
DC Comics 2021
Written by Joelle Jones
Illustrated by Joelle Jones & Adriano Melo
Coloured by Jordie Bellaire
Lettered by Pat Brosseau
Who are the Esquecida?! With her physical training in full swing, Yara must now look inward. Her childhood in Brazil has always been a mystery, spoken of in hushed tones by her aunt and uncle. What were they not telling her? The answers lie in the Amazon rainforest. But is this young hero ready for the truth? Plus, the two heroes hot on Yara's trail have finally found their target!
Here’s what I was thinking about while reading this: how much time passes on Mount Olympus compared to on Earth? If she has been training for some time now then that must mean time moves much faster on Olympus. I say this because seeing her boyfriend in Brazil shows that he didn’t seem to have aged him. Then again what is the concept of time to Gods anyway? It is both an odd thing to focus on and completely logical considering what we see within these pages. Actually I could go on and on about a few other things we see in this book but I don’t want to give out spoilers, suffice it to say however, that learning as much as we do could be dangerous to one's curiosity. After all, it's what killed the cat once and for all.
I am a huge fan of 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 exceedingly well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter is magnificently portrayed. That we can see and have such strong views on their personalities is wonderfully achieved. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story the more pages I wish a single issue held.
I appreciate how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I like seeing how the layers keep opening up new avenues to be explored and the amount of depth, dimension and complexity they add to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably rendered.
The interiors here are mind numbingly bloody gorgeous. The linework is exquisite and the way it just creates this beauty that oozes off the page through the varying weights and techniques we see bringing this level & quality in the attention to detail to life. I love seeing backgrounds, although I usually wanna see more but these orange, red and yellow pages don’t necessarily need them. How they enhance and expand the moments while also working within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the story is magnificently rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts is innovative at times, and the angles and perspective in the panels shows a masterful eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a brilliant eye for how colour works and how to really make the most impact with their use.
Honestly I hadn’t thought the world needed another Wonder Girl, looks like Batman’s not the only one with multiple folks using the same sidekick mantle. I was wrong because Yara is a fascinating woman and I'm dying to learn who her father is and where he fits into the pantheons around the world. I will say that these fine creators have made a convert out of me and I hadn’t thought that would be possible. Thanks to the quality of the writing, the intensity of the characterisation and these bloody gorgeous interiors really do make for wondrous reading.