If you have no idea who Nubia is, you're probably not alone. She first popped up in the pages of WONDER WOMAN back in the 1970s, as the first black Amazon ever seen on Paradise Island. I"m not sure if they still call it Paradise Island, since it seems they usually call it Themyscira lately. But I digress...
So anyway, Nubia was the first sistah to turn up among the Amazons. Although she was depicted as a fierce and strong warrior, she wasn't quite as fierce and strong as Wonder Woman. That seems to be an ongoing theme among superheroes of color. They can be super-strong like Luke Cage, but not quite as strong as the upper tier characters like Superman or Thor. They can be super-fast like Triathlon, but not quite as fast as Quicksilver or the Flash. If and when Obama gets elected, fixing this should be the first item on the agenda. Oh, and dismantling the Super Human Registration Act.
Where was I? Oh yeah, anyway, I've always thought Nubia was a character with a lot of potential. Wonder Woman doesn't seem to have as many spinoff characters as her "Trinity" partners Superman and Batman. That's probably because she's never been as popular as either of them. Although after seeing what happened to Batman's sole "Batman Family" member of color -- Orpheus -- maybe Nubia's better staying out of the spotlight. For the unfamiliar, Orpheus wound up with his throat slit, and is now hanging around with Black Goliath, Night Thrasher, ShadowHawk, Charcoal the Burning Man, and Thunderbolt in that section of superhero heaven that doesn't have a revolving door from the afterlife back to comic book life.
This great piece was penciled by CLIFF RICHARDS. Cliff's credits include BUFFY THE VAMPIRE-SLAYER, ROGUE, BIRDS OF PREY, and THUNDERBOLTS, among others. You can commission him through Glass House Graphics at glasshousegraphics.com
The inking, as usual, is the stellar work of Bob Almond, inker extraordinaire. Have him tighten up those faded pencil lines by commissioning him at almondink.com. Bill Foster would be glad you did ::choke::
