War Goddess Volume 1

War Goddess #1-8

by Mike Wolfer, Pow Rodrix (Illustrator), Andrés Ponce (Illustrator)

For centuries, the sins of man ravaged the Earth, and only the immortal Pandora, the very woman whose curiosity first unleashed that evil, could protect humanity. After innumerable ages, she had finally completed her mission and settled into a life of leisure. However, the mantle of War Goddess cannot be so easily set aside. When a freak accident of science unlocks the doors to endless dimensions, all-new evils spill out into the world, and Pandora charges again into combat. But to defeat the deadly Hellina and the malevolent legions that follow in her wake, the immortal heroine must assemble a supernatural line of defense... including the woman/spider hybrid Widow, whose savagery and thirst for blood might be the deciding factor between victory and Hell on Earth.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics

224 pages, Hardcover

First published July 3, 2012

Reviews

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story featured several of Avatar's female characters: Pandora (who is now known as the War Goddess), Widow, Hellina and more. This series had some brief nudity but not nearly as much nudity nor the sex of some of the Boundless titles, which are pretty much X-rated. That being said, for some reason the art in the more adult books is better than the art in this volume.

In any case, this was a decent story featuring some pretty interesting female characters and really the writing was more compelling than you'd expect from this type of comic. Also, while the art wasn't the best Boundless has presented, it was still good.

This series is a throwback to the "Bad Girl" craze of the late 90s and while those books have a bad reputation there were some decent stories stuck in among the near nudity, and that would be the case here. If you like "Bad Girl" comics, try this one out.

[Robert Bussie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has lots of action, gore, and some topless women that adds up to a fun filled adventure. It starts out with a somewhat plausible plot involving the supercollider opening up holes of dark matters allowing an evil creature to come to earth; after that it spirals into ancient mythology. There are subplots about.... oh' who cares? It is non-stop action with excellent drawings and coloring.

I am somewhat familiar with the character Emma aka Widow, but the other characters including the title character Pandora is new to me. However, not having an understanding of the back stories or histories between these characters did not hinder my enjoyment one bit. The histories of the characters are handled very well in the story without delving to much into their past to bore me. A light mention her and there is all this kind of story needs.

Is this book going to make an major impact in the comic book world? No. You read this type of book for the simple and interesting plot mixed with plenty of over-the-top action and beautiful art. Expecting anything else is robbing yourself of the enjoyment.

[May · Rating 2 out of 5]

So having read through this volume, I can only come up with a couple of observations. The main audience that Wolfer was obviously trying to capture was either the a)prebuscent males obsessed with female breasts or b) adult males obsessed with female breasts. I get it already. The illustrator(s) can draw a "nice set of rack", but seriously, if you are going to write story that imitates "Wonder Woman", you might want to stay away from the gold-plated bustier that shockingly comes unraveled in the middle of a fight. Obviously, Pandora does not understand the concept of "full support". Neither does most of the other female characters in this book. Sorry, but no woman who hides out in the Acropolis or in the murky depths of the Louisiana bayou, simply wears a bra and a thong everyday.

Aside from the "fashion bashing", let's focus on the two main stories featured in this graphic novel. The first storyline was intriguing with the unleashing of these monsters, which is suppose to remind you of the Pandora myth. I had to laugh a little when "Hope" was the name of the dagger which unfortunately, Pandora pointed out that she no longer carries. Instead, she relies on guns, magic and her witch friend to help defeat the monster. When the battle is finally won and Pandora has already killed her friend Molly, I get the sense that Pandora is less than the caring and benevolent immortal. Granted she has lived on Earth for thousands of years but one figures she would have more emotional attachment to the death of her friend than her perceived attitude of "Oh well, all humans die." The second story illustrates this almost cavalier attitude of Pandora even further by focusing on her past relationship with Theronia, the Amazon, who was stuck guarding the gorgon Satheeno. You never get a sense that any of these supposed friends or allies mean anything to Pandora. I guess what I wanted was a little more character development and less, let's throw Pandora into another fight sequence. If you are going to have an immortal character who has walked the Earth for 2000+ years and built up enormous wealth, I want to know more about her. After all, she is main heroine in this book and I just want to learn to like her and perhaps even cheer for her as opposed to tolerating her. Is this so hard to ask?