Comic Cover Of The Week: Wonder Woman #759

Suffering Sappho! This month’s Wonder Woman cover surely must be a celestial gift from the old gods of Olympus, as artist David Marquez’s captivating celebration of the Themysciran Titan has become one of my fave recent renditions of the warrior princess, and the interior story and art by marvellous Mariko Tamaki and majestic Mikel Janin most certainly live up to the covers powerful promise!

The celebrated creative team up of Tamaki and Janin once again hits all kinds of highs as they bring their visionary mastery to Diana’s ongoing odyssey. Writer Mariko Tamaki is the 2020 Eisner award winning author of the much lauded DC Comics’ YA novel – Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass. Interior artist Mikel Janin also provides the glorious goods with his stunning illustrations, riding off the back of his sterling work on Trinity War and Justice League Dark, Janin once again proves to be one of the very best artists currently working in the formidable field of comic-books.

It’s a fresh start for Wondy, as Diana begins to pick up the pieces of her life after her apocalyptic clash against the Four Horsewomen and her run in with the Phantom Stranger. It seems everyone has a view on who Wonder Woman should be – some who look on her heroics as admirable, and others who lie in wait, seeking revenge. A familiar threat is seemingly watching Diana’s every move, and now seems the perfect time to strike… 

Wonder Woman #759 is a bold new start for Diana, and is a fantastic starting point for new readers of Zeus’ favoured daughter. Plenty of over the top superheroics are involved, of course, but also the mundane every day tasks that us mere mortals must travel through, with Diana perusing furniture at her local IKEA!! It’s these more grounded moments that I love the most, with Diana’s quirky fish out of water personality shining through, masterfully woven by the titanically talented Tamaki, with gorgeously rendered art by Mikel Janin who showcases some absolutely stunning splash-pages. Highly Recommended.

 

Wonder Woman #750: Celebrating An Icon

Iconic is absolutely an apt terminology for William Moulton Marston’s legendary creation – Wonder Woman. Icon comes to us from the original ancient Hellenic word – Eika, and with Diana’s entire narrative background tied up (sometimes literally – the Amazons were famous for bondage games!) in Greek mythology, I could not think of a phrase that encapsulates the Amazon Princess any more effectively.

Diana first leapt onto the pages of comic-books in the 1941 issue of All Star Comics #8, and from that point began her legendary odyssey through the annals of comic history with close to eight decades of epic storylines of emancipation, liberation and love.  Diana’s rich heritage is tied to her ability to empathise and forgive, traits not necessarily intrinsic to the majority of Superheroes, who tend to rely on fists, brute force and their overtly herculean super-powers to right any wrongs that present themselves.

Wonder Woman was always cut from a different cloth, preferring to extend a hand in friendship rather than raise a fist in anger. Diana’s real life creation from her genius architect, the aforementioned William Marston is key to the character’s enduring legacy of liberation and amnesty. Marston’s ideal for the character came from his groundbreaking (especially for the era) work in the feminist and suffragette movements of the 1930’s and 40’s, with birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger, in particular her work – Woman and the New Race becoming a catalyst for Diana’s eventual fictional birth in 1941.

An astonishing seventy nine years later, Wonder Woman is actually more popular now than she has probably ever been, with a whole new audience outside of her fervent comic-book fandom brought into her Amazonian ranks thanks to her recent and magnificent celluloid outing in Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins’ 2017 movie. She has been in continuous print since her iconic inception, is the original blueprint for virtually every female Superhero that has been created since her dazzling debut and is still THE fictional front woman for feminism and emancipation in the world today. I am sure Dr William Marston is looking down from his well deserved place on Mount Olympus and smiling, watching as his monumental creation continues to spread her message of hope and love to all the masses both fictional, and real.

To celebrate Wondy’s 750th issue DC Comics have brought together some of the Themysciran Titans’ most revered story tellers and artists – George Perez, Gail Simone, Nicola Scott, Greg Rucka, Jenny Frison and Brian Bolland to name just a few are onboard for this 96 page prestige format tome. 

Nine exhilarating tales of the astonishing Amazon regale the reader with fabulous fables that represent her past, present and future, each allegorical piece fits, jigsaw like, into a whole that fundamentally represents everything we love about Wonder Woman, with our personal favourite from the selection being Gail Simone’s fabulous – ‘From Small Things, Mama’  though we are happy to report that not one of the other eight exceptional epics on offer are anything less than deserving of Diana’s halcyon heritage.

