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Spoilers for “Absolute Wonder Woman” #15 ahead.
When we last left Diana of the Wild Isle in “Absolute Wonder Woman” #14, she was headed to Gotham City to investigate a murder scene bearing the mark of her patron goddess, Hecate. She’s not the only visitor; as “Absolute Batman” #15 revealed, the immortal trillionaire Joseph “Joker” Grimm is back in town too. Now that Batman has defeated his champion Bane, the Joker has decided that the Bat demands his personal attention.
Both of these threads are picked up in “Absolute Wonder Woman” #15, “The Mark of Hecate” by writer Kelly Thompson and artist Hayden Sherman. This is the first inter-title crossover of the “Absolute” DC Universe. “Absolute Batman” and “Absolute Wonder Woman” were the first two “Absolute” titles to launch (and are definitely the best ongoing ones), so they get to lead the first team-up. The issue opens, though, with the villains: U.S. National Security Advisor Veronica Cale, who’s on a call with an unseen Joker. Cale wants to kill Wonder Woman, Joker wants to kill Batman, and the two have brought the heroes together hoping to wipe them out.
“Absolute” Bruce Wayne gives the character a new blue-collar background; he doesn’t have Earth-moving power, he’s fighting it. “Absolute” Batman is not an institutionalized hero on call from the Gotham Police Department’s Bat-Signal. If the book holds to its convictions that this Batman represents some needed chaos, he never will be. However, this crossover does give a new wondrous origin to the Bat-Signal.
To get Batman’s immediate attention, Wonder Woman (who, unlike the classic version, is a witch) casts a spell to generate a glowing and ethereal green Bat-signal in the sky. It catches Bruce’s eye, and soon he and Diana hit it off.
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Absolute Batman and Wonder Woman together is a reminder of how great superhero crossovers can be
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The last allusion to the Bat-Signal was in “Absolute Batman” #5, when Batman staged a meeting with gang leader Black Mask. Batman had supposedly agreed to take a $200 million bribe to lay off Black Mask’s gang, the Party Animals. Once Bruce had the money, he arranged the stacks in the shape of his emblem and burned them, lighting a signal in the sky as a message. That Bat-Signal showed what Batman is all about, but Diana’s serves the more traditional purpose: a distress call. Bruce’s reaction when he first notices it in the sky and it sends some punks he was fighting running away? “What the f*** is that?”
Once Bruce meets Diana, though, they get along. But even though they work well together, that teamwork illuminates the differences between them. Note how she introduces herself as Diana, while he introduces himself as Batman. Diana is exceedingly polite as always, whereas Batman is brusque and laconic yet still appreciative of Diana’s help; he says his father would like her ideas about changing the world with love. When they investigate one of the Hecate-marked murders, Diana pieces together why the ritual doesn’t track from a magical perspective, while the paranoid Batman clocks it as bait to lure Diana out.
“Absolute DC” waiting more than a year for a team-up featuring two major superheroes has paid off; Batman and Wonder Woman’s meeting here feels like an event. This slow-burn intersection reminds me of the early Marvel Cinematic Universe. The stories make you like the characters on their own terms first, which makes it exciting to see them interact with each other as a rare treat.
That said, this first crossover suggests there’s more to come.
Will the Absolute DC Universe give us a Legion of Superheroes?
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Diana gives Bruce a silver talisman shaped into the mark of Hecate, one that he can use to call on her at any time. Like she summoned him with the Bat-Signal, he can signal for an audience with her. (Diana calls the talisman her Hiketeia, referencing both an ancient Greek custom of supplication and one of the most famous Wonder Woman & Batman stories.)
The upcoming “Absolute Batman” #16 will guest-star Wonder Woman as Bruce and Diana journey into Hell; the “Wonder Woman” issue puts Diana on Bruce’s home turf in Gotham, while the “Batman” issue will take Bruce into Diana’s realm. It won’t be a direct continuation of this issue, though. “Absolute” Batman and Wonder Woman’s first meeting isn’t a two-parter, per se, but two standalone stories spread across both books. Thompson and Sherman got to write/draw the story in “Absolute Wonder Woman,” just like the “Absolute Batman” team of writer Scott Snyder and artist Nick Dragotta are handling the next one.Â
Beyond that, it’s not clear when the next “Absolute” crossover will be. “Absolute Wonder Woman” #15 confirms Bruce and Diana both know Superman exists, though, and Diana suggests they track him down: “I think we’re going to need lots of friends, if we’re going to save this world.” You’d think this would be setting up an “Absolute” Justice League, but Joker, Cale, and co. have already claimed that name. The law is on evil’s side in this world, after all. So, what will the united heroes call themselves? Perhaps, as some readers have put forth , the Legion of Doom — doom for the powerful and evil, that is.
“Absolute Wonder Woman” #15 is now available; “Absolute Batman” #16 is scheduled for release on January 21, 2026.