until my mother dug up her copy of
All-of-a-Kind Family for me, and it made me worry that someday the Nazis would come for me. If I'd had Miri Marvel, maybe I wouldn't have had those fears.
On another note, Miriam Batzel is definitely my favorite reinvention of a Golden Age superheroine. She looks enough like Mary Batson and Mary Marvel to be faithful to the original character, and she retains the sweetness and optimism that characterized Mary, but she's also stronger and uniquely her own person. Well done, Bombshells. -
I'd say 4 stars for the story (the Mera arc confused me a little), but 5 stars for the whole book because this is prime Harley/Ivy ship content. Queer female creative teams mean that queer ships finally get realized. No more queerbaiting. <3
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Best of the series both story and art wise.
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Raven has arrived. Also others.
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After the big battle in the previous volume, you'd think the Bombshells would take a minute to relax, but there's a war on and a Bombshell's work is never done.
A lot of the disparate stories in the last few volumes finally dovetail together in this one as many of the Bombshells link up for a secondary assault on the Germans, specifically the magically powered Joker's Daughter. Meanwhile, Mera comes to terms with her abandonment and exile from Atlantis, with a little help from a certain blonde lighthouse keeper.
I really love how inventive Bombshells is with its continuity, familiar faces popping up all over the place with new identities, new backstories, and all fitted perfectly into the World War II setting - Mary Marvel's adaptation is perfect, and even side-characters like Jason Todd get interesting ways to be part of the plot.
The artwork is mostly handled in this volume by Laura Braga, whose art is the most detailed, and Mirko Andolfo, who is a close second. There are a few chapters by Sandy Jarrell, but these don't hold up to her more recent work on Black Canary, coming off a bit unfinished.
Year 2 of Bombshells is off with a few big bangs, and the cliffhanger for this volume promises even more going forward. -
I suspect I should probably bail on Bombshells. Yes, it's beautifully drawn, and sweet, and fabulously Jewish, and oh so queer (though not exclusively so – Mera's straight, albeit cross-species, romance is every bit as heartwrenching here as Harley and Ivy, or Batwoman and the Question, which is to say very). But it's so intent on those wins, those air-punching panels and pages, that I never feel it really hanging together as a story – something that's all the more noticeable the more strands and characters come into play as it goes along. In particular, the first issue here, with Harvey Dent as a Hitler/Trump analogue in forties Gotham, is reduced to lampshading its own creaky topicality with fourth wall breaches and anachronisms that only serve to make things more awkward, before offering a pat and incredibly quick resolution that's painful in how little it reflects back on the real-world problems at which the story glanced.
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(originally reviewed at
thelibraryladies.com)
With the way that the last “DC Bombshells” collection ended (if you’ll remember, it was devastating), I was wondering if we were going to get into more pathos in which we’d have to potentially say goodbye to another of our beloved heroines. I suppose that I should have steeled myself for that possibility from the get go, as this is WWII and with war comes death. And given that our ladies are spread out across various fronts, battling not only Nazis, but also Nazi Zombies, the stakes are pretty high. And we jumped right back into it.
But first, we went back to the home front to check in with the Bat Girls! They’re continuing there time of taking up the mantle for Batwoman while she is overseas, and this time they have a new ally to go along with Maggie Sawyer.
LOIS LAAAAAAAANE!!!! Seeing Lois introduced (and giving her a very interesting backstory that gently but deftly touches on the immigrant experience) was a serious treat for this Lois Lane fangirl. It was also great seeing her jump in without having to worry about needing help from Superman (still nowhere in sight), and helping the Bat Girls break up a crime ring (involving the Penguin!), though they find themselves wanted in the process. Seeing this and a non-Two Face-d version of Harvey Dent going on and on as a political candidate with an “America First” platform made this story feel pretty close to home.
But meanwhile, in Europe, we catch up with our Bombshells on the front lines. We don’t get to see Wonder Woman, Supergirl, or the aftermath of Stargirl’s death this time, but that’s okay by me. I’m not ready to see the fallout from that. But that isn’t to say that we have a lack of stories this time around, as we are juggling a number of story lines. We have Batwoman, leaving Wonder Woman and Stargirl to try and get back to the front lines, who meets up with an old flame, Renee Montoya (aka The Question). They first met during the Spanish Civil War, and fought on the rebel side against the fascists. Now they are teaming up again, in spite of bad memories of losing a young protege and friend named Jacon (YES AS IN JASON TODD I AM SCREAMING) and the end of their love. You have Zatanna, who has been sent to a ghetto because of her Jewish and Romani heritage, and is being tormented by Joker’s Daughter, who has taken away her powers. You have Mera, who has washed up in Ireland without her powers, banished from Atlantis and her rightful throne. And we finally come back to Harley and Ivy, who have become freedom fighters for the resistance, and have found love with each other as they try to make their way to Berlin to take down the Nazis from their home base. And I haven’t even mentioned Huntress, Miri Marvel, Joker, Catwoman, Raven, and Aquaman, who all make appearances as well.
