NUBIA: QUEEN OF THE AMAZONS #1: An Advocate, Not a Hero

Almost a direct continuation of Nubia & The Amazons (with the Nubia: Coronation Special thrown in there for good measure), Nubia: Queen of the Amazons is off to a fantastic start in this first issue. Writer Stephanie Williams makes sure to check in with all the big names from the previous mini-series: Bia, Hellene, Karessi, even Medusa. As a fan of all of these characters, I’m so grateful that we are given a chance to see them again even if they’re not part of the main plot which involves Nubia on the Floating Island.

Floating Island, you may ask. That’s right, a key piece of Silver Age history is back, with Nubia recruiting a band of amazons to travel as an advocate outside of Themyscira. The Floating Island was originally Nubia’s home in the 70s, where she proved herself the fiercest warrior among her tribe. It’s one of those bizarre but very Wonder Woman-y concepts that I absolutely adore, so I’m glad Williams brought it to the modern era.

We also get to see a lot of the different amazons interacting with the Justice League, something that I don’t believe has been done to this degree. Nubia and Hawkgirl immediately hit it off during a battle while Anahi uses the Justice League’s computers to check her social media. Batman’s stern response to Anahi had me rolling.

And then there’s the villain. Surely this antagonist is going to tie into Zahavah’s backstory from the Coronation Special, and that’s exactly what I was begging for in my review for the special. This villain is after Nubia’s amulet, and ambushes Nubia during a protest in Brazil. I was a bit confused by the final page as I didn’t feel the art clearly conveyed what had happened, but that’s definitely a minor nitpick.

The art by Alitha Martinez is brilliant once again. Her artwork is as essential to this revitalized Nubia as Stephanie Williams’s writing. Also, can I just point out how stunning Martinez’s 1:25 cardstock variant cover is? I was utterly blown away when I saw that piece of art, and I’m desperate to get a print of it for my office.

My only complaint, and it’s a small one, is that I feel like this first issue is slightly slower paced than I would like. I believe there are only four issues of this mini-series, and I’m dying to have as much Nubia action as I possibly can. But just as I said I enjoyed all the different appearances of the aforementioned amazons, the flip side is that we aren’t getting to Nubia’s conflict fast enough. This first issue would be a 10/10 if this was an ongoing, but because it is a mini-series, I unfortunately have to hold it to a different standard.

Basically, I’m begging DC to make this an ongoing series.