Wonder Woman’s Latest Controversy Is Tearing DC Fans Apart, And It’s All Batman’s Fault
Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman’s Absolute Wonder Woman has undeniably earned its popularity and success in DC’s Absolute continuity, and it has been thrilling to follow Princess Diana’s fascinating new origin story as the Witch of the Wild Isle, raised in Hell. The first two volumes of Absolute Wonder Woman’s comic book run are collected as Vol. 1: The Last Amazon and Vol. 2: As My Mothers Made Me, with the third, Vol. 3: Season of the Witch, having a release date of October 27, 2026, announced recently. One of the most enticing arcs to grace the pages of DC’s Absolute universe so far has been this canon’s Wonder Woman and Batman crossover (the first Absolute crossover, notably), a two-part story that began in Absolute Wonder Woman #15 and ended in Absolute Batman #16. This Absolute Wonder Woman crossover issue cover featuring Batman and his chest-insignia battle axe is the one chosen for the run’s third trade paperback volume, as it turns out, and that has understandably been met with a flurry of criticism.
Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 3: Season of the Witch collects Absolute Wonder Woman #15–20 and Absolute Wonder Woman 2026 Annual #1.
Batman Snuck Onto Wonder Woman’s TPB Cover
Absolute Wonder Woman Cover 15 Diana and Batman DC
The synopsis for Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 3: Season of the Witch is as follows:
The Eisner Award-winning hit continues, as Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman pair the Absolute Universe’s Batman and Wonder Woman for the first time, and introduce an all-new take on Zatanna!
The first meeting of two heroes from DC’s best-selling Absolute line arrives at last! The Mark of Hecate at a crime scene in Gotham draws Wonder Woman into Batman’s orbit, and the world’s greatest detective and the world’s most famous witch must work together to solve a series of grisly and ambitious murders!
This collected edition also includes the “Season of the Witch” story arc, as Diana must face a team of powerful magic users led by the mistress of magic, Zatanna Zatara! When a shocking betrayal leaves her backed into a corner and running out of options, will Diana dare to use the chaotic power of the lasso Troika to defeat her enemies?
The acclaimed, Eisner Award–winning team behind Absolute Wonder Woman deepens the series’ blend of mythic fantasy and psychological intensity, leading Diana through volatile magic, shifting alliances, and a reckoning that tests the limits of both her power and her purpose.
Because the crossover storyline only pertains to the first of seven issues included in this trade paperback, it seems egregious to have Batman plastered across a Wonder Woman book’s cover. Even worse is the implication this makes of Wonder Woman needing Batman on the cover of her book in order for it to sell well, or better, and that has concerned a lot of fans:
Indeed, the trade paperback’s synopsis makes a note of the Wonder Woman and Batman crossover as if it is a focal point of the book, with the “Season of the Witch” arc that the volume is literally titled after “also” being included, and that seems unsavory.
The Princess Of Hell Deserves Better, But It May Be Simpler Than That
It is wholly possible that the Absolute Batman crossover comic cover could help drive additional sales for Absolute Wonder Woman’s book, but that does not appear to be why this issue’s cover was selected for the cover of Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 3: Season of the Witch. Rather, the Vol. 3 trade paperback covers for Absolute Batman, Absolute Wonder Woman, and Absolute Superman are all representative of their individual books’ 15th issues (the first collected issue in each). Therefore, unless it was planned well in advance that Absolute Wonder Woman #15 would be the run’s Absolute Batman crossover issue with the deliberate intent of having it featured as the Vol. 3 trade paperback cover, it may merely be a coincidence. Batman is not even on the cover of Absolute Batman #15, for instance, but it is far less offensive for the run’s Vol. 3 to feature a demonic Absolute Joker.
Absolute Batman #16 is its Absolute Wonder Woman crossover issue, not #15, and thus, it narrowly avoided having her on the trade paperback cover. If both runs’ 15th issues were the two halves of each other’s crossover story, the Vol. 3 trade paperback for Absolute Batman would mirror Absolute Wonder Woman’s with the pair featured on the cover, which might have softened the blow. Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 3: Season of the Witch is scheduled to be released on October 27, 2026.
