Absolute Wonder Woman #6: Journey Through Hell

Absolute Wonder Woman #6 kicks off a two part interim story arc, dealing with the aftermath of Diana’s adventure to Gateway City, where she successfully defeated the Tetracide. At the conclusion of that arc, a portal opened in the ground, sucking in Diana, with this issue revealing that she ended up back in hell, with Hades quite upset with the fact that she left. This interim story arc also sees a reunion between writer Kelly Thompson and Mattie De Iulis after their Eisner winning work on The Cull, giving this book an alternative take from Hayden Sherman’s unique style.

The main content of this issue is a flashback where Hades asks Diana how she acquired the red Nemesis Lasso. This is something that Diana briefly explained back in Absolute Wonder Woman #2, but gets fully brought to life here thanks to Mattia De Iulis’s fantastic art. What ensues is a very fun adventure that sees Diana interacting with the Titan, Prometheus and slaying beasts as she creates one of the weapons that she used to fight the Tetracide in the first story arc. This is a very fun adventure that helps demonstrate even more how capable this alternate version of Diana really is, making her even more awesome than she already is.

There is not enough anyone could say that would give credit to how amazing Mattia De Iulis’s art is in this issue. He really gives Hell a sense of scale as Diana ventures across landscapes that feel both familiar and foreign. As Diana approaches Prometheus, the issue opens to an amazing, full-page image of the Titan chained to a mountainscape, emphasizing the size and scale of the journey. This is built upon by Diana approaching  Prometheus, where the size of his finger makes her look like a gerbil in comparison, genuinely making this adventure feel larger than life. Overall, the art here steals the show and makes this interim arc more impactful than one would think possible.