A lot has happened in Absolute Wonder Woman ever since Diana of the Wild Isle arrived in Man’s World. From fighting the Tetracide in Gateway City to discovering the horrors of Area 41 to encountering Veronica Cale’s Suicide Squad in “Season of the Witch”. Throughout these adventures, Diana has made new friends in the form of Steve Trevor, Barbara Minerva, Gia and Etta Candy, and Zatanna Zatara. She has also disrupted Veronica Cale’s agenda enough times to be a thorn in her side.
Absolute Wonder Woman #21 explores the aftermath of each of these events and their impact on Diana and the people around her. Issue #21 also picks up a major plot thread from “The Lady or the Tiger” mini-arc: the abduction of Circe by Hades and how Diana bought her freedom with Persephone’s help. For fans who have been following Absolute Wonder Woman since issue #1, addressing the fate of Circe since her return to the Wild Isle has been long overdue, especially since Diana upset the God of the Underworld to secure her release. Following up on Hades’ wrath makes Diana’s return to the Wild Isle that much more exciting.
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For fans who are just now tuning in and haven’t read any of the story arcs prior to “Season of the Witch”, they might be a bit confused by the cold open. At best, it does pick up where Wonder Woman #20 left off, which is Hades bringing Diana back to the underworld to fulfill her end of her contract with him, which was acknowledged in that same issue. However, if fans haven’t read “The Lady or the Tiger”, they may not know the full details of why this deal was made or how this might have factored into Circe going missing this time around. Writer Kelly Thompson and artist Dillon Snook don’t briefly recap that in the narration.
Despite this minor issue with the opening sequence, however, it still does a lot to set up the tone of this new mini arc, much of which is perfectly captured by Snook’s art. In this case, Thompson and Snook depict a very bleak scenario where Circe has once again gone missing and the Wild Isle itself looks like a wasteland. The sense of dread is also perfectly captured by Jordie Bellaire’s colors, who uses a lot of reds, greys and blacks to really make this place feel like hell. It also works well to convey “the wrath of the gods”, which is what Diana suspects is the reason her mother went missing.
Another place where the artwork and colors really succeed at conveying a sense of dread and danger is in the scenes with Barbara Minerva at Area 41 and the corpse of the previous Cheetah, Priscilla Rich. Not only does the excessive use of black and red work to capture Barbara’s anxiety over what can happen to her inside that facility, but it also conveys the possible sinister intentions of the African god Urzkartaga, who wants to make Barbara’s body his next vessel. It also surprisingly works to capture the tragic origin story of Priscilla herself.
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Although Priscilla is still depicted as vain and shallow like her original Golden Age incarnation prior to her transformation, Thompson, Snook and Bellaire still manage to make her a sympathetic character. This stands out even more in the scenes where she is experimented on by Veronica Cale and the sense of betrayal that she feels as a result of that. The backstory coupled with the unceremonious way that she died to advance Veronica’s agenda does a lot to give Priscilla more agency. This is also ironic considering that she’s now getting some agency as a dead character.
Whilst Diana’s and Barbara’s storylines in Absolute Wonder Woman #21 are pretty dour in tone, Thompson, Snook and Bellaire do manage to insert some light-hearted scenes to not make this whole story feel too bleak. This is chiefly accomplished by Bellaire’s use of cool colors to establish a sense of normalcy in these scenes. However, Thompson and Snook also do their part to add some humor and establish some emotional scenes between some characters.
One of the funnier scenes in issue #21 sees Veronica’s soldiers attempt to pass through Diana’s Hieron with no success since the surrounding atmosphere makes the soldiers sick. This scene works to give Steve his one joke for the issue before switching over to Gia and Etta Candy. Whilst the Candy sisters aren’t given much to do in their brief appearance outside of supporting each other in Diana’s absence, Etta’s arc does tease another appearance from Absolute Batman.
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Thompson and Snook also include at least one action scene to help keep the issue engaging. Though the fighting scene between Diana and the Manticore is brief, Snook’s rendering of the creature is quite mythical, and the action itself is dynamic. Snook also uses similar panel layouts to main artist Hayden Sherman to help convey a sense of fast-paced motion during this scene as well.
On the whole, Wonder Woman #21 is a well-paced, self-contained story for the most part. The only drawback is that it doesn’t recap an earlier storyline to fully contextualize Diana’s newest conflict, but it’s also not a huge detractor from enjoying the rest of the new mini-arc. It also does well to build towards the shocking cliffhanger ending that sees Diana’s most trusted ally suddenly betray her, which only creates an exciting, strong hook for the next issue.
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