Writer Kelly Thompson is synonymous with quality characterization and engaging plotting in any comic book she tackles. From her work on Hawkeye to Captain Marvel to Birds of Prey, Thompson has become one of those writers that prompts readers to check out her books because they’re assured of solidly told comic tales. That’s why it’s no wonder that fans were so excited to find that she would be writer of the new DC Comics series Absolute Wonder Woman, which debuted last month to high praise and acclaim. Set in a world defiled by the malevolent energy of the villainous Darkseid, the heroic community is not as equipped to be champions of their world as are the heroes of the DC Universe we are more familiar with. This includes Diana, who, rather than be raised by her Amazon sisters, was brought up in Hell by the sorceress known as Circe. Will Diana fulfill her destiny as Wonder Woman, albeit in a different world and iteration? That’s the question at the heart of Absolute Wonder Woman.
I spoke with Kelly Thompson recently about building a Wonder Woman absent of the elements traditionally associated with the hero, how making Circe the adoptive mother of Diana impacted both characters, the thought going into redesigning her look and abilities, and the emotions she hopes readers experience reading Absolute Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman is a character who has had a bounty of phenomenal creators crafting her tales over the years, making her legacy and catalog of stories rich and robust. And with great respect to that wealth of writers, artists, colorists, letterers, and editors, Thompson and the rest of the team behind Absolute Wonder Woman have injected a kinetic feeling into the character and her world that has made new and vibrant, even existing in a world of plagued by negative Darkseid energy.
ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #1 cover by Hayden Sherman
FreakSugar: The tagline for the book is “Without the island… without the sisterhood that shaped her… without a mission of peace… what’s left is the Absolute Amazon!” If you remove everything mentioned in that tagline, how do you sort out what base or building blocks you do use to form this version of the character? What is your process for putting yourself in the character’s boots and deciding how she approaches the world with this new status quo?
Kelly Thompson: When I was trying to figure this pitch out, that was the big problem. Diana kept getting lost in it and then once it didn’t really feel like Diana, I found myself uninterested. I also felt that a lot of the things I was throwing against the wall, we’d all seen before in some form or another. The idea that called to me like a shining beacon on a hill was something like: “Witch Diana, raised in hell, but in love, by her enemy.” And then I think it said “Circe????” and I just… I knew I could write the hell out of that that and preserve her so important kindness and compassion, the soul of her, and still change all these things around her in really fun and exciting ways.
But the Circe of it all was what made it work. Realizing that Diana’s love is a transformative thing and that once it transformed Circe, Circe would begin feeding it back to Diana, and even though they were in hell, it would be home for them. It would still be love and kindness and finding a better way. And in fact, it would shine all the more brightly as it was contrasted against their surroundings. It’s the most I’ve ever known that a story just worked and “was right.” It was a great feeling. And when Hayden, Jordie, and Becca came on board, I just knew in my bones we had something special.
FS: What was your thinking about how Diana should make her public debut? Why did you decide this is how she should be introduced to the world?
KT: Some of it really wasn’t a choice in the sense that I knew Diana would be fighting huge Kaiju-like creatures in the first arc – and when those start stomping around cities it’s not exactly subtle. [laughs] But I was also excited about putting Diana front and center and it was cool to let her take that on. I feel like Batman is such an incredible and popular character that he gets first dibs on a lot of stuff – rightfully so. But Batman belongs more to the shadows not on the news fighting a Kaiju, so why not lean into that that IS who Diana is. A public hero. And in this case, the first known superhero. It’s a fun thing for her to get and very fun for us to play with and it her going public also sets a fun clock on the whole Absolute Universe. Cat’s out of the bag that superheroes are real, y’know? That’s fun stuff to play with.
ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #2 cover by Hayden Sherman
FS: One thing I love about issue #1 is that we see a side of Circe we don’t get to see often in other stories featuring the character. How did you land on Circe to be the one to raise Diana and be her mother?
