Absolute Wonder Woman #10

Absolute Wonder Woman is back for its tenth issue, and with this milestone, I’ve come to realise that throughout this series, the story has taken so many twists and turns, reached so many highs and lows, that I personally go into each and every issue completely unsure of what to expect. The current labyrinth storyline is far from my favourite arc of Absolute Wonder Woman, but this issue sold me a little more on the chaos unfolding, particularly with its underlying themes and commentary.

While we usually try to steer clear of spoilers in our comic reviews, there’s far too much that I want to say about this series for me to obey that rule. I’ve been following Absolute Wonder Woman very closely, and I cannot wait to share my thoughts on this release. So, let’s get into it! It’s time to dive into this review of Absolute Wonder Woman #10!

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Absolute Wonder Woman #10 Review

Image by DC Comics

Absolute Wonder Woman #10 jumps right into the action, building directly from where the ninth issue left off – Queen Clea stands as the current threat to Diana, and her newfound ally Ferdinand, as they attempt to save Petra for no particular reason beyond Diana’s good-naturedness. Perhaps this comes from a gap in my comic knowledge, but I’m not completely sold on Clea’s ‘fish-man’ army. When she first appeared in the last issue, she felt like a real danger to our heroes, and now, she feels like a ‘villain-of-the-week’, that actually leans more into goofy and silly tropes than serious ones.

This initial action sequence was a little on the short side, which was somewhat disappointing, but I can’t say I’m surprised. The environment of a narrow hallway wasn’t the best stage for an all-out battle, so I’m hoping they’re saving the true Queen Clea fight for a later, more appropriate setting. I was disappointed with the unnervingly comedic end to the fight, however, which essentially saw the fish-men portrayed as useless, impractical henchmen, who let Diana and Petra run off, leaving them scratching their heads and obtusely confessing that they got away to their ‘boss’. I’m sure the fish-men were never meant to feel like genuine threats to Diana, but this comedic approach didn’t work for me at all.

Absolute Wonder Woman #10 then dives into one of those good old flashbacks to Diana’s youth. While some readers may not appreciate the frequency of these, and how much of each issue is often dedicated to Diana’s childhood, I find that these sequences actually draw attention to Diana’s true character, in a way we often don’t see explicitly explored in her adulthood. Each flashback to her youth almost acts as a character study for Diana, stripping away the flashiness of ‘Wonder Woman’, and instead, transparently highlighting the core values that Diana is made of, as a person, and more importantly, as a woman.

Image by DC Comics

I adored this issue’s exploration of why Diana was designed as such a pure-hearted woman, if she was always intended to be a weapon. The simple answer given for this is that men are dismissive of women, and so Wonder Woman would always be able to move into battle underestimated. In many ways, Diana’s triumphs in the face of this underestimation speaks to her strengths as a superhero, not just in Absolute Wonder Woman, but as a character in general ever since her introduction. I could talk endlessly about the implications of this conversation, but to keep it brief, I enjoyed how Absolute Wonder Woman #10 spoke to the heart of Wonder Woman as a character throughout history, and highlighted that one of her greatest strengths is her ability to demonstrate her power in the face of overwhelming refutation.

The childhood flashback also carried on Absolute Wonder Woman‘s discussion on Diana’s reasoning with beasts, and her greater understanding of savage animals and monsters more so than humans. Her face-off with the giant panther represents her approach to beasts in general – she sees no reason why she cannot convince a beast to go against its natural instincts, and often sees her protection of humans as following that same practice. Despite the comedic and quirky action going on in the background in Absolute Wonder Woman #10, this issue actually opened up some of the most profound and intriguing discussions surrounding Diana’s character as a whole.

As always, I want to give props to the artwork in this, and in all issues of Absolute Wonder Woman. The technicolour art in the later stages of this issue, however, were particularly beautiful, and captures the trippy, almost ‘Wonderland-esque’ vibe of this whole labyrinth arc perfectly. Even the cover of this issue feels so different from anything else we’ve seen from Absolute Wonder Woman, and actually feels far more in line with some of the artwork we’ve seen in Absolute Flash and Absolute Martian Manhunter. In its conversations surrounding Diana’s character, and its bold artistic decisions, Absolute Wonder Woman #10 can be characterised by its willingness to dare.

Image by DC Comics

It’s unfortunate then, that so much of this issue’s strengths risk being undercut by the untimely, almost ham-fisted insertion of comedy into this series. The moment where Diana dubs Clea’s minions ‘men-fish’, whilst Clea rebuts that they ‘prefer fish-men’ feels directly ripped-out of an MCU movie, and not even a particularly good one. Comedy has a place in superhero content, but only if used sparingly, and only if it feels in line with the characters involved. ‘Men-fish’ doesn’t feel like something Diana would say, nor does Clea’s rebuttal feel like something she would bother to insist upon, considering she likely couldn’t care less about these hapless minions she has working for her. The comedy just brought a strange vibe to this comic, one that I didn’t feel belonged in such an otherwise profound issue.

With that in mind, the next issue of Absolute Wonder Woman looks like it’s going to be absolutely insane, at least judging from this final panel, where it looks like Diana will be going up against some sort of giant lava monster – yet another thing this series has found in common with Absolute Flash! I’m excited to see where this goes, and in general, I’m looking forward to Absolute Wonder Woman finding its footing a little in terms of general tone and consistency. It’s been a rollercoaster of a series so far, and I would like to see the series find a true identity, so that it doesn’t risk being lost to time in the future.

What are your thoughts on Absolute Wonder Woman #10, and the entire Absolute universe so far? Be sure to share them with us in the comment section of this article, and thank you for reading!

See also: The Cold Witch #3 Review

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