Review: ‘Absolute Wonder Woman' #19 Reframes Diana's Greatest Gift as Her Loneliest Burden
ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #19
Release Date: April 22, 2026
Creative Team
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Becca Carey
Publisher: DC Comics
TL;DR
Absolute Wonder Woman #19 is the “Season of the Witch” arc’s penultimate chapter and does everything a penultimate chapter should: it deepens the mythology, raises the stakes, and ends with a threat that makes you hungry for the finale. Kelly Thompson is doing some of the most interesting character work in superhero comics right now, and this issue is a strong argument for why this run deserves to be mentioned alongside the best Wonder Woman stories ever told.
Full Review
There's a four-page opening sequence that reframes everything that has come before it, and it does so quietly, almost casually, in a way that makes the revelation land twice as hard. Through a flashback between Circe and Aphrodite, Thompson reveals that the divine grace Diana carries, the ability to inspire love and loyalty in those around her, was never a natural extension of her character. It was placed there by the gods, which means every alliance she has built, every person who has stood by her side, exists under a shadow of doubt. Were they drawn to Diana because of who she is, or because they were never given a choice? It's a heavy question that changes the texture of the entire series and makes Diana a more tragic figure than she's ever been.
That's the kind of storytelling Thompson has been delivering throughout this run. The main action picks up with Diana wielding the Troika against Giovanni Zatara, trying to free him from the flaming skeletal prison that has consumed him at the Crossroads. The battle is more psychological than it is physical. Diana forces Zatara to confront his guilt over his wife Sindella and a young Zatanna, pushing him toward a reckoning he has spent years avoiding. When Zatanna finally breaks the cycle by pulling her father through a psychic doorway, it leaves Diana catatonic and stranded. Using the Circe Stone to disguise herself as Diana's mother, Zatanna leads Diana back from the edge.
While the magical chaos unfolds, Adrienne Cale is operating on a colder, more calculated level. Her deal with Giganta to capture Dr. Barbara Minerva in exchange for another shot at Wonder Woman is a reminder that this book runs multiple threat levels simultaneously. And then there's the Iron Maiden, introduced in the final pages at a scale that immediately communicates this is not a villain to be resolved quickly. It's a strong hook heading into the finale.
Hayden Sherman's artwork remains one of the great pleasures of this series. The Crossroads sequences are especially striking, with jagged panel structures and a shifting visual grammar that conveys Zatara's fracturing mental state without leaning on exposition to do the heavy lifting. Sherman’s panelwork has always been a standout of the series and that is underscored here. Jordie Bellaire gets to work with a broader color range than the series has recently allowed, and the results are stunning. Becca Carey's lettering always deserves a specific shoutout.
The transition into the coven scene mid-issue moves a touch abruptly, and in a book juggling this many threads, a moment or two of connective tissue would have helped. It’s a microcosm of the lack of character building for Diana’s human companions throughout the run so far.
Rating: 4.5/5
