Wonder Woman has been reinterpreted and reborn countless times since she first debuted in 1942 and Absolute Wonder Woman #1 offers the latest instance of this. In case you haven’t heard the full story about DC’s new Absolute Universe, here’s what the basic premise is. In the DC All In Special, Darkseid created a tear in the fabric of the omniverse, providing a window into a vastly different universe where characters like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern and even Martian Manhunter are different versions of themselves.

Behind the page, however, the comics of the Absolute Universe provide all-star creative teams with the chance to take massive swings with the characters they’re reenvisioning. This is why the characters of the Absolute Universe look different from their mainline counterparts. These books also aren’t limited series—they are all ongoing titles, which is very exciting to me as a reader.

But back to Absolute Wonder Woman #1. Throughout all of her incarnations, Wonder Woman has merged classical storytelling elements from Ancient Greece with the concerns of today’s cultural moment. In effect, reading Wonder Woman comics provide a unique bookending effect within the canon of Western literature. Okay, I know that sounds pretentious, but what I’m trying to say is that she’s a testament to how things have and haven’t changed in the way that we tell stories, and in the heroes that we look up to.

In the true spirit of Wonder Woman, writer Kelly Thompson and artist Hayden Sherman put a twist on Diana’s roots in Ancient Greek mythology and culture with Absolute Wonder Woman #1. This ultimately provides a look at how Wonder Woman represents a better version of who we are and where we come from. It’s made even more compelling because this version of Diana was not raised in a paradise like Themyscira, but in Hell.

Case in point, when we first meet Diana as perhaps the cutest baby in comic book history, a serpent slithers over to her and bares its fangs at her. But before the animal can bite her, Diana grabs the snake around the jaws and tosses it off panel. This recalls a story in Greek mythology where baby Hercules strangled two serpents in his crib. It’s a provocative homage, considering the place that Hercules has in mainline Wonder Woman lore. In the 1980s, George Pérez depicted Hercules as the enslaver of the Amazons, thereby representing everything that was bad about Man’s World. In introducing Wonder Woman’s heroics in this way, Thompson and Sherman reimagine our culture’s heroic lineage as one based not in violence alone.

It’s fitting that the next page shows baby Diana getting hit in the face with a puff of fire from some kind of Hell lizard. As her hair burns, Diana snatches up the lizard, sternly telling him “Nono,” before giving him a pet and a kiss on the head and letting him go. Even when she gets hurt, Wonder Woman never meets violence with more violence. By revealing where this all began for her in her infancy, Thompson’s writing shows that this is an innate quality for Diana—one she never needed Paradise Island to learn.

Now, we have to talk about Hayden Sherman’s gorgeous artwork in this issue, and Diana’s character design in the Absolute Universe. Historically for Wonder Woman, she has oscillated between using her Lasso of Truth, her magic bracelets, and more traditional Ancient Greek weapons like a sword and shield. Sherman’s design for Wonder Woman merges Diana’s sword and shield into one piece—a massive sword that doubles as a weapon and a shield.

Wonder Woman’s new blade recalls the Dragonslayer from Kentaro Miura’s iconic dark fantasy manga, Berserk. Like Guts from Berserk, Wonder Woman’s giant sword gives her a fearsome presence, but it also doesn’t negate her protective nature. While her sword can be used to slay her monstrous enemies, it can also be used as a shield for others to stand behind. I am a simple man—I see a character with a giant sword and I instantly gravitate towards them—but it’s clear that Thompson and Sherman are assigning a lot of meaning behind this new weapon for Wonder Woman.

We are only one issue into Absolute Wonder Woman, and I’m already losing my mind from how excited I am for the series. I think that darker interpretations of heroes like Wonder Woman are important because they show us that even under the worst of circumstances, people can still value kindness and compassion. One’s proximity to cruelty does not have to necessitate the continuation of that cycle. Like I said earlier, Wonder Woman has always shown humanity a better path, and it’s clear that Thompson and Sherman are keen on exploring this with their series. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us, and the reflections it will inspire.
 

Absolute Wonder Woman #1 by Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman and Jordie Bellaire is now available in print and as a digital comic book.

Jules Chin Greene writes about comics, TV, games and film for DC.com, and his work can also be found at Nerdist, Popverse and Multiverse of Color. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @JulesChinGreene.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Jules Chin Greene and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.