Absolute Wonder Woman #6-10

 Absolute Wonder Woman #6-10

Originally released in 2025

Written by Kelly Thompson

Art by Mattia De Iulis (#6-7), Hayden Sherman (#8-10)



Continuing where I left off, Wonder Woman has been dragged back to Hell. Here, she comes face-to-face with Hades, after an extended disarming scene where one of Hades's assistants underestimates how many pieces of Diana's equipment qualify as weapons.



Issue six consists of flashbacks to Diana gathering one of her lassos from Prometheus using his blood, freeing him from his torment (at least temporarily) and getting Pegasus in the bargain.  Considering that Prometheus gave fire to humanity and was punished eternally for doing so, it seems fitting that he's helping Diana here to become a hero to humanity.



This series could have easily just been a focused reboot of Wonder Woman like the original Ultimate Spider-Man, but being raised by Circe gives Absolute Wonder Woman some clear differences from her mainline counterpart.  Being able to use magic allows her to remove her senses when facing a Basilisk, adding some extra tension when she has to face the massive snake while blind so that she isn't affected by its gaze.



This issue also has one page comics focusing on the adventures of Li'l Diana.  They don't add anything to the overall story (at least not yet), but they're adorable.



Diana remains as empathetic as ever, particularly towards animals.  Even in a deathmatch with a chimera, she tries to reason with her opponent first.  The artwork is gorgeous throughout, and the designs of the gods and goddesses are eerie and ethereal.



Hades ultimately provides Diana with a choice - die or leave the underworld but be unable to see Circe ever again.  As heroes tend to do when faced with two difficult choices, they find a way out of it; Diana's way is tied to Greek mythology, and while it's foreshadowed through a flashback, it probably helps to be familiar with Greek mythology (particularly Hades and Persephone) to have a better idea of what's going on. (my knowledge of this is only vague at best, so while I get what happened, I'm likely missing some context)



Issues 8 through 12 focus on Diana entering a labyrinth to find what she believes to be one of the missing Amazons.  She's told about this by Doctor Poison (a World War 2 era villain who was used in the live action movie, reimagined here as someone who was transformed into a living cloud of poison gas and forced into a clunky World War 2 era suit), who's working for Veronica Cale.  I know very little about Veronica Cale beyond that she's an attempt to give Wonder Woman her own Lex Luthor - she's a CEO who has an irrational hatred/envy of Wonder Woman, though unlike Lex, she has hair.



As previously established, Cale works for the US government here, and while she could provide Doctor Poison with more up-to-date containment technology, she chooses not to and fires anyone who suggests that she should.  The news of an Amazon is almost certainly a trap (as everyone is aware of - as Steve discovers, the labyrinth has no entrances or exits, though Diana makes her own), but Diana goes in anyway.



Inside, Diana discovers a minotaur (naturally), though he's a heroic one named Ferdinand.  The so-called Amazon is Queen Clea, the leader of a group of fish-people, who Diana immediately realizes isn't an Amazon at all.



Ferdinand is trying to protect a young girl named Petra, so of course, Wonder Woman makes that her mission as well.  We also get flashbacks to Diana's time as a child with Circe where, if Hecate's comments are any indication, Diana's existence seems to be part of a plot by the gods to remove Darkseid's influence from the Absolute Universe.



Issue 10 ends with Diana affected by powerful hallucinogens and thrown into a pit by the minions of Clea, coming face to face with an obscured figure who I'm guessing is Ferdinand.  The art changes as the effects become stronger, and this includes the panel composition.



As much as I want to finish this story arc, I think I'll stop here for now. Almost a year into this series and it's still going strong; I can see why it's (at least by understanding) considered a highlight of the Absolute universe.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Absolute Martian Manhunter #1-3

Image
Absolute Martian Manhunter #1-3 Originally released in 2025 Written by Deniz Camp Art by Javier Rodriguez FBI agent John Jones has survived a suicide bomber blowing up a coffee shop, though maybe "survived" isn't the right word.  He can see smoke when nobody else can, he's hearing voices in his head, and a mix of Cyclops from the X-Men, Squidward from Spongebob, and Gumby is following him around. Even without that, his life is a bit of a mess.  He refuses to take time off of work, figuring that even taking a week or two off will set the organization back months, while making it seem to his wife like he wouldn't be given time off.  He's growing distant from his son, who may or may not have some kind of powers based on what he makes for his art projects. (Though maybe it's just the alien projecting himself (?) into the model) Compounding the tragedy of all of this is that the book will occasionally introduce Martianvision, a way for you (yes, YOU ) to change...
Read more

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong 2 #1-2

Image
Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong 2 #1-2 Originally released in 2025 Written by Brian Buccellato Art by Christian Duce I don't think I'll do a full week of Godzilla comics, tempting as though it may be, but seeing as Marvel and DC both have Godzilla crossovers on their apps, I couldn't resist.  Unfortunately, only the first two issues are on there for now, out of a total of seven, so I was only able to access a small part of the story. In the aftermath of Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong, the Titans are stuck in the DC world, with the event being referred to as G-Day.  Weirdly enough, panels state that it's four years after G-Day multiple times in the same issue, even though there aren't any flashbacks or time travel involved, which has me curious if either of those things are going to crop up in future issues. The main difference between this story and the first mini-series is the involvement of the Suicide Squad, which includes Lex Luthor.  In an attempt to...
Read more

Absolute Wonder Woman #1-5

Image
Absolute Wonder Woman #1-5 Originally released in 2024 Written by Kelly Thompson Art by Hayden Sherman Continuing with DC's Absolute line, I wanted to give their take on Wonder Woman a shot.  The main difference between this version and the original is that she no longer has Paradise Island.  Zeus imprisoned the Amazons for some perceived slight, and Apollo brought Diana to the depths of Hell to be raised by Circe, who's traditionally one of her arch-enemies. Despite all this, she's generally as kind and compassionate as the mainstream version, with Circe growing to take the motherhood that was imposed on her seriously and to treat Diana like a daughter. We get brief glimpses of Diana being raised in this environment, and she's a lot of fun at a young age. Diana's first appearance involves saving a city from demonic harbingers that appear from a floating upside-down pyramid.  Looking like a horseman (horsewoman?) of the Apocalypse riding a flying skeletal steed, her...
Read more