Absolute Wonder Woman: Annual 2026

#1A

Mattia De Iulis Regular

Release:	Feb 11, 2026
Cover:	Apr 2026

Creators

Writer	Kelly Thompson
Artist	Mattia De Iulis
Cover Artist	Mattia De Iulis
Colorist	Mattia De Iulis
Letterer	Becca Carey
Editor	Chris Conroy
Editor in Chief	Marie Javins

---

Must everything be at the top of some infernal mountain?

There’s no question that the Absolute Universe has been a stunning success for DC.

What has been a question is which of the titles is the best? There is some debate, and, naturally, the Bat-fans out there are very vocal about which one they think is best, though they are at least, by and large, not denigrating the other books when they do so.

But there are many who will insist with equal or greater conviction that Absolute Wonder Woman is the clear winner month after month.

And I’m one of them.

I can’t speak to any of the other titles, as I’ve only been reading Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Superman, and while I was initially leaning towards ranking AWW number one, the Super-fan in me displayed some loyalty and began favoring the Absolute adventures of the Last Son of Krypton.

Then this annual came out and the turntables…

I’ve been meaning to write about AWW, and this issue in particular, for a while, but other things – mostly laziness – kept coming up, but now, here I am, ready to talk about it.

It’s really good.

Come back next time for more cogent analysis.

…

Okay, I do, of course, have more to say than that.

One of the most interesting things about the Absolute version of Wonder Woman is that she is very different from her mainline counterpart but is also, in the ways that matter, nearly identical.

It’s a similar dynamic to what we see with Superman, but in Diana’s case it’s more pronounced in a way that’s kind of undefinable. Like Superman (and Batman, and all of the others in the Absolute Universe), her origin and look diverge considerably from the mainstream, and on the surface, given that theirs is a universe powered by “Darkseid energy” or whatever, it looks like she’s just edgy and grimdark for the sake of being edgy and grimdark.

With Absolute Superman, one of the themes is that everything in his life, and even the very fundamental forces of the universe itself are trying to force him to be edgy and grimdark but he’s fighting against that with all the considerable strength he has, working to be a light in the darkness.

With Absolute Wonder Woman, there is some of that, but it’s less of a struggle. Diana is just naturally a light in the darkness, despite how big and scary she looks.

Also, she’s just cool as hell.

“Cool as hell” is appropriate, given that’s where she’s from.

Yes, she’s Wonder Woman, AKA Diana of the Wild Isle, the Princess of Hell.

As an infant, Diana was taken away from her mother on Themyscira as part of a punishment Zeus had decided to inflict on the Amazons and brought to the witch Circe on the Wild Isle.

In Hell.

Circe quickly grew to love the child and raised her as her own, teaching her magic that would serve to complement the other gifts that were given to her – in secret – by the goddesses, who have their own plans for Diana in defiance of Zeus.

That she is a powerful witch is one of the many ways in which she differs from regular Wonder Woman, but the way she uses her magic, generally, makes her very much like regular Wonder Woman.

Another way she differs is that rather than having a Golden Lasso of Truth, she has three lassoes of different colors, including the most important one for this story. A gift from her mother: Θυσία (Sacrifice), the Green Lasso of Transformation.

It is, in Diana’s terms, a “cruel” weapon, one that causes a transformation not only of body but of mind, and is something that she uses only as a last resort.

Early on in the series, she had to resort to using it on herself, transforming herself into Medusa to defeat an otherwise undefeatable enemy.

As noted, it not only transforms the body, it transforms the mind, and after walking a mile in her shoes – or rather, slithering a mile in her coils – she found herself preoccupied with the unjust nature of the curse that transformed Medusa into a monster.

It also forced her to try to reconcile what she knows of Athena, one of the goddesses who blessed her with gifts – and played chess with her when she lived on the Wild Isle – and what the myth that Athena unfairly inflicted this curse on Medusa says about her.

