Absolute Wonder Woman (2024-) #13

Absolute Wonder Woman (2024) #13

by Kelly Thompson, Matías Bergara (Artist)

As Diana learns more of the “myth of the Amazons” from Barbara in Gateway City, a series of violent supernatural events begins occurring one after another, drawing Diana all over the globe to fight. Noticing a pattern, Diana enlists Etta to help her crack the mystery of why these events are happening in these places and how to stop them. The answer? Too personal to imagine.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Wonder Woman, Fantasy, Superheroes, Graphic Novels, Mythology

Kindle Edition

Published October 22, 2025

About the author

KELLY THOMPSON has a degree in Sequential Art from The Savannah College of Art & Design. Her love of comics and superheroes have compelled her since she first discovered them as a teenager. Currently living in Portland, Oregon with her boyfriend and the two brilliant cats that run their lives, you can find Kelly all over the Internet where she is generally well liked, except where she's detested.

Kelly has published two novels - THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING (2012) and STORYKILLER (2014) and the graphic novel HEART IN A BOX from Dark Horse Comics (2015). She's currently writing ROGUE & GAMBIT, HAWKEYE, and PHASMA for Marvel Comics and GHOSTBUSTERS for IDW. Other major credits include: A-Force, Captain Marvel & The Carol Corps, Jem and The Holograms, Misfits, Power Rangers Pink, and the creator-owned mini-series Mega Princess.

Kelly's ambitions are eclipsed only by her desire to exist entirely in pajamas. Fortunately pajamas and writers go hand in hand (most of the time). Please buy all her stuff so that she can buy (and wear) more pajamas.

Reviews

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Fun cliffhanger.

[Jadyn❀ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the connection made between the history of the Amazons and the threat Diana is facing, and I love the team she’s gathered that helps her figure that out. The art is consistently beautiful, even when the interior art is not by Hayden Sherman.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really like this set up. Watching Diana have a crew of friends helping, while also some excellent shots of badass poses, and a new "enemy" makes this a fun start to this short arc.

[MrGlassWontBreak · Rating 4 out of 5]

While learning about Amazons from Barbara, Diana's base, The Heron, now able to intercept international news and alert those within it, picks up a supernatural attack by a creature made of energy at a casino in Reno. Diana rushes off to stop it but notices it emits dark energy that makes those around it violent, which throws her off, allowing the creature to escape.

The creature reappears, wreaking havoc, and Diana battles it at various locations across the globe, with the entity evading her always. Until Etta notices a pattern in its movements involving locations with past historic Amazon appearances, and Diana realizes that the creature is the price the world must pay for the magic she uses on earth. Very nice connection to the law of exchange, very well executed issue.

I usually don't like art like this but the artist for this issue made some spectacular images with his loose and jagged line work

[Raymond Paquette · Rating 5 out of 5]

The price of magic is high, but Diana must pay it. Great story about taking responsibility and the power of the imagination.

[Machiavelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished Absolute Wonder Woman #13 — a fun, fast-paced start to the new arc as Diana chases a powerful kinetic dark being she can’t quite conquer. Kelly Thompson continues to nail Diana’s voice — confident, compassionate, and wry in the face of chaos. Matías Bergara’s fill-in art keeps the energy and quality sky-high.

[dusty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diana’s helmet is unbelievably badass. It looks almost demonic and carries such an intimidating presence the moment it’s on the page.

I love how Diana approaches dire situations and dangerous environments like a chessboard. She’s methodical and almost detective like, always thinking several moves ahead and making sure she isn’t being manipulated while choosing the right path forward.

The idea that historians have found little to no trace of Amazons throughout major historical events adds a fascinating layer of myth and mystery to the story.

The investigation into this spiritual, dark energy affecting different parts of the world immediately hooked me. I loved how it challenged Diana both physically and emotionally, especially as it began to hint at something deeper connected to Themyscira. And the ending reveal of what this force actually is, and how it ties directly to Diana, was incredibly satisfying to me.

I can’t wait to see how she handles this challenge in the next issue. This story is getting really interesting!

[Kastie Pavlik · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's like Pandora's Box was just opened. Love the issue and the turn the story takes, but kind of bummed we don't... see Zatanna after seeing her on the final page of issue 12.

[belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

“but circe and i were always reading. and whatever i was reading, falling in love with, getting lost inside… that was themyscira to me, i think. even before i knew its name.”

really pleasantly surprised with the new artwork in this one! it has a really cool, fluid sense of movement. barbara is DEFINITELY gay with the way she’s staring at diana (honestly every main character in this comic run probably is: etta and gia are already confirmed to be together, diana is my bi queen, steve trevor is a he/him lesbian if you squint). also very smooth little meta-comment on the nature vs. nurture debate they snuck in there — which is really the guiding question that the whole absolute universe hinges on.

“the way you think is unique and beautiful. i wonder if that’s due to who you are or how you were raised?”
“can such things be separated?”

[sam banach · Rating 5 out of 5]

TOO GOOD

[Colin Post · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bergara’s art is such a nice complement to Sherman’s - different enough but comparable in tone, fluidity. I love the Scooby gang that’s forming, too. Diana really doesn’t know much about her own origins, and it’s going to take the help of her friends to figure it out.

[Haden Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2

[Zoey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonder Woman is the price for this destruction. Her very existence puts the balance of the world askew, and this darkness must put it back to normal. What an interesting concept.

[Riley Pilgrim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked the different art for this issue.

[Roland Baldwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still my current favourite series. Kelly Thompson knows well Steve Trevor is as important to Wonder Woman as Catwoman is to Batman and Lois is to Superman. Tom King does not understand this or Wonder Woman as a concept in the very least

[Jannes · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s crazy how beautiful the art is in this series! The story is fantastic as well!

[nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh diana i love you so much you are so cool. i have to clock in to work (movie time with friends) so i will not say much more. this art is so delicious yum

[Cybernex007 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these 2 issue arcs so much, they do a great job at breaking up the story between the main arcs while wasting no time in continuing to explore what makes these characters tick, while giving Sherman a bit of reprieve and giving other artists to shine with this character. And the setup of this book remains so promising for what will be explored next issue. Now that we have finally gotten a moment to breathe, Diana had opted to spend some of her free time with Barbara in the Hieron exploring the documented history of the amazons. As she talks to Barbara, she describes her perception of the amazons as constantly shifting. She has only recently put a word to the feeling of something missing from her life for so long, and you can see the excitement and wonder in Barbara’s face as Diana goes deep into her feelings about this. But suddenly they are interrupted as the Hieron alarms with a breaking news report. Apparently Diana asked Steve to hook up the area to play any international breaking news as soon as it happens. Diana is now international! I love that this is the first series where it truly feels like a hero is going out into this world and publicly helping people. This feels like such a huge step for the absolute universe.

As Diana rushes off to the disturbance in Reno, Nevada, she immediately feels something unnatural in the air and notices a spark of light as she approaches the destroyed burning building. As she flies deeper into the building she can feel the energy batwing at her, as of it were a violent virus. Suddenly the spark of light grows closer and rushes towards her as Diana spits out a spell to hold it back from her before the electrically charged being is able to make contact with her. As of by instinct she goes for her axe much sooner than she usually would and slashes at the creature. Upon realizing that the dark energy coming from this creature has already begun to compromise her, she removes her helmet and drops her axe and apologizes as she attempts to talk to the creature. The creature says nothing and instead begins to wrap itself around Diana’s arm, prompting her to use a spell to push it back. As it howls she cannot tell if it is from anger or pain but it continues to throw attacks her way, and as Diana fights through the angry thoughts filling her head she grabs her axe and hurls it at the creature…and it acts as if she did nothing at all. Suddenly it lets out more screams as it fills her mind with darkness, and then brings the building down around then. Diana tides from the rubble angrier than ever only to see the creature running away. She attempted to chase after it but lost it somewhere over the pacific.

Without much free time between fights, Diana heads back to the Hieron to continue her conversation with Barbara. She was glad to hear from Steve that no one was hurt from her encounter but she is still left unsure of what she was dealing with. They also make a comment about Steve being called back to base for a mysterious reason, I wonder if that will ever come back. The next discussion with Barbara’s covers one of the earliest known Amazonian battles with an ancient sea creature. No remains were found, which adds to the mystery, as they found a ton of weapons and armor. It could indicate a value of never leaving the dead behind, or maybe they can’t be killed. Hey Diana! You may be immortal.

