Absolute Wonder Woman by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman, Mattia De Iulis, Matias Bergara
Absolute Wonder Woman
# 1-14
by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman, Mattia De Iulis, and Matias Bergara
Well, this was something. I have always liked the idea of Wonder Woman and I know what some of her best stories and comic runs are but if I was asked to name how many Wonder Woman stories I have actually read it would only be about five. I don't know why Wonder Woman is a little unapproachable for me. Maybe its the fact that a lot of writers don't know what to do with her or that everytime she's had an event comic it has been some of the worst of all time (Amazons Attack or War of the Gods). Hell, even DC doesn't know what do with her as she is the part of DC's trinity (along with Batman and Superman) but she gets the least amount of attention. Basically, you only write Wonder Woman if you're forced to or if you have a damn good pitch. Thankfully for Absolute Wonder Woman Kelly Thompson has one.
Absolute Wonder Woman is one of the most engaging mainstream superhero comics that I have read in a long time. I was planning on reading all of the issues to catch up, what I didn't count on was reading all of those issues in less than 24 hours. This book is such a great read and its really hard to put down an issue. Each one leaves you wanting more. But why? It's the story, the art and especially the characters.
The story is that this Wonder Woman (different from the main universe Wonder Woman) was raised not on Paradise Island with her fellow Amazons and mother but instead forced to live in the Greek mythological underworld and be raised by the exiled Circe (who is normally a villain of Wonder Woman) and she has to find her place in the world and lead and inspire humans to be better. The story is simple, but very well done. This comic can balance epic big monster and mythological fights with tender character moments between mother and daughter with ease.The story also balances the tones of epic action and hope extremely well, showing that even if this universe's Wonder Woman is different she still remains her loving, hopeful and compassionate self.
The story is amplified by the excellent artists on the book. The way main artist on the series Hayden Sherman uses unique page layouts makes the book exciting and interesting to read not to mention just beautiful . The fill in artist fit their stories well and portray the world of Absolute Wonder Woman.
But by far the best part of this series and what makes it truly stand out is the characters. The relationship between reluctant mother Circe attempting to raise young Diana (Wonder Woman) in Hell is so loving portrayed and incredibly nuanced. Both characters feel incredibly realistic and it became why I was reading the book. Kelly Thompson made me care about Circe (who is normally just a generic evil soceress) and Wonder Woman. If I had to pick an entry point for anyone to want to read Wonder Woman it would be Absolute Wonder Woman.
With the next issue (#15 coming out later this month) promising a crossover with Absolute Batman and the next exciting story arc starting after that, I am excited for what comes next and eagerly waiting for more. This was the best kick off to reading the Absolute Universe titles and if the rest are anywhere near as good then this might be one of DC's best new iniatives in a long time. But as for what's next, with the Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Batman crossover comng sonn it makes sense for me to catch up on that title next. So, stayed tuned for my next review of all of the current issues of Absolute Batman.
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