Absolute Wonder Woman #18 Review
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Becca Carey
Editors: Ash Padilla & Chris Conroy
Cover Artists: Hayden Sherman & Jordie Bellaire; Kendrick “Kunkka” Lim; Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson; Yasmine Putri
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99/$5.99 Card Stock
Release Date: March 25, 2026
She appeared amid smoke and fire at the Gateway City Natural History Museum. After binding Diana's magic to her in Barbara's new exhibition, Zatanna used Diana to free herself from Director Cale's control.
While Diana's battle across Gateway City validated Steve Trevor's trust in her, it also confirmed the government's fears. How will Veronica Cale's Suicide Squad attack Diana next? And can Zatanna still control Diana? Let’s raise our magic wards, leap into Absolute Wonder Woman #18, and see!
Story
When Diana returns to the Museum, she finds Cheetah slain. Then, a fiery figure appears. He wields the same magic as Zatanna and strips Diana of her defenses. Unable to repel his assault or protect the people of Gateway City, Diana can only flee for her life.
While her friends seek to help her, Aphrodite’s words return to Diana at the Hieron. Aphrodite counseled her that love was complicated and dangerous. It could foster great beauty, yet it could also nurture horrors. Diana mused that opening herself to others would help her bond with people and help them embrace a better version of themselves. But in Absolute Wonder Woman #18, Diana discovers that imagining something is vastly different from experiencing it.
While Kelly Thompson intersperses Diana's fight for her life with her memories of Aphrodite on the Wild Isle, Zatanna returns. Once more, Zatanna blows through Diana's defenses like they don't exist. And as Diana lies on the ground in agony, the invader is rude to her friends.
As witches, Diana and Zatanna share a common heritage. By stripping Diana of her defenses, Zatanna has violated Diana's trust in the community of witchcraft. Veronica Cale forced Zatanna to follow her orders. But in Absolute Wonder Woman #18, Diana cannot forget how it felt for a kindred spirit, and someone she held to a higher standard, to violate her so completely.
Art
Diana glows red, orange, and yellow as she clutches the stump of her melted arm. Heat from the yellow fire shrouding the walking skeleton tinges everything nearby red. Diana bursts through panels as she rises above the forest of towers, and the gray beach where she once defended Gateway City. Then she falls into the blue/green sea where she once combatted a kaiju-sized threat.
Moonlight colors the swirls and plumes of disturbed water yellow as Diana sinks. After battling a fiery skeleton, a skeletal winged horse swoops in to rescue her. As Hayden Sherman shows Pegasus flying away, gray, white, and blue water droplets leap from its hooves and wings back to the sea that could not contain the Witch of the Wild Isle. After fleeing the straight-lined towers of Gateway City, Pegasus brings Diana to the arching splendor of the Hieron. Jordie Bellaire links the yellow bubbles and currents in the sea with yellow pinpricks glowing amid the garden. Yet yellow fire swirls around the skeleton Diana left behind, revealing glimpses of his identity in Absolute Wonder Woman #18.
Becca Carey uses white block letters to differentiate time and place as Diana’s memories merge with her flight. Uppercase black letters occupy white dialogue balloons. Diana's thoughts fill white narrative boxes with WW in the top left corner. Blue backwards words in white balloons with blue borders appear when a woman in a blue jacket and gloves confronts a blue-skinned siren comforting Diana. A god’s glowing white words in colored balloons offer wisdom, while small purple words in distorted balloons provide power. Sound effects enhance magical attacks, physical blows, and an offer of liberation. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.
Final Thoughts
Veronica Cale knows how to pull people's strings. Her ability to force good people to hurt others threatens Diana's faith in the surface world. And when she exposes a chink in her armor, Diana stands to lose a staunch supporter in Absolute Wonder Woman #18.
Rating 9.8/10
To look inside, see my preview of Absolute Wonder Woman #18.
For what happened last time, see my preview of Absolute Wonder Woman #17.
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