After the opening scene with the kids, we are treated to something of a montage of Diana praying to Athena on Medusa’s behalf, interspersed with engaging in various battles and going off on assorted adventures.

Basically, devoting every moment of what little free time she has to praying for justice for Medusa.

She keeps at it and at it until finally Athena has had

Athena is annoyed that Diana even entertains the notion that Athena could be as cruel as the myths say, but she will not lift the curse, as that would lend credence to the belief that she had ever cursed Medusa in the first place.

However, she is willing to let Diana try to lift it in her own way, though she doesn’t really understand why it’s any concern of Diana’s.

Throughout, we get flashbacks to Diana’s time on the Wild Isle, and her time spent with Athena there, and we see that not really understanding Diana has always been an issue for Athena.

They work out a deal in which Diana will temporarily trade all of her powers – but not her ability to use magic, as that’s a skill she’s developed, not something innate – in exchange for a gift that will aid her in her quest.

She regrets not keeping the power to fly when she finds that she has to climb a mountain to get to Medusa.

Or rather, to get to the challenge that awaits her on her way to Medusa, in the form of her protective sisters.

As they attack her, she doesn’t fight back, and asserts that she’s there to help their sister, but she knows that they aren’t really planning to kill her anyway. They’re just softening her up for when she comes face to face with the real danger: Medusa.

But that’s just what she wants, and as she looks into Medusa’s eyes and does not turn to stone, we see the gift she got in exchange for her powers come into play.

Diana understood that Medusa’s real curse is not her monstrous form; it’s that she has gone so long without being truly seen.

In her brief time in Medusa’s form, she felt the weight of the centuries of loneliness, of the impossible dream of simply having someone look you in the eyes.

To set things right, Diana offers Medusa the item that set all of this in motion: Sacrifice.

With its power, Medusa can break the curse and take on any form she chooses. She does this despite the fact that Medusa could easily use its power to become something even more dangerous, a fact that Medusa herself points out.

But Diana, exercising the vulnerability that so confuses and distresses Athena, is willing to take her chances.

In the end, Medusa simply restores herself to her original form.

And with that done, Medusa reunites with her sisters, and Diana’s powers return and she is ready to move on, leaving behind the burden that had weighed so heavily on her.

In terms of plot, it’s a very simple story, but there’s a lot packed into it with the examinations of how easily the truth can get lost and distorted, about the need for connection, and the danger – and power – of vulnerability.

What really made it stand out to me was the way it contrasted with a story from decades earlier in the Greg Rucka run on mainline Wonder Woman in which Diana has a very different encounter with Medusa.

There, it’s a conflict, and while sacrifice plays a part in it – Diana sacrifices her eyesight – ultimately, rather than saving Medusa, Diana kills her.

And the thing is, while what Absolute Diana does is very different from what mainline Wonder Woman did, what Diana of the Wild Isle did is kind of the most Wonder Woman thing imaginable.

It’s all part of the witchcraft that Thompson – taught by Circe? – does month after month in the regular book in which she departs wildly from the mainline Wonder Woman while delivering something that stays so utterly true to the character.

Again, it’s something that Aaron does with Absolute Superman as well, but…not like this.

This is magic.

I’m not familiar with Mattia De Iulis, but I like his art here, especially the colors.

I know artists don’t like being compared to other artists, and I understand that, but I can’t help but note the similarity between his style and the “D-Fied” animated style sometimes used by Mark Brooks.

Again, I get why artists don’t like comparisons, but it’s the easiest comparison to make when describing the high-end animated style seen in this book and is intended as a compliment and it certainly isn’t an accusation. It’s a lively style with expressive anatomy that works well here and would work especially well in animated form, though it would be a nightmare and a half to actually fully animate work this detailed.

He’s worked with Thompson on another book that I’ve noticed but have not picked up. Much to my bank account’s chagrin, I may have to change that.

In any case, I’ll leave you with the video that inspired me to finally get…well, on my lazy ass and write this.

---

---