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  1. #1
    Mighty Member Fuzzy Mittens's Avatar
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    Default Bana and Bana-Mighdall discussion

    While ive seen alot of discussion of specific individuals within the Bana such as Artemis, Grace, and even Akila for about five minutes some years back, I never really see much talk about the group as a whole. Which had me a little curious to see what the general opinion around these parts are regarding them.


    Under Perez they were originally depicted as unpowered mortal individuals who lived in a city within the middle east that perpetually existed in a giant sandstorm with a whole deal about being mercenaries who also manufactured high quality weapons to sell to terrorists and dictators. Kidnapping men to use for breeding and all speaking the same ancient Greek that the Amazons spoke three thousand years ago.

    Loeb coming onto the book dropped the men slave element and had them invade the island. Leading to them being butchered by demons and the remnants forced to live in straw huts on the northern side of the island.

    Other writers would add or change elements with the Bana over the years, With none of it sticking by the time DC saw its big reboot, leading to them up and vanishing until Rebirth where Lobdell established their city of Bana-Mighdall was in Qurac, and Orlandos run wherin he establishes Atalanta (Who in pre-crisis led the Amazons of the Amazon jungle) instead of Antiope founded the Bana, and that they had been wandering nomads for thousands of years until the Bana settled down in Qurac in the last few years.

    There have been a number of characters given ties to the Bana over the years, a number of differing interpretations and takes which differ a fair bit from one another, but im really curious to hear what peoples thoughts are regarding them.

  2. #2
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    I've said before that Artemis's name and ethnicity make no sense given where she is supposed to be from. Now I'm wondering if it was done to avoid unfortunate implications. When you look at Artemis's story it kind of reads differently if she were a black or brown woman; she's more aggressive than Diana, is considered an inferior Wonder Woman by everyone from random strangers to Diana's own team mates. And then she dies and it is revealed that her being Wonder Woman was a plan by Hippolyta to save Diana from dying.

    The Bana in general seem to get worse with each subsequent writer. When they aren't being killed off for drama, they're being written as murderous misandrists to contrast the (mostly) white Themyscirans. Perez wasn't perfect with this but he was a lot better than most.

    The most recent and very egregious misstep is changing Akila from a pacifist and scientist to a thuggish villain and rival to Artemis.

  3. #3
    Fishy Member I'm a Fish's Avatar
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    Since the Bana-Mighdall were so over the top with few redeeming qualities, it kinda feels like they were created to make the Diana and Thymyscirian Amazons ideology look better by comparison.

    Making them nomadic and mixed raced was an improvement in the sense that it helped avoid stereotypes. Still feels like few writers know what to do with them.
    Last edited by I'm a Fish; 04-10-2021 at 04:28 AM.

  4. #4
    Fantastic Member Natamaxxx's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Agent Z View Post
    I've said before that Artemis's name and ethnicity make no sense given where she is supposed to be from. Now I'm wondering if it was done to avoid unfortunate implications. When you look at Artemis's story it kind of reads differently if she were a black or brown woman; she's more aggressive than Diana, is considered an inferior Wonder Woman by everyone from random strangers to Diana's own team mates. And then she dies and it is revealed that her being Wonder Woman was a plan by Hippolyta to save Diana from dying.

    The Bana in general seem to get worse with each subsequent writer. When they aren't being killed off for drama, they're being written as murderous misandrists to contrast the (mostly) white Themyscirans. Perez wasn't perfect with this but he was a lot better than most.

    The most recent and very egregious misstep is changing Akila from a pacifist and scientist to a thuggish villain and rival to Artemis.
    Given the time period (Ah, the 90’s), I don’t think Artemis was created as she was to avoid foisting all those negative attributes onto a black or brown character. In fact, I doubt the concept even occurred to anyone at the time. I think Artemis simply looked like she did because they were basically revisiting the pre-crisis Orana story with this new version of the character being from another tribe whether it made sense or not. In any case, the plan hatched by Hippolyta wasn’t revealed until the second to last issue of that run, so it would have seemed up to that point, that Diana had truly been bested by another amazon. There was NO WAY that Amazon would have been black or brown.

    Generally, I’m pretty ambivalent about the Banas and I only sometimes find Artemis interesting. A menacing faction of rogue Amazons who live in the modern world and have access to modern weapons is an interesting concept, but most of the time they’re just cloistered away in their sandstorm or wherever...

  5. #5
    Mighty Member Fuzzy Mittens's Avatar
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    I confess, I would find it odd how for most of post crisis the two groups wound up just merged together on the island and you never really saw the Bana even though they apparently lived amongst the islanders.

  6. #6
    Fishy Member I'm a Fish's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fuzzy Mittens View Post
    I confess, I would find it odd how for most of post crisis the two groups wound up just merged together on the island and you never really saw the Bana even though they apparently lived amongst the islanders.
    They really did just sweep them under the rug didn't they.

    And in Rebirth, the fake Themyscira, was that the Bana too?

  7. #7
    Mighty Member Fuzzy Mittens's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by I'm a Fish View Post
    They really did just sweep them under the rug didn't they.

    And in Rebirth, the fake Themyscira, was that the Bana too?
    Curiously enough, no. I think it was a supposed to be a modernization of Queen Clea and her nation.

    Rebirth made the interesting choice of giving the Bana back their city and sticking them back in the middle east. Though both Lobdell and Orlando only explored the Bana for a single arc and as antagonists of said arcs, so we really didn't get much to work with.

  8. #8
    Fishy Member I'm a Fish's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fuzzy Mittens View Post
    Curiously enough, no. I think it was a supposed to be a modernization of Queen Clea and her nation.

