Nubia sets a new course as the queen of all Amazons, but what perils await her as she makes her first royal visit to Man’s World? Nubia Queen of the Amazons #1 is written by Stephanie Williams, pencilled by Alitha Martinez, inked by Mark Morales and John Livesay, colored by Alex Guimaraes and lettered by Becca Carey
Nubia, Wonder Woman’s Amazon in arms, has been quite busy since her first solo series Nubia and The Amazons. Not only has she become queen of three different tribes of Amazons, but she has also demonstrated an authoritative and wise presence through actions such as the redemption of Medusa and rallying the Amazons in the comic book crossover event “Trial of The Amazons.” Now, she must help her fellow Amazons start over and rebuild in her new series Nubia Queen of The Amazons.
The series begins at an undisclosed location, where a mysterious masked man is given a retrieval assignment involving Nubia and the amulet half she is wearing around her neck. During the Nubia: Coronation Special, this amulet is shown to be an item from Nubia’s past life as Nahavah, a princess of Madagascar. Since the amulet is connected to Nubia’s past, it can be assumed that the man has ties to it as well.
Meanwhile, everyone in Themyscira is preparing for Nubia’s departure to “Man’s World;” there Nubia plans to liaise with the human world via the Justice League and attend a deforestation protest in Brazil. Since the Amazons of the Esquecida protect rainforests everywhere, Nubia feels duty bound to lend her aid.
Part of the preparations involves the other Amazons observing the Floating Island, a part of Themyscira that is also Nubia’s mode of transportation. As it levitates around the rest of Themyscira with the magic of the Bana-Mighdall Amazons, various inhabitants comment on it and the current state of Themyscira. It is nice to see how characters like Medusa and Io are doing since everyone has experienced tragedy and wounds as a result of previous events. Alitha Martinez’s art is a highlight in these pages as we get to see the rebuilding and life going on in various, lush settings such as the Gardens of Demeter and Io’s Workshop.
Soon, the issue switches to Nubia’s point of view as she and her royal court meet the Justice League at the Hall of Justice. Seeing Nubia and the members of her royal court interact with the Justice League en route to Brazil allows for a flexible display of Stephanie Williams’ writing style. Some of the best dialogue and scenes include tech wiz Ananhi calling Batman’s utility belt “mini purses” and Nubia sparring with Hawkgirl.
In addition, Alex Giumaraes’s colors and Becca Carey’s letters also get the chance to shine. They both provide good background lighting that suit particular characters and scenes. For example, Nubia’s conversation with Wonder Woman has a pink tint that enhances the sisterly mood, while Nubia’s sparring match with Hawkgirl has a yellow tint and red, yellow, and white sound effects such as “Klang” and “Crackle”.
One other notable aspect of Nubia’s sparring match with Hawkgirl is how Nubia’s new magic staff emits a blast that displays a lion symbol that might be partially shown on Nubia’s amulet. During Nubia’s first series, Io made Nubia the staff as a lover’s gift, but it also contains a lion stone given to her from the goddesses Athena, Aphrodite and Hestia. If the stone is connected to Nubia‘s amulet, then it stands to reason that the goddesses gave Nubia another piece from her past life.
Prior to Nubia arriving in Brazil, we get a brief glimpse of the mastermind behind the masked man trying to kill Nubia. They are apparently a woman named Neser who wants Nubia’s amulet to perform some sort of power transfer ritual, which sounds very sinister. Whether Neser is someone from Nubia’s past life remains to be seen, but I’d sure like to know why Neser wants Nubia’s amulet specifically for the ritual.
After a fabulous display of Nubia speaking Portuguese and demonstrating her magical multilingual skills, Nubia gives a speech to the protestors in Brazil. However, it is interrupted by an explosion followed by a rockslide, which are set off by the mysterious masked men trying to capture Nubia. Although the explosion and rockslide intend to serve as a distraction while the masked men go after Nubia, one can’t help question the logic of this considering what happens next.
The issue ends with Nubia being buried under the rockslide while trying to help others escape. Not only is Nubia trapped, but she might end up captured by her adversaries. Since this is a four issue mini series, Nubia probably isn’t dead, but I personally would like to see the masked men get a scolding from Naser for possibly damaging the amulet along with Nubia.
Latonya Pennington
Latonya Pennington is a freelance contributor whose comics criticism can be found at Women Write About Comics, Comic Book Herald, Newsarama and Shelfdust, among others.
