“Just what every growing girl needs, I see.”
In this newest installment of Absolute Wonder Woman, Kelly Thompson continues to flex her knowledge of Greek mythology alongside guest artist/colorist Mattia De Iulis, who brings a beautiful but dark atmosphere to the newest two-parter, ‘The Lady or the Tiger”.
Readers continue off with the introduction of Hades, the Lord of the Underworld. Hades traditionally serves as a keeper of souls and the big bad of many Greek-related tales with his torture of the goddess Persephone being the most famous tale of his. All of this to say, Hades is not a great guy. Thompson introduces the Absolute rendition of Hades with his demand to strip Wonder Woman of any weapon she could have, including her armor, with his composure tense but keeping a faux-sense of balance.
DC
Thompson’s biggest strengths and weaknesses are both shown in Hades as a character. Throughout the whole issue, Hades shares a back and forth with our titular character, explaining her tales of meeting Prometheus and defeating the Last Basilisk. While the pacing is good, the issue is somewhat lackluster as it exists to fill the reader in on Diana’s strengths and how she obtained Pegasus. Ultimately though, this feels like Thompson’s weakest script thus far.
Hades does work if you view him as the demeaning character he is. He tries to humiliate Wonder Woman, he pulls her from the safety of friends, he strips her of her armor and weapons, and then continues to crawl inside of her head. They have a battle of words throughout this installment and that reflects the largest strength of Thompson’s script. There is a deep and clear understanding of Hades’ complexity towards women and his need to instill fear in them, Thompson’s voice for Hades is phenomenal.
Thompson’s writing throughout this series has taken a liking to flashbacks, but the utility of them have somewhat halted this issue, feeling less productive than intended. More could’ve been shown in the present day scenes and yet readers are thrown back and forth as Diana and Hades talk. On one hand, Pegasus is rad. I ain’t even going to argue about that. However, a deeper understanding of Diana’s present struggle is needed.
DC
As for the art, De Iulis’ work makes Thompson’s script come alive in a deeply cinematic way. If Sherman’s work reflected the historical art of many Greek myths, then De Iulis’ work reflects the actual myths themselves. Every page makes the reader feel as if they’re watching the story progress right in front of them. Every threat feels large, and every action Diana makes feels important. To me, De Iulis feels as if he is paying homage to stories such as 1981’s Clash of the Titans.
The issue concludes with a short story from Kelly Thompson and Dustin Nguyen called “Li’l Diana”. Script wise, the story is cute and short and shows a sweet moment from Diana and Circe’s time together learning magic together and dealing with the many creatures of Hell. The script is on par with many of Nguyen’s “Li’l Gotham” stories with the child-like focus present. There is a genuine love for Diana’s youth in Absolute Wonder Woman, a need to show readers that she was a little girl much like how we too were once kids.
Absolute Wonder Woman #6 is a gorgeous arc opener, but carries a few problems that hold it back. Despite those problems, Thompson, De Iulis, and Nyguen power through it to deliver a solid issue.
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