Many people who work in comics (even at the edge of the underbrush where I live) are reluctant to say much about other people’s work. This happens in part because they may be friends or they may be future employers. So for a variety of reasons, we refrain from criticizing the work of others. Then a mini-series like Amazons Attack comes along and changes the way I see things.
Amazons Attack is a crime against trees.
From the wrong-headed intro to the deus ex machina ending when one of the Greek Gods comes in to stop it at six issues, this is an ill-conceived project which breaks the rules of clear storytelling. In the opening scene, a father and son are at Lincoln Memorial alone in the middle of the day. That end of the National Mall is almost never empty, that having been the site of MLKs I- Have- a- Dream speech among other things. I may forgive minor flubs, but I will still point them out. Anyway, platoons of Amazons and hardware and monsters gate into the scene behind the two. The father reassures the son. And an Amazon cuts his head off. Then the little boy is beheaded and then the statue. Within the first few pages, troops under the direction of Wonder Womans mom are executing children. Just let that wonderfulness sink in for a minute. Then ask yourself who this is supposed to appeal to.
Some of the characters in the series are mortally injured in another book. Then we see a body and some other hero tries to save him in yet another book. There are footnotes to the other books, so as an experience, it feels like reading a novel but having to skip a chapter here and there. So, the Washington Monument gets knocked over, the Capitol Building burns, the Presidents plane is caught and crashed by a squad of women on pegasus. Thats right, the Amazons have super-sonic ponies. Wonder Woman comes to sword point with her mother only to be saved by Superman so that she can get in the exact same position a few issues down the trail. You cannot have a Wonder Woman story without Circe, so she is busy sorcering up in the background. And finally one of the Greek Gods comes in and puts the Amazons in time out and thats it. The End.
The art is interesting. I have no beef with Pete Woods who can do some phenomenal noir work. But the polished art cannot save a story with that many moronic points and holes.
I have seen how these mussy bundles of story come together. Modern comics especially the crossover/ spin off books get their start in editorial meetings. The editorial staff will come up with a book to fit the publishing schedule and maybe they have a decent idea for what the book should be about. Then, they make a call here and there to find a writer suitable to the project. These hand-picked writers will get a plot and a start point and an end point and a hand full of things that have to happen by the last issue. How the writer pulls the pieces together to fit the rest of the Universe is their problem. For a writer, these jobs are a beautiful gift-wrapped box full of ass. Sure, the gig is pre-approved, but you have to find a way to execute the hand full of ideas in the book and manage to not embarrass yourself along the way. Sometimes, it is impossible. Witness this trainwreck.
Will Pfeifer can write well. His run on Catwoman was interesting. This unconnected set of dots masquerading as a story is certainly not representative of his talent. Which is too bad. Maybe this mini-series could have worked is it had been launched under another process. Amazons Attack will keep anyone from spinning anything out of Wonder Woman for three years. Which is a shame.