Absolute Wonder Woman Annual #1 Gets to The Core of Diana In the Most Heartfelt Way
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN.It hasn’t been two years since Absolute Wonder Woman launched, and yet, it feels like it’s been here forever. A huge part of that has been Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman delivering two solid story arcs over the course of the past year, with a few standalone stories in between featuring guest artist Mattia de Iulis. Not only have Thompson and Sherman successfully reinvented the Amazing Amazon for a new generation, but they did it without fundamentally changing her core.Absolute Wonder Woman Annual #1 (2026) continues this momentum with a new standalone story that gets to the heart of who Diana of the Wild Isle is: a heroic embodiment of love, truth, compassion, and peaceful solutions in a world that often devolves into violent conflict. To that end, Absolute Wonder Woman Annual #1 decides to tackle the Medusa myth, which is perceived by many as a cruel punishment against a woman by the Greek goddess Athena.Thompson and de Iulis address this common perception by acknowledging that history, like mythology, is often subject to change based on how events get interpreted by “the winners” (often men) and who has the privilege to document them. This forms the basis for why Diana wants to relieve Medusa of her curse but without further validating the negative perception of Athena being a vindictive goddess in the eyes of men. This is perfectly captured in the sequence between Diana and Athena when the former visits her in her realm.Throughout the exchange, Thompson spotlights Diana’s respect for Athena by not being combative. Instead, she voices her concerns about how her actions are perceived by people who don’t understand her. De Iulis also augments Thompson’s script with his artwork and use of colour. Since Diana knows Athena could easily interpret her visit as an act of hostility and defiance, de Iulis captures this anxiety with the use of red in the pages where Diana travels to the goddess’ realm. De Iulis then contrasts this with brighter “heavenly” colours when the two interact. Apart from spotlighting Athena’s divinity, the use of heavenly colours also spotlights Diana’s desire for a peaceful solution to Medusa’s curse. Thompson further spotlights this by depicting Diana making a deal with Athena to temporarily forfeit the gifts she’s been blessed with since infancy in exchange for eyes that can resist Medusa’s gaze. Thompson also presents Diana as being willing to correct Athena’s unjust punishment entirely on her own and without any involvement from the goddess herself. This ultimately wins Athena’s favour, resulting in a much stronger story in the second half of the annual. Diana’s encounter with Medusa is presented with bleak, cool colours by de Iulis to convey a sense of peril and show Diana’s determination to help Medusa. But the best part of this second half is how Diana chooses to help the cursed Gorgon, and this is the part of the story that spotlights Diana’s love and compassion for others.Through solid writing, Thompson reaches out to the Gorgon by connecting with her pain. After all, she experienced it for herself during her battle with the Tetracide in Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 1: The Last Amazon. The other thing that’s wonderfully spotlighted in this sequence is Diana offering Medusa the choice over her own form instead of the Amazing Amazon choosing it for her. De Iulis beautifully adds emotional weight to this change by presenting Medusa as being moved by Diana’s compassion. When she does accept Diana’s offer to choose her own form, Medusa decides to reclaim her original appearance, whilst still keeping the part of Athena’s curse she actually likes: the ability to turn people to stone with a stare. This results in a perfect conclusion for Medusa’s story that augments Diana’s earlier point about not validating negative perceptions of Athena. Even better than that is how Thompson and de Iulis manage to say everything they want to say about who Diana is as a hero in just 40 pages. This easily makes Absolute Wonder Woman Annual #1 both a standout issue and an excellent primer for new fans who want to understand the core of who Wonder Woman is in a one-and-done story.Rating: ★★★★★Absolute Wonder Woman can be purchased as single issues and trades at local comic shops, bookshops, and digitally. Readers can also catch up on the full series with a DC Universe Infinite subscription.
