The Absolute Universe is a much crueler place than the standard DC Universe. Where the Prime Universe is structured around Superman’s hope and positivity, the Absolute Universe has been forcibly veered towards Darkseid’s evil. There, hope is a fleeting, flickering candle in a stormy night, and the heroes are underdogs that are constantly on the back foot. From Superman witnessing the death of Krypton to Batman fighting eldritch horror versions of his villains, nobody is safe from the darkness of this land. However, there’s been one hero who has shone just as brightly as the original. Ever since her introduction, Absolute Wonder Woman has been this universe’s heart.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Diana might have been raised in Hell, but she never let that dampen her spirits. She’s consistently smiled through the agony and inspired hope and empathy in even the most terrifying circumstances. She’s the one who acts most like a traditional superhero, and it’s shown in the outstanding public approval, both in and out of universe. Yet, not even Wonder Woman is safe from the absolute sadness of this world. Absolute Wonder Woman #19 revealed that Diana has a secret power that is the greatest curse someone like her could possibly receive.
Blessed and Cursed With the Power of Love
This issue is the penultimate chapter in the “Season of the Witch” storyline. A major recurring theme has been the power of love, and the story has been interspersed with tales of when Diana was younger and her relationship with the goddess of love, Aphrodite. The goddess stopped visiting Diana when she was still young, and a flashback in this issue’s opening pages finally showed us why. Aphrodite left because she could not bear the pain and shame of what she’d done to Diana.
As Aphrodite explained to Circe, each of the goddesses infused Diana with a piece of themselves and their power. For Aphrodite, that meant giving Diana a small piece of Aphrodite’s ability to inspire love for her in those who see her. Not a lot, according to her, but enough love magic poured out of Diana that anyone who looked at her or got to know her would want to believe in her. It wasn’t so overwhelming that she could turn enemies to friends with a glance, or anything like that, but more so ensured that she always had a foot in the door when trying to make connections. If someone would love her, then this magic made it infinitely easier, and that’s a major problem.
Love Easily Given Is Love Never Earned
Wonder Woman is blessed to be incredibly easy to love, or at least to like, and that is the worst kind of curse for an empathetic woman like Diana. She has to go through her entire life never knowing if someone cares for her because of who she is or because her blessing made it so. How can she ever trust that love and affection are genuine when people are predisposed to liking her? The only person she can be sure of is her mother, who loved her far before this spell, but even then, that’s only one person. Diana is a public figure who already has so many close friends. How many of them only follow her because of Aphrodite’s magic?
Zatanna is a great example of this. In this issue, she risked her life to save Diana, showing concern like a lover for her. Sure, Wonder Woman has helped her out, but this extreme care for Diana seems like it developed way too fast. That is, of course, unless you consider Aphrodite’s magic affecting Zatanna, which it most definitely has to be for this kind of reaction. We, the audience, know that Wonder Woman doesn’t need a blessing to be loved. She’s won our hearts and minds without any magic, but she doesn’t know that, and she lives in a world where she can never be sure how much care someone has for her is real.
Wonder Woman has always been a champion of truth and honesty, but she’s forced to live knowing that her very presence influences people to believe something they might not want to. She’s trapped in a cage that she can never escape from. Wonder Woman has been cursed to be a symbol of love, but never be able to ascertain if that love is genuine or the byproduct of a blessing from her goddess. It’s tragic in the worst way possible.
What do you think is Wonder Woman’s most tragic trait? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!