KT: Thank you! When editor Chris Conroy read the first script he said something about Circe really popping and that he thought she was going to be a favorite and I agreed. Choosing her specifically to be Diana’s adopted mother who would help shape her comes from a few things. First of all, Circe traditionally being an enemy of Diana gives you a lot of fertile ground to play with right out of the gate. And it’s fun even when you just say it “Hero raised in hell by an enemy” – that’s interesting to me before you even do anything else – it immediately raises questions that are exciting to answer. Additionally, Circe is just a terrific character — both in a lot of Wonder Woman mythos and in Greek Mythology more generally. When you read her mythology, Circe almost feels like a character pulled out of time to me – she’s so uncompromisingly self-made and feminist. Utterly her own person. But also far less kind and forgiving than someone like Diana, more prone to vengeance over justice. So those were interesting angles to explore for their relationship and how it would change them both. I think in the end Diana (and some other things) change Circe more than Circe changes Diana – but there is absolutely a push and pull there for both of them that I hope old and new fans will really respond to.
FS: You’re working with Hayden Sherman and Jordie Bellaire on the series. Her new look is striking and feels BIG, all caps. I love it so much. What were the conversations like about what you all wanted to see in this new version of Diana and how the story impacts that look—and broader world of the character?
KT: Going into design we had a really comprehensive bible and a pretty tight outline of the first seven issues, and a slightly rougher outline through issue 12, so we had a lot to start. And that is always very helpful in narrowing your focus and your goals – what do you need to say with this design, where is it going, what is it rooted in/where did it come from, and what DON’T we want to say, which is sometimes equally as important I’d say.
But we knew we needed to go as close to the edge as we could get without it feeling “try hard” and I do think one of the best ways to avoid things feeling “try hard” is for everything to be there for a purpose. Having a massive sword is absolutely cool, but it’s not WHY she has one. She has one because she is fighting giant Kaiju type things. Bring the right weapon, right?
But the most honest answer is actually just that Hayden is a fantastic designer. All of their first passes were awesome – they were super interesting – and they taught us a lot about what we wanted and what we didn’t want. After that first pass, I was pretty sure we needed pants and expressed that – even though I was hesitant as that has historically not gone well for Diana. But everyone was open to trying it and I believe the final look we landed on – I mean we tweaked it a bit obviously — but a very close to final version — was in that second pass I believe. They’re an incredible designer – and fast too, which is especially wild to me, as I am very slow. [laughs]
ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #3 cover by Hayden Sherman
FS: Is there anything you can tease about what we can expect to see in the series going forward?
KT: We’ll be slow rolling out some of Diana’s supporting cast over the first five issues – Steve first appears in issue two, Barbara Minerva in issue three. Etta Candy in issue four. And each of those issues have flashbacks that are informative to the main story. We’ll also be seeing in issues 6 and 7, how some of Diana’s weapons were built, and some details on her life in the underworld and how she escaped. It’s all very exciting.
FS: Diana is shown with new abilities we haven’t necessarily seen her wield before. What kind of narrative choices and fun have those new abilities opened up for you in your writing?
KT: I’m a big mythology fan, so in some ways Wonder Woman has always been the perfect character for me, and getting to build from the ground up is incredibly liberating as far as figuring out all the cool things we can build for her. For this first arc especially, everything was plotted very tightly in how to feed out these reveals. But the biggest thing that aided me here I think, is that DC (and Scott Snyder) have been really supportive and encouraging of my approach, which, not to be dramatic about it, but that’s the whole ball game.
FS: You’ve said on social media and on your Substack that writing an ongoing series for Wonder Woman has been a dream come true. What do you hope readers—and yourself—get from your work on Absolute Wonder Woman?
KT: I hope they cry and I hope they cheer. I think there are a few very powerful underlying things we’re doing with Diana here that all fit her very well – talking about finding motherhood and sisterhood and magic and raising someone up to be strong, no matter what the circumstances are. And finding the tenderness and kindness and honesty and hope and inspiration in all of that. I hope all of that stuff we’re doing deeply moves people. And I also hope we shred people’s minds with super badass monster fighting and magic deployment and wild weapons, and a Diana that aches for justice and is absolutely over seeing wrongs not being righted.
Absolute Wonder Woman #1 is out now from DC Comics. Issue #2 goes on sale on Wednesday, November 27, 2024.
From the official issue description of issue #2:
THOMPSON & SHERMAN’S RED-HOT REIMAGINING OF WONDER WOMAN UNLEASHES MONSTER MAYHEM! Gateway City has never seen anything like the Harbinger-Prime, the enormous, ravenous monster that has just risen from the depths of the ocean to darken its shores… but the Harbinger has never seen anything like the unstoppable Diana, Princess of the Underworld!