Warning: contains major spoilers for Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons #1!
In Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons #1 from DC Comics‘ Black Label imprint, neither Hippolyta nor Nubia are queens—that role has been given to six other Amazons. This news may be surprising to fans of DC Comics as Hippolyta is usually portrayed as the queen of the Amazons, and in Wonder Woman (2016) that role had been given to Nubia. However, in this series, that all changes.
The history of the Amazons is being revealed in this new series, with Hippolyta’s origin being a core component of it. The creative team behind the series—Kelly Sue DeConnick, Phil Jimenez, Hi-Fi, Arif Prianto, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Clayton Cowles—has introduced a new royal structure. The Amazons no longer have a singular queen. Instead, there are different tribes, each with a queen of its own. The goddesses of Olympus have become fed up with the ways of men, both mortal and immortal. As a result, they have rebelled and made a decision to do something different.
Collectively, six goddesses give birth to a new nation of warrior women, with each goddess having its own tribe. These goddesses include Hestia, Artemis, Athena, Hecate, Demeter, and Aphrodite. Each goddess has five Amazons in her tribe, resulting in thirty Amazons led by six queens. The new Amazon queens are Penthesilea (the first Amazon), Io, Menalippe, Hellene, Pythia, and Antiope. Fans are used to seeing united groups of Amazons living either in Themyscira or Bana-Baghdall (and now, Akahim— home of the recently introduced Brazilian Amazons). These warriors are usually united under a single queen. This could still be coming in the future, since the series is just beginning and Hippolyta has been introduced, though she is not yet an Amazon— much less the leader of a nation of warrior women. This shift in the Amazons’ history presents a major opportunity to re-envision how the Amazons are seen and portrayed.
Each tribe pays homage to their benefactress with their visual design —revealing the intricacies of the culture behind their creation. Aphrodite’s tribe is adorned with shells, evoking the myths of the goddess that involve her being born of sea foam. Hestia’s tribe takes influence from “Middle Eastern iterations” of the goddess, in terms of the animals selected to represent her. She is the goddess of the hearth, making it fitting that her tribe’s armor includes elements of fire. Artemis is the goddess of the hunt and is commonly associated with deer, which is reflected in the antler headdresses and hunting-associated imagery of her Amazon tribe.
While Ares may be the god of war, Athena is the goddess of warfare and strategy. Her tribe places emphasis on her major battles, with imagery of the Aegis, hydras, and chimeras scattered throughout their armor. Hecate is most often associated with magic and witchcraft. Her tribe carries her other affiliated iconography however, such as the moon and torches associated with her being the goddess of pathways. Their faces are irremovable masks. Lastly, Demeter’s tribe places a lot of focus on elements of harvest, incorporating botanical components into their armor and appearance. There are also allusions to Persephone, Demeter’s daughter. Each Amazon is designed brilliantly, which new elements to catch with every glance.
This new take on the Amazons in Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons #1 is incredibly fresh and rooted in a long line of not just Wonder Woman stories but also narratives within history and mythology. The thirty Amazons have had histories within DC Comics, however, many of them are scant or haven’t been focused on enough to be compelling, with the exception of a few (e.g., Antiope and Nubia). The royal structure may be different but this restructuring of the hierarchy and the Amazons’ collective history is much needed.
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