Absolute Wonder Woman #19 review
“But I fear I have made for her the most horrific and lonely prison imaginable.”
Romance in comic books is a dying art. Now, this doesn’t apply to every single comic – Archie Comics wouldn’t exist without romance alongside its taboo cousin Cherry Pop-Tart. However, the average superhero is losing their ability to make love. There’s multiple factors to this; it could be the push to minimize sexual media within the modern era (thanks to social politics), or the fact that your average Millennial or Gen Z hasn’t watched a Gregg Araki movie (thanks to social politics).
Wonder Woman is accidentally the biggest example in the Big Two of romance faltering. Consider she’s a character that initially existed as an emotional love letter to a man’s wife and their polygamous life partner and you start to understand the core ‘problem’ with her character, at least in the eyes of DC. Wonder Woman is inherently an erotic character and there isn’t really any way to get rid of that, but DC has tried and it’s been somewhat successful as her stories have been gradually changed to have Diana function more like your traditional “people’s hero” archetype (i.e.: anyone with “Super” in their name).
So how is this relevant to Absolute Wonder Woman?
Great question.
In this month’s installment, Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman talk about the deeper passions of Wonder Woman; whether it be her complicated (and somewhat rushed) intimacy with Zatanna or Steve Trevor existing as a relic of her past love in comics, Diana Prince finds beauty within everyone. There is a lot to be said from that idea alone and Thompson is aware of that fact. We open the penultimate issue of “Season of the Witch” with a chilling scene between Circe and Aphrodite as they discuss Diana’s future as a young woman. Aphrodite expresses that her love and people’s love for her will be a prison once she’s of age. The sentiment is striking and comes across as both a fantastic opening on Thompson’s part but additionally an attempt to fight back against the lack of genuine romance in her comics. However, Thompson doesn’t do much to back this up. I’m not sure if it’s editorial related or an emphasis on concluding the arc but sadly there isn’t much backing up Aphrodite’s speech outside of some tender moments between Wonder Woman and Zatanna.
DC
As I’ve discussed in the past, I feel that much of this storyline is largely unrewarded as it feels like we were supposed to encounter these characters much later in the book’s publication than we are now. Zatanna’s original introduction was fantastic and I’m definitively not opposed to the idea of her and Diana existing together as a couple. Despite that, I feel like I can’t care about them when there is an invisible wall between them and we’ve seen very little of Zatanna as a villain. Her attempt at redemption and intimacy came at me faster than an ex girlfriend throwing a TV remote at my head. To throw a ball in Thompson’s court, this issue is significantly stronger than the last and her writing with Zatanna and Giovanni provides some of the strongest dialogue in the arc.
Moving on from Zatanna, If there is any unnecessary character to the grand scheme of things, it’s unfortunately Steve Trevor. I’m not going to be placing too much blame here as Steve and the rest of Diana’s charming fellowship seem to be struggling from the lessening of civilian focus in newer comics. That isn’t Thompson’s fault, but it does feel like she could’ve done more to make his character matter. Steve’s actions, much like in the beginning of this issue, are noble but it doesn’t do much to make a reader feel connected to him. We’ve had Steve with us since the start of the series and he’s not really done much. A civilian cast member of a superhero comic exists to give the hero a reminder of why they do exactly what they do, and while Steve is active military the sentiment remains the same. Diana fights for people just like Steve, Etta, and Gia. I feel like we should be seeing much more of a connection between them. Not to mention, as a famous love interest to Wonder Woman, more should be done regardless.
DC
The biggest highlight continues to be Hayden Sherman and their consistently strong design work. What spoke to me this installment is their work on Giovanni’s prison. It’s a very simple backdrop, quite literally consisting of nothing but Sherman and Bellaire put an emphasis on the dynamism between characters and some brilliant coloring on Bellaire’s part. Sherman’s paneling throughout the issue also continues to find new and unique ways to keep the visual style of the series going as strong as can be. Not much is left to be said about Sherman and Bellaire – they’re the strongest artist/colorist duo in the industry and they can deliver on some wonderful art.
As this review concludes, I would like to note that despite my problems with Absolute Wonder Woman, there is still a genuine attempt at salvaging the character. I commend Kelly Thompson on that front as the character is not having the greatest time over in the main universe. Like any ongoing comic series, you’re going to have growing pains, some worse than others. You just have to take some ibuprofen and keep on chucking.
‘Absolute Wonder Woman’ #19 is a little late for Valentine’s DayAbsolute Wonder Woman #19Despite the problems with this arc, Absolute Wonder Woman continues to be a great alternative to the mainline Wonder Woman title and like any ongoing comic series, you’re going to have growing pains, some worse than others. You just have to take some ibuprofen and keep on chucking.Thompson's pacing and dialogue problems have improved.Sherman's city building and character design is fantastic as usual.The opening between Aphrodite and Circe is phenomenal and raises some interesting questions regarding Diana.A lot of Thompson's problems with the cast and romance is unfortunely an outcome of modern editoral and writing as a whole.Steve Trevor and the rest of Diana's fellowship hasn't served much of a purpose to the ongoing story.
