Absolute Wonder Woman #4 Review!

Absolute Wonder Woman #4 has Diana's penultimate battle dealing wth her lost arm, another Wonder Woman cast member, and exploring Circe's character! Diana was begun her battle against the Tetracide, “The Four Killer”, and it has taken her arm! She also runs into Barbara Minerva, from the Natural History Museum, and who knows she is Wonder Woman! We found from the Wild Isle that Diana made the sacrifice to return Steve Trevor and this was her right arm! She has fashioned a cyborg arm, but will need her full power to take on the Tetracide! Interior artist, Hayden Sherman, provides the art for the regular cover. It has Wonder Woman burying her Athena Blade into the Tetracide with fighter jets streaking underneath her and even further down is a ferris wheel and buildings, incredible perspective! 

“The Last Amazon Part 4” is by Kelly Thompson and Sherman. We get the present, NOw, of Gateway City, Wonder Woman’s tv announcement to the people of Gateway City. On a clip board is a list, “I’m going out to help. Stay here. Effect is temporary stay home. Watch news.” This shown by a taller woman to another shorter woman, then she walks out. I love the intros of new characters central to the Wonder Woman mythos. I expect Hippolyta or some Amazon to appear in the last issue. She is about to walk out when the other woman brings the clipboard and they hug. She turns to walk out and her eyes seem to bulge. The woman behind her has tiny dots for her eyes, a fun effect like early comic strips. 

She is stunned at Wonder Woman, the Tetracide behind them, and Steve Trevor who knows Etta. This is Etta Candy, she is just a Wonder Woman main stay, introduced in Sensation Comics #2 (1942). Thanks Kelly Thompson for making her a black woman like Tom King’s Wonder Woman, and essential to the story. Etta seems like a fellow soldier who knows Steve Trevor. The other woman, her sister Gia, panics that she can hear them and then the Tetracide’s death song. This is her first appearance. Wonder Woman says she cast a proEtective spell around the building. Steve makes introductions and explains that Diana had saved him in hell. 

Also, she had asked him if he knew any witch and this leads to Gia Candy! I really like expanding the supporting cast especially Etta Candy’s family. Diana had used up ingredients to cast the spell to deafen the city. She needs her powerful arm which Diana explains to Gia as she empties her bag with some vials and tubes. Etta says to Steve she teased him about Diana that she was everything he described and then she says he “undersold” Diana, Steve responds, “Told you.” Just funny. Gia is confused about her list, the “skin of Prometheus” and Diana says the ingredients that was difficult to find in hell with her mother are common on Earth. Black walnut, Yucca root, and Althea root are a few, living plants. 

We have an interesting scene with Gia searching around her store with a line showing her path! There’s always something interesting with Sherman’s art. Diana has three final ingredients; Hemlock, Morning Glory, and Datura, a poisonous part of the nightshade family. Closeup of Gia opening a safe, then her hands as she puts on a glove, and takes out a tray of the deadly plants. Then, she asks Gia for a safe place because there will be blood. Etta, Gia, and Steve are peeking in as Diana prepares the spell. Etta says Steve volunteered them to give blood. Diana is holding herself within a circlec calling on Hecate, the goddess of magic. She says distorted words of the spell and a lightning bolt strikes her! Then, we get the two page credits which is just epic! 

This flashes back to the Wild Isle in hell, Circe runs out of the cave, and collapses. We hear a voice in black balloon speaking about her visions. Sherman provides some interesting panel designs her shapes, swirling in different scenes. The voice says Circe is her most beloved, but Circe sees herself trapped in hell and forced to raise a child. The voice, a goddess, says that there is a game, and that it requires sacrifice. Circe hears that the voice has seen that only she could raise the child to be the hero. Then, her love would transform her, eventually she would betray the voice in the future. Circe is told to finally look at her, Hecate, a white figure with six arms and in armor! Circe returns to her home and has seen in her visions of the suffering of Diana and that it would be left alone. 

Diana, as a young girl, tells Circe that she had a bad dream. Circe explains that this is when she made Diana’s lasso of love and magic. She called it ys Sacrifice. It is great to see what Circe is going through as a foster mother. Circe gets in bed to comfort her daughter and we see around them the demon beasties are also alseep.Gateway City, Now, Diana says some words, thanks Hecate, and then rises with her new, glowing arm! She thanks the others and Etta notes that she has blood on her face. Diana wipes her face and looks at the note for Gia. She asks if Etta was going to leave even if it would be dangerous and Etta replies, that it was “the right thing to do.” 

Etta says she was a detetive and is now a private investigator. Diana tells her that she does the same work, but for herself. Etta says her words are hopeful. Before leaving, Wonder Woman tells them that the protective spell will be gone, and then that she hopes to see them again. Then she sees the buildings burning next to the pier with the ferris wheel. A splash page of the Tetracide tentacles looming over the city street! Wonder Woman thinks that she should lure the Tetracide back to the beach. Wonder Woman is flying with Pegasus behind her. Her narration says that from the tentacles tha the Tetracide has stopped the “Death of Fear” and is looking for people who are within their homes! 

Diana over the sea casts a spell and the Athena Blade rises. A very Lady of the Lake image. She takes out a glass bottle with red liquid to lure the Tetracide to the beach. Closeup as Diana says, “Be what it most craves” and then smashes the bottle on a building. This unleashes a shock of words almost filling up the page, an image of the ferris wheel is behind it. Diana casts a spell on the Athena Blade wth Pegaus by her side, she lugs the blade with the Tetracide like a cloud next to the pier. Wonder Woman leaps up saying “Half the battle is choosing the right weapon.” She is flying up the Athena Blade now the size of skyscraper! She gets Pegasus to breathe his flame breath as Wonder Woman brings the Athena blade down! Absolute Wonder Woman #4 is epic with the restoration of Diana's arm with the help of Gia Candy, every issue has been fantastic, and she returns to the battle against the Tetracide! 

Five Athena Blades out of Five! 

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