World of Wonder | Week 28 | The Odyssey of the Amazons ('17) #1-3 | Feb. 5-11

World of Wonder Week 28!

:sparkles: Black History Month: Hessia :sparkles:

:star::star::star::star::star:

In honor of Black History Month, let’s take a look at The Odyssey of the Amazons ('17) #1-3 which features Hessia as the lead.

Don’t miss the start of this new miniseries set in the world of Wonder Woman from writer/actor Kevin Grevioux (NEW WARRIORS, UNDER WORLD). Years before the birth of Princess Diana, a group of Amazons set out on a globe-spanning quest to find others of their kind, encountering legendary creatures and beings along the way. But their journey soon turns into a rescue mission as two of their own are captured by the legendary Storm Giants of Norse mythology. It’s up to their leader, the stalwart Hessia, to keep them together through the many trials that lie ahead.

:star::star::star::star::star:

When: 2020-02-05T08:00:00Z2020-02-11T08:00:00Z

What to read: THE ODYSSEY OF THE AMAZONS (2017-) #1-3

:rotating_light: SPOILER Discussion Begins Now

:star2:DISCUSSION TOPICS

  1. Have you read this story before?

  2. Do you like this version of recruiting Amazons?

  3. What do you like about Hessia as a leader and main character?

  4. Did you enjoy the art? Share some of your favorite panels.

:nerd_face: Share your thoughts on the reading overall and let’s discuss :nerd_face:

Questions or concerns? Reach out @Nu52 :inbox_tray:

Click HERE to get a cool flair and join the club

Watch and track world-of-wonder to keep up to date with all club events

2 Likes

I would like to thank everyone for keeping the discussion alive last week. I had some stuff come up and you all kept on truckin’. You’re all so freakin’ awesome, or should I say, wonderful. :smiley:

2 Likes

Neat! I haven’t read this before but it’s been one I’ve been curious about. Looking forward to getting into this one. :slight_smile:

1 Like

I had that moment when we read the Wonder Woman meets Conan story.

1 Like

Hopefully that stuff that came up has been summarily dealt with

1 Like

All signs point to yes :+1:

2 Likes

I sm rereading this. It may read better as a unit.

It would have been more interesting if the story had some famous Amazons Only Queen Hippolyta’s name is mentuoned.

An Amazon was also in.Demon Knights during the Middle Ages. That is a much better comic

The Amazons are of different ages. I only saw that in Wonder Woman anumated 2009

The idea is interesting
That Amazons look.for women born as immortals
Though we never see how that is accomplished.

The era it was set is intetesting too.
Which is the time of Myth

As I said in one of the post in the link
The idea of amazons setting out every ten years would explain why they speak English to Steve and have guns and planes

I do wonder why they kerp talking about peace
When we only .see the Amazons at war

Here is a thread on the subject
It is mostly negative but has interesting posts

1 Like

The first of color Amazon I met on this world of wonder journey was Phillipus.

1 Like

Just finished. now to digest it. One thing, I have been pronouncing Hessia’s name with a ‘sh’ sound vs an ‘s’ sound.

1 Like

I thought of that story from this image

1 Like

Is the ‘ss’ in Greek usually pronounced ‘sh’? I’ve been saying Hess like Loch Ness for years now :sweat_smile:

1 Like

Yeah, I get that. Especially since they are immortal, any other Amazon could have been mentioned or included. I don’t mind because the story is about finding new Amazons.

Well, I’ll have to keep that in mind for future reading :smiley:

I thought it was really cool that we saw that younger Amazon.

I figured they went after legends in the making such as the one that was worshipped as a goddess. They’d have heard of them through the grapevine I suppose.

Completely agree about the era the story is set in being interesting. It really allows for an epic feel. It makes sense for Amazons to go out as scouts and bring back knowledge to Themyscira. I kind of prefer the Magic Sphere though.

One of the recruits mentions that too. It’s a valid question.

Finally worked my way through all of the comments… You weren’t lying :sweat_smile:

I actually don’t feel the book deserves that much scrutiny compared to some stuff I’ve read, but interesting posts for sure.

2 Likes

I have no idea. it is more personal preference or just where I went when i first read the name. I am not sure who is right between us. Some of the greek names have a flow to them. My favorite, also from the Conan team up: Philomela.

I read the first few posts from that thread @TurokSonOfStone1950 posted, but i should give it a decent once over. there was the complaint of the lack of character development. With so many named characters, it is hard to flesh them all out in just a few pages.

