REVIEW: Where There's a Witch, There's a Way with Absolute Wonder Woman #19

Honestly, what is a good Greek tragedy without a little divine meddling here and there? Ever since the dawn of myth itself, we’ve seen gods mess with mortal heroes in unexpected and often calamitous ways, and its definitely what makes stories more engaging as our erstwhile heroes discover and overcome these trappings to achieve greatness. Absolute Wonder Woman #19 is a great example of this too, with Kelly Thompson finally introducing a fairly sizable emotional landmine for Diana that is sure to make things veeeery interesting as the series goes on.

One of the core criticisms of this series – other than the pacing – has probably been how easy Diana has it when it comes to resolving conflict, with mortals, monsters and deities bending over backwards to accept her viewpoint with little to no challenge. Clearly, that was taken to heart because this issue in particular has those issues addressed fairly head-on. Potentially delicious future storytelling aside, the on-going conflict of this issue paired with Hayden Sherman’s immaculate paneling and art all make for another stand-out chapter in the Absolute Wonder Woman pantheon.

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Crossroads Blues

Issue #19 starts with a flashback from Diana’s childhood, with Aphrodite revealing a damning truth to Circe: that Diana’s natural charm and lovability are not something inherent to her. Rather, it is a consequence of Aphrodite’s patronage, having shared a shred of her power back with Diana in a similar manner to how all the other patron goddesses have done the same over the previous flashbacks. Circe and Aphrodite both lament that it is a curse more than a gift, as Diana will never truly know if people will love her for who she is or because they are compelled to do so by Aphrodite’s influence. It’s a sombre revelation indeed, and one that’s certain to have consequences soon, but with that flashback out of the way, we return to the main story in the present.

Diana’s already engaged in combat with Zatarra’s fiery magics, now using the power of the Troika to level the playing field. Using its cursed magics, Diana is able to bind Giovanni and herself to another mystical dimension where their spirits are trapped in limbo – at an eternal crossroads that replays their life’s mistakes for eternity. Giovanni Zatarra is faced with his guilt – having chosen between his wife and child, with the subsequent guilt having sundered his mind and allowed others to shape his reality and make him their weapon. But before despair can overcome him, his daughter Zatanna shows up to pull him out of the crossroads, finally rescuing her father from his fiery fate. This isn’t without consequence, however, as it leaves Diana herself trapped alone in the Troika and unable to escape. Resolving to save Diana and atone for her past mistakes, Zatanna uses the form of Diana’s mother – Circe – to try and free her from the Troika, rightly rationalising that if a daughter could save a father from his guilt, then a mother could do the same for her daughter. The plan pays off, and Diana is freed from the mind prison, reconciling with Zatanna in the process.

But that’s not all. While all of that was going on, Steve Trevor and Diana’s other allies were protecting civilians from Zatarra’s rampage by channelling their powers into occult Hecate magic. On the other side of the spectrum, Barbara Minerva is captured by Giganta on orders from Veronica Cale, who is still furious at the loss of her Suicide Squad but is still trying to get her plans back on track. With Zatarra preventing Giganta from attacking Diana in her weakened state, the betrayal of Zatanna, and the absence of several other members of her team, Veronica unleashes the Iron Maiden – a robot killing machine/prison/torture chamber to retrieve Zatarra. Diana, true to form, tells Zatanna and her father to run so that she can face the threat alone, ending the issue on the promise of a future punch-up of city shaking proportions.

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A Greek Tragedy in the Making

What I greatly appreciate about this issue in particular is how Kelly Thompson has effectively introduced the idea of the “heroic flaw” to Diana’s character, something that readers in real-time were complaining about for a long time when it came to Absolute Wonder Woman as a whole. Taking this critique into account – that being Diana facing little to no challenge in most of her fights, with villains and allies often quickly abdicating to her logic or reasoning out of sheer empathy – Thompson weaves a genuinely tragic undertone where the very nature of agency and patronage are thrown for a loop. By having Diana’s gifts being an amalgamation of her patron goddess’s boons,

Aphrodite’s presence in particular plays the strongest narrative resonance here with how Diana’s “love” might be the greatest prison of them all. It’s a great way to introduce the idea of how blind devotion can do more harm than good, about how putting people on pedestals can lead to intense feelings of hate later on when the personified entity shows all-too-human flaws eventually. And Diana’s coterie of new allies and friends now being suspect to the very nature of her “influence” is an interesting thread, because we’re already starting to see the edges of that fraying in the case of Barbara Minerva for example. Whether this was the intended plan from the very beginning or not, it’s a very welcome course correction for the series’ long standing accusations of having Diana coasting by too easily for the most part against entities that should not be giving up their millennia standing worldviews to her.

