Thursday, April 25, 2013

Wonder Woman Volume 1: Blood by Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang, and Tony Akins

Mostly everyone knows the Greek Gods and Goddesses, right? If not here's a link. Imagine now, that they were intertwined within our world, controlling and scheming just as they had back in their times, as if they had never died. Now, imagine the greatest warrior. Do you envision them as a man or woman? And would you consider them a super hero? Now there is tale to see!

Wonder Woman Volume 1: Blood involves the first six issues, wrapped into one volume. Wonder Woman is the daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, who rules over Paradise Island. Wonder Woman, named Diana by her mother, decided to leave Paradise Island to forge her own path away from her sisters. Apollo, the God of the Sun, also has plans to become the rule over the Gods because of the disappearance of his father Zeus. Hera, at the same time as all of this, is upset over her husband sleeping around and finds out that one of her husbands consorts is pregnant with a child. Hera launches an attack against here and Wonder Woman has to jump in to save her which then leads to an even bigger discovery of who she really is and where she comes from, all while fighting off some of the major Gods and Goddesses.

The great thing about this comic was the story line and the art style. Cliff Chiang did a great job with the art and made it seem pretty realistic at some points. And as you notice on the cover art, it says The New 52, here is an explanation on that. Now, if you are an avid comic book reader as myself, you will completely understand everything going on. But someone who is just starting to read comics, well it might just take them a second to figure it out. The great thing about it though is that you can read through a comic quickly and go back and look through the pictures more closely to find something you might have missed. Another great thing about this comic is that there is plenty to read into for both boys and girls alike. Girls can relate to Wonder Woman and can also learn to be independent and strong through her. Boys can learn that women can be heroes too. It can also show the boys that there are strong-willed woman out there who will take no crap from them.

This comic would be great as a supplement in middle school or high school to give students a reimagining of the Greek mythology that they might touch on in a history or English class, but there really would be no way to teach this in a class because of how short it is and for the little content it has becaus eit is only part of the story, with more issues to come. It would also be great for an art class to possibly do a compare and contrast of new styles of comic art to old styles. Adults and teachers alike would benefit reading from this to in the matter that they could gain a sense of familiarity with Wonder Woman as a person that they might have been as they were younger. They could also learn that she is a great role model for their teens.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I never realized Wonder Woman had any kind of tie to Greek mythology until I read your review Sean. I think you're right, this would make for a really interesting and modern supplement in an English or history class where the students are reading a mythological tale. I remember how many students in my high school classes who hated reading "The Odyssey" and "Antigone," but imagine how much more interesting those works would have been if the teacher had tied them into a graphic novel such as this, to which students could better relate?

I for one am very glad for this bit of knowledge, and will try to remember Wonder Woman as a possible tie-in when I am teaching. I know you question whether it would be teachable, but I suspect there may be an opportunity to compare heroic acts, strong characters, and femininity in those three books/plays.

Unknown said...

I, similar to Leslie, had no idea that Wonder Woman had anything to do with greek mythology. I think that comics do present a unique opportunity to engage students in a fun way that makes them legitimately excited to read, I think it gives them a chance to bring some of their recreational interests into the classroom. I love what you said about using the comic as supplementary material to learn about the Greek gods, to see how this author views them. I myself am a pretty big comic hero fan, though I prefer Marvel myself, I think that this was an awesome choice for a review on this blog.

Tom Philion said...

Well done, Sean. Online, paragraphs are always better when shorter (or almost always), but you have a great hook and summary and evaluation. Excellent links, too.
TP