On the surface, i did like the gore. For the most part, the story is more about the tribe of blood and shield, than any one amazon in particular. after a fashion. The tribe is made up of individuals, and they have a leader, so most of the character development trickles down from there. This is my first time reading this story and I might read ahead (regardless if the 2nd half is next week) before reading that other thread. Also, as it is about the group, how they act/react given the circumstance was key. and it was one battle to the next, issue 1 opened in the middle of a battle. after the kidnapping, they have to battle the ocean and the storm and then the trolls, et cetera.

Hessia (pronounced how you like) is definitely an effective leader. I liked that she wanted to leave Themyscira to spread the way of the Amazon, not unlike an ambassador, but self grandeur is frowned upon, unless i am misinterpreting. I also liked her plan against the Valkyries.

I also liked the vikings and i like the dialog between hessia and the viking prince (who’s name suddenly escapes me). the norse mythos may have been fleshed out by |airQuote|another universe|/airQuote|, but the overlap is more because there is only one source. For all i know they might have went out of their way to use a realm not typically used in said other universe. When i first saw the trolls, i thought the were frost giants. But the jist is 9 realms, Midgard is Earth, Asgard is where Odin, Thor et al live. Valhalla is a heaven of sorts, more where the honored dead go. I am just hoping this Thor Odinson is not too chauvinistic, assuming we even meet him.

And of course, i should try to find the time to share my favorite panels.

2 Likes

Have you read this story before?

I haven’t, though it’s been one I’ve been curious about in the past. Glad to get the opportunity do delve into it with this. :slight_smile:

Do you like this version of recruiting Amazons?

Sure, though I feel like in some ways it raises as many questions as it answers. On one hand, I like how it explains how the Amazons aren’t as homogeneous as they were shown to be in the past. On the other, it doesn’t really explain this take on the origin. We get the idea that the women that are recuited are stronger and and prone to immortality, but we don’t get an explanation of how that happens (at least in these three issues) and I don’t quite know if I like the idea of the ancient women being Mutants and the Amazons being Spartan X-Men.

That said, I do kind of like the idea of exploring the conflict we see in modern WW stories about Themyskira going back and forth between isolationism and wanting to spread their word around the world. If done right, this might be a good story to explain why they become truly isolated and why it could be looked at as both a good and bad decision.

What do you like about Hessia as a leader and main character?

Yeah, I think of all the Amazons here, she’s definitely the one that’s most fully formed and most compelling, though I think in some ways it’s because we see the most of Diana within her. What’s different here than normal stories with Diana is that Hessia is in a more committed leadership role, something we don’t really see with Diana too often. Not only that, but a leadership where one can say mistakes were made, where lives were definitely lost, and she not only has to continuously inspire her troops but keep their loyalty to her.

It’s pretty interesting, I think I would like to see more stories like this with Diana.

Did you enjoy the art? Share some of your favorite panels.

It’s decent, it gets the job done, though part of me wishes they did something less standard with the art. Like, with this kind of story, I think it would work if they did a more painterly style, something with a little more grit and texture to it to go with the ancient setting. Something akin to, say, Frank Frazetta, though probably with more clothed Amazons.

Again, nothing wrong with the art here, but I feel like more could have been done to make the book pop and stand out on the stands at the time, and maybe could have gotten more eyes on it.

1 Like

In fact, giving it some thought, an artist who I think would have killed this kind of story and/or could do some fantastic work with Wonder Woman is Esad Ribic, probably most famous at this point for his art on Jason Aaron’s initial Thor arc and Johnathan Hickman’s Secret Wars. He definitely has that Frazetta style in terms of coloring, and he draws some damn good strong, powerful women.

Here’s one of the few times he’s drawn Diana:

1 Like

That’s true. I may not have felt character development per se from every character, but I did feel them characterized in a way where I got a feel for them as individuals. They definitely felt like fully realized characters with backstories and thoughts and actions all unto themselves.

The way they went about taking on the Valkyries was also something I liked. I’m still unsure about whether or not those were really Hessia’s intentions. I’m really enjoying her because she is a determined woman, but she has a ton of flaws. Her leadership is constantly in question and thus she makes questionable decisions. I get the feeling she’s just not happy on Themyscira and is looking for something else. She might think that something else is finding more immortal sisters, but I don’t know if that’s really her purpose. I just feel bad she’s trying her best to bring back the captured Amazons and along the way ends up losing even more.

