Down into the Labyrinth

I seriously love this book. I’ve already gushed over the first volume of Absolute Wonder Woman and I’m back to do it again because, honestly, this is the single best book in the Absolute Universe line, in my opinion. It has everything I look for in a comic like this: solid art, great storytelling, and a proper twist on the expected that makes you recontextualize everything you know about the heroine. This is a Wonder WomanLong considered the third pillar of the DC Comics "Trinity", Wonder Woman was one of the first female superheroes ever created. Running for as long as Batman or Superman (and without breaks despite a comic downturn in the 60s that killed superhero comics for about a decade), Wondie has the honor to be one of the longest serving, and most prolific, superheroes ever. book for the ages already, and we’re only two volumes in.

Part of what I really like about this book is just how well it handles remaking Diana into a different version of her character in the Absolute Universe. I noted in my review of the second volume of Absolute Batman how that book feels like less a reinvention of the hero and more like a shuffling of note cards to get the hero back to his expected point. It’s less of a reboot and more of an Elseworlds. I want a book that casts Batman in a whole new light, stripping away the things we expect from him to reveal how he can become the hero we know regardless. Absolute Batman doesn’t really succeed on that account, but Absolute Wonder Woman does for Diana.

She doesn’t have her bracers. She doesn’t have the Lasso of Truth. She doesn’t have the Amazons backing her. Hell, she’s even missing an arm (although she does have a magical one that helps her recover from that loss). And yet this is one of the truest forms of Wonder Woman I’ve read in comics in some time, and that isn’t because the book tries to find a way to give all those pieces back to her. Diana is Wonder Woman because of all the things she’s missing. Her character had found her true self despite all that was lost, and I think that really illustrates how to do one of these reinventions in the Absolute Universe properly.

This second volume finds Diana, now freed from Hell on a more permanent basis (she need only go back one month of the year), operating out of a magical temple in the middle of a park in Gateway City. She and her friends – soldier Steve Trevor, operative Etta Candy and her magically-inclined sister, Gia, and researcher Barbara Minerva – work out of the temple while studying lore and searching out threats to the world. And a threat quickly comes to Gateway City in the form of Dr. Poison, who is sent out by a secret government organization to try and weaponize the sound of the Tetracide.

After quickly defeating Dr. Poison, the villain tells Diana about a lost living in a labyrinth deep under a government installation, Area 41. Needing to know if one of her lost sisters is trapped in this maze, Diana casts a spell, cutting a hole into the Labyrinth. Inside she meets a minotaur, Ferdinand, who is protecting a siren, Petra, both of whom are being chased by fishmen under the control of Queen Clea, a woman who wants to dominate the Labyrinth. Clea immediately launches an attack on Diana, and the Amazon has to fight back with all she has. And yet, it might not be enough as the dangers of the maze could overwhelm our heroine.

One thing I really liked about this book was how it once again put emphasis on the new powers of this version of Diana. Raised by Circe as a witch, Diana has a number of magical spells and abilities in this universe that she never had in the Prime reality. It sets her apart and really shows how a different concept of her powers, of a different way of building her up, could make her feel like a strange version of the character. Not a bad version, just one that is certainly not like any version we’ve seen before. She relies heavily on her magic here, and not just on strength and flight, and that sets her far apart from the Prime Wonder Woman in most respects.

But she doesn’t stop feeling like Wonder Woman. She’s still driven, still looking to take care of the world both through strength and kindness. She’s an honorable warrior that sacrifices herself to aid others, truly bringing out the best aspects of Wonder Woman. In this book she instantly sides with Ferdinand because she sees the good in him, despite him looking like a monster, and we understand that Diana can see the good in all, and never treats anyone as evil until they prove otherwise. All can be redeemed.

Even in her dealings with Clea, Diana doesn’t seek to kill the evil queen. She simply wants to stop her from doing bad things and harming others that have fallen into the maze. Her goal is to put the most good in the world, and killing is never the only option. It’s like with the Tetracide, which she chased off at the end of the previous arc, displaying her strength and proving to be the more powerful warrior. She then afforded the creature grace, letting it flee the battlefield, because killing it served no purpose. Diana respects life.

It’s a credit to writer Kelly Thompson that Diana continues to shine in these books. Thompson has a solid grasp of the character, and she clearly understood the assignment when she was told to take Wonder Woman and completely reinvent her for a new universe. Diana continues to show new aspects to her character, bring out new ways to do her magic and use her gifts, and it never feels like a cheat. Thompson has made a wholly new version of Diana that still finds her true essence in every scene, on every page. It’s fantastic.

And it’s also a credit to the writer that she does all this while giving Absolute Wonder Woman a diverse and interesting cast of mostly female characters. Aside from Steve, who is a fixture of Wonder Woman books, and Ferdinand, who is here for just a few pages, all the main characters, heroes and villains, are female. The book manages to easily pass the Bechdel test on a regular basis without even trying, simply by casting the right characters and letting them work their own stories properly. Could Diana fight male characters? Sure, and I’m sure she will. But putting her up against a female villain here, along with other side villains that are female as well working in the background, we get to see contrasts with Diana’s personality without it simply boiling down to a matter of gender.

And all of this is once again backed by Hayden Sherman’s artwork in the main arc. I love their art, once more bringing in Greek-inspired illustration to this superhero tale. The way they draw Diana looks so different from her depictions in other books (and in the backup features in this series) and, yet, she’s gorgeous. Everything about the illustrations, the layout of the panels, the way the comic flows, is a master class in taking new influences and working them into an expected medium. Absolute Wonder Woman is a treat for the eyes.

I’m hooked. I already know I need to go buy the next volume of this series, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. I’m generally enjoying the Absolute Universe for what it is, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Absolute Wonder Woman, under the care of Thompson and Sherman, will continue to be the jewel of this universe for some time to come.