Absolute Wonder Woman #15 (2025)

Veronica Cale calls the Joker from her home in Gateway City. She tells him that Wonder Woman, Batman and the other costumed heroes are being made into merchandise and are starting to inspire people. The Joker replies that big symbols are big targets. He asks if Wonder Woman took "the bait"; and Cale tells him that she did. In Gotham City, Batman is fighting criminals in an alley, when suddenly a bat symbol made of green eldritch energy appears in the sky across town. The crooks flee in fear and Batman swings over to the building which the symbol is emanating from. He spies it out from nearby skyscraper under construction, and Wonder Woman appears beside him. She tells him that he is impressively quiet for someone his size and in response he drops down to investigate the source of the symbol. He asks if it is magic and she confirms that it is, and that she wanted to get his attention rather than traipse around his city uninvited. Wonder Woman introduces herself as Diana and he replies that he is Batman. He asks her to define magic and she describes it as advanced chemistry with unconventional inventions and unusual resources. She then asks him how he can jump from the top of skyscrapers with no fear when he cannot fly. He simply responds "necessity", which she says is a good answer. Wonder Woman then explains that she has come to Gotham because of four recent murders where the Mark of Hecate appeared. As she is unfamiliar with Gotham and is not a detective herself, she chose to make contact with him to ask for his help. They also discuss their different philosophies to dealing with the public. Batman tells Wonder Woman she made a mistake by appearing on the news because it put the mortal people around her in danger. She replies that she would not go back to the shadows even if she could, as the only way she can show love to the world is by living in it. Batman begrudgingly says that they all have their own paths and his father would have liked hers. Wonder Woman also gives him a gift: a magic talisman which he can use to summon her for help by touching it with his bare skin and demanding an audience with Diana of the wild Isle. Diana asks Batman to take her to the latest crime scene and he leads her out to a shack in Slaughter Swamp. They investigate the remains of a ritual and Diana says that it wasn't performed by acolytes of Hecate, as the number three is key in worship of Hecate but no part of the scene is numbered in multiples of three. Additionally, the reagents used are wrong and the moon was in the wrong position when the ritual was performed. Batman agrees that the scene looks staged, even though he does not understand the magic. Diana asks if organs were removed from the body, and when he says there were she correctly guesses it was the liver; and that the previous three victims had the heart, lungs and stomach taken. She tells him that she believes whoever is behind this is trying to build a magical construct called an "anthroparion", and they now have all the necessary components. Diana suggests that go to the other sites but Batman tells her he reviewed the files for the other cases and he believes an abandoned church across the swamp may be significant. They go to the church and see lights on inside. Rather than go through any traps which may be in the building Diana simply carries Batman up into the air and drops him through the roof of the church's clocktower. The smash through the roof and find a group of people in robes chanting around a clay figure which has the stolen organs laid out on its chest and hair on its face. The witches don't react to their approach, and Batman walks towards them. Wonder Woman stops him from crossing the border of the magic circle around them, but one of the witches gestures and magic tendrils pull them in, trapping them. Diana notices that the figure is unfinished and realises they are not trying to build a construct; they are trying to take control of one. At Cale's house, she tells the Joker that he gave her the idea for her current plan when he told her the story of the miraculous "last Amazon" who was made of clay. Diana is taken over by the witches and warns Batman to run. In her last act before totally losing control she banishes her magical arm to give him the best chance against her possible. Batman jumps down to the bottom of the tower and tries to run, but Wonder Woman simply flies down after him and easily carries him back up. He tries to fight her off while yelling at her to break free of the spell, but is helpless against her superior strength. Just as she is about to kill him with his own axe he is able to pull off his glove and touch the talisman, then demand an audience with her. This breaks the spell and she regains control of herself. Diana says that the spell could not have been possible without her own hair and blood, which means someone close to her must be part of it. She destroys the hair and then goes to pick up the witches, who have all fallen unconscious. However she triggers a bomb and Batman pulls her away. They leap out of the clocktower just ahead of the explosion. In frustration Cale smashes a glass with her fist. Although shards of glass are lodged in the gloves she always wears, she shows no signs of pain. The Joker assures her they'll get more chances and she replies that they can't let them keep gathering support. While she is talking to him, Cale removes her glove to reveal that the skin of her hands is pitch black with bright blue veins running across them, and no sign of injuries from the broken glass. She asks the Joker if he has a plan for Batman and he replies that he does, just as she has one for Wonder Woman. Outside the church, Batman says that it seems like the trap was for both of them. She gives him a flash drive she got from the G.A.T.E.S. scientist she saved from the Maze and tells him it has information about "all of us". He asks if she means Superman and she says there are others too. It begins to snow, the first snow that Diana has ever seen. As the snow falls, she tells Batman that they're going to be good friends, and she hopes one day he'll tell her his name. He replies that he knows that she already knows it and she calls him "Bruce". Diana says that they should make friends with Superman and the others too if they are going to save the world. She starts to fly away, wishing for Hecate to bless and protect him and his loved ones, and he replies "Happy holidays, Diana".