Suddenly the Hieron announces another breaking news, this time coming from Uruguay and having to be translated. Hit the system. Once again a being of pure energy and bad vibes is attacking. When Diana arrives she finds the local firefighters attempting to put out a fire that is engulfing their lighthouse. Diana acts quickly and is able to use magic to force water to drip down onto the lighthouse and put the fire out. And then she was able to follow the path of destruction to find the lighting creature. She attempts to approach it this time without any weapons, only to be grabbed and thrown back to the beach by the creature, before seeing it fly off once again. This encounter becomes sort of a trend, Diana would head back to the Hieron only to get another breaking news report of the creature, she would fly off to fight it and figure out anything she can about it, and then it would escape. Diana is exhausted, but the others may have figured something out. All of the locations the creature has attacked were sites of ancient Amazonian battles. They have different names now but they are the same places, except for Reno but that may be connected as the hotel that was attacked was called paradise island. This is a great find and Diana sets the team off on mapping out all of the locations so she can figure out where the creature goes next, while they do that there is something she must do. All magic has a cost and as Diana heads out into the woods to a great tree it seems that she pays hers in a different way. Much layer and Diana has rejoined the group, they have taken the map of the world on the floor and mapped out every location. One thing that does confuse me about this issue, where are all the creatures from area 41 we rescued in the last arc? Shouldn’t they be hanging out here too? Either way, Diana thanks them for their work and they realize they probably haven’t gotten any reports because a lot of the battles are in remote locations where no one would notice. But suddenly the alarm rears back up as they get a news alert coming from Delphi, Greece.

Diana admits that she has always dreamed of going to Greece, unfortunately it is in search of a creature that destroys everything it touches, plus it is on a sacred site of Apollo which means she has to be especially careful not to aid its destruction of it may not look good for her. She once again engages in combat and is thrown to the floor, but then something occurs to her. All magic has a cost…this creature is her, she is the cause! As the issue comes to an end, Diana looks to the creature only to see her own armor reflected back at her! All magic has a price and somehow that has resulted in the creation of this monster! Oh shoot!

[Adamsloj]

Ten zeszyt AWW robi coś, co wydawało się niemożliwe. Wchodzi na nowe wyżyny, jest chyba najciekawszy i najlepszy z dotychczasowych, a jest to duże osiągnięcie. Scenarzystka ta sama, ale udało jej się przebić siebie. Poza tym zmienił się rysownik i poszedł w Kleopatre przy twarzy, też trochę inne podejście do tła.

Wydaje się, że sam numer jest dużo bardziej grecki niż wcześniejsze. Poza czarno(czerwono)figurowymj rzeczami chyba więcej samej greki, ale nie pamiętam. Nie wiem też, czy dla osób nieczytających bądź nie znających symboli matematycznych może to być problem. na szczęście kapitaliki greki często wyglądają jak ich odpowiedniki z alfabetu łacińskiego. Z drugiej strony językowo – hiszpański też może być problemem. Nie żałują go w Absolute Universe, bo akurat Amerykanie raczej nie mają z nim problemu.

By podkreślić ten peak zeszyt rozprawia się z potencjalnymi oskarżeniami, że WW jest nudnym Mary Sue tego universum, jak Superman w zwykłym. Niby straciła rękę - ale nadal ją ma etc. A tutaj nareszcie jest at its low. W dodatku jest to pierwsza część historii zatytułowanej "cena". Każda decyzja ma swoją cenę, a ratowanie świata pewnie szczególnie.

Wiąże się to z ciekawymi nawiązaniami kulturowymi, które zabierają nas do Le Guin i antropologii, co jest zawsze fajne. Choć pewnie nie musi to być bezpośrednie nawiązanie, bo przeszło już do popkultury. Jedyną potencjalną wadą tego zeszytu, bardziej zabawną niż przeszkadzającą, jest dziwne konotacja, że starożytni Grecy znali/bili się w Ameryce Południowej. Komiksy są cudowne, albo ja czegoś nie zrozumiałem.

[John Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit more of an introspective arc, as a way to build up to the next big one. This arc shows the price that Diana has to pay for using magic, hence the title. The artwork, this time by Matías Bergara, while not my favorite of the book thus far, was still great in its own right. I especially love the shot of Diana rising out of the rubble. Unlike the most recent New 52 issue I reviewed on here, the conversation between Diana and the rest of the supporting cast in the Hieron actually had substance. Throughout this issue, Barbara is theorizing the backstory of the Amazons, with nice stylized artwork to go along with it. That's a neat storytelling tool without revealing Themyscira too much. I really love the inner dialogue Kelly Thompson gives Diana throughout this story, having her fight her intrusive thoughts. It really gives a depth to the character that is completely lacking in the current main book. I'm really curious how this story will tie up next issue, and how it'll lead into the next arc.

