“Happy Holidays, Diana.”
To kick off the holiday season, DC awards readers with the long-awaited crossover between Absolute Batman and Absolute Wonder Woman in this month’s installment: “The Mark of Hecate”, the series-proclaimed duet between the two core Absolute titles.
In the first part, written and drawn by Kelly Thompson and drawn by Hayden Sherman, readers are greeted to a union of the two hellish heroes as they investigate a mysterious crime in Gotham City while Veronica Cale begins to scheme. Now that I’ve explained the overall premise, I can tell you that this is a fun holiday special. Very much an unintentional holiday special, but one nonetheless.
DC
Off the bat (ha), Thompson’s voice for Bruce Wayne is quite simplistic, feeling a bit more like mainline Bruce Wayne rather than the brutish blue collar hero we’ve seen thus far in the Absolute Universe. Honestly, though, it’s actually quite refreshing to see Absolute Batman act as such. It’s a much softer portrayal of this alternative take and it’s starting to become a needed sight with the crazier and crazier villains he’s put up against.
However, the same cannot be said with Thompson’s writing for Diana this time around. Half of this issue is about 13 pages of Wonder Woman explaining to her urban hero of a companion about how magic works and how she’s the mythological hero of the people. There is nothing wrong with exposition and explanation, but if you’re spending most of the comic telling another character how your personal story world functions, that is when you hit a speed bump within your script.
Sadly, this issue really shows the weaknesses of Thompson’s approach to character writing. She either has a very wordy approach to dialogue or she’s a bit too simplistic. It wasn’t as glaring in previous installments of the series, but it shows the worst during what is supposed to be a major footnote in these characters’ lives.
DC
To give Thompson a pass, I do think the progression of Diana’s character is done well in this crossover, especially with the question of if she’s a Golem or not. It is a thought that has been brushed around between the more observant readers of the past whether pre or post crisis DC and it’s been needing to have some analysis done. After that, I wasn’t happy with the dialogue and storytelling.
Moving on from the writing, Hayden Sherman continues (as usual) to provide some of the cleanest design and panel work in the industry as of late, mainly with Absolute Batman. Sherman has always done an amazing job drawing Ms. Diana of the Wild Isle, but their inking on Batman is honestly to die for. They take an abstract approach to inking Batman’s darker shadows, using a fine line to create a broad spaced cross hatching throughout his body, creating a visual texture to Batman’s gruff and spiky demeanor. It is a wonderful interpretation of Nick Dragotta’s design.
Additionally, the city building and gore seen in this issue is fantastic. Sherman perfectly mimics the darker gloomy landscape of Absolute Gotham and manages to capture the same horror within their own respective manner. As I’ve said before, Hayden Sherman is always a refreshing face to see in DC’s portfolio of artists and I find that they tend to be the strongest performer on every page.
In conclusion, Absolute Wonder Woman #15 is a shaky crossover with some phenomenal creative work. Hilariously enough, this installment functioned better as a holiday special than a grand crossover – there is nothing more Christmasy than Wonder Woman giving Batman a summoning device as a gift.
You must be logged in to post a comment.