Absolute Wonder Woman #17 Review: Season of the Witch Part 2 Delivers Brutal Action

• Written by: Kelly Thompson

• Art by: Hayden Sherman

• Colors by: Jordie Bellaire

• Letters by: Becca Carey

• Cover art by: Hayden Sherman, Jordie Bellaire (cover A)

• Cover price: $4.99

• Release date: February 25, 2026

Absolute Wonder Woman #17 (DC Comics, 2/25/26): Writer Kelly Thompson and artist Hayden Sherman throw Wonder Woman into a brutal “hit squad at the museum” melee where a freed Zatanna, Giganta, Cheetah, and Queen Ara crash Diana’s public goodwill tour in an all out magical ambush. The execution is stylish but uneven, and while the fight choreography and atmosphere impress, the sudden Zatanna pivot and rushed escalation blunt the impact for anyone counting their weekly pulls; Verdict: Worth reading, but not essential.

First Impressions

This issue hits like a spell gone wrong, fast and disorienting in the best way, with Zatanna's brutal liberation setting a tone of desperate improvisation amid shattered glass and panic. Diana's shift from frozen prey to tactical powerhouse feels earned through sheer will, though the quick pivot away from Zatanna leaves a gap where deeper emotional fallout could have landed harder. The art grabs you by the throat from page one, turning a confined brawl into something visceral and alive.

Overall, it reads like a pressure cooker release after last issue's setup, rewarding fans of Diana's problem-solving smarts while testing patience with its breakneck pace and sudden deaths. You feel the weight of every punch and incantation, yet the script's reluctance to linger on key beats keeps it from fully resonating as more than crowd-pleasing chaos. Strong enough to hook you for the next chapter, uneven enough to question the long game.

Recap

Last issue, Diana enjoyed a tense peace at the Hieron as Aphrodite warned her in dreams of looming catastrophe, a chill she felt even with Ferdinand and Petra confirming the Maze refugees were settled. Steve Trevor faced a grilling Senate committee over his alliance with her, quit his post with unyielding conviction, and left the suits scrambling. Meanwhile, Area 41's shadows armed a Parasite weapon for a museum strike to kill Diana and trash her image, succeeding when an explosion at Barbara Minerva's exhibit cut her magic and funneled it to Zatanna, trapping Diana as the trap sprang shut.

Plot Analysis (SPOILERS)

The chaos erupts in the trashed Gateway City museum with Zatanna frozen under bindings, internally vowing to rip her captor apart despite severed magic while barking at Giganta to check the perimeter. Giganta snaps back about not taking orders, but Zatanna casts backward spells to force herself to purge the Parasite, wracked by violent heaves until the bindings snap and she gasps free, immediately teleporting to safety after naming herself fully in the ritual. Diana marvels at the teleport and feels her own magic return, spotting Dr. Poison first and neutralizing her with raw force as Zatanna's lingering protection keeps the doctor harmless.​

At Area 41, Sovereign and Alberts watch the feed in alarm as Zatanna hands magic back to Diana or slips control entirely, sparking a frantic pivot when her teleport spell names Sovereign aloud. Alberts floats Cuca as a replacement, but Sovereign dismisses her due to past Parasite failures and shape-shifting risks, settling on a more powerful "him" immune to the device yet manipulable by a hidden second lever they must conceal as broken. Sovereign snaps at Alberts' hesitation, threatening his removal, and orders immediate deployment to the museum, underscoring the cold calculus of their escalating war.​

Diana dives into the fray against Dr. Poison, Cheetah, Giganta, and Queen Ara's scaly minions amid civilian screams, smashing Poison into helplessness under Zatanna's safeguard spell before Giganta slams her through walls. Giganta summons a skeletal winged Pegasus that shatters the ceiling and blasts hellfire, scorching foes while she looms unscathed, then stomps toward the smoking Diana only to face a giant-sized counter when Diana matches her growth with a hair-strand ritual and magical match. Diana's punch hurls Giganta through stone; she shrinks back, evacuates allies like Etta and Barbara, then drags the fight to open ground away from crowds.​

Sizing up again, Diana chokes out the massive Giganta mid-air over the city, cradling her to a gentle landing with a Hecate prayer for reason upon waking, then seals her with a crushed sleep orb before hunting the escaped Ara. She finds Cheetah reverted to Priscilla Rich, gutted by blood magic from a flaming skeletal figure who taunts the dying woman as a failed monster needing release via jagged blade. Returning, Diana confronts the witch over the corpse, recognizing the blood ritual just as the skeleton calls her demon and casts "NRUB EHT HCTIW," igniting her magical arm in molten agony across a full-page scream, teasing "When Witches Burn" next.​