It’s definitely a lot to balance. But Bennett does a really good job of slowly but surely weaving all of these stories together. It was SO lovely to see my girls Harley and Ivy again, and to see how they play into this whole thing. I was wondering how it was all going to fit together, but it does. I was also really relieved that even though we did get a bit more romance with some of the heavy hitting men of the Universe (Aquaman and Constantine, specifically), it didn’t bring down Mera or Zatanna. Even though Mera has found lighthouse keeper Arthur, there is no sign of him having powers that are going to outdo hers as of yet. Their romance is just another part of her as a person, but Mera remains Mera and isn’t distracted from her goal of getting her powers and Atlantis back. The same can be said for Constantine, who is in the ghetto with Zatanna. He is there to support her, but his presence doesn’t weaken her or make her seem like he is her only strength in a horrific situation.
I loved seeing all of these women come together to fight against Joker’s Daughter and the Nazis, and that a number of these women in this story are Jewish or of Jewish descent, as Batwoman, Zatanna, Miri, and Harley all make mention of their heritage while they are inside the ghetto during a shabbat dinner. There was great beauty in this entire moment, as it wasn’t solely a ‘savior’ moment, as these women are also targets because of their heritage. The symbolism was bittersweet, and I really appreciated it. It was also good seeing the concept of abusive and controlling relationships being addressed, and not just in romantic ways. There was a small moment with Harley and Joker as she tells Ivy about her past, but there is also the relationship between Joker’s Daughter and Zatanna, and the relationship between Mera and her former beau. There is also poor Raven, who has only known Joker’s Mother as her mother figure, and is so damaged in her need to please her but also her need to escape. These are things that women in real life have to grapple with, and I so appreciate that this series dares to bring up the toxicity of relationships like these, and contrast them with healthy relationships. Harley finds Ivy. Zatanna finds Constantine. Raven finds a new group of women to mother her. Mera finds Arthur. And they all find more self respect. It’s just so positive!!! I can’t gush about it enough!!
There is just so much to love in this series. It continues to be super feminist, it continues to strive for diversity, and it continues to have some awesome action sequences that are just as good as any other superhero comic out there. I am once again sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the next one in the series (out this fall I think!). While I’m worried that some characters are done, I am excited to see who else could show up. -
[Welcome to a series called I-am-insane-and-trying-to-finish-my-unfinished-series-even-ones-that-are-picture-books-and-ones-I-didn't-like-the-first-time. Reminder that my ratings are relative to other books of a similar genre/format/age level]
There's way too much going on here at all times. Feels like they tried to cram as many characters as humanly possible in here. The art is nice, but trying to keep track of everything at once is exhausting -
I'm not going to lie, I read this series simply because I love the designs and Harley and Ivy actually get to be lovers. It's a dumb series overall, but it has some heart. This issue was quite chock full of ever single character they could think of, and who knows where the plot is going. But it's pretty?
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More Bombshells fun! I can't remember the last time I truly enjoyed a comics series like I enjoy DC Bombshells. I don't love all of the characters and plot-points, but the ones I love totally compensate for the others. However, I do feel the plot at the end of the volume was a bit more superficial the previous plot points, and hope for improvement in vol 4.
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While the parallels between current events and those of the 1940's are not lost on me, the first chapter felt very forced in it's message and very anachronistic.
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Gets five stars just for the debut of giant sized Raven.
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Visualmente sigue siendo espectacular pero la historia flojea mucho. Una lástima, esta serie me estaba gustando.
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Enjoyable enough, I guess, but it's choppy to read and sometimes hard to follow. Lots of flashbacks to pad out the story, which actually serve to confuse the story because I don't always know when it's flashing back or why. I don't need detailed backstory on EVERYONE. OMG. Then it scene shifts constantly because there are actually too many characters. Oh, and sometimes you are supposed to read page by page, but other times there are two-page spreads that are supposed to be read like one page... but the book doesn't tell you when those times are at all. It's just a super-choppy read.
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Bombshells is a graphic novel series that was originally based on a series of World War II pin-up style statues of female DC Comics heroes. However, the series has been developed by author Marguerite Bennett into a strong female-led superhero team in a World War II slightly different than the one we know.
