Nubia & the Justice League Special #1 // Review
She’s the queen of an ancient island. She’s away from home, learning of life in the world beyond Themyscira. She’s got an important decision to make in Nubia & the Justice League Special #1. The writing team of Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad celebrates Nubia’s 50th anniversary with an issue drawn to the page by artist Amancay Nahuelpan and colorist Tamra Bonvillain. Nubia teams up with the Justice League in Gotham City and Metropolis before heading off to battle a giant freshwater octopus in Chicago. Nubia’s Chicago adventure is written by Stephanie Williams with art by Alitha Martinez and inker Mark Morales.
Nubia waits to speak with Wonder Woman in the Hall of Justice. (She, Batman, and Superman are held up at the orbital watchtower.) While waiting, she is quickly whisked away to action to help Green Arrow and Black Canary fight Firefly in Gotham City...then she’s off to aid Martian Manhunter and Black Adam with Parasite in Metropolis. She’s got a lot of thinking to do, though, as she tours Man’s World, so she heads off on her own to Chicago, where a casual visit to (presumably) the Shedd Aquarium finds her saving a group of people from a giant octopus.
Conrad and Cloonan set up the action with clever precision. The three-encounter special easily could have been expanded into a three-part series, but Conrad and Cloonan succeed in making the hectic pace of Nubia’s adventures feel brisk and swift rather than rushed and confused. Metropolis and Gotham City are fun encounters, but Williams’s fun trip to Chicago is to a place that also exists on this side of the comics page. The giant octopus escapes from the Shedd and terrorizes Navy Pier. That’s a bit more action than the windy city usually sees in the DC Universe.
Martinez and Morales actually used some references to deliver the look of the Chicago skyline off in the background of a story that manages iconic bursts of both action and drama. Nahuelpan and Bonvillain do a nice job of differentiating between Gotham and Metropolis in the main feature. They do a really impressive job of capturing the distinct personalities of each of the Justice League members as well. Any superhero team can look a little homogenous in a big, cluttered ensemble, but Nahuelpan manages to make each personality distinct in a visually satisfying adventure.
Nubia’s U.S. tour is great fun. It all looks very classic, from Gotham City at night to Metropolis during the day to a quick stop along the southern shore of Lake Michigan. It’s an impressively concise tour of some of the bigger cities in the DC Universe’s U.S. Above all, Nubia’s personality feels distinctly distinguished from the other three major Amazons that have made notable impacts on the comics page over the decades. She’s a queen, but she’s not Hippolyte. She’s a warrior, but she’s not Artemis. She’s a hero, but she’s not Diana. She’s a unique personality...a wise guardian learning her way around a strange land. Conrad, Cloonan, Williams, and company make a strong case for Nubia’s stronger presence in the mainstream DC Universe.
