Absolute Wonder Woman #5: Emotions, Past and Present

Gateway City needed a protector and the new Wonder Woman arrived. Her story, past and present, unfolded over four issues. Now Absolute Wonder Woman #5 seeks to tie it all together in a satisfying conclusion to the series’ first story arc.

The Tetracide is putting itself back together in Absolute Wonder Woman #5 after Diana’s seemingly devastating attack in the previous issue. The issue then flashes back to Circe giving Diana her new weapon, Sacrifice–a whip that is capable of transmutation. When Diana expresses dismay at the weapon’s potential cruelty in battle, goddess Hecate assures her that such things are necessary and that Circe knows this. Flashing back to the present, Diana prepares to wield Sacrifice to transform herself into a being that might be capable of truly defeating the Tetracide. But in doing so, she risks losing herself forever.

Absolute Wonder Woman’s two track storytelling, alternating between Diana’s past in hell and her present efforts to save Gateway City, bears the most fruit in this issue. Absolute Wonder Woman #5 fully pays off the back and forth, past and present structure that Thompson employed since the first issue. Thompson has examined both character development and plot via this structure. That culminates here as Thompson further examines who Diana is by at first showing her resistance to what Sacrifice can do before then putting her in a position to willingly lose her identity by having to wield it.

Similar to Diana’s relationship with Sacrifice, the same alternating of past and present scenes elevates Steve Trevor’s role in Absolute Wonder Woman #5’s climax beyond a simple appeal to fated romance. Thompson’s choice to extend the development of Steve and Diana’s emotional connection over five issues keeps it top of mind when Steve plays to that connection in an attempt to resolve the story.

Ultimately this arc’s two track storytelling proves as important to character as it is to plot. Thompson made the two inseparable. For instance, more is communicated about Diana in what Sacrifice is and what it does to her than any traditional force of arms victory could. The same is true about Steve. A story construction that so often is used merely to present backstory is instead critical to making this first story arc work on an emotional level.

Sherman’s art style is distinct. Most characters have elongated faces, and at times their features follow that same general shape, especially noses which are sometimes bulbous and other times long and sharp. There is also a measure of inconsistency in Sherman’s presentation of characters, especially at a distance or in half profile.

These occasional inconsistencies do not impact Sherman’s ability to impart feeling in the characters, though. Most of a character’s emotion comes through via the eyes and virtually nothing else. Size and shape, as well as eyebrow alignment, communicate a significant amount, especially with Diana and Circe. This style, at least in Absolute Wonder Woman #5, is slightly less effective for Steve. But when set against other characters around him, it’s easy to understand what Sherman is going for.

Bellaire’s coloring is muted for much of Absolute Wonder Woman #5, consistent with the series to this point. The natural consequence of this style is that anything particularly bright stands out. This is the case during Diana’s conversation with the goddess Hecate. Hecate appears as an almost totally white figure–blindingly so by the color standards of this series. This brief conversation sets in motion the emotional arc that allows Diana to see a final means to confront the Tetracide. Bellaire’s use of contrast between Hecate and both the specific scene in question and the larger issue in general signals the importance of the interaction.

Carey’s work in Absolute Wonder Woman #5 is a key part of its visual success. The issue doesn’t employ any traditional rectangular grid layouts for panels. The creative layouts often result in small panels that are heavy on dialogue relative to their size. Carey is effective in almost all cases at keeping dialogue bubbles well organized to distract as little as possible from Sherman’s art.