Thompson’s use of the crossroads for both Diana and Zatarra emphasizes the idea of internal flaws even deeper, with Zatarra’s guilt being thrown into sharp contrast and painting the ancient magician as a truly sympathetic figure that was ravaged by the sins of his own ambitions into something truly terrifying. Diana in contrast, is shown alone and pondering in her crossroads reality, which definitely shows where her inner turmoil truly lies, and mirrors Aphrodite’s words about how Diana’s “love” would be the loneliest prison of them all. Yes, there is some fisticuffs and punch ups abounding, but there’s a lot of turmoil bubbling under the surface that promises to blow up eventually for everyone involved. Even Zatanna’s redemption arc, while admittedly a little too short and quickly resolved for my liking, fits into this narrative of children sacrificing for their parents and vice versa – repeating circles of guilt and forgiveness that both Diana and Zatanna find themselves trapped in, and while Zatanna’s quest to save her father has definitely had a more positive result (for the time being), there are larger looming questions still floating around in the ether.

If I were to have any criticism of this issue, however, it would be how the extended cast is starting to feel more and more sidelined of late. Steve, Gia, Barbara and co. have had very little to do, and while there is some interesting narrative weight to Steve Trevor actively taking part in a traditionally female witching coven’s ritual, the incident feels a little throwaway for the more meatier aspects of Diana’s fight with Zatarra. Similarly, Veronica Cale is still the same “man in the chair” type shot-caller of a villain, barking orders and making ominous threats from her evil villain lair, which she’s been doing from the very beginning. There’s really not been more to her beyond that just yet, just schemes on top of schemes, sprinkled with threats that make her more of a discount Amanda Waller than a really compelling villain of any real merit in this series so far. I feel like, at almost 20 issues in, it’s about time that a lot of these characters got a bit more to work with, even if the rest of the story has been solid world and character building for the most part.

Absolute Wonder Woman #19 is definitely more cerebral than previous issues, and I applaud just how far Kelly Thompson has brought Diana’s saga until this point, and how we’re now starting to reframe her approach to conflict in a more tragic light. It’s what I’ve been begging for since issue #14, honestly, and I’m glad it’s starting to pay dividends in the way it has been now. Small character gripes and pacing issues aside, the real heart of the series is being fleshed out exceptionally well, and that’s always good to see in the longer run.

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A World Beyond the Panels

Once more into the fray, Hayden Sherman and Jordie Bellaire are the one, true rockstar art duo that continue to set this book apart from the rest as an instant classic. With the kind of boundaries that they continue to push with line and color work in each subsequent issue, I’m always waiting with bated breath to see all the wild new ways Diana and her adventures can be showcased each week.

Hayden Sherman’s incredible panel structures are realized to their fullest again, with more new unorthodox sequential narrative sections showing up across the pages. There’s an exquisite full page splash early on of Diana and Zatarra with each action segment divided across non-uniform panels that are mean to evoke flame motifs and the fluid motion of a whip – both primary elements used by the combatants in the fight itself. The Troika’s crossroads is portrayed as appropriately eerie and silent, a mind prison that drowns its victims in the hollowness of their guilt – the Sherman emphasizing that crippling feeling exquisitely in his presentation. Even the more divine aspects in the flashbacks and Diana’s “spirit form” in the troika are given more eerier auras to match the more morose and somber tone of the revelations being set by Thompson in the issue. Aphrodite, with her unique design of a veiled bride is more haunting than ever before, really hammering in the weight of her revelations about love and devotion even harder. And as always, his character design work remains on point, with a genuinely signature style for this book that is beyond iconic at this point.

And of course, Jordie Bellaire’s exquisite colors plays immaculately with Sherman’s lines as usual, with a whole bunch of ethereal blues and pulsating reds being part of the palette for this issue. It’s always great seeing this kind of color in a book this adventurous and all the pomp and grandeur of the setting really shines through in that regard, with each tone matching the respective scene in terms of mood perfectly.

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A Little Love Goes a Long Way in the War to Come

It’s been a treat watching this series go from strength to strength over the last year or so, fleshing out its concepts and its wonderful world of characters in genuinely heartfelt and exciting ways. Absolute Wonder Woman #19 definitely continues that trend upwards with a kind of purity that is just so endearing to watch, especially when the core theme of compassion is such a powerful throughline for pretty much everything going on in this little corner of the Absolute DC universe: in both glorious and terrifying ways.

I’m genuinely looking forward to where this series goes, hurdles and all, and to see it either subvert its perceived shortcomings and expectations in cool ways like it sort of did in this particular issue. The art continues to be a monumental exercise in creative framing that truly shapes the book’s themes and grander emotional mythology. And that as always, is a wonderful thing to see week to week (pun intended, as always).

Final Verdict: Absolute Wonder Woman #19 continues the series race to greatness and finally adds a much-needed caveat to Diana’s usually unshakable persona, promising some engaging future conflict and storytelling opportunities within her small cast of allies.

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