Absolute Wonder Woman #3 – Kelly Thompson, Writer; Hayden Sherman, Artist; Jordie Bellaire, Colorist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: The Absolute line continues to be one of the most ambitious and exciting things to come out of DC in a very long time, and there’s a good chance that this title winds up becoming its crown jewel. Kelly Thompson’s unique take on Themysciran mythology and Hayden Sherman’s stunning widescreen art continue to be stunning, and this issue takes us deeper into the unique world that Diana and Circe built in the middle of Hell. When we last left off, Steve Trevor was stranded in Hell along with them, while an increasingly smitten Diana wanted to get him home and a skeptical Circe warned of the extreme dangers of this path. Thompson goes into the darker elements of the mythology in ways few runs have dared to, with a shocking sacrifice being needed to open the portal and leading to some huge status quo changes that reverberate to the present day.
I’ll leave that twist about what Diana’s bringing to Man’s World – and what she’s not – for you to discover, but it’s the least of her worries as the Tetracide descends on Gateway City. I said last week that this might just be the most visually impressive villain I have ever seen in a comic, and its design really is like something right out of “The Mist”. It’s pretty hard to pull off a combo of scope and scale like this, but Sherman is absolutely up for the job. The most intriguing part of this issue is probably the introduction of Barbara Minerva, still a researcher here with no signs of a fur coat. But she has a unique distinction here – she specializes in research of the Amazons, the only one of her kind, and she gives Diana her codename. This deepens their likely friendship from the start – but it also has an added wrinkle. With the Gods out for revenge against the Amazons, could a curse be waiting for their advocate as well?
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
