Who Is Absolute Wonder Woman?

You typed Absolute Wonder Woman into search and got movie stills, old comics, and fan art that do not match the book. That mix hides the real story: a last Amazon raised in Hell by Circe, swinging a giant sword over Gateway City. This guide covers origin, height, issues, covers, villains, and reading order so you can start with issue one.

What Is Absolute Wonder Woman?

This monthly DC Comics series began on 23 October 2024. It belongs to the Absolute Universe, a new line launched under DC All-In. In that world, Darkseid’s influence strips heroes of the gifts they take for granted in the main books.

This Diana is still Wonder Woman. She is still an Amazon. She is not the smiling ambassador from Paradise Island. Circe raises her on the Wild Isle in Hell. She reaches the surface as the last of her people, a witch as well as a warrior, and she claims Gateway City as her charge.

You can open issue one with no homework from the main DC Universe. That is the design of the Absolute line. Absolute Batman and Absolute Superman share the same sky. Each book still stands alone until later issues start tying the heroes together.

Critics and shops treated the first year as a genuine hit. Comic Book Roundup averaged the early issues above 9 out of 10. In 2025 the series won the Eisner Award for Best New Series. In 2026 the first collected volume reached the Hugo Awards shortlist for Best Graphic Story or Comic.

Who Writes and Draws the Series?

Kelly Thompson writes Absolute Wonder Woman. She came to the character after runs on Birds of Prey and other Marvel and independent titles, and she has said she spent months failing to crack Diana before the Hell origin clicked. The breakthrough was simple and hard: keep Diana’s kindness, remove the island, and raise her in the worst place a child could grow.

Hayden Sherman draws the bulk of the series and designed the new look. Sherman wanted an Amazon who is the tallest person in any room, carrying a sword so large it reads as architecture. Jordie Bellaire colors the book in bruised golds, hell-reds, and cold city light. Becca Carey letters it. Chris Conroy edits.

Guest artists step in for special stretches. Mattia De Iulis draws issues 6 and 7 and the 2026 annual. Dustin Nguyen contributes to that same mid-arc stretch. Matías Bergara handles issues 13 and 14. Dillon Snook draws issues 21 and 22. Thompson has said she and Sherman plotted far ahead, with story mapped well past issue 30.

Zoe Thorogood was attached to write the book first. She left the project before launch. Thompson and Sherman are the team readers actually got, and they are the team the awards recognized.

Origin: Raised in Hell, Not Themyscira

Classic Wonder Woman grows up on Themyscira among her Amazon sisters. This version starts with that home already gone. Zeus destroys the Amazons for defying the gods. Apollo carries the infant Diana to Hell and leaves her with Circe on the Wild Isle, a prison for the witch. Apollo forbids Circe from speaking the word Amazon.

Circe plans to let the baby die. She does not. She becomes the only parent Diana knows. The child grows huge, skilled, and stubbornly gentle in a place that rewards none of those traits. A hell-lizard burns her hair. She scolds it, kisses it, and sets it free. That beat tells you who she is before she ever puts on armor.

As an adult she learns what Amazon means and what duty her people carried. Steve Trevor then washes onto the isle. A kraken nearly takes him. Diana decides he does not belong in Hell and finds a spell that can send him home. The spell asks for a blood price. She cuts off her own right arm to pay it.

That sacrifice is the moral center of the first arc. She later restores a limb through magic, but the cost stays in the design and in the plot. When she reaches the surface world, she is not a princess on a peace mission. She is the last Amazon, walking into Gateway City with witchcraft, a slab of a sword, and a skeletal Pegasus.

An inverted pyramid then hangs over the city and spills monsters called Harbingers. Diana fights them in the open. She meets Steve again. She pulls Barbara Minerva out of danger, and the name Wonder Woman sticks after that rescue. The first major beast, the Tetracide, uses a psychic attack called the Death of Fear. Diana magically deafens the city to break its hold, then uses the Lasso of Sacrifice to take on the shape of Medusa and shatter the creature.

Hades pulls her under and holds Circe. Diana eats a pomegranate seed, accepts a partial bond to the Underworld, and buys Circe’s way home. Mother and daughter part. The surface world keeps the Amazon. Hell keeps a claim on her.

How Tall Is Absolute Wonder Woman?

DC has not printed a single official number in the early issues the way older Who’s Who guides listed 5’11” or 6’2″ for the mainline heroine. The creative brief is clearer than a tape measure. Sherman said she should be tall because she is an Amazon, and that she should be the tallest person in the room when she walks in.

