Absolute Wonder Woman #3 has the beginning of Wonder Woman's first battle with the demonic Tetracide and flashes back to show what she will sacrifice! In the second issue, Wonder Woman has emerged from exile in hell to win the first battle of Gateway against the Harbinger Prime demon! She reunites with Steve Trevor whom she rescued on the Wild Isle in hell. Now a massive, Tetracide, shambles onto the shore of Gateway City, Diana tells Steve that it is “Death, personified.”! It is a beast, grey like the cloudsm a wide, almost insectoid head, long, crab-like legs, and a mass of tentacles in its center! She tells that she will buy Commander Cole some time to evacuate the city. The cover by Hayden Sherman has glowing white eyes while in the background is a red symbol and behind it the shadowy form of the Tetracide.
At the Natural History Museum, there are banners of Greek helmets in front of it, the museum personnel is watching the news. One man asks about Barbara, I’m assuming it is Barbara Minerva, Cheetah and we see in another circular panel, a closeup of Barbara, glasses, red hair in pony tail, staring at the screen with her coffee. The reporter just can’t properly describe the scene. She says, “Wonder Woman”, before running out of the room. The Boardwalk, Wonder Woman flies into the city to draw in the Tetracide. Before her is the sign of a restaurant or pub, The Kraken, kinda clever. At the command center, Wonder Woman explains she used magic to try to slow the Tetracide. She debriefs the room about how the Tetracide kills so they can fight it after she dies!
Wonder Woman tells them that it means, “The Four-Killer”, and kills by death of fear, mind, body, and soul! One soldiers says fear is not bad and she corrects him that it is the “greatest ” with the population of the city. We see then patterns on a Greek vase of the Tetracide, incredible designs, she says the demon will remove fear of it. The Tetracide will create a sound, like a mythological Siren?, that will everyone to its jaws! The mind death is being unable to feel, paralyzing the victims, so then there is the death of the body. It digests the victims! She ends the debriefing telling everyone to leave and to run if they can! Steve tries to get Diana’s attention, she wants him to help with the evacuation before the sound. Wonder Woman walks to the beach to see Pegasus.
She tells him to stay away from the demon and try to use his hellfire. Closeup as she places her forehead to his head as Diana tells Pegasus that once the Tetracide tentacle touches him, Zeus will not resurrect him. Wonder Woman flies towards the demon with her blazing, red Nemesis lasso and massive Athena Blade. She is tiny next to the roar of the Cthulhu beast. Closeup of Diana’s eyes turning red. She throws her sword tied to the lasso that cuts into the Tetracide’s hide. She weaves the Nemesis around the demon to contain it, but it bellows its screech! Above the demon, Pegasus gives it a blast of hellfire as Wonder Woman continues to fly around it. A valiant effort, but this demon is on the Cthulhu level.
The Tetracide uses a tentacle to pluck out the Athena Blade and tosses it into the water. The lasso unravels with the lost blade. Diana lets out a curse and then takes out an axe to slice the demon tentacles! Still a tentacle binds her right hand! Then, we get the two page credit page! We return to the Wild Isle as Diana is wrapped up in the tentacles of the Hydra. Steve is running up with the same axe used by Wonder Woman. He slices a tentacle and they both run as the five headed, crimson beast screeches at them. Daina holds open the jaws of one mouth telling it that she respects the monster, but gives her word for it to let Steve go. At a campfire, Steve asks Diana if the Hydra could understand her. She says most creatures can understand her, but says the Hydra knows strength.
He wonders that hell is harsh and painful, and yet Circe and Diana made a home. She tells him "Love is transformative." I really like the sentiment. Steve tells her about Gateway City, how the sunset reminds me of his mother. At the home, Diana closes a book, she has Steve collect some firewood and tells her mother that she found the spell to send Steve home. Extreme closeup of the spellbook's page at the word, "A sacrifice." Circe tries to her warn her daughter about the sacrifice. Then, Steve enters with the firewood. At night, Circe wakes up to see Diana kneeling in a hooded robe. Steve is asleep. A closeup of the hood with part of Diana's face, she says if she is a great warrior like her mother told her, she has to succeed in her first mission.
Diana tells Circe that Steve is a test. She says she is to be the "great warrior", then Diana has sacrificed her "dominant arm"! It rests next to the fire! This shocked me so much that I didn’t realize what I was seeing, the severed arm! The narrative shifts to Circe as she works with her daughter next to a blaze of a green fire on the beach. Steve is walking up as they chant the spell. Circe narrates that she underestimated Diana, “Her capacity for love.” Steve’s hand starts to fade. Circe adds, pain, sacrifice, then Steve is back on the Gateway City beach, and lastly, honor. She adds, “This child would change the world.” On the Wild Isle beach, Circe says she is sorry Diana did not say goodbye, but her daughter says she will see him again.
The Gateway City battle, Wonder Woman’s right arm, the one she had lost is trapped in the Tetracide tentacle. She closes her eyes casting a spell. Then, he arm is freed and she falls in a sequence of panels, until she flies with the axe! She walks into the command center and a soldiers is startled that she lost her arm. Wonder Woman explains that she lost the magic arm, she made with her mother. She reminds Jacoby that the soldiers have to evacuate. She starts assembling pipes and mechanisms to her arm as Steve watches. A cyborg arm! This character can’t be cooler; sorceress, warrior, and now cyborg! Steve says he has realized what Diana sacrificed to return him. We don’t really know what condemned him to hell. She yells at the crowded room for the soldiers to leave or they will be running towards the Tetracide.
Steve tells Diana he doesn’t want to leave her alone, but she says he was worthy of saving and has to go. Barbara is running and slams into the cyborg arm of Wonder Woman! Diana has caught her and tells her to go into the Kraken to tell Steve Trevor to help her escape. Barbara calls out, “Wonder Woman!” Diana pauses to turn to Barbara who says that is the name of the champion of the Amazons. Barbara says she has studied the Amazons. Julia Kapatelis was a historian and ally of Wonder Woman introduced by George Perez in Wonder Woman #3 (1987). It looks like Barbara shares the interest of Julia. Diana wants to know more from Barbara who introduces herself as Barbara Minerva. The Tetracide lets out another call! Wonder Woman flies into battle. Absolute Wonder Woman #3 continues the epic battle with the Tetracide, we understand a little of its nature and threat, while getting more about Diana’s sacrifice and bringing in Barbara Minerva!
Five Athena Blades out of Five!
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