 

Wonder Woman #750 is available from your local comic-book emporium right now! Make sure to show your love for the most important fictional female in history by buying this landmark issue, my astonishingly adroit amazonian associates.

 

Our dynamic duo of WW #750 variant covers were purchased from our absolute favourite comic-book emporium: Final Frontier.

The Week In Geek… With Precinct1313

Welcome fellow agents of Precinct1313 to another exhilarating episode of  The Week In Geek  where we love to share our favourite Comic-Book, Video-Game and Cult Movie news for your perusal and pleasure. And so once more unto the geek, dear agents, once more…

And ‘hoo boy’ do we have a wondrous line up of fantastical female fiction courtesy of our beloved DC Comics and their two biggest selling and widely renowned female characters – The Themysciran Titan – Wonder Woman and the Hellacious Hellcat – Harley Quinn. So grab your lariat of Hestia and comically oversized mallet ’cause the girls are back in town to spread love, joy and also kick arse (there ain’t no gum!) and spout incredulously funny one liners…

We Can ‘Harley’ Wait For The New Birds Of Prey Movie, But Whilst We Do, Let Us Indulge In The Newest Quinn-tastic Trailer…

I mean, how awesome does that look? honestly this film seems to be beautifully capturing everything we love not just about Harley, but also Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti’s stunning and character defining recent run on her monthly comics… and that friends, is a wonderful thing (and Bernie’s in it, I mean you can never have too many stuffed Beavers, right!?)

Also of note are the fantastic posters that Warner and DC have been releasing in the run up to the highly anticipated movie. Of particular note are the influences behind the promotional images – including Italian renaissance paintings such as Sandro Botticelli’s – ‘The Birth Of Venus’ amongst others. Astounding!

“Great Hera!” Wonder Woman #750 Covers And Interior Art Released For Incoming Iconic Issue…

By the golden grace of Gaea, Princess Diana of Themyscira is just two short years away from celebrating eight decades since her illuminating inception, but we don’t have to wait that long to celebrate THE greatest fictional female of all time, ’cause in just six weeks time DC will be releasing the 750th issue of the astonishing Amazon’s eternal adventures!

That’s right my astounding Amazonian associates, Diana has been fighting emancipation, gods of war and anthropomorphic super-villains in her own comic since June of 1942 (though her first ever appearance was in 1941, courtesy of Sensation Comics) and in celebration of 750 illustrious issues, DC are bringing together some of her finest ever creators for a 96 page Amazonian anthology of awesome!

Writers and artists of such inspirational ilk as – Gail Simone, Nicola Scott, Kami Garcia, Jose Luis Garcia, George Perez, Greg Rucka, Jim Lee, Brian Bolland and Stanley Lau to name just a few will be creating a cavalcade of classic and compelling comic covers and stunning storylines commemorating our absolute favourite comic-book creation. “Suffering Sappho!” January 22, 2020 can’t come soon enough for this WW fanatic!

Why not join us again next time friends for more Week In Geek!

 

Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, The Huntress, Black Canary, and yes, Bernie the Beaver are Copyright: DC Comics.

Birds Of Prey Trailer Courtesy Of Rapid Trailer.

With Justice Comes Variance…

DC Comics are officially relaunching Justice League in June alongside the new creative team of Scott Snyder, Mark Morales, and Jim Cheung. the premise for the new series was originally set up through the rather fantastic DC Nation #0 and Justice League: No Justice, both of which launched in May 2018.

The new line up for the League includes seven core members from the New52 era and characters from the DC Animated universe. The Superheroic nucleus will feature classic heroes including (of course) the Trinity of Bats, Wondy and Supes alongside – The Flash, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern John Stewart, Hawkgirl, Cyborg, and Aquaman… well then, pretty much an archetypal League team up.

In celebration of the League’s newest arrival DC have announced an astonishing 16 variant covers, from talented creators such as – Jim Lee, Jim Cheung, Jock, Tyler Kirkham, Jorge Jimenez and more. There will be a primary of 7 variants available at most Comic-Book emporiums alongside 9 covers exclusive to certain retailers (Forbidden Planet etc…) Variants will also include black and white ‘sketch’ covers as well as a blank ‘draw it yourself’ cover. Are you as excited as us for the relaunch of JL? which of these stunning renderings are your favourite? sound off in the comments below, fellow fans of fantastic fiction…

All images are copyright: DC Comics.

