Absolute Wonder Woman

Absolute Wonder Woman
Textless cover of Absolute Wonder Woman #1 by Hayden Sherman.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics (Absolute Universe)
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	October 23, 2024 – present
No. of issues	12
Main character(s)	Wonder Woman
Creative team
Written by	Kelly Thompson
Artist(s)	Hayden Sherman Mattia de Iulis (6−7) Dustin Nguyen (6−7) Matías Bergara (13−14)
Letterer(s)	Becca Carey
Colorist(s)	Jordie Bellaire
Editor(s)	Chris Conroy

Absolute Wonder Woman is a superhero comic book series published by DC Comics, based on the character Wonder Woman. The series is written by Kelly Thompson and illustrated by Hayden Sherman, and began publication on October 23, 2024, as part of DC's Absolute Universe (AU) imprint. The series focuses on a version of Wonder Woman who was raised in Hell rather than Themyscira as in most depictions of the character.^[1]

The comic has received critical acclaim due to its characterization of Diana, reinvention of the Wonder Woman mythos, and the artwork by artist Hayden Sherman.^[2][3][4]

Publication history

By July 2024, a Wonder Woman-focused comic book series titled Absolute Wonder Woman, written by Kelly Thompson and illustrated by Hayden Sherman, was in the works as part of DC Comics Absolute Universe (AU) imprint.^[5] Absolute Wonder Woman began publication on October 23 of the same year.^[6]