Absolute Batman, Bruce Wayne, is about 6’9″ in this universe. On shared covers and in issue #15, Diana stands a little above him even before you count her boots. Shop talk and fan charts therefore place her near 6’10” to just over 7 feet. A DC Worlds Collide listing that fans circulate puts her at 7’1″. Treat that as a useful comparison, not a notarized medical file.

Classic Wonder Woman usually sits between 5’11” and 6’2″ in profile books, with Gal Gadot at 5’10” in the 2017 film and Wonder Woman 1984, and Lynda Carter at 5’9″ on television. This reboot throws that modest scale away on purpose. Thompson wanted mythic size. Sherman draws it.

If you came here because the art startled you, you are reading it correctly. She is built like a storybook giant who still has a kind face.

Costume, Sword, and Art

The Wonder Woman costume here keeps the crown, the stars, and the armor, then dirties them. The tiara sits at a tilt. Tattoos run from the shoulders down the arms. The chest plate and skirt read as battle kit, not parade dress. One arm’s history (lost, then remade) is part of the silhouette. She looks like she walked out of a myth that never had a studio designer.

The Absolute Wonder Woman sword is a flat, enormous rectangle, closer to a steel door than a fencing blade. Sherman has pointed to Final Fantasy, Berserk, and Dark Souls as the mood board, then stripped the shape down to something a child could recognize from across a shop. Fans call it the Athena Blade. She also carries magical lassos, including the Nemesis Lasso and the Lasso of Sacrifice, which do nastier work than the classic Lasso of Truth.

She rides a skeletal, obsidian Pegasus. That horse is the book’s flying shot. It also tells you the tone: Greek myth dragged through a grave.

Sherman’s pages use tall panels and sudden scale shifts so Diana dwarfs soldiers, then looks small against gods and city-killing beasts. Bellaire’s color is a character of its own. Hell is warm and poisonous. Gateway City is cold stone. Gold on the armor never looks clean. If you buy comics for art, this is the Absolute book that rewards a second pass on silent panels.

Cover art also drives the variant market. Jim Lee, Wes Craig, Jeff Dekal, Terry Dodson, Kaare Andrews, Yasmine Putri, and a long list of shop exclusives have drawn covers. More on those below.

Can She Fly, and How Strong Is She?

Can Wonder Woman fly? In the Gal Gadot movies, yes. In many modern mainline comics, yes. In this series she is most often in the air on Pegasus, not soaring like a Kryptonian. Magic still lets her move in ways a human cannot. Do not walk into issue one expecting the 2017 film’s battlefield hover.

How strong is Wonder Woman in this continuity? Strong enough to fight city-scale monsters, grow to meet Giganta, and trade hits with forces that would pulp a tank. She is also a trained killer who would rather not kill. Witchcraft sits beside the muscle. Spells, bindings, transformations, and divine bargains are part of her day job. That mix matters when people ask if she is stronger than Superman. Absolute Superman is not the same Kal-El either. Magic has always been a Kryptonian problem in DC stories. A clean winner is not on the page, and anyone selling you a ranked list is guessing.

Is Wonder Woman a god? She is an Amazon with divine fingerprints on her life. Gods dump her in Hell, ignore her prayers, and then answer at the worst time. She is not sitting on Olympus. Is Wonder Woman immortal? Amazons live far beyond a human span. This Diana has already died in pieces and come back through ritual. Treat her as extremely hard to keep down, not as a woman who cannot be hurt.

Is Wonder Woman bulletproof? Bracelets and armor still matter. So does magic. She is not a walking safe. She bleeds. She loses an arm. She gets bound, drained, and used. The book is more interesting because she can fail.

When Diana Meets Batman

For the first year the Absolute heroes barely share panels. Diana and Batman finally meet in Absolute Wonder Woman #15, on sale 24 December 2025, in a story titled “The Mark of Hecate.” A green eldritch bat-sigil appears over Gotham. Diana is already there because the Mark of Hecate has shown up at murder scenes. Bruce is already there because it is his city.

They investigate occult killings tied to a cult trying to build a golem. A spell takes Diana for a stretch. Batman breaks it with her talisman. After a church explodes, she hands him proof that other heroes exist and tells him to find them, starting with Superman, if they want the world to survive. The second chapter continues in Absolute Batman #16.

