richardmurray

My thoughts to an interview between Collier "CJ" Jennings side Stephanie Williams , co author of "Nubia and the Amazons"

Love the cover image, warrior woman kill!:) 

The first question asked about what comics the writer likes and her artistic introduction to comics. Interesting how influenced she was and is to telenovelas. I near despise telenovelas or anything similar.  Fabricated drama is ... not for me, at the least.

The second question ask about Williams relationship to the character Nubia. Williams lies in my eyes, when she said :"She’s such a unique character in the way she’s been around for so long but has little history to carry her." . That isn't true. Nubia by 1979 is the leader of an island full of men. Made by the god Mars, to  attack the women of paradise island. He stole Nubia as a baby, since Hyppolita made two babies made of clay, not one. 
I think that is a lot of character. Nubia is the lone female on an island of men. But she is the ruler by her strength, literally. She has a lot of years or experience. I haven't read the comics, but what happened to the island kingdom Nubia governed? Is it gone? 
Now, prepare for a rant reader. If you are still here. 
I despise... no I hate... no I am nearest to hating as possible, the comic book industry in the usa's penchant for rebooting. It is ugly storytelling. DC Comics in the early 1980s committed the greatest storytelling sin in the global comic book world; the global comic book world is: bande dessinee of Europe+Manga of Japan+ Comics of the USA+ all other similar art craft.  The crisis of infinite earths is the great moment of stupidity that spawned a culture that has never died in the usa and I wish it would and will. 
The original author of wonder woman did not make thymesecra a prison or a gateway to hades or hell. It is sinful that was added to the wonder woman world that had been around for decades. What sense does it make to add something into a world of that magnitude after it has been around for decades. 
The doom's doorway was introduced in 1987. Nubia was first introduced in 1973. Wonder woman first comic was in 1942.  
Arrest my case. can you imagine some writer being allowed to make under Camelot, a secret portal to Avalon. Its awful storytelling. You have to change the entire epic. 
Williams said:"I always felt there was enough foundation from her initial introduction to build a sturdy framework from it, and that’s the part that’s been the most exciting when it comes to writing her. Like, there is no doubt that this character is strong, formidable, and fierce, but exploring her wants, desires, fears, and how life sequestered away guarding Doom’s Doorway has impacted her gives us so much room to play with."
I oppose her interpretation to this character. She suggests this character doesn't have enough initially to grow from but, per her penchant for drama which she said herself, she likes the idea of a gateway to hell under Thymeiscara, as some secret job of women. 
The original creator to wonder woman , in my eyes , had it right. The amazons are meant to be, a set of heterosexual women, women defined as humans born with a vagina, who are masterful warriors and after ages of battles/wars/fights, the ancient gods granted them what they earned, an idyllic island. That is it. 
SOme people on earth have drama-less lives. It may be hard for many to comprehend but some people do. I like the idea that Diana , unlike superman who is the last of his kind or batman who is the last of his bloodline , knows where her family is. She knows where her people are. She knows her people are safe, happy, content. She chooses to be among her outside world because she wants to. This isn't something that fate forced on her or made her choose, she simply wants to do good to those she has no need to. I like the concept. MAking the amazons wardens of a prison is ugly. You change diana into a woman that has happiness inside into a woman who comes from some tradition of keeping the world safe. I think it is an ugly change. 
And, add to the fact, Nubia's island had little discussion. If any thing , the crisis writers and afterward missed the true trick. The island that wasn't developed wasn't paradise island aka thymyscera, it was the slaughter island. I don't mind adding to a story, but add where the space is. I repeat a creed of ancient warrior women who don't allow men into their community , earning an island of PARADISE after ages, thousands of years, of battling as part of humanity isn't a bad or outdated story. Women in modernity, in the year 2021 in militaries get raped or violated by their male peers. Is it so hard to see how a sorority of female warriors after thousands of years of fighting, earn a place of peace by the gods? 
How is that story outdated. I oppose the idea that is it. Yes, all women are not included. Yes, all women are white. Yes, all women are hetero. But, Nubia already shows that other women have a place in that world. And, Nubia showed it from the original writer's concept. Don't destroy it, cause the work around is beyond your ways as a writer.
Good information
http://www.carolastrickland.com/comics/wwcentral/misc_indexes/nubia/nubia.html

The third question ask Williams what she Nubia/Wonder woman plot points she is most interested in dabbling in. I quote williams: "As I mentioned earlier, Nubia and the Amazons is just as much of a reintroduction to Nubia as it is to the Amazons of Themyscira and life there. "
First she wrong, this isn't a reintroduction cause it isn't along how wonder woman originally was. For the record, I have no problem with a black warrior woman, or a black warrior woman queen, or a black warrior woman queen who is referred to in an ancient hellenistic/roman cultural frame manipulated in modern taste. 
My issue is, why not make a new character. I can take any character, any world, and add to it without changes to its plot. I am not making myself out to be a writing god, but it is about telling stories that don't require large manipulation of their prior telling and that is what I find is a constant disease in the usa comic book industry.
I quote williams again: "Themyscira seems like a utopia at first glance, but with us bringing Doom’s Doorway back into the mix, the perspective kind of changes. "
Sequentially, WIlliams is going back to her drama roots, and that is the primary problem with her storytelling. She likes bringing drama where their was intentionally no need nor no plot purpose. Again, paradise isn't a prison, isn't a gateway to prison, it is a place of peace, pure or simple. And it isn't weak or less than to come from a place of peace. The idea that "The Gods" are human by making paradise island a prison gateway is bad storytelling for me. Nonhumans are non humans, not secretly human. The gods shouldn't have intentions like human beings.

The fourth question ask Williams why Nubia or why now. To be blunt, the why Nubia is simple. DC doesn't own the rights to all characters in imagination and wants to use characters they own the rights to as well as the oldest possible characters and in the USA, USA only, with MEtoo plus black lives matter after over multiple centuries of women or blacks nonviolently battling white men for rights led to this time.
Williams like many artists, incorrectly or dysfunctionally, makes it seem like it should had been or was a long time coming which is a falsehood. Remember, anyone who reads this, never ignore the power of money.

The fifth question asks what Williams want to do in the future with Nubia. Read the article link below for that. 

The sixth question ask, what fans or potential fans will get from the Nubia comic. Read the article link below for that,

In Conclusion, please buy the comic, and enjoy it. The writer or artists are clearly having fun and it seem very interesting or engaging. And , even if you oppose the storytelling or art in any way, remember, you are free to create your self, so enjoy the work of others.

Article Link 
https://butwhythopodcast.com/2021/11/03/interview-stephanie-williams-on-updating-themyscira-in-nubia-and-the-amazons/?fbclid=IwAR24-isJsRlK4Itl2Y6a0YYYKr3mFXMvZZ0qo2py6WZRXIjW6Hpo0eotqEo
I learned about this in the SOULar powered : Afrofuturism Slow-Reading Group 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/770376743046286/about/

Two Thought Experiments
1. What if the gods knew Mars would steal Nubia , while they gave Diana plus Nubia the power of the gods? 
2. What if the Dooms Doorway was on Slaughter Island?