Well, we knew it was coming… But perhaps not as soon as this week. Because in today’s Absolute Wonder Woman #12, we get the surprise introduction of — spoilers past this point — Absolute Zatanna.
Written by Kelly Thompson with art by Hayden Sherman, the DC Comics issue is mostly about wrapping up the end of the “maze” arc that found Diana doing what only she can: by making friends and forgiving enemies. However, there’s a big shocker left for the end of the issue… Io, the only Amazon Diana has ever met, was also trapped in the maze. And after getting her out, rather than freeing her sister, it certainly seems like Io is disintegrated by a flash of lightning (could it be… Zeus?) with Diana shocked and confused, though aware that she is not dead.
That’s because Io is actually sent directly to Diana’s birth mother, Hippolyta. And not only that, they are on Themyscira, which is A) still around despite what Diana has been told, and B) completely populated by all the Amazons. A wild twist that changes everything we’ve known about this series so far.
But wait, there’s more! In what amounts to a post-credits scene — literally, after the reveal of Themyscira, there are credits — we cut into the Area 41 Black Site, which is housed over the remains of the maze. There, the site’s director Veronica Cale is arguing with the toxic Dr. Poison about getting a new suit, and reveals she’s moving the good doctor to working on something called Project SS-1. What is it? Similar to another blonde lady named Elenore Thawne over in Absolute Flash, Cale has a secret prison/lab full of mysterious characters. One is an unidentified crocodile with long blonde hair that could be one of Shazam’s enemies, the Crocodile-Men. The next is a shrunk down Doris Zuel, aka Giganta. There’s also a fish-woman (possibly an Atlantean?) and curiously something that looks like Cheetah’s tale, though Barbara Minerva is very much human elsewhere in the book.
But the reveal of the final prisoner is a biggie. Cutting to a full-page splash of a woman bound in a full-body straitjacket and muzzled like Hannibal Lecter, Cale says, “It looks like you’re finally going outside after all, Zatanna. Because I’m going to send you to kill a witch.”
…And in fact, it was just two short weeks ago when Absolute Batman writer Scott Snyder teased that Absolute Zatanna was coming, though he didn’t say where or how. Turns out it’s “now” and it’s “in Absolute Wonder Woman.”
So when will we see more of her? Well, here’s the synopsis for next month’s Absolute Wonder Woman #13:
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.
This story will continue in November in a two-parter drawn by Matías Bergara, with Absolute Wonder Woman #14 teasing, “In the midst of this struggle, a new player makes their presence known, but are they friend or foe?” So given all that, it seems likely either the threat is Zatanna, the new player is Zatanna, or maybe… Both. We’ll find out noos hguone. Sorry: soon enough.
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