Amazons Attack

"An Amazon attack. A deadly Bee Weapon. Bees. My God."

- Batman

Amazons Attack! was a 2007 DC Comics miniseries, written by Will Pfeiffer with art by Pete Woods. The plot involves the return of Wonder Woman's mother, Queen Hippolyta, from the dead. Under the advice of Circe, a frequent enemy of the Amazons in the past, she leads the Amazons in an attack on Washington, D.C. aimed at rescuing her daughter from American captivity.

Of course, all is not exactly what it seems, and among other things, Wonder Woman's captivity had been engineered by Circe herself. The plot involves a number of subplots, including the Justice League's attempts to fight back, the internment of women suspected of Amazon sympathies by the U.S. government, and an ill-fated mission by Supergirl and Wonder Girl to speak to the President of the United States. Events from Amazons Attack also affected a number of other books, including the weekly Countdown to Final Crisis series, Supergirl, and Catwoman.

Ultimately, the war ends and the true players behind the conflict are revealed, but only after considerable death and destruction.

For a miniseries expected to be a major "event" comic, sales of Amazons Attack were disappointing at best, and the critical/fan reception even worse. While most fans agree that Pete Woods contributed gorgeous art to the project, it's difficult to find positive comments about any other aspects of the project.

Contains examples of:

 * Armor Is Useless: On both sides. Plate armor is just as useless against assault rifles as reality would dictate, but American tanks and planes are also quite vulnerable to magical but primitive-looking Amazon weaponry
 * Ax Crazy: Hippolyta.
 * Bee-Bee Gun: See the page quote.
 * Deus Ex Machina: Just like the plays in ancient Greece, only without the strings holding "Athena" up.
 * Development Hell: The idea for the series originated as a visual one - an Amazon army fighting modern American military forces, amidst the photogenic Neoclassical architecture of Washington, D.C. A series was originally planned as a lead-in to Infinite Crisis, but the idea was shelved until the runup to Final Crisis instead.
 * Does Not Like Men: The entire Amazon race as portrayed here.
 * Hijacked by Ganon: It turns out Queen Hippolyta's killing spree happened because Athena was running a Secret Test of Character. BUT WAIT! It turns out the real villain is !
 * Infant Immortality: Heavily averted. In fact, its what kicks off the plot as two Amazons brutally kill an innocent father and his young son just because they are male.
 * It Got Worse: Happens several times over the course of the conflict.
 * Just Following Orders: Apparently, this is the excuse that let the vast majority of the Amazons waltz from the conflict with nothing more than amnesia. The excuse rings a bit hollow when Amazons are depicted on several occasions going out of their way to commit war crimes against innocent civilians.
 * The Man Behind the Man:.
 * Monumental Damage: Few Washington landmarks emerge unscathed.
 * Karma Houdini: The Amazon soldiers go out of their way to carry out genocide with fervor and eagerness that would put the Schutzstaffel to shame...and as punishment, they have their memories erased, and are implanted in normal lives across the world. And even this is later reversed, making  the only character who seemed to think that an entire nation leaping at the chance to enact mass murder merited some sort of punishment.
 * Retconned in Secret Six with a prison labor camp full of Amazon war criminals.
 * Rock Beats Laser: The Amazons' horses move faster than jets, and their bows beat guns and tanks.
 * Secret Test of Character: Athena tries to pass the whole story off as one of these in the last issue. According to her, everyone failed.
 * Series Continuity Error: In issue #3, Hippolyta demands for unconditional surrender within one day. In #4, the broadcast of the demands is for one week.
 * Straw Feminist: One of many reasons not to bring this series up around Wonder Woman fans.
 * Washington DC Invasion: The raison d'être of the entire project.