REVIEW: ‘Trial of The Amazons,’ Issue #1

Trial of the Amazons #1 is written by Stephanie Williams, Vita Ayala, Joëlle Jones, Michael W. Conrad, and Becky Cloonan, illustrated by Jones, Elena Casagrande, Laura Braga, and Skyla Patridge, colored by Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Jordie Bellaire, and lettered by Pat Brosseau. It’s published by DC Comics. With the events of Nubia and the Amazons opening up Doom’s Doorway and unleashing darkness on the world, the three tribes of Amazons—the Themiscyrians, Bana-Mighdall, and Esquecida—have gathered on Themiscrya to decide the best course of action. When Queen Nubia decides to launch the ancient Contest to select a new champion to guard Doom’s Doorway, tensions arise, especially when the Bana-Mighdall’s queen Faruka also proposes that the new Champion become queen of all Amazons.

This marks the first major Wonder Woman-centered event in years; previous attempts have included the War of the Gods miniseries by legendary creator George Perez and the abysmal Amazons Attack! miniseries. What sets this event apart from others is the conflict brewing among the Amazons. Faruka and the rest of the Bana-Mighdall butt heads with the Amazons of Themiscyra as the former are more warlike and view the Themiscyrans as weak. The Esquecida, led by Yara Flor, have finally returned to their homeland and also come into conflict with the Bana-Mighdall. It’s actually a solid story choice to display this conflict, which only supercharges the anticipation for the Contest and shows that the Amazons aren’t a monolith.

In contrast to the feuding Amazons, the writers of the issue work in clear rapport with each other. Williams and Ayala penned Nubia and the Amazons, which has seen Nubia deal with her duties as the newly appointed queen of Themiscyra and Doom’s Doorway opening. Conrad and Cloonan have been writing the main Wonder Woman title, which saw Diana hurtling through different realities after the fallout from Dark Nights: Death Metal. And Jones introduced Yara during the events of DC Future State. They manage to weave the various plotlines into a single story, touching on various plot points set up in the Wonder Woman titles while launching a mystery that will serve as the driving force of this crossover.

The same goes for the artists and colorists. Jones is the standout literally, as her sequence features Yara and the Esqucida barging onto Themiscyra. Braga and Patridge draw the majority of the series, which features the different tribes of Amazons congregating, or in Diana and Faruka’s case, coming to blows. Casagrande draws the final sequence, with a horrifying and jaw-dropping final page that I never saw coming. Brosseau chooses to give each Amazon a different style for their inner thoughts—Diana’s is bright red, for example, while Nubia’s has a golden barrier. Paired with Fajuardo Jr. and Bellaire’s rich colors, this book is a visual feast for the eyes.

Trial of the Amazons #1 features Wonder Woman writers and artists uniting the three Amazon tribes for a game-changing crossover event. With the storyline slated to spread into the rest of the Wonder Woman titles, I look forward to seeing the Contest results and how it potentially shakes up the Wonder Woman mythos.

Trial of the Amazons #1 is available wherever comics are sold.