    Rebirth made the interesting choice of giving the Bana back their city and sticking them back in the middle east. Though both Lobdell and Orlando only explored the Bana for a single arc and as antagonists of said arcs, so we really didn't get much to work with.
    That would actually work really well with the false Hippolyta being blonde. There was that whole story arc too about the secret reversed Amazons. I can remember much about it, they had an evil blonde queen too.

  9. #9
    Astonishing Member Koriand'r's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by I'm a Fish View Post
    They really did just sweep them under the rug didn't they.

    And in Rebirth, the fake Themyscira, was that the Bana too?
    No, they were their own separate thing. I call them Femyscirans because they were fake Themyscirans.

    We need Amazon integration. The Themyscirans, the Bana-Mighdall & Yara Flor's tribe, the Citizenry & Dimension Chi Amazons should all be canon at once and come together in stories. There are so many characters being unused and concepts unexplored there's enough for several series.

    But back to the Bana-Mighdall tribe, have them be the source for Amazon technology and modern weaponry. Make them permanent fixtures along with Io and have them for raw firepower.

    Seriously DC could make us an X-Men like Amazon franchise if they wanted to.

  10. #10
    Extraordinary Member Primal Slayer's Avatar
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    I've always found the Bana Mighdall to be a great addition to the WW mythos but a lot of times writers just take the characters and act like they've been on Themyscira since the dawn of time.

    They should be an offshoot of the Themysircan Amazons, lead by Antiope who did not believe in the Greek Gods ways anymore so they recant their immortality to leave the Island, travel to Egypt to take up residence and become champions of those deities. They don't have a Paradise as home but something they appreciate all at the same time. This is also where Nubia should come into play imo. Make her the daughter of Antiope, hell she/Hippolyta could've sculpted both from clay at the same time before their falling out.

    Of course at the end of everything the Bana end up joining Themyscira. Artemis and Nubia eventually depart to join in Dianas fight for peace but with different values. So basically their original origins.

    I dont think we need 3-5 different tribes in different areas of the world or dimensions as it dilutes the brand unless those others are much much smaller.
    Last edited by Primal Slayer; 04-10-2021 at 10:22 AM.

  11. #11
    Jewish & Proud Feminist Shadowcat's Avatar
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    I like the idea of their being a Bana Mighdall, and now a tribe in Brazil, added to the Amazons mythology, if we can find creators who will be respectful to the cultural perspectives that these regions can provide. They need to research these cultures, and the mythologies they draw inspiration from.

  12. #12
    Astonishing Member Koriand'r's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Primal Slayer View Post
    I've always found the Bana Mighdall to be a great addition to the WW mythos but a lot of times writers just take the characters and act like they've been on Themyscira since the dawn of time.

    They should be an offshoot of the Themysircan Amazons, lead by Antiope who did not believe in the Greek Gods ways anymore so they recant their immortality to leave the Island, travel to Egypt to take up residence and become champions of those deities. They don't have a Paradise as home but something they appreciate all at the same time. This is also where Nubia should come into play imo. Make her the daughter of Antiope, hell she/Hippolyta could've sculpted both from clay at the same time before their falling out.

    Of course at the end of everything the Bana end up joining Themyscira. Artemis and Nubia eventually depart to join in Dianas fight for peace but with different values. So basically their original origins.

    I dont think we need 3-5 different tribes in different areas of the world or dimensions as it dilutes the brand unless those others are much much smaller.
    I think we need that many because they're always getting killed. Just recently Themyscira was invaded by Cheetah, before that it was Grail and before that Darkseid had a large number of Amazons turned into Parademons but it was all but forgotten. It would have been nice if in one of those scenarios the Bana had come to the rescue with laser beams or whatever. They don't have to be the center of every story they appear in, or even the antagonists. They're nomadic, let them travel around and help their sisters when appropriate.

  13. #13
    Extraordinary Member Primal Slayer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Koriand'r View Post
    I think we need that many because they're always getting killed. Just recently Themyscira was invaded by Cheetah, before that it was Grail and before that Darkseid had a large number of Amazons turned into Parademons but it was all but forgotten. It would have been nice if in one of those scenarios the Bana had come to the rescue with laser beams or whatever. They don't have to be the center of every story they appear in, or even the antagonists. They're nomadic, let them travel around and help their sisters when appropriate.
    Just because they are always being killed doesn't mean just add more to take their place. It's something that should be addressed and properly dealt with.

  14. #14
    Ultimate Member Gaius's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Primal Slayer View Post
    I've always found the Bana Mighdall to be a great addition to the WW mythos but a lot of times writers just take the characters and act like they've been on Themyscira since the dawn of time.

    They should be an offshoot of the Themysircan Amazons, lead by Antiope who did not believe in the Greek Gods ways anymore so they recant their immortality to leave the Island, travel to Egypt to take up residence and become champions of those deities. They don't have a Paradise as home but something they appreciate all at the same time. This is also where Nubia should come into play imo. Make her the daughter of Antiope, hell she/Hippolyta could've sculpted both from clay at the same time before their falling out.

    Of course at the end of everything the Bana end up joining Themyscira. Artemis and Nubia eventually depart to join in Dianas fight for peace but with different values. So basically their original origins.

    I dont think we need 3-5 different tribes in different areas of the world or dimensions as it dilutes the brand unless those others are much much smaller.
    Hmm, yeah. Not the biggest fan of the expansion of Yara and the Amazons from Brazil given how erratic focus the Bana or Amazons from Themyscira get but I'd hope that'd be the last major tribe addition as it runs the risk of ending up the multi-colored lantern corps.

  15. #15
    Mighty Member Fuzzy Mittens's Avatar
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    Out of curiosity if the Bana were to get their own book just to focus on and expand them as a group, who would people want writing (and optionally drawing) such a thing?

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