Scott Snyder has said Thompson’s book is the one that starts stitching the Absolute Universe together. That is why issue 15 is the crossover people hunt, not a random guest cameo. Once you know who Diana is, start at #15 if all that matters to you is the knight and the Amazon in one room. Start with #1 if you are interested in their discourse.

Villains and Threats in Gateway City

Why Wonder Woman has no villains is an old complaint about the mainline books. This series does not have that problem. Gods, witches, government officers, and monsters all want her gone.

• The gods of Olympus — They erase the Amazons, dump a baby in Hell, and go quiet when she asks Athena for answers.
• Hades — He cages Circe and forces Diana into a bargain that still binds her to the Underworld.
• The Tetracide and the Harbingers — First-arc city killers. The Tetracide’s fear-attack is the book’s first true “how do you fight this?” puzzle.
• Veronica Cale — Gateway City’s human antagonist. She runs Global Anti-Terrorism and Emergency Services, studies Amazon secrets, and later aims a Suicide Squad at Diana.
• Queen Clea — Tied to the Area 41 maze and the drowned myth under the city.
• Zatanna Zatara — Not a cameo magician. In “Season of the Witch” she arrives as the weapon Cale thinks can kill a witch, then becomes something worse.
• Giovanni Zatara — A burning skeletal figure in the later witch arc, with a direct, ugly attack on Diana’s body.
• Suicide Squad members — Cheetah, Doctor Poison, Giganta, and others sent to finish the job in Gateway City.

Barbara Minerva begins as a person Diana saves, not as Cheetah. Steve Trevor is an ally with history in Hell, not a boyfriend dropped in for a subplot. Etta Candy and Gia Candy sit in the supporting cast. Ferdinand the Minotaur and Petra the siren come out of the maze as part of Diana’s strange found family. Circe is mother, teacher, and the first proof that love can change a monster.

Issue Guide: 13, 15, 16, and the Annual

The series is ongoing. It had published twenty issues and a first annual by the end of August 2026, with #23 scheduled for current month. You do not need every variant. You do need the story in order.

Issue #13

Issue 13 (October 2025) sits in the second year, during the Area 41 / “As My Mothers Made Me” stretch. Diana is deep in a government maze tied to Amazon research, sea myth, and the people trapped under Veronica Cale’s projects. Bergara’s art on #13 and #14 gives that run a different texture from Sherman’s issues. If a back-issue bin only has #13, you will be lost. Pair it with #8 through #14.

Issue #15

Issue #15 is the Gotham issue. It is the first true Absolute hero meeting on the page. Collectors look for it as a first-appearance crossover key. Readers need it because Diana stops being a solitary myth and starts acting like the person who can assemble a league. The Mark of Hecate plot also sets the table for Cale’s next move.

Issue #16

On January 28, 2026, Absolute Wonder Woman #16 debuted “Season of the Witch.” Diana attempts to prioritize the assignment that comes after Area 41 over her personal quest sent her to the surface. Gateway City answers with a new threat. Cale’s best idea for killing Wonder Woman is another witch. Zatanna is here. Cover C and other incentive covers exist for this issue the way they exist for most of the run. Buy the story first. Chase Cover C if you collect. Do not let a variant code replace issue one on your pull list.

The 2026 Annual

The first Absolute Wonder Woman Annual arrived in February 2026, written by Thompson and drawn by Mattia De Iulis. Diana still carries the Medusa transformation in her head. She has asked Athena for an answer and heard nothing. The annual is the mythic detour: gods, monsters, and a trip to the edge of the map for justice. You do not need to treat it as a skippable extra because it collects with #15–20 in Volume 3.

Variant Covers Collectors Hunt

Absolute Wonder Woman variant covers are a second hobby sitting on top of the book. Issue one shipped with Sherman’s main cover, Jim Lee, Wes Craig, Jeff Dekal, Dan Panosian, a foil logo variant, and a 1:100 Lee black-and-white. Later months added Terry Dodson, Kaare Andrews, Mark Brooks, Ben Oliver, Yasmine Putri, Steve Skroce, Rahzzah, and a pile of shop exclusives (Comics Elite, 616, Knight of Comics, and others) in foil and virgin treatments.

Cover C on any given month is usually a retailer incentive, not a different story. Issue #16 Cover C is one of the codes people type into search because the witch arc launch created extra demand. The interior is the same as Cover A. Pay a premium only if you want that specific drawing on your wall.

A practical rule: one reading copy, one favorite artist, and stop. The series already has more covers than any new reader can store.