This volume begins with the Batgirls, teen heroines inspired by Batwoman Kate Kane to defend their city of Gotham and help the innocent, especially immigrants, Jews, and others who are persecuted by Conservatives and the Right. The book opens with Harper, Cullen, and Felicity breaking up Kate Kane's poker game with the news that they have found the man who agreed to buy art, jewels, and other priceless artifacts stolen from Jews that the Wilmot brothers turned over to the Nazis. The Batgirls respond and find Penguin is behind the art thefts, taking from numerous black marketeers and thieves as well as the Wilmot Brothers. They find Penguin at his Iceberg Lounge, but he escapes and the Batgirls find the young want-to-be reporter, Lois Lane, who because of her age, gender, and ethnic background as a Puerto Rican, has been unable to get a reporting job. Undaunted, she has determined to find and write a big story that will be her ticket into her preferred career. Penguin, however, convinces Mayor Harvey Dent that the Batgirls are a threat and uses the media - magazines, books, radio, etc., to paint the heroines as villains. Undaunted the Batgirls investigate and Lois starts her own newspaper, put their story out there for all to read and understand. The Batgirls discover that Penguin has covered with Hugo Strange who is hypnotizing and drugging Dent into doing what Penguin wants so the crime lord can make as much money as possible off others suffering. The Batgirls and the police rescue Dent from Penguin and Strange, but both escape. Maggie Sawyer offers the Batgirls use of one of the abandoned apartments in Kate's building as their new Batcave.
In Ireland, in the ocean near Arthur Curry's lighthouse, Arthur rescues Mera - who has lost all her special abilities including the ability to break under water. He cares for her, cures her ills, and takes her to the village on the island. But all isn't simple romance. Priest and Red Cardinal Hagen of Atlantis returns and accuses Mera of abandoning her people. Considering that her sister's husband convinced Atlantis to abandon its centuries-long tradition of having the most qualified crowned as new ruler when the old one dies or abdicates her throne, and then said husband and now King-Consort threatened to kill Mera's sister if Mera didn't leave Atlantis never to return, and then to top it off the husband was the one behind Atlantis's alliance with the Tenebrae and Nazis - this really is not Mera's fault. Hagen leads Mera to Atlantis. They discover Hila, Mera's sister has killed her husband and taken the Atlantean throne under the name, Siren Queen. Siren proves to be very jealous of her sister still. However, Mera expresses her love and concern for her sister. She and Hila become allies and promise to help Mera's friends, the Bombshells.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Bombshells and main characters are drawn to the Jewish Ghetto in Berlin. Ivy and Harley Quinn are looking for the Joker (aka "Mistah J") but only find Joker's daughter. Harley fills in Ivy on her backstory with Mistah J - how the two became bank robbers who gave to "whoever" and caused chaos - only to have Joker's increasing reliance on illegal alcohol and ethanol to cause him to become cruel. When Joker goes into the swamp - Harley realizes she must leave. Joker's daughter seems to have some of Elizabeth Moone's Enchantress powers - carrying a crescent moon staff and having glowing green powers. She even conjures the ghost of Mistah J to confront Harley.
Batwoman, Kate Kane, drops by parachute into Berlin and meets Selina and Renee Montoya. Selina's knocked out a room full of high-powered Nazis to turn over to the Zambezi for cash for the rebellion. Kate and Renee have a past - having been lovers in Spain before the Spanish Civil War crashed their plans and they ended up fighting the Fascists. Ivy and Harley wait at The Cat's Cradle basement. Zatanna and John Constantine head there, and run into Raven - another magic user and former prisoner of the Joker's Daughter - well, they think she's a former prisoner. Raven's background as the daughter of a human woman and the demon, Das Trigon, is beautifully and quickly rendered. Raven is initially suspicious of Harley and Ivy but they work it out - and they are joined by Selina, Kate, and Renee. The Huntress meets them at the Cat's Cradle, bringing her swing kids. She tells Batwoman her background as a German youth and a woman - who knows her country is wrong for what it is doing and is trying to help Jews escape. Helena's story, her determination to fight, and face being tried as a traitor by the Germans, her countrymen, is well-told. We also see Kate is upset not merely by who Helena is but by the recent loss of Stargirl, and the loss, in Spain, of young red-capped Jason who died in the war. The final panel of that backstory mirrors that of the famous panel of Batman holding the beaten and battered body of Jason Todd from "A Death in the Family". Kate tells Helena to survive, above all. It is Helena who takes all the bombshells to the Resistance and they finalize their plans to free the ghetto.