Plot

Issue	Written by	Drawn by	Colored by	Publication date
Volume 1: "The Last Amazon"
01	Kelly Thompson	Hayden Sherman	Jordie Bellaire	October 23, 2024
A mysterious upside-down pyramid hovers over the shores of Gateway City, abruptly unleashing hundreds of winged demons known as Harbingers onto the unsuspecting city. Citizens panic as the Harbingers rain destruction, prompting the appearance of a mysterious Amazon: Diana of Themyscira. Clad in black and red armor and riding her reanimated winged horse, Pegasus, the masked Diana wields the enchanted Athena Blade to cut through the onslaught. She slaughters many Harbingers and then intones a spell that sends a magical shockwave to repel the remaining beasts. The story then flashes back to Diana’s origin: on the barren Wild Isle of Hell, the god Apollo delivers an infant Diana into the care of the witch Circe. Apollo explains that Diana is the last of the Amazons, and forbids Circe from ever uttering the word “Amazon” aloud. Coldly abandoning the newborn, Circe expects Hell’s monsters to kill it. Instead, a serpent attacks the helpless baby – and baby Diana calmly grabs the serpent mid-strike and hurls it away. Circe then relents, and raises Diana as her own. Over years of toil, Circe uses magic to transform the wasteland into a more livable home, while teaching Diana whatever sorcery and morals she knows. By adolescence, Diana has become Circe’s fierce protector and a powerful sorceress in her own right. In the present, Diana emerges from the smoke of her battle with the harbingers and orders a soldier to evacuate the civilians. At that moment, an even greater threat appears: from the hovering pyramid bursts the massive winged form of Harbinger Prime. Undeterred, Diana prepares to meet this new beast head-on
02	Kelly Thompson	Hayden Sherman	Jordie Bellaire	November 27, 2024
Diana directly confronts Harbinger Prime. Now face to face, she reveals her crimson red Nemesis Lasso (forged from a basilisk’s hide, infused with Prometheus’s blood, and blessed by Demeter). This Lasso forces its victims to feel the agony of their own sins. Diana uses it on Harbinger Prime, who now experiences crushing pain and humbly admits defeat. Diana releases the demon on the condition that it never return. With Harbinger prime subdued, the immediate danger is temporarily lifted, and Steve Trevor emerges from the smoke behind Diana. In the past, U.S. Army Major Steve Trevor inexplicably appears washed up on the shores of the Wild Isle where he is saved form a Hydra by Diana. She takes him to her home where he recuperates and after some confusion regarding his current condition of being stuck in hell, they begin to get acquainted. Back in the present, Diana and Steve try to coordinate with the military to evacuate the city as an even more monstrous enemy looms. The Tetracide, a colossal insect-like beast tens of times the size of a Harbinger, rises from the ocean depths directly behind Diana.
03	Kelly Thompson	Hayden Sherman	Jordie Bellaire	December 26, 2024
Diana warns the military commanders that the creature kills in multiple devastating ways, on of them being a loud sound the creature emits that compels all who hear it to sacrifice themselves to it., Diana charges into the fray in an attempt to buy some time for evacuation. The fight is grueling: Diana strikes the Tetracide repeatedly with sword and magic but to no effect. As the monsters deadly tentacles grip Diana’s arm, a flashback reveals that Diana had sacrificed her right arm on the Wild Isle long ago to send Steve Trevor safely back to the mortal world. In the present, Diana dematerializes her right hand, which is revealed to have been a magical prosthetic, to free herself from the Tetracide’s fatal grip and retreat back to the military base. In a final attempt to save the city from the Tetracide’s lethal sound, Diana approaches some reporters and broadcasts a video of herself to the entire city, detailing her plans to use magic to temporarily make its citizens deaf, therefore avoiding the effects of the Tetracide’s scream. As she casts the spell, a green sphere of smoke-like substance encompasses the city.
04	Kelly Thompson	Hayden Sherman	Jordie Bellaire	January 22, 2025
We see sisters Etta and Gia Candy in their apartment in Gateway City after Diana’s spell had taken effect. As Etta prepares to head out into the city to help people, they’re interrupted by the arrival of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor.  Gia runs a shop selling materials for witchcraft and the occult, which is exactly what Diana needs. After getting the materials she needs, which includes a blood donation from both women and Steve, Wonder Woman prepares a spell that will replace her lost arm. After a brief flashback where we see Circe and the goddess Hecate discussing the future, things return to the present, where Diana’s arm had been restored. Diana realizes that The Tetracide has begun attacking the city after its first attempt to lure people into its maw with the scream failed. Wonder Woman retrieves the Athena Blade which had fallen into the ocean during her earlier scuffle with the monster. Using magic to replicate the sound of screaming humans, she is able to draw The Tetracide back out into the water. With the beast where she wants it to be, Diana casts a spell, increasing her sword to an enormous size, and launches a powerful attack, splitting the Tetracide in half.
05	Kelly Thompson	Hayden Sherman	Jordie Bellaire	February 26, 2025
Even split in half, the Tetracide persists as it quickly begins to regenerate and rejoin its parts. A flashback to the past reveals Circe gifting Diana a green Lasso named Sacrifice, which has been imbued with great powers of Transmogrification. Diana is initially reluctant to use the lasso, but is later assured by Circe, and the goddess Hecate that she will need it. In the present, Diana wraps the sacrifice Lasso around herself and transforms into a colossal Medusa-like figure, her head crowned with serpents and body covered in scaled armor. Now matching the beast’s immense size, she confronts the Tetracide directly, turning it completely into stone with her petrifying Gorgon gaze. The transformation threatens to overwhelm Diana’s humanity, leaving her trapped within the monstrous shell. Enter Steve Trevor, blindfolded to protect himself from her gaze, he steps forward despite the army’s protests. Speaking words of faith and trust, he calls out to Diana’s spirit beneath the monstrous form. His plea breaks through the curse, restoring Diana to her true self just in time. Reclaiming her humanity, she drives her fist into the petrified Tetracide, shattering it to rubble. As Diana and her friends convene on the shores of the city, the ground ruptures beneath her feet. A massive spectral hand bursts forth, seizing her in its grip and pulling her underground.
06	Kelly Thompson	Mattia de Iulis	Dustin Nguyen	March 26, 2025
Diana awakens on the shadowy throne of the Underworld, face-to-face with Hades, lord of the dead. The enraged god demands answers for Diana’s escape to the mortal world. He coldly interrogates her about the Nemesis Lasso which can only be wielded or touched by Diana. She openly details the various exploits and efforts that went into creating the weapon, which include scaling mount Prometheus, where the eponymous Titan Prometheus was imprisoned, to plead with him for a vial of his blood, and fighting and slaying the last Basilisk while blinded, to acquire its venom and carcass, all of which she and her mother use in creating the Nemesis Lasso. Hades and Diana continue to exchange words before he finally reveals that he had captured Circe, as she hangs above Diana trapped in blue spectral chains.
07	Kelly Thompson	Mattia de Iulis	Dustin Nguyen	April 23, 2025
Diana fights the chimera in a life-or-death struggle. Using all her Amazonian combat skills, she ultimately slays the beast. With victory in hand, Diana defiantly condemns Hades’s cruelty and refuses to submit to his tyranny. Infuriated, Hades attempts to banish Diana from the Underworld forever, which would sever her from Circe. At that moment, Hades’s queen Persephone intervenes. She reveals that Diana had unknowingly eaten pomegranate seeds while in the Underworld – a binding oath of the dead. Because of this ancient law, Diana cannot be fully exiled: she is instead bound to return to the Underworld for one month each year. Persephone’s clever ruling spares Diana and reunites her with Circe, at least for now. Diana accepts this fate, knowing she will spend every year a portion of time in Hell by choice, rather than by force, thus completing her heroic journey through the first arc.

