Why DC's Absolute Wonder Woman Only Has One Arm

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DC Comics' "Absolute" Universe is the latest attempt to create a fresh start, new reader on-ramp for the world's biggest superheroes. Since its 2024 launch, "Absolute" DC has been a success, attracting those new readers with bold reinventions.

"Absolute" Superman is a globe-trotting fugitive fighting against the tyrannical Lazarus Corp, while "Absolute" Batman has much fewer material resources (and only one dead parent as part of his origin story). But how do you flip Wonder Woman on her head? The classical Diana was raised on Paradise Island, surrounded by her Amazon sisters. So, "Absolute" Wonder Woman grew up in Hell without them. The Amazons were punished by the Gods for some unknown reason, and Diana left in the Underworld with the witch Circe as her jailer. Circe, enchanted by Diana's bright goodness, became her mother instead.

The lead-up to "Absolute Wonder Woman" had me convinced it would be an edgier, more cynical book than it is. This Wonder Woman dresses like a barbarian, flies on an undead, skeletal Pegasus, and carries a huge sword. But writer Kelly Thompson understands Wonder Woman's strength is not her militance, it's her kindness.

I was expecting "Wonder Woman meets 'Berserk'" but Diana's similarities to Guts the Black Swordsman are only physical — including a missing arm. "Absolute Wonder Woman" #3 reveals Diana's right arm, tattooed with red runes, is a magical creation to replace the lost original. This Diana was, as ever, lured into Man's World when an Air Force man named Steve Trevor washed up on the shores of her island home. Steve later died and went to Hell, so Diana cast a spell to send him home. The price of the spell was Diana's own arm.

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The three headlining "Absolute DC" books tend to incorporate flashbacks, running the hero's early years with their present adventures in parallel. "Last Dust of Krypton" showed Krypton's collapse and destruction alongside Kal-El's adventures on Earth. "The Zoo" depicted Bruce Wayne's childhood, revealing us how different it (and his defining tragedy) are from the familiar Batman backstory. And "The Last Amazon" jumps between Diana's childhood in Hell with her debut in the modern world, where she defends coastal Gateway City against invading monsters. 

Writing Circe, the famed witch from "The Odyssey" who turns men into pigs, as Diana's mother is meant to give longtime "Wonder Woman" fans a chuckle — Circe is usually depicted as one of Diana's enemies. However, it's not just a decision for irony's sake. Since Diana was raised by a witch, she herself is one, too. (What's a witch but a woman with power?) And while "Absolute" Diana can brawl and has an enchanted lasso weapon, she also employs spells and incantations, on which Wonder Woman has never traditionally relied. Diana similarly reveres Hecate, the often-demonized Greek goddess of witchcraft, alongside more classical Greek Goddesses like Hera and Athena. 

The primary antagonist of "The Last Amazon" is Tetracide, an enormous Kraken-like monster and the personification of death. While Diana fights the monster to save Gateway City, the Tetracide grasps her right arm; to save herself from its touch, Diana undoes the spell and takes to wearing a thin robotic prosthetic.

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In issue #4, Diana reperforms the blood magic ritual in tribute to Hecate, and so restores her arm. Diana collecting the herbs for her spell introduces her to two new friends: the shop owners Etta and Gia Candy.

"Absolute Wonder Woman" #15 brings Diana to Gotham City, in a crossover with "Absolute Batman," and once more separates her from her right arm. Diana and Bruce investigate a series of murders linked to the mark of Hecate — but it's all a ploy by National Security Advisor Veronica Cale, who sees Diana and the heroism she might inspire as a threat. Cale's people cast a spell to control a golem; since Diana was made from clay, she qualifies. Diana again discards her right arm in an effort to undermine the spell, but it doesn't work. When the issue ends, Diana still has only her one arm; presumably, she'll do the ritual again off-panel to restore it.

Diana needing to sacrifice her arm established a key theme of "Absolute Wonder Woman" — magic comes with a price. Consider another fantasy series about a one-armed hero, "Fullmetal Alchemist," where alchemy is governed by the law of Equivalent Exchange: "If one wishes to obtain something, something of equal value must be given." Under Diana's spell, the dominant arm of a great warrior was the price to send Steve home.

The third arc of "Absolute Wonder Woman" (issues #13-14, drawn by guest artist Matías Bergara) is even called "The Price." Diana attempts to track a destructive energy being, only to discover it's her own doppelgänger. Under the principle of magical balance, Diana concludes the copy was brought into being to balance out the good she's done. However, Diana's friends free her from self-doubt; the world was mired in hopelessness before Diana arrived, so Diana is only rebalancing a pendulum titled towards evil. The world needs heroes willing to (literally) give an arm and leg for others.

"Absolute Wonder Woman" #1-15 are now available.