Batman and Wonder Woman have two of the most iconic origin stories in pop culture. One was a boy who saw his parents murdered in front of him and swore to wage war on crime. The other is a woman forged from clay and raised to be mankind’s greatest protector. But this week, DC has profoundly reshaped both of those origin stories thanks to Detective Comics #1090 and Absolute Wonder Woman #1. Both books are part of DC’s All In initiative, offering readers a clear and easy gateway into the DC lineup. And both add some truly significant wrinkles to age-old origin stories.
What exactly has changed, and what does it mean for these characters going forward? Read on to learn more, but beware of spoilers ahead for Detective Comics #1090 and Absolute Wonder Woman #1!
Detective Comics Adds a New Wrinkle to Batman’s Origin
Detective Comics #1090 ushers in a new era for the Dark Knight, as Nightwing writer Tom Taylor and Batman artist Mikel Janin begin their run on DC’s longest-running series. This issue kicks off the five-part “Mercy of the Father” story arc, one that spends a good deal of time flashing back to Bruce Wayne’s childhood and showcasing his parents, Thomas and Martha.
Even as Batman pursues a killer in the present who seems to know him intimately, he reflects on one of the final cases in his father’s illustrious medical career. In the past, Thomas responds to a violent car crash that leaves the driver with life-threatening injuries and the driver’s young wife in early labor. Upon realizing that the woman is showing signs of physical abuse, Thomas’ colleague urges him to focus on helping her and let the man die. Thomas refuses, adamant that it would violate his oath not to save every life he can.
After a grueling surgery, Thomas and Martha pay a visit to the new mother, Evelyn, and offer to help her go into hiding and start a new life with her newborn daughter. Later, Martha also chides Thomas for saving the man’s life and enabling the cycle of abuse to continue. Thomas remains adamant that every life is worth saving. It’s clear just how much Bruce’s moral code is shaped by the actions of his father.
In the present, we learn that Bruce has remained friends with Evelyn’s daughter after all these years. Now calling herself Scarlett Martha Scott, she runs a biotech startup aimed at reversing aging (but only for those rich enough to afford the procedure, of course). When brought to see the results of that procedure for himself, Bruce is amazed. He immediately begins to feel the temptation to try it out himself. How much of a better Batman would he be if all those old injuries were no longer holding him back? It would seem he’s forgotten the lesson he learned in the classic Batman: Venom storyline.
Back in the past, Thomas responds to a tense situation when the man learns his wife and child have left him and demands to be released from the hospital. Seeing no reason to keep the man in the hospital, Thomas reluctantly discharges him. And that’s when we finally learn the man’s name - Joe Chill.
That’s right, Dr. Thomas Wayne treated the same man who would shortly go on to murder him and his wife. This adds a compelling new layer to the Wayne killings and to Bruce’s friendship with Scarlett. It also raises an interesting question. Were the Wayne murders a senseless and random act, as is usually depicted in the Batman franchise, or was Joe Chill actually committing premeditated murder? Did he kill Thomas and Martha Wayne out of revenge for his stolen family?
One thing is clear - even after 85 years, DC is finding new ways to complicate and expand on Batman’s iconic origin story. But even this change is nothing compared to the one facing Wonder Woman in the Absolute Universe.
Absolute Wonder Woman Sends Diana to Hell
Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman’s Absolute Wonder Woman is the second pillar of DC’s recently introduced Absolute Universe. In this universe, these iconic heroes exist without many of the innate advantages they have in the traditional DC Universe. In the case of Absolute Batman, the first issue introduced a Bruce Wayne who’s a blue-collar civil engineer and boxer rather than a billionaire playboy with the finest gadgets money can buy. Absolute Wonder Woman introduces a version of Diana Prince who’s even more profoundly transformed than Batman.
Diana’s entire origin story is turned on its head in this first issue. No longer is she born into a loving community of Amazons. In this universe, Zeus has just finished waging war on the Amazons, seeking to wipe even their very name from mortal memory. Baby Diana is seemingly the only surviving Amazon. Zeus orders Apollo to bring her to Hades and leave her with the most unlikely caretaker imaginable, the sorceress Circe.
Normally, Circe is one of Wonder Woman’s most powerful villains, but here she’s been cast in a far different role. She finds herself reluctantly becoming a mother to baby Diana. At first, Circe opts to ignore the baby and let nature take its course. But when Diana proves more than capable of defending herself from the beasts of Hades, Circe starts to form an attachment. As Circe reflects, “How you fall in love with a child is by raising it.”
This issue follows the two women as Circe raises her adopted daughter to adulthood and trains her in the art of magic. In this universe, Wonder Woman is both a warrior and a sorceress in her own right. By the time she reaches adulthood, Diana is ready to travel to the world of men and is haunted by a word she’s never heard spoken yet knows on a primordial level - “Amazon.”
Diana eventually makes her way to the mortal world, where she flies her ghostly pegasus into battle against a group of monsters sent by Zeus. The Greek gods seem ready to finally end the world of men. But even though there are no Amazons left to protect mortals, there is still a Wonder Woman. And unlike her traditional counterpart, this Wonder Woman casts spells and wields a sword big enough to make Cloud Strife jealous.
Absolute Wonder Woman is clearly as brave as her traditional counterpart, and possibly even stronger thanks to Circe’s teachings. The question is whether she has the same innate goodness and power to inspire. How much did she lose by not having a happy childhood among the Amazons? Can she still become a shining beacon of light to mankind when she literally grew up in Hell with only an exiled witch for company? Those are questions the new series will set out to answer in the months to come.
In other DC news, Batman: Hush is getting a sequel from the original creative team, and we break down the best Vertigo comics now that DC is bringing back the fan-favorite imprint.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