Collected editions

#	Title	Material collected	Format	Pages	Released	ISBN
1	The Last Amazon	Absolute Wonder Woman #1–7	HC	176	Aug 12, 2025	978-1799505297
			TPB			978-1799505303
2	As My Mothers Made Me	Absolute Wonder Woman #8–14	HC	208	Feb 17, 2026	978-1799507536
			TPB			978-1799507543

Reception

All 11 currently released issues of the comic book series have gotten a collective positive review form the review aggregator website Comic Book Roundup, holding a strong average critic rating of 9.1 out of 10 for 146 reviews, and a slightly lower average user rating of 8.9 out of 10 for 474 reviews.^[7]

Absolute Wonder Woman won "Best New Series" and Jordie Bellaire won "Best Coloring" at the 2025 Eisner Awards.^[8] Additionally, multiple members of the creative team were nominated for their work on Absolute Wonder Woman and other series: Kelly Thompson for "Best Writer", Hayden Sherman for "Best Cover Artist", and Becca Carey for "Best Lettering".^[9]

References

1. Johnston, Rich (September 30, 2024). "3 Spoilers for Kelly Thompson & Hayden Sherman's Absolute Wonder Woman". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
2. Whitaker, Piper (October 23, 2024). "'Absolute Wonder Woman' #1 shows readers how to rebel against Gods". AIPT. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
3. Gibson, Avi (November 17, 2024). "I Wasn't Excited for DC's New Wonder Woman, But One Moment Totally Won Me Over". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
4. Cronin, Brian (October 27, 2024). "Absolute Wonder Woman #1 Review: A Bold New Take on Wonder Woman Has a Tremendous Opening Issue". CBR. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
5. Cronin, Brian (July 18, 2024). "DC Reveals First Three Absolute Universe Titles". CBR. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
6. Terror, Jude (October 20, 2024). "Absolute Wonder Woman #1 Preview: Amazon Unplugged". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
7. "Absolute Wonder Woman review". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved September 18, 2025.
8. Puc, Samantha (July 26, 2024). "SDCC '25: Announcing the 2025 Eisner Award winners". The Beat. Retrieved July 26, 2025.
9. MacDonald, Heidi (May 15, 2025). "2024 Eisner nominations announced, led by Fantagraphics and Tom King". The Beat. Retrieved May 15, 2025.