[Alexis Moreno · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this issue even admitted it didn’t have as much witty and fun dialogue or as engaging and dynamic human interactions. I think that idea of answering who are you and what made you being played at as both a philosophical question but also a literal consequence of diana’s existence in man’s world is interesting. I truly didn’t think that the no named monster was there because of diana but she points as a possibility. i was thinking more along the lines of what does repeated failure due to someone and how can that bring out the “bad” in people and that bad relates to who they are and how they were raised and it’s hard to differentiate the two as diana puts it and puts it well. Now because of who she is and what she literally had growing up in life, the world might be suffering the consequences of this, but i’m curious as to why her specifically? there have been allures and mentions of using or need to use by various gods so maybe it relates to that somehow?

[Jerry Aguirre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comic never misses. I only gave it 4 stars because I prefer the original art. This one isn’t bad, but the other one is just better.

Spoilers:

The team is looking and talking about Themyscaria. When a new alert , through the Hieron which will be the hall of justice, lets her know of a new threat. Apparently, this is an electrical force that gives bad thoughts. Wonder Woman noticed it and fought back, but every time they fight in mutiple places, and turns out the monster is going to places of past battles of Themyscaria, it’s taking a lot out of Diana. Also, they mention that her magic comes at a price. AHAT DOES THAT MEAN.

Tell u what it means: the entity is her. The world has an evil Wonder Woman thing because that’s the price to pay. She spreads hope everywhere she goes. So this thing spreads despair. Darkseid

[AviChaim Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I begin, I want to say that I did enjoy this issue, but it is definitely the weakest entry in the series so far. This issue primarily serves to set up a short two-issue arc and is very writing-heavy, with a lot of groundwork being laid. There are two main focuses here, and I personally feel this arc would have benefited from committing to one or the other. Thompson spends time expanding on Themyscira and the Amazons while also diving into magic and the cost that comes with it. While both ideas are interesting, tackling them at the same time makes the issue feel a bit unfocused. The art is serviceable but does not particularly stand out. Overall, this is a solid issue, just not on the same level as what the series has delivered so far. I would recommend it, but with the caveat that the series has much stronger entries.
Grade: B-

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aunque la revelación de la última página anima de cara a la aparente resolución de este nuevo micro arco argumental ya en el siguiente número. Lo que me ha entusiasmado de esta 13º entrega de ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN es lo BIEN que ha irrumpido un nuevo dibujante a la historia como es
Matías Bergara. Su trazo particular se acerca al titular Hayden Sherman pero su estilo resulta algo más "energético" lo cual funciona genial con esa amenaza que realiza un "tour" de destrucción por aparentes lugares donde las Amazonas han estado antaño. Para dilucidar esto, se afianza aún más la interesante agrupación de personajes anexos a Diana en esa curiosa "base de operaciones".

[Annemarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hate cliffhangers. (And I know I've said this in other reviews as well) Not because of their intended effect, but because I feel like it's a cheap way to have your reader continue. Because I feel a truly good story doesn't need a cliffhanger to keep people reading. I liked the bait and switch, if Diana was right. on the other hand, I'm not too fond of the path they chose (again, if Diana was right)

[Arch Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great build up issue to a hopefully eventful combat issue.

Nothing much to say outside of the resourcefulness that Diana seemingly has at her will in way of her friends at her base outside of Gateway City.

This team is Grade A in helping Diana overcome and strategize to beat enemies. The writing of this dynamic is chef’s kiss. All in all, a really good issue. Could’ve been more, but I assume that’s for the next.

[AJ Easterday · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't always love when we get a guest artist mid-series, but the guest artists on this one are actually very good. This is another solid issue. The new conflict/villain introduced in this one is very intriguing. I'm so excited for the next part!

[Abbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg Kelly keep cooking! This mini arc seems so cool and I can't wait to see where this leads to! Great that the secondary cast seems to be included more in this part since in the maze arc they were, obviously, pretty absent.

[Paul wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

New Chapter

Like this new chapter in Absolute Wonder Woman. Hope to learn more about the Amazons and exactly what happened and who of the Gods were and are responsible. Definitely looks like a good read.

[Michael Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Killer last page, but this series, taken as a whole, hasn’t really good and truly impressed me yet. It feels a bit too simplistic, particularly up against Absolute Batman and Superman, and I keep wishing Kelly Thompson would take much bigger swings with this character.