1 Like

I’ve been wanting to too. I have heard some negative stuff about it, so I kept putting it off, but I enjoyed the first three issues when I read them earlier this selection’s week.

I hadn’t thought of it as such. I got the sense that this recruitment method was new in this story, as if Hessia had only been doing this one mission, maybe two (just hadn’t returned home yet). It is very X-Men like in the sense of finding metahumans, they should make a sequel book and lean into it much more with the Invisible Jet being their X-Jet. :joy: As far as I could tell, none of the immortals had any extra powers, at least in the first three issues, so that’s different :sweat_smile: Really, it just made me think of Batman/Superman: Apocalypse where they recruit Supergirl.

That’s a strong point this book could make by the end of it. I would like to see that. It just reminds me of the Stoned arc we read before where they’re discussing with the U.S. Government why they don’t just share their knowledge (application vs. intention). I felt the Heracles/Hercules story did it’s job in stating why, but at some point other Amazons would start to question and want to reopen themselves to the outer world. I wonder how Themyscirans in current Wonder Woman comics feel about it seeing Diana off doing her own thing. Maybe because in the past they’ve had the Magic Sphere, it wasn’t such a want to explore or interact with mankind.

That aspect right there is what really makes me like Hessia here. I’m finding myself rooting for her despite her mistakes. I mean, issue three ends in not a great place for her, I don’t know how she could recover from that, but I like that I can see every decision she makes has consequences. As a leader, every single thing you do impacts the larger group. We don’t really see things like that in modern team books because no one can actually die, or if they do, no one will stay dead. Here, their fates are really up in the air.

JLD was a little bit like that, but I agree. I really liked it when Diana was the main focus of the League during the Darkseid War arc we read and that we got to see some of her in the leadership role. I would like a JL roster where Diana is the leader.

I actually disagree about the art. I feel like the examples you gave wouldn’t elicit the same response from me personally.

I do like Ribic’s Wonder Woman, it works for Diana. I don’t see that art style or those colors working for this Odyssey. They’re a little too stylized for me for this tale.

The art in Odyssey is actually some of my favorite. I could see the art you posted working for the Valkyries, but with the Amazons being from all different parts of the world and having different backgrounds, I felt portraying them realistically had the strongest effect. It instantly breathed a sense of like into these Amazons I know nothing about. It also made it much harsher when things went south because it felt like it was happening to familiar characters. This could be a Wonder Woman story, it feels in line with that world.

With something more painterly, it would surely feel epic, but it wouldn’t feel as personal. At least not right off the bat. I feel like those stylized takes work for Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, etc., as known entities that we still have something to draw on that we project onto those characters. I can’t say the same effect would happen here with Hessia and the rest.

Whew, I didn’t realize I liked the art that much :sweat_smile:

I can see that, though I think it might have been more – reading it I had the assumption that all the younger Amazons we saw were from different cultures and were recruited, though I think the samurai Amazon (and BTW, how freaking cool is that? I wish she had a little more focus) was older.

Mulling over this, I think the problem I have with it is that I wish there was a little more to the preamble, more explanation of just what their stories were before this. It would have been cool if this were longer, maybe a maxi-series, so they could have had more room to really flesh out these characters. Though I suppose DC would worry about how many people would pick that up.

I get what you’re saying about the Frazetta stuff being more stylized in terms of figures, but I think I meant it more in the coloring process. Like, you could have something like the pencils here, but with coloring, over it that feels more like an oil painting. I think that would have made the book stand out a little more.

1 Like

I would love to read a prequel anthology book just based on backstory for each of these Amazons. With Hessia being a constant as she recruits them. Seeing why the girl that was a goddess where she was chose to leave with the Amazons. I know they say why, but I’d love to see it.

I felt like only some of them were. I got the sense most of the younger ones were recruited, but I felt as if the one that was on the beach and got kidnapped was a Themysciran. Thekla, Narkissa, and the Amazon that would contradict her seemed like Themyscirans. I feel like most of the Amazons from different cultures that we saw were actually part of the older crew, but still new to the Amazons. Well, I would definitely read more if DC made more :smiley:

I’ll meet you half way and say the backgrounds could/should have that effect, but not the characters :sweat_smile:

Odyssey_of_the_Amazons_01

1 Like

The covers are pretty damn good. :smiley:

1 Like