 

Precinct1313 Recommends: WildStorm – A Celebration Of 25 Years

Yes indeed, it really has been a quarter of a century since illustrious illustrator Jim Lee first introduced us to the celebrated cast of comic-book characters from the weird and wonderful WildStorm universe.

WildStorm Productions started life as an independent company established by the aforementioned Jim Lee alongside Brandon Choi. It was first established in 1993 as a sub imprint of the popular Image Comics brand, another indie comic company that boasted amongst its ranks some of comicdom’s most influential and talented individuals, including Todd McFarlane, Whilce Portacio, Marc Silvestri and Erik Larsen, together these industrious individuals presented to their fevered fans classic characters such as Spawn, Savage Dragon and Wildcats amongst many, many others.

Uber Talented And Mega Popular Artist – Adam Hughes’ Fantastic Interpretation Of A Few Of WildStorm’s Popular And Powerful Female Characters.

WildStorm expanded over the years creating new sub-imprints like Homage Comics in 1995 (which delivered unto us comic reading mortals absolute classics like Kurt Busiek’s Astro City) and dipping its creative toe into animated movies and television series, plus a card game based upon Lee’s very own Wildcats characters which used a similar template to that of Magic: The Gathering.

Unfortunately though during the early and mid nineties comic-books fell into a major slump period, a serious decline in sales which began to affect most smaller publishers, including WildStorm, due to this progressive downturn Jim Lee started to look around for a buyer for the company and its characters, which ultimately resulted in its 1998 acquisition by DC Comics. Initially the two comic-book universe were kept as separate entities, until 2010 when DC announced that the WildStorm imprint was to be shut down, with WildCats #30 (Vol 5) being the last published title, though they did proclaim that many of its beloved characters would be saved to reappear at some point in the future.

Midnighter – One Of WildStorm’s More Popular Characters Is Best Described As Batman On A Very… Very Bad Day!

And return they did, a very short while later when DC merged the characters into its mainstream universe during their New 52 relaunch in 2011. Introducing comic persona such as Midnighter, Voodoo and Stormwatch into the established DC universe was a revolutionary and exciting prospect adding a new zest and enthusiasm to both sets of characters who gelled together surprisingly well (Midnighter and Nightwing come to mind, a titanic team up that was wildly adored by fans of both characters.)

In February of 2017 DC announced that the Wildstorm imprint would once again be resurrected as its very own entity after 25 years since its first introduction, and a hardcover collection would be released to mark its quarter century celebrations. 

 

Containing brand new stories by the original creators this is a fantastic buy for established fans and newcomers to the WS fold, with returning fan fave stories such as Wildcats, Gen13, and the Authority under the guidance of notable creators – Jim Lee, Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch. The 300 page epic hardcover also contains an extensive art gallery with brand new pieces by incredible illustrative illuminaries such as Adam Hughes (reason enough alone to buy the book!) Fiona Staples, Lee Bermejo and Tim Sale.

To round the title out you also get behind the scenes material and reprints of some of WildStorm’s most popular stories, adding up overall to a priceless package of perfection… a must buy.

Comic Cover(s) Of The Week: Harley Quinn 25th Anniversary Special #1

That’s right fellow fans of fantastic fiction, hellacious hellcat Harley Quinn turned twenty five this month… which obviously means that this weeks calculatedly celebratory commemorative comic collection of ceremonially charming and cheerful covers (phew! alliteration avalanche!!) is dedicated to the mischievous minx of mayhem.

“Jeez Loweez Harley Give Us A Chance, We’re Writing The Post As Quickly As We Can!”

Welcome my comic collecting compatriots to an extra special instalment of Comic Cover Of The Week, celebrating Ms Quinn’s quarter century turn as one of the medium’s most beloved and zany characters. After (just) surviving our recent up close and personal interview (which you can read right here) with the crazy clowness of crime we would be rightfully remit if we didn’t offer up this week’s episode to our favourite psychedelic psychopath, and hoo boy do we have an awesome set of covers to share with you. Beginning, of course, with our favourite of the bunch, from astounding artistic auteur Amanda Conner:

The recurring team of Amanda Conner and her hubby and co-writer Jimmy Palmiotti kick off this quad tale anniversary special by recounting Harley’s adventures in Las Vegas alongside her Gotham Siren buddies Catwoman and Poison Ivy. Amanda not only delivers another outstanding cover image but also lends her impressive artistic talent to the tale contained within, proving once again that she is one of the most adroit and skillful creators in the wonderful world of comic book craft.