Writing

Thompson drives pacing like a runaway spell, chaining Zatanna's purge to instant brawl to horror sting with zero breath, which amps urgency but starves quieter moments of resonance. Dialogue snaps in combat, from Giganta's gleeful bone-grinding taunts to Diana's dry internal jabs at the bread obsession, grounding the frenzy in personality without halting momentum. Structure frames a tight escalation from binding break to witch reveal, though Zatanna's panel-hogging spell chants disrupt flow more than they build dread.​

The script excels at Diana's voice, blending tactical narration with weary humor that sells her as warrior-thinker, yet Area 41's lever-talk piles intrigue without payoff, risking fatigue from unseen strings. Sovereign's clipped threats to Alberts add sharp menace, authentic to command dynamics, while thematic depth emerges in magic's double-edged toll, from Zatanna's desperate gambit to Priscilla's mercy kill. Pacing sacrifices nuance for propulsion, delivering thrills over introspection in a chapter built for visceral impact.​

Art

Sherman's jagged lines and warped perspectives cram the museum into claustrophobic violence, making every panel feel like a pressure spike as bodies collide amid debris. Layouts shift masterfully from vertical stacks trapping Diana in fire to sweeping cityscapes dwarfing her Giganta grapple, guiding the eye through scale jumps with brutal efficiency. Expressions sell the toll, Diana's glowing rage piercing smoke while Giganta's sneer radiates bully joy, ensuring emotional clarity amid abstraction.​

Bellaire's palette ignites mood through fire-licked oranges bleeding into bloodied crimsons, cooling only for Diana's calculated breaths amid chaos, with skeletal glows piercing gloom for horror contrast. Composition synergizes with script via dynamic angles, Pegasus's ceiling crash exploding outward to engulf panels, while the arm-melt finale uses negative space to amplify agony. Tonality evolves seamlessly from gritty melee to eldritch dread, though dense crowd shots occasionally muddle foreground figures under flame haze.​

Character Development

Diana embodies relentless protector, prioritizing civilian evacuations and ethical takedowns even as giants trade city-shaking blows, her Hecate prayer over sleeping Giganta revealing compassion amid fury. Zatanna's self-liberation screams survival instinct, trading names for escape in a Cale-fleeing Hail Mary that feels raw and human despite brevity. Giganta's theatrical savagery, fixated on bone-bread boasts, paints her as joyfully unhinged muscle consistent with rogue gallery flair.​

The skeletal witch emerges coldest, butchering Priscilla with patronizing mercy that exposes a twisted savior complex, fueling relatability through her precise cruelty. Priscilla's pleas humanize Cheetah beyond beast mode, making her demise hit as needless tragedy rather than faceless kill. Sovereign's ruthlessness shines in dismissing underlings, motivations tied to shadowy control that keeps Area 41's threat palpably consistent yet opaque.​

Originality & Concept Execution

Zatanna hijacking her own bindings via name-purge flips the control trope into desperate agency, delivering "Season of the Witch" promise through improvised dark magic that costs as much as it saves. Diana's hair-match growth ritual feels inventively folkloric, tying Absolute's gritty witchcraft to tactical heroism without power fantasy excess. Blood magic finale twists ambush into ritual horror, freshening villainy beyond brute force.​

Premise lands via escalating witchery from purge to Pegasus to arm-curse, yet unseen "him" and levers echo standard conspiracy beats, diluting novelty with familiar shadows. Execution shines in Diana's venue-shift for safety, fulfilling protector ethos originally amid spectacle, though rushed exits blunt emotional freshness. Arc premise holds as witches burn brighter, succeeding more in visceral delivery than subplot depth.​

Pros and Cons

What We Loved

• Zatanna's self-purge ritual delivers visceral, inventive magic mechanics.​
• Giantess brawl relocates smartly, prioritizing civilians dynamically.​
• Skeletal witch's blood kill injects sharp horror amid superhero chaos.​

Room for Improvement

• Zatanna's teleport exit rushes past her hard-earned buildup.​
• Backward spells clutter panels, slowing visual momentum.​
• Area 41 levers tease without grounding concrete stakes.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

The Scorecard

Writing Quality (Clarity & Pacing): 3/4
Art Quality (Execution & Synergy): 3.5/4
Value (Originality & Entertainment): 1/2

​

Final Verdict

Absolute Wonder Woman #17 cranks the witch war to fever pitch with Diana outsmarting a hit squad through grit and guile, capped by a molten-arm gut punch that demands the next issue. It earns rack space for invested readers chasing this arc's dark magic spiral, blending brawl thrills with horror promise in a package that punches above its occasional stumbles. Casual pull-listers can circle back digitally, but arc followers get a chapter worth the cover price for its raw, unpolished energy.

7.5/10

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