Warning: Spoilers for Absolute Wonder Woman #1!Reading AbsoluteWonder Woman’sstory reawakened the educator in me. When I’m not writing for ScreenRant orbeing a wrestling announcer, I’ve had a career in education as a teacher and a tutor for close to eight years. Granted, I quit working at a community college recently, but the point still stands: I’ve spent most of my career studying language.
Studying and analyzing words fascinates me, so when I readAbsolute Wonder Woman#1 by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman, my attention was drawn to how the comic treats the word Amazon. The word Amazon has closely been tied to Diana of Themyscira since her inception. It’s essential to the making of Wonder Woman herself, but this issue ponders what her character looks like ifthat word wasn’t allowed to be uttered.
The comic affectivelyadds weight to the word Amazon by banning it. It speaks to the power of language itself and how the word speaks to the power of Wonder Woman.
The Word Amazon Is Banned in Absolute Wonder Woman #1 - But What Does That Mean?
By Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, Jordie Bellaire, and Becca Carey
The Absolute Universe is DC’s answerto the Ultimate Marvel Universe, offering variants of the DC Comics Trinity of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and other characters to come. The first issue ofAbsolute Wonder Womandetails the title character’s origin story, which begins in Hell where Circe is kept prisoner for her crimes against the gods (presumably for using dark magic,which she passes onto Wonder Woman). One day, the god Apollo hails down from the sky to give Circe a gift: a baby named Diana.
Looking for more reimagined origins for classic DC Comics characters? Check out the other first-wave Absolute title:Absolute Batman#1 by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta andAbsolute Superman#1 by Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval!
The gift is a prisoner, as Apollo snatched young Diana of Themyscira from the Amazon population. Like Circe, the Amazons have been punished by Zeus for their crimes against the gods. That’s the exact phrasing used without further elaboration, something even Circe makes fun of, calling the assertion"a radical interpretation of the text.“Whilethe Amazons are imprisoned for eternity, Diana is never to meet her sisters again, nor learn about her sisters, hence why Apollo declares that Circe is banned from ever using the word “Amazon”. The scratches in her speech bubbles signify that she’s literally incapable of saying Amazons.
This narrative choice immediately struck me as a bold one.Wonder Woman has always been defined by her Amazon heritageand her relationship to the Amazons. She learns everything - morals, skills, and more - from the Amazons, so for this world to not only strip her of the Amazons before she gets taught those skills, but to ban the word Amazon itself - again, “that’s a bold strategy, Cotton.” I also want to draw attention to how bothCirce and the Amazonsare punished for the same reason, yet the gods never specify exactly what they did wrong.
The Word “Amazon” Has Long Been Wonder Woman’s Source of Power
What Banning the Word Says About the Gods
Again, my studies as an educator hit me hard while reading this. One thing I was always taught in school and what I’d pass onto students of my own is that, while what the text says is always important,what the text doesn’tsay is justas important. Sometimes, what isn’t said is a subtle indicator of everything you need to know about the characters and their actions. In this case, I feel like I have to assume that the gods' punishment is less out of crime and more out of fear.
The gods imprison Amazons and ban the word because they are afraid of them.
That seems to be confirmed to me, as, when Apollo is explainingAbsolute Wonder Woman’s originand the Amazons' punishment, Circe thinks to herself,“He’s trying to hide it, but he’s afraid of her. Why?“It seems evident to me that the gods punishing both Circe and the Amazons isa sign of the gods' fear of their power.Circe went from leading her own island to a prisoner of Hell, while the Amazons went from protecting the world to being imprisoned themselves. The gods imprison Amazons and ban the word because they are afraid of them.
Why Wonder Woman Learning About the Word “Amazon” Is So Signficant in This Continuity
Knowledge Is Power, Even for Superheroes
I can’t help butcompare this story to how books get banned from schools. Obviously, I’m biased, but when I hear stories like the ones about Marjane Satrapi’sPersepolisin PennsylvaniaorArt Spiegelman’sMausin public schools, I think of them being banned because of the power they hold in their text. “Knowledge is power” is a cliché, but in my mind, it’s also true. Schools may claim to ban books for being too violent or sexual, but to me, it always comes off as the people in power being afraid of what these books can inspire in the minds of young people.
This real-life context is why Circe’s decision resonates so strongly on an emotional level, as she finally tells Diana her origin story and teaches her about the word Amazon to the best of her ability without being able to say it herself. On a contextual level, it explains why Circe is so adamant about Diana knowing and understanding what an Amazon is. She needs Diana to understand her warrior culture because,even in an alternate universe, there is no Wonder Woman without the Amazons.
Absolute Wonder Woman #1 Is a Fiery Reclamation of What the Iconic Hero Represents (Review)
Absolute Wonder Woman #1 is an absolute triumph for DC Comics' new Absolute universe, redefining a classic hero via gripping drama and action.
Diana is more so a daughter of Hell than a daughter of Amazons in this world, but she isn’t a warrior without understanding that she comes from Amazons. More importantly, this is the moment she truly becomes Wonder Woman. Again, knowledge is power, and understanding the power that the gods attempt to take from her is represented by the gods trying to take the powerful word away from her. The word Amazon is AbsoluteWonder Woman’ssource of power, and it sets her on course for her hero’s journey.
Absolute Wonder Woman#1is available now from DC Comics.
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is the superhero identity of Diana, Princess of the Amazons. Created on the island of Themyscira, Wonder Woman is a super-powered demi-goddess with extreme physical strength who utilizes magical gifts (like her famous Lasso of Truth) to defeat her foes. As mighty as her fellow heroes Superman and the Justice League, Wonder Woman is unmatched in her compassion and virtue.