All of the characters: Poison Ivy who alters the ph. of sacramental wine so it will burn, Harley Quinn, who makes Molotov Cocktails, a priest who brought the wine, the Swing Kids, Kate Kane, Huntress, Renee Montoya (also known by the nom de guerre The Question), Zatanna, Constantine, and Raven - work together on their plan. During the battle, it's revealed that Raven is under complete control of the Joker's daughter. She's revealed the rebels' plan to the Nazis who far from being surprised - are ready for them. Meanwhile, several Jewish children are hidden in a basement. The oldest girl, Miri, (also a friend of Kate's), reads to the children the stories of heroic Jewish women, such as Esther and Shiphrah, Huldah, Zipporah, Abigail, Asenath, and Miriam. As she repeats the names: Shiphrah, Huldah, Abigail, Zipporah, Asenath, and Miriam - Miri is transformed into Shazam. As the new Captain Marvel (aka Shazam, because: copyright) she and Zatanna confront Raven who is under the control of Joker's daughter - and has grown to gigantic size. But Miri and Zatanna manage to break the Joker's Daughter's conditioning of Raven. She comes to her senses and helps the rebels. Kate and Constantine lead the rebellion anyway - as ordinary citizens come from all over Berlin to help after hearing the signal on the radio. Breaking Joker's Daughter's control of Raven also frees Zatanna who gets her magic back. Miri, as Shazam has considerable power - she rescues everyone taking them to a haven. They appear in France - but it is Nazi-occupied France. Joker's Daughter thinks she's won. Then Atlantis appears. Mera and Hila are now partners and co-Queens. They offer Atlantis as a haven and home for all refugees from the war. Zatanna attacks the Nazis with her magic - clearing a path to the sea-bound refuge. Harley and Ivy join the fight. Zatanna is able to use her magic to end Joker's tracking spell on her. Everyone will take refuge in Atlantis, though the Bombshells will no doubt soon go out to fight again, especially as Queen Mari of Zambesi, aka Vixen, wants their help in the next arena.
Bombshells is an excellent alternate-reality historical "Golden Age" graphic novel series. The female leads are strong, and their backstories are well-told (sometimes very different than the ones we know and sometimes very slightly changed if at all). The art in this book is amazing. I liked the colored tile borders for the backstory of Renee, Kate, and Jason in Spain - the red thorny vines for Ivy's tales, and the other details for other characters. The sepia tones for scenes showing the characters past histories were also well done. The Story of Arthur and Mera, though a well-known romance, had new twists and turns to it - making it work within the larger story. I especially liked that rather than making her sister a villain - Mera and Hila ended-up co-operating together. And Hila cutting off her traitorous husband's head was an awesome way of showing her independence (this was picked up in one of the tales of Jewish Biblical Heroines that Miri (Miriam) tells Kate or the children when she talks of her pride in being who she is.
I highly recommend DC Comics Bombshells - not only to comics fans, but to anyone who likes stories about strong, capable women. -
I CONTINUE TO LIVE FOR BOMBSHELLS!!! This volume gave me everything that I needed and more!!! There is so much to talk about I'm just going to have to bullet point it again, because I don't think that I can put my words into a cohesive review yet!!
- LOIS LANE IS FINALLY HERE and MAN is she kicking butt in the best way she knows how!!!
- THough the aside with the Batgirls on the home front was a little jarring, it gave us a look into characters like Maggie Sawyer, Alysia Yeoh, and Tim Drake, which I was one hundred percent okay with. ALSO, PENGUIN.
- Harley and Poison Ivy are BACK and YES THEY ARE A COUPLE!!!
- We got an introduction to not only Renee Montoya (aka THe Question), but also a history between her, Batwoman, and the Spanish Civil War (of course they were rebels!!).
- Mera got to meet up with Arthur Curry AND YET HE DIDN'T STEAL HER THUNDER. She was still a powerful lady with a plot just for her in spite of the romance! Yes, it CAN be done!
- We also got some great moments for Zatanna to shine, and to take a deeper look into her Jewish heritage. Did I mention that not only is Batwoman Jewish, but so is Zatanna AND HARLEY (be still my heart)!?!?! REP-RE-SEN-TATION!!!
- Mary Marvel and Raven are here now!!!!! Also, see above for Mary (or Miriam).
- JOKER WAS KIND OF THERE but only for a moment.
ANd I'm sure many many more things that I'm forgetting but I loved it so much I'm sure I will think of it all. GOD I LOVE THIS SERIES!!!! -
My only complaint is the same as the previous volume - there are SO MANY stories going on all at once and cross-crossing each other it is sometimes hard to keep track.
Only complaint.
My favorite? Oh Ivy and Harley for sure. 😍😍😍😍