Her artwork portrays eloquently expressive characterisation, and her writing talent showcases her always exemplary comic timing, Amanda Conner is THE jewel in DC’s crown of comic book composers!

Alongside Amanda’s sterling cover are a host of other variant issues, with our next fave from DC Comics’ Co-Publisher and incredible illustrator Jim Lee:

And this magnificent masterpiece from Terry and Rachel Dodson:

‘Celebrate twenty five years of Harley Quinn with this collection of stories by some legendary Harley talent and some who have never drawn her before! How does Harley manage her insanely jam packed life on Coney Island? What haven’t we seen from her past with The Joker? And can even Harley’s psychological acumen crack the twisted mind of Robin: The Boy Wonder? Find out with the Harley Quinn 25th Anniversary Special #1, available at your local comic book emporium right now!

Comic Cover Of The Week: Batman Europa #1

Copyright: DC Comics

11 years after it was first announced, Brian Azzarello and Jim Lee‘s mini-series Batman: Europa finally hits the comic-book shelves. Originally announced by DC Comics in 2004, the series follows the Caped Crusader and his arch nemesis The Joker as they team up (!?) and journey across Europe in search of a cure for a deadly debilitating virus that is slowly sapping the life from the Dark Knight.

The first issue begins with a brutal, knock-down, drag out fight between Batman and Killer Croc, and ends with him teaming up with the master of mirth and mayhem. After eleven years of anticipation, the series actually delivers on its promise; two superstar creators and the world’s most beloved Superhero. Though Azzarello is around for the long haul alongside Batman and the Joker, Lee (with Giuseppe Camuncoli) is providing the art for just the first issue, with selected artistic talent from across Europe taking on illustrating duties from issue #2.

After over a decade of waiting, this lives up to the hype, Azzarello as always is marvellous and Jim Lee and Giuseppe Camuncoli‘s visuals are sublime. So why not pack up your travel bags and join Bats and Mr J on their trek through the E.U. but be prepared for a dark and daunting, but ultimately entertaining journey.

Batman: Europa is available at your local comic book emporium right now. Written by: Brian Azzarello. Cover by: Jim Lee. Interior art by: Jim Lee and Giuseppe Camuncoli.

Classic Wonder Woman: Wonder Woman – Art Of War Collection

Copyright: DC Comics

Themyscira island beckons us to its idyllic shore once again as we throw open the ancient gateway to the Amazon archives and undertake yet another instalment of “Classic Wonder Woman”, Precinct1313‘s weekly countdown to the 75th anniversary of the Amazon Princess. This week we forego our usual classic cover for a special look at DC Collectibles amazing Wonder Woman: Art Of War statue collection.

Replicating the successful Batman: Black and White series of statues, DC’s Art Of War collection features distinctive versions of the awesome Amazon as realised by a myriad of different artists from throughout her almost 75 year reign. Luminaries such as  Jim Lee, Cliff Chiang, Bruce Timm, Adam Hughes, George Perez and more give their own unique styling to these hand sculpted mini masterpieces.

The Art of War collection brings together some of the comic industry’s most outstanding talent

The Art Of War collection figures are hand sculpted and painted, made from cold cast porcelain and possess Wonder Woman logo themed base stands. Each statue stands an impressive 8″ in height and comes in a stylish box that features the statue itself as the main image, with the new DC Comics blue “peel” logo in the bottom left corner containing the name of its designer. The packaging is elegant and expertly highlights the figure contained within, with the reverse box panel containing shots of other statues available from the line.

Current WW artist, David Finch’s Art Of War variant

Each and every variation has so far been superb, with favourites for me being the Bruce Timm and David Finch versions. Announced recently is the newest in the line by one of the Precinct‘s favourite artists, the amazing Amanda Conner (Starfire, Power Girl) which is due to hit the shelves next summer. This particular statue will be realised in resin and metal, and limited to just 5,200 pieces worldwide, sculpted by the extremely talented Karen Palinko. Showcasing Diana in full Spartan style Amazon armour and bursting at the seams with the fresh, fun and distinctive Conner style.

Wondy clad in full Amazon battle armour, designed by the wonderful Amanda Conner

Join us again next week for another edition of “Classic Wonder Woman”, my accomplished Amazonian associates!