Phil Jiminez, ably assisted by DeMatteis and Lanning, takes over the reigns of Wonder Woman with this issue. Mr. Jiminez's art was, for me, the defining look of The Invisibles, the high-octane, ultra-violent American adventures - He is a disciple of Perez, so his panels are full and beautiful, but he's got a bit more of a page design flair, I think, a quality I was so happy to see displayed in today's comic. Mr. Jiminez is also openly gay, and has been writing and illustrating comics in the mainstream for a few decades now. When he took over Wonder Woman, he described it in the press as his dream job.
And rightly so, I think. Wonder Woman has long been a queer icon, idolized both for her glamour and her strength, and her refusal to be a victim, I think. She's one of very few characters I can think of who isn't born out of trauma; she's born of love, infused with life by Aphrodite when Hippolyta wished for a child. So I imagine that for a gay man to be able to tell her stories, to speak through her, must have been so rewarding.
Unfortunately, I only have two or three issues of this run, but I think I may track it down. Both Mr. Jiminez and Detective Comics's Greg Rucka have done acclaimed runs on this character that I'm intrigued by.
And that, I think, does it for Pride Month this year. The nice thing is I've discovered so many other comics to read that are nice and queer that I'll be able to do this again next year, and possibly the year after! I'm hoping to get a post out in the next couple of weeks thinking about what I've learned over the last month, and I'll include in that links to some of the books I've looked at, if they're still available.
More to come...
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