Absolute Wonder Woman #18 – Kelly Thompson, Writer; Hayden Sherman, Artist; Jordie Bellaire, Colorist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: Wonder Woman is facing her biggest threat yet, as Veronica Cale sends her army after everyone she loves – Giganta, the chained Zatanna, and most terrifying of all, a strange flaming skeleton who showed up at the end of last issue and not only proved to have powerful magic, but was strong enough to destroy Wonder Woman’s magical arm and force her to retreat back to her sanctuary to recover. And in that sanctuary, Zatanna is finally able to break Cale’s hold on her and go to her frenemy in order to form an alliance. And as soon as she arrives – Diana is ready to take her down by any means necessary. This makes a lot of sense, of course. From our perspective, Zatanna was clearly not operating of her own free will. But from Diana’s perspective, Zatanna violated her in a way she’s rarely experienced, and she’s out for blood. If she can get her hands on the sorceress, that is.
There are some great flashbacks to Diana’s interaction with Aphrodite in the past here, but most of the issue is action-packed. Zatanna’s ability to get out of every situation to give her just enough time to try to reason with Diana is a great segment, but everything changes once Zatanna reveals what she knows – and who exactly this haunted skeleton is. This raises the stakes for this arc sky-high, and once again reminds us that the Absolute Universe is a cursed place. This is a world where heroes aren’t safe, dark forces can corrupt even the purest, and survival is never guaranteed. The two heroines are the highlight of this issue, but there is so much else going on here that the 22-page length never seems like enough. And Hayden Sherman proves once again that no one draws monsters like them, with a truly horrifying specter haunting the pages.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
