Broken Frontier

The Amazon war in the DC Universe shifted into second gear this week now that the heroes have stepped into the conflict. Time for mini-series writer Will Pfeifer to highlight the key moments of Amazons Attack #2.

The solicitation for the issue reads:

The heroes of the DCU join the battle as the miniseries event explodes!
When the Justice League and members of the Teen Titans arrive in Washington, it’s just the shot in the arm the U.S. military needs, and what was a one-sided affair becomes a devastating stalemate. But the war takes a terrifying turn as military strikes start occurring on the other side of the country, plunging the rest of the country into chaos. With the heroes’ attention split between the two coasts, the Amazons press forward with a daring assault, and it's up to the heroes to save thousands of innocent lives!

I was brought into this series by editor Matt Idelson, whom I’d worked with on CATWOMAN and CRISIS AFTERMATH: THE SPECTRE. Apparently he figured I had a knack for writing both women characters and off-the-wall omnipotent types, both of which figure into AMAZONS ATTACK. At the start, all we had was a basic premise, which can pretty much be summed up by that two-word title. We knew Amazons attacked, we knew the DCU mobilized against them, and we knew all hell broke loose. The rest was up in the air.

I’ve written an epic crossover end-of-the-world type series before (CAPTAIN ATOM: ARMAGEDDON) that also included the always-fun element of complicated continuity, but AMAZONS ATTACK would be different. In CAPTAIN ATOM, we were destroying the world and could do what we wanted. Here, we’d be playing with current continuity spread over multiple books. Always tricky, even in the best circumstances. The only book I could control would be my own CATWOMAN, which would cross over for two issues. The rest would involve the sort of multiple series, multiple creator minefield that can drive you crazy or drive you to new heights. Or both.

Issue one started with the Amazons showing up in Washington, D.C., attacking everyone (including – in a deliberately bloodthirsty and surprisingly controversial bit – an innocent father and son) with no explanation. The White House is attacked, the Lincoln Memorial is decapitated and Queen Hippolyta makes an intimidating speech. Which brings us to issue 2…

PAGE 1

So as not to complete confuse readers, we’d always planned to have some sort of one-page recap at the beginning of each issue just to remind everyone what’s happened so far. At first, it was going to be a newsreel-type segment, echoing the WWII-era shorts movie audiences saw before the main feature. (This is a war book, after all.) But I figured since it’s a 21st century war, why not ape some 21st century media? Ergo, the breathless, pumped-up, pseudo-patriotic Fox News-inspired approach. The opening panel, with the in-your-face logo and Old Glory a-wavin’ in the top corner strikes just the right note. The visual concept with this page, by the way,  is that you’re seeing footage being shot by a cameraman trying to hide, and he gets killed in panel 5.

PAGES 2 & 3

This is a scene I thought of when I was first playing with the concept of AMAZONS ATTACK, thinking how I could make this group of warriors seem formidable enough to post a threat to not only the superheroes of the DCU, but also to the various branches of the armed forces. I figured that they’ve had thousands of years to hone their fighting skills, so taking down a state-of-the-art fighter jet with a bow and arrow would be no problem. And originally, the pilot was going to be sort of an average-person point-of-view character through whose eyes we’d see the series, we decided to just kill her off instead. Hey, war is hell, right?

PAGE 5

The JLA arrives, and Black Canary is front and center. Besides the use of her scream as an advance weapon, I wanted a woman to be the first Leaguer on the scene. The guys died at the beginning of issue 1, and women lead the way in issue 2.

PAGE 14

I always liked the idea of an occupying force – in this case, of course, the Amazons – setting up camp in the Smithsonian Institution, where most of the treasured artifacts of American history are stored. That’s the giant flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star Spangled Banner” behind Hippolyta, and those are books she’s burning to get just the right dramatic lighting effect. In the real world, that branch of the Smithsonian is closed for renovation, so it would be protected from an Amazon assault. Too bad this isn’t the real world.

PAGE 18

Let me just take a moment to say that Pete really knocks it out of the park with these battle scenes. These panels don’t take long to write, but I can only imagine how long they take to draw. Just rendering all those damn helmets would kill me, but Pete always gives me more than I ask for. All those crazy animals, dinosaurs and monsters? They were all Pete’s idea. See? The guy’s a glutton for punishment.

PAGES 21 & 22

As I see it, Superman is always tuned in to the people that matter to him, and knows – in an instant – when something goes wrong. He’s not the sort of guy to leave the scene of a battle, but when he hears – from hundreds of miles away – that his parents are in danger – he’s gone. He’s so on top of things that he knows there’s been a disaster in Kansas before Batman does – or the reader, for that matter. And he’s so fast that he flies the distance in the few seconds it takes Batman and Nemesis to have their terse conversation. People say Superman is tough to write – and he is – but at moments like this, when superpowers mix with selflessness – there’s no one else like him.

And that’s how we leave the story, with the Man of Steel seeing his home state in flames, D.C. in ruins and the attacks spreading out across the country. Coming up next, Superman arrives in Kansas, Hippolyta ups the ante, the president cracks down on subversives and two young heroes get very reckless with Air Force One.