Louise Simonson

In Catwoman: Soulstealer, Louise Simonson and illustrator Samantha Dodge adapt Sarah J. Maas’ novel of the same name with additional illustrations by Carl Potts and Brett Ryans, color by Shari Chankhamma, and letters by Saida Temofonte. Like the other graphic novel adaptations of these novels, this story is set within its own continuity and free to use, or disregard, elements of the Batman mythos as needed in support of telling a good narrative.

Soulstealer follows Selina Kyle, here an orphan in the Leopards street gang who works in an underground fight club making money from Falcone in exchange for fighting people who owe Falcone money. She uses this to support her younger sister, who needs medicine for cystic fibrosis. Selina gets an offer she can’t refuse when social services and the police come for her and her sister. Talia al Ghül ensures Selina’s sister is placed with a good family and her medical needs attended to in exchange for Selina joining the League of Assassins and becoming a wraith. She returns to the city years later to target Gotham’s wealthy, who leech off the poorest people in the city. As the Catwoman, she partners with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn to put her plans into motion. This version of Ivy was experimented on by a professor and uses her abilities to steal from the rich in order to fund environmental causes. She’s dating Harley Quinn, an anarchist and demolitions expert, whose ex – the Joker – is permanently locked away in Arkham Asylum.

Meanwhile, Luke Fox returned from war with PTSD. His father, Lucius, and Bruce Wayne offered him a new purpose in addition to medical treatment. Now he patrols Gotham as Batwing while the Batman is away on his own mission. Batwing begins investigating a series of high-profile thefts connected to a mysterious Catwoman. Unbeknownst to him, his new socialite neighbor is Catwoman in disguise. Luke works the mystery while Selina makes her own play in Gotham. The two begin to change as their paths cross, each beginning to trust those around them.

Like the other graphic novels DC adapted from these books, Maas, Simonson, and Dodge’s story honors the legacy of their characters while offering something new that gets to the essential truths of these characters. Catwoman and Batwing fans will find plenty to enjoy here as DC veteran Simonson weaves a story and Dodge’s art brings it to vivid life.… (altro)

In Wonder Woman: Warbringer – The Graphic Novel, Louise Simonson adapts Leigh Bardugo’s novel of the same name with art by Kit Seaton, color by Sarah Woolley, and letters by Deron Bennett. In this alternate story set in its own continuity, young Diana finds a woman named Alia who washes ashore on Themyscira after a shipwreck. She secretly saves Alia, but learns that the outsider’s presence threatens the island. Unbeknownst to Alia, she’s a Warbringer, touched by the gods to bring conflict. Diana must take her to Helen’s tomb to cleanse her of being a Warbringer, thereby saving both the woman and Themyscira.

Naturally, their journey to Greece goes awry, leaving Diana and Alia in New York City with a ticking clock to reach Helen’s tomb. Alia serves as Diana’s guide to Man’s World while Alia’s brother reveals that their parents suspected the family’s connection to Helen. Diana, Alia, and Alia’s friends make the journey to Helen’s place of rest, encountering forces both mortal and immortal that would seek to delay their arrival in order to ensure further conflict. These forces reveal much about the world, but also about the characters. Simonson, Bardugo, and Seaton tell a great Wonder Woman story that gets to the heart of the character and shows why she remains a powerful symbol in the DC pantheon.… (altro)

As a Marvel/DC collector, in terms of graphic novels, this is at the top of my "best" list. The story: (No spoilers) Walter and Louise Simonson were at their best in terms of crafting/writing a duo-superhero drama with a western vibe. Jon J. Muth and Kent Williams as the illustrators are second to none in this genre. Their brush calligraphy style is unique in the comic book world, however, it fits this noir tone. The characters of Wolverine and Havok never looked more stylized! If you're a fan of Wolverine and the X-Men in their 1990's heyday, or if you love a brushed paint style in your graphic novels, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy or check it out on digital.… (altro)

I read this book for my "Graphic Novel with a Superhero" week in class. I will readily admit that superheroes are not my thing.....BUT Wonder Woman is a badass. And I love Leigh Bardugo. So I was intrigued to see how a graphic novel adaptation of Warbringer would translate.

I was impressed with the story. No character was as it seemed. Honestly, Warbringer would have made a far more interesting movie than WW1984 in my opinion. The topic of what is truly good and what is truly evil is the age old question and one that this book doesn't answer. Rather, it encourages the reader to ask more questions.

The art itself is well done. The sequences flow seamlessly and the color palate speaks to an other worldly element. I rather appreciated that colors tended to be more muted as opposed to 4K in your face color.

So why a three? Well, I just don't like superhero stories. They are on my take it or leave it scale. However, I recognize there are MANY more out there. At least I found one with my favorite superhero! (And face it, it's really Gal Gadot who I like)… (altro)