ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #1 expands DC’s new initiative

THIS WEEK: Armed with striking artwork, Absolute Wonder Woman #1 adds a second character to DC’s newest publishing initiative. Plus, we have our usual round-up of blurbs about other DC books hitting shops!

Note: the review below contains spoilers. If you want a quick, spoiler-free buy/pass recommendation on the comics in question, check out the bottom of the article for our final verdict.

Absolute Wonder Woman #1

Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Becca Carey

This week marks the release of the second title in DC Comics new Absolute publishing initiative, and it is, of course, Wonder Woman. I’ll get right to it and say that while there is a lot to like about this comic, the start of the show here is the artwork by Hayden Sherman with colors by Jordie Bellaire. I’ve been a Sherman fan for some time, dating back to their work on the Vault Comics series, Wasted Space back in 2018, and I can confidently say I think this series will be their breakout book, elevating them to superstar artist status.

The first thing one is likely to notice here is the new Wonder Woman design. It’s not as strikingly-new as Nick Dragotta’s girthy take on Batman earlier this month, but it still delivers a conversation-sparking reinterpretation of Wonder Woman. The tiara and parts of the armor are preserved, but the character is imbued with a more heavy sense of armoring, typified most clearly by the haunting faceplate that Sherman has given our hero. Add to that a Cloud Strife-in-Final Fantasy VII-esque giant sword, along with a bone Pegasus, and off we go.

Sherman’s artwork in this book is also colored to perfection by Jordie Bellaire. The high concept for this new take on Wonder Woman is that she’s the last Amazon, cut off from her people and raised by the sorceress Circe in hell. There’s a deep and haunting redness to the way Bellaire colors this comic, one that only relents in key moments, to deliver something like the flash of baby Wonder Woman’s hopeful blue eyes, or the hint of a soft green light above the bed where she slept as a child. These colors compliment both the artwork and the script perfectly, really elevating the whole affair.

And the script is a strong one. Absolute Wonder Woman #1 does that comics thing where it mixes up timelines pretty thoroughly to juxtapose big moments against the past history that influenced them, trying to mine more poignancy than it would have if you laid out events chronologically. I’m not always the biggest fan of this, but I think this book made it earn its way in, particularly as it applies to Wonder Woman rallying herself by saying the word “amazons.” 

In the space of this one issue, as with Absolute Batman, we get a creative team that reconfigures a classic character’s origin in a new and interesting way, letting us know what’s changed and hinting at why. That’s all very good. If I have a complaint, however, it’s that we don’t learn all that much about the threat that Wonder Woman is fighting in this opening chapter. I suppose we don’t necessarily need to — a big monster is a big monster after all — and there are hints that this particular big monster has more going on. I’m sure we’ll get to what’s going on here in short order.

But I thought the central action sequence here could have benefitted from a little more clarity, as well as a resolution to the fighting, rather than ending on Wonder Woman and our Big Bad staring each other down, their battle left dangling. The book also opens with a cowardly television news reporter, which feels like a bit of an odd choice, unless that reporter is foreshadowing some themes or is himself going to be important later.

Those are relatively minor gripes, though, and certainly not anything that should dissuade anyone from picking this comic up. If the rest of this story arc is as interesting and well-drawn as this first issue, we’re in for quite a ride.

The Round-Up

• The Flash #14genuinely surprised me this week, incorporating a trip to Skartaris, the setting of Mike Grell’s old sword and sorcery Warlord comic. This, of course, was information that was information that was out there in the solicits for this new all-in run, but I’d be lying if I said carefully pay attention to such things. Anyway! Sending The Flash family to Skartaris is what this run is up to, while also establishing a new status quo for Barry Allen, who lost his powers in the recently-concluded Absolute Power event. I think this run has been pretty good. It’s the most family of the superhero family runs at DC right now, which is really pleasing to long-time readers of Flash comics, incorporating as it does so many characters from a pretty rich continuity. In the end, this new arc left me curious to see what it’s up to, so that’s a good start. This issue is written by Simon Spurrier, with art by Vasco Georgiev, colors by Matt Herms, and letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. 
• This month of new All In runs continues with Nightwing #119, which unlike The Flash brings on an entirely new creative team with writer Dan Watters, artist Dexter Soy, colorist Veronica Gandini, and letterer Wes Abbott. Watters has been doing some great work for DC of late (he collaborated on a fantastic Azrael comic), and he scripts a pretty stark tonal shift with this first Nightwing issue, sort of going grimy where the recently-concluded Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo Nightwing run went bright (there were pirates!). This first issue felt like pretty standard Gotham-adjacent superhero stuff, with a meeting of mob bosses, a reminder of the status quo (Dick is an aggressive philanthropist now), and an integration of elements of the character’s origin. What I found most interesting here was the circular plot device that starts with masked gothic fellow contemplating what to do about Nightwing…and then ends with the same villain re-appearing to join with what seems to be this new run’s chief antagonist. All in all, it’s a pretty standard Nightwing comic with some hints of more interesting ideas around the edges. And I hope it leans into those. Watters is a writer who excels in those spaces (remember the usage of the Ten-Eyed Man?), let him and his collaborators get real weird, please.
• Finally, Superman #19 really blew me away. If it wasn’t for the high-profile release of Absolute Wonder Woman #1, I would have gone with that book for my main review this week. It’s a new arc within writer Joshua Williamson’s fantastic ongoing run on the character, on which he is joined by superstar artist Dan Mora, colorist Alejandro Sanchez, and letterer Ariana Maher. Mora is as prolific as he is excellent, and he’s been blazing this amazing trail of artwork through the entire DC Universe over the past two years or so. His work is this really striking mix of classic and kinetic, and it’s a perfect fit for this new Superman arc, wherein Lois gets powers following Absolute Power, and she and Clark start to fight crime together. I have enjoyed the way that Williamson has consistently put new spins on old ideas throughout this run, and he does that here with the way Lois and Clark have to navigate their jobs at The Daily Planet while also being superheroes…together. There’s a fun bit with Jimmy Olsen in this issue too, and I’ll never say no to one of those. Add to that some twists with the villains (not going to spoil that here), and you’ve got the start of what looks like another great arc in this run.

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