Warning! Minor spoilers ahead for Absolute Wonder Woman #4!Fans have only just met DC Comics' newest the DC All In initiative began and fans met the warrior and witchy interpretation of the powerful Amazon.

Darkseid's death led to the creation of a world that's changed things for DC's heroes, giving them greater difficulties to overcome. most hardcore Wonder Woman yet. Absolute Wonder Woman's Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman spoke with Screen Rant and dished on how they revitalized the iconic hero.

Screen Rant: First question for both of you, what has it been like seeing the tremendous success of Absolute Wonder Woman and fans really gravitating to this incarnation of Diana?

Kelly Thompson: I knew Absolute would be at least a moderate success, because I had seen the books and I knew they were really good, and I had seen all the work Scott was doing. And I could really feel the excitement building for it, and I knew that all three of the first titles, at least at the time, were really strong. I didn't think this was going to fail, but you never want to hope even for this level of success, because you're just almost always going to fall short of it. And it's disappointing, because even if something's successful, then you're like "Oh, well, it didn't do what I thought it was going to do.". So this has been really just a mind-blowing experience and a truly great one. I feel like there's some kind of monkey's paw thing going to come after me, because it's been so great. Like when's the shoe going to drop? It's been amazing.

Hayden Sherman: Yeah, it's really exceeded every single expectation I could have had for it. I tried to keep expectations sort of level. When I entered into it, there was a feeling of "At the very least, I'm making the kind of Wonder Woman book I have always wanted to see.", and that was just a great feeling. I'm still kind of wrapping my head around it, like four, three prints of issue. I don't know if my expectations are still being exceeded, I don't even know what they are anymore.

Kelly Thompson: Hayden said it much more beautifully. I think we both felt, and Chris, and Jordie and Becca, we all felt like, this is the Wonder Woman we've always wanted to see, and it's incredible that we're getting to bring it to the page and just hope other people feel the same way, but you don't know for sure until it starts to happen. So it's been really great.

I think what has been so great about this first arc is the dual narrative. Getting to see Absolute Wonder Woman’s backstory on the island, her relationship with her Circe, her first encounter with Steve Trevor. It mirrors the Diana we know but it’s so odd and original. It’s beautiful. Do you want to talk about the process of altering her origin for the Absolute Universe?

Kelly Thompson: I think when I was trying to figure it out, I ran into a lot of walls and I almost gave up, because we've seen a lot of iterations of Diana, some better than others, but I felt a lot of the takes I was writing down in my notes were just things we'd seen before, and a lesser degree, things I wasn't even that interested in. And I think that goes back to Hayden's point about writing the Wonder Woman I cared about. And so I ended up doing a list what's fun and interesting about her. What do I love about her? How can I get to those things? Because part of the directive is these heroes have had it harder. It's a darker world but they shine through. And I was like "I think is going to be the key for her.". Let's put her in really dark circumstances. And the end result was she shone even more brightly because she had this contrasting darkness all around her. It made her seem even better and more beneficent and really the Diana that I always want. And there were a lot of takes that felt like God of War Diana. And I just had no interest in that. Because, to me, that's not really Diana anymore. The thing that separates her, not really, because Superman is incredibly kind and good and comionate, but Diana just approaches it in a different way than Superman, in my experience. And I felt like a lot of the takes I tried, we were losing that, and then it wasn't her anymore. So I kept going back to that.

Kelly Thompson: And then when Hayden came on and started drawing, I mean, I don't know, it just clicked. It just started coming together. Like, everything they were doing with the design and how it was more rough and ready, and felt like it could have been assembled in hell, but being pretty, being perfectly presented, it was more functional. Although it looks so badass, it was pretty well presented. It's like, she's got a tattered skirt. Who shows up with a tattered skirt? Well, Wonder Woman does!

Hayden Sherman: Yeah, she doesn't have 100 of those. She's got the one. She's gonna wear it out till it's like, threadbare, and then she's gonna have to figure something out.

You raise a good point Kelly, talking about the way Wonder Woman approaches hope and humanity. I’d be remiss if I didn’t touch on how issue 3 ended with her message to Gateway City. I thought that was a really effective thing, because it communicates what I feel like is her biggest strength, her genuine love for humanity. That love is so damn strong in series. Like when she meets someone for the first time, there’s this comion that’s palpable. How important was that aspect for how she’s written and drawn?

Kelly Thompson: Well, I think on my side of things, and you can see it right away in issue one, where she's making friends with all those creatures and demons, her MO is really to make friends with everything. Whereas gods betray everyone and torture everyone and mete out this injustice at the slightest whatever, her MO is completely opposite to that. Trust, be loyal, do what you can, speak to one another, make allies, and I think that will eventually, with the way she has behaved with everyone powerful and lowly, pay off for her in the people that come to her side. And when we made the swing, with deafening an entire city, I turned in that script, and I was like, "Is Chris gonna let us go? Like, are we allowed to do this?". But we did, and it's great. But I knew that if she was going to do that, she had to present a face to the world and tell them exactly what was happening, and that they just had to trust her, and that these are the things to reach for. And I thought, you know, that's not going to work for everyone who sees it, but it will work for a lot of people, especially if she can deal with this problem quickly. But I do think that tons of that comes from the way Hayden draws her. She doesn't look like just anyone else, not just her size and her clothing and things, but her physical features. She looks specific and unique, and I think that's part of the power of how she relates to people. I don't know if Hayden agrees.

Hayden Sherman: Oh, I do agree. And I think it's all playing off that feeling of one-upsmanship, where we're constantly like "Oh, you did that, I'm gonna do this!". I think one of the areas I most enjoy is where you'll write conversations between characters and really give a great sort of written out depiction of what it looks like for them to meet each other, or what a conversation is like, and how a character is feeling, and then having to emote them in such a way. And we have a lot of quiet scenes in this book. That's one of my favorite things to draw, is just a conversation where characters are saying things to each other and having to react and keep a conversation going, because so much interesting stuff just happens in the course of a single conversation.

Kelly Thompson: I just want to jump in to say a lot of the reason we're able to have those quiet moments are because of what you can convey without words. I wouldn't be able to do that if you couldn't bring that, if people couldn't understand her expressions and these complicated things that are happening without my word, I would have to layer them in, and I just don't have to. And it's a beautiful gift you've given the book. And really, a picture worth 1000 words is a long-standing cliché for a reason. It's true. It has more meaning. You can get more out of it. And there's going to be maybe a little bit more interpretation there. But I do think it's one