The Tetracide is “The Four Killer,” and Diana has done the unthinkable to escape its fatal grasp. The move may have saved her to fight another day, but the price Diana paid is more than she can stand to lose for the fight that’s coming. She will need the help of allies old and new to recover what she has lost — and save Gateway City. Absolute Wonder Woman #5 is written by Kelly Thompson, drawn by Hayden Sherman, colored by Jordie Bellaire and lettered by Becca Carey.
Unsurprisingly, the Tetracide just keeps kicking, and Wonder Woman’s enormous slice makes only a temporary gash in the creature that looms over Gateway City. At least we get a cool visual of her neon green sword returning to her and resuming its slightly smaller size. As the creature starts to meld back together, we see Becca Carey’s magnificent lettering bring the threat overhead to life as the humans attempt another missile blast. The Tetracide’s power aims them right back at Gateway City, and Diana calls on Hecate to divert them. Only one missile remains, and Diana’s steed takes it out. Diana’s getting desperate as the Tetracide continues to heal.
I’ve long been a cheerleader for Hippolyta and my preferred origin story where she wills Diana into being with her love and the gods’ blessings alone. Kelly Thompson has easily won me over to cherishing these flashbacks with Circe, which I didn’t expect. In this one, we learn that Diana’s green lasso (θuΣia – Sacrifice) does not compel the bound to tell the truth but instead to transform. Initially, it’s deemed useless and cruel by Diana. Jordie Bellaire paints a stunning example as Diana strangles a harpy underwater with vivid neon greens and deep reds. This could easily scream Christmas, but with Bellaire’s tones and values, the page is ominous. Hecate demands Diana take another look at the gift given to her by Circe, laying out that it was also made of love and protection – that Circe imbued it with her own masterful work in transformation, as she herself has been transformed by loving Diana.
Maybe it’s because I’m a mom too, and it’s also a role that I didn’t see myself having until a decade ago, but I relate! The responsibility, the drive, the need to drop everything and be there for your babies was something I previously thought foreign to me until I had my own. And at this observation by Hecate, Diana understands and asks for forgiveness.
At that memory, Wonder Woman uses θuΣia to transform her into the gifts of another to finally defeat the Tetracide. She’s learned from her mother that brute force can’t always solve everything, just like friendship isn’t the only solution. (“Many will try to kill you even before shoving your hand of friendship” Thompson writes in which can be nothing short of an updated reference to Gail Simone’s famous Wonder Woman quote.)
If the theme of this arc is sacrifice, Diana has more than paid that price, but she pays it again at risk of losing even herself to save the people of Gateway City, in a twist that pays homage to one of the most famously wronged women in all of mythology. It saves humanity, while Wonder Woman is saved by love yet again and finally brings an end to the beast.
And it appears there’s a teaser for more yet to come, that issue #5 isn’t the end of Diana, daughter of Hell and Circe! This five-issue arc has had a few wobbles, but it’s clear this team has more to tell and they work so well together, with Hayden Sherman’s expertly crafted visions of Thompson’s words, sprinkled with Bellaire’s bold colors. I’m hooked!
Buy Absolute Wonder Woman #5 here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
Cat Purcell is a career services librarian, cosplayer, artist and massive coffee consumer. Follow her @thatcatpurcell.bsky.social.
