Wonder Girl #1

Wonder Girl #1

DC Comics 2021

Written & Illustrated by Joëlle Jones

Coloured by Jordie Bellaire

Lettered by Clayton Cowles

The story of Yara Flor starts here!

Raised in the far off land of Boise, Idaho, Yara Flor has always felt something was missing from her life-and now she is headed to Brazil to find it. Little does she know her arrival will set off a series of events that will change the world of Wonder Woman forever. Her return has been prophesied, and with that prophecy comes the undivided attention of benevolent gods from pantheons beyond. Danger lurks around every corner-but is this young hero ready for her journey? Find out in a debut issue you absolutely cannot miss!

I wasn’t sure I was going to read this one, I mean how many Wonder Girls do we really need to have? Then this one came out with a blank cover and of course I had to have it and after seeing the interiors I knew I had to read this. I’m glad I did too because the story is pretty amazing as well. Joëlle is such an amazingly talented woman and had I realised she was doing this at the onset it would’ve been a pure no-brainer to pick up.

I am in love with the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development is utterly amazing and how we see the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter serve to really flesh them out like real people. Plus there’s a large cast of characters in this issue so to feel like we understand who they are and what their motivations are is incredibly well achieved. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story and the characters draws us in spectacularly well.

I am very much enjoying how we see this being structured and how we see the layers within the story begin to emerge and take shape. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved exceptionally well. There are so many elements to this that feel natural, normal as if everything we see is in the exact spot and moment it should be in is extraordinary to experience.

The interiors here are mindbogglingly gorgeous to behold. The linework is exquisitely laid down and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level and quality in the attention to detail is mind numbing. We do see some backgrounds being utilised but it’s the composition within the panels that is extremely impressive to me and how this provides the depth perception, a sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masters eye for storytelling. The colour work is divine. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows an innate understanding of how colour works most effectively.

There are a few moving parts in this that encompass most of the Wonder Woman world and that they all manage to tie into one another and the bigger picture as a whole in a way that is surprising, unique and unexpected. I love, love, love the way we see this unfolding before our eyes and how it all seems to emanate from one singular event, or person or goddess, whichever one suits your fancy. I think it is high time that the Greek Gods stopped playing nice even to their beloved Amazons and showed us how jealousy and envy can cause them to do things that suit their whimsy even if its not exactly nice.

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This is the best debut issue of a character’s own title that I have seen in quite some time now from DC. This is so smartly and intelligently crafted, written and gorgeously illustrated book that brings us a fascinating new character whom I am hoping will end up working with Bea Bonilla da Costa strengthening that women of colour are the most badass women in the superhero community.