Absolute Wonder Woman #5 – Kelly Thompson, Writer; Hayden Sherman, Artist; Jordie Bellaire, Colorist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: I don’t know how these creative teams do it, but every month the Absolute Line blows me away more and more with the brilliance they put into their books – and three more are starting soon. It’s hard to say which is the best, but it is clear which is the most visually stunning – Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman’s lush, horror-accented epic fantasy. The monsters in this book are incredibly disturbing, starting with the massive Tetracide, who is currently unleashing hell on Gateway City. Diana stands alone and has a plan – but first she has to stop the military from provoking the creature before she sets her plan into motion. As always, the flashbacks to Diana in Hell are fascinating, with this one showing the origin of her famous lasso. This isn’t the lasso of truth we know all so well – it exposes a different kind of truth, and is the kind of creation that could only come from Circe’s mind.
One of my favorite parts of this series is the complex relationship between Circe and Diana. Circe is far from an ideal mother figure at times, believing that she needs to raise Diana to be hard and merciless so she’ll be ready to take on a world that sought to destroy them. But the love that emerges between them feels genuine. And Circe’s weapon for Diana turns out to be the key to victory – allowing Diana to undergo a transformation that not only turns the tide of battle but speaks to one of the greatest injustices in Greek mythology. And of course, as this ancient mythological creature emerges, Sherman was just born to draw this kind of battle scene. Brilliant art, and the use of Steve Trevor in the final act is one of the best moments of the series. This series doesn’t feel like quite as much of an Elseworlds as the other two in the line – it somehow feels like a quintessential Wonder Woman tale, just brilliantly askew.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
