The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1221: Wonder Woman (1987) #164, January 2001

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...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 317: The Fearless Defenders #4AU, July 2013

What's kind of nice about this particular crossover issue is that I have pretty much no idea of what the Fearless Defenders are like in regular continuity, so this just seemed like a cool story with some semi-familiar characters, like another chapter of Age of Ultron (which it is), as opposed to a reimagining of something with which I was already engaged.

So, the first question that pops to mind, of course, is when the hell did Hippolyta become a character in the Marvel U, and how come she's so frickin' badass?

This issue gives us the most comprehensive look at the Latveria-Asgard Wars, though saying that it's comprehensive is a bit of a misnomer. We see a few aftermath shots, and that's about it. I have to say, were they ever to return to the AoU, I'd love to see this war played out as a proper, boots on the ground (a la Siege:Embedded) title. Style it after the old 70s DC war comics, keep the level of superheroic silliness (said in the most affectionate manner possible, btw) to a minimum, and give us a good, solid war tale. Doom versus Odin, with Thor and Sif, and the Warriors Three, and Baldur and Loki, and (somehow) Ares all mixed in. I'm getting Illiadic shivers down the spine.

Not much else to say about this issue. Hippolyta's costume is fantastic, but I would have expected nothing less from Phil Jiminez. I used to equate him with the second volume of The Invisibles, but really he's more one of the men who now sits at the feet of the Wonder Women. Maybe they'll give Hippolyta her own series, and he can write and draw it, and not have to deal with silly New 52 Wonder Woman.

(Y'know, every now and again I'll write something like that about the New 52 and feel bad, since I've read so little of it. And then I'll pick up an issue and read it and it's just fucking crap. *sigh*)

Coming up to crunch time with two issues left. Who will live, who will die, will anything even remotely change at the end of the crossover? Stay tuned!