Volume 1 and Later Collections

Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 1 is titled The Last Amazon. It collects issues #1–7 in hardcover and trade paperback, released 12 August 2025 (ISBN 978-1799505303 for the paperback). If you want one book that proves the series works, this is it. It contains the Hell childhood, the arm, Gateway City, the Tetracide, and the Hades bargain.

Volume 2, As My Mothers Made Me, collects #8–14 (February 2026). Volume 3, Season of the Witch, collects #15–20 and the 2026 Annual (27 October 2026). Volume 4, Heretic, is solicited for #21–26 in April 2027. Trades are the calm way to read. Floppies are the way to stay current and to grab #15 before the crossover markup settles.

How This Diana Differs From Classic Wonder Woman

Who is Wonder Woman in the version most people know? Diana of Themyscira, princess, ambassador, member of the Justice League, played on screen by Lynda Carter and Gal Gadot. She comes from a hidden island of women. She fights for peace. She is DC, not Marvel. She is not a guest in someone else’s universe.

Where is Wonder Woman from in this book? Born of the Amazons, raised in Hell, working in Gateway City. Themyscira still exists as a wound and a rumor. Queen Hippolyta learns Diana lives when Io escapes the maze. That reunion is a future problem, not a first-issue comfort.

Is Wonder Woman a lesbian? Thompson has said she writes this Diana as queer, and also said that is not the same as DC printing a canon romance on the page. The character grew up in Hell with no patience for human gender rules. Read the book. Do not treat a search prompt as the plot.

Movie extras do not carry over. Wonder Woman 2017, Wonder Woman 1984, the unmade Wonder Woman 3, and Bloodlines are a different product line. This comic does not require the films. The films do not explain Circe as a mother or a skeletal Pegasus.

George Pérez, Greg Rucka, and Gail Simone still sit behind Thompson’s Diana. The kindness is the through-line. The island, the embassy, and the clean red-and-blue costume are what Absolute cuts away.

Where to Read and What to Buy First

Read in numerical order, starting with Absolute Wonder Woman #1. Do not jump to #15 for Batman unless you already know why Diana would give a stranger her trust. Digital copies sit on DC Universe Infinite and the usual app stores. Print copies sit at comic shops. The Vol. 1 trade is the cleanest gift copy.

Where to watch Wonder Woman if you meant the movie: the 2017 film and Wonder Woman 1984 are the live-action features with Gal Gadot. This article is not that. If a friend asks which comic to try after the films, hand them this series or Pérez’s Gods and Mortals, and tell them which tone they are choosing.

A simple pull list for the next month:

• One reading copy of each new issue
• Vol. 1 if you are late
• #15 if you care about Absolute Batman
• The 2026 Annual if you like De Iulis and the gods
• Skip twenty variants unless you already collect them

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Absolute Wonder Woman?

She is Diana of Themyscira in DC’s Absolute Universe. Circe raises her in Hell after the gods wipe out the Amazons. She protects Gateway City as a witch-warrior and the last Amazon.

How tall is Absolute Wonder Woman?

There is no single printed number yet. Creators draw her as the tallest person in the room. Next to a 6’9″ Absolute Batman she reads about 6’10” to 7’1″.

Can she fly?

Can Wonder Woman fly in this book? She takes the air on a skeletal Pegasus and through magic. She is not the DCEU Diana who hovers over a World War I trench for a long take.

Is Wonder Woman Marvel?

Is Wonder Woman Marvel? No. Wonder Woman is a DC character, created in 1941 by William Moulton Marston and H. G. Peter. This series is a DC Absolute Universe title. Marvel has no claim on her.

Is she stronger than Superman?

How strong is Wonder Woman here compared with Absolute Superman? Both are rebuilt as underdogs. Diana’s magic is a real problem for a Kryptonian. The comics have not staged a final fight that answers the question, so any ranked list is fan talk.

What issue does she meet Batman?

Absolute Wonder Woman #15, “The Mark of Hecate,” is the first meeting. Absolute Batman #16 carries on the narrative. If you want that meeting to happen, start by reading her #1–14.

Go Get the Book

You now know who this Amazon is, how she was raised, why she looks seven feet tall, which issue puts her next to Batman, and which trade to buy if you hate bagging floppies. The next step is not another recap. Open Absolute Wonder Woman #1, or put Vol. 1 on the counter this week.

If you already read it, tell a friend who still thinks Wonder Woman only exists as a 2017 movie. Hand them issue one. Ask what they think of Circe as a mother. After you have #16’s witch arc on your shelf, return and debate Zatanna.