Soft Magic And Massive Swords — Reviewing ‘Absolute Wonder Woman’ #4

When facing down an ancient evil attacking humanity, an empathetic can-do attitude will get a person pretty darn far. Weapons, spells, and an undead flying horse help a lot. But that positive attitude, that’s the ticket.

The blockbuster train that is Absolute Wonder Woman continues mightily chugging along as Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, Jordie Bellaire, and Becca Carey display Diana’s heartfelt core.

Sometimes coming up with words to review things is tough.

Often, that can be because the thing being reviewed just stoked nothing in the reviewer. Whether great or mediocre, it just didn’t speak to the person, making words hard to find. Other times the thing was so bad that while words should flow out, it’s hard to really narrow them down. In the best of cases though, the lack of words is because the thing was amazing.

So amazing that words forming in the mind can’t seem to do it justice. Writing and erasing the paragraphs of the review over and over. Trying to just find the exact right thing to say that even come out half as good as the given art. In case it’s not clear, this series very much fits that mold.

What this crew has dreamt up and executed is perfectly balanced, a core that radiates important Wonder Woman energy wrapped within a dark blanket of newness. This thrusts the character into a new space and a darker world where her empathy, hope, wonder, and thoughtfulness mean even more, without losing a single inch of the pure badassery that oozes from every single pore of this magical warrior.

I mean, freaking hell, we watched her use magic to turn her sword giant to cleave an ancient being into two pieces. All after a truly human moment with Etta and Gia Candy alongside Steve Trevor.

No one can question whether Thompson gets Wonder Woman or not. These four issues prove that without a single shred of doubt, spilling the characters soul across every single beat of the story. Unleashing her power and heart to boot, creating something that truly lives up to the name Absolute Wonder Woman.

Without the work that Sherman and Bellaire are doing together, though, the absolute in the title would be lacking. Calling Sherman’s artwork good or great or excellent or even mind-blowing just isn’t enough. There are words not even invented or uttered that probably would better speak to its power. So dynamic, as things threaten to jump off the page every single moment.

Whether those moments or action-packed or quiet, it doesn’t matter. Sherman uses the same level of care and dedication to give them life. Roughness and whimsy stand hand in hand and dance across the pages. Through paneling choices that allow moments space to breathe as well as grow or shrink.

Bellaire’s colors gives a vibrancy that could cut through any darkness, while still standing firmly alongside the murkier, heavier, and darker color tones that liven the aforementioned depth. Softer striking tones are used to really give parts of Diana the energy needed to radiate her specific energy, such as the cool blue of Diana’s eyes that just invites the reader to trust her implicitly.

Capping things off is Carey, who has plenty of visual flair to deliver. From standard dialogue to the captions to spells in a different language and more. It all has life and power of its own. Through the usage of differing fonts, bubbles, and color schemes too. Giving the speech bubbles uttered during the silence spell a purple magical outline and goddess Hecate black bubbles with purple and pink borders. All of it swirling together with the rest of the artwork as part of the glorious visual harmony.

Absolute Wonder Woman #4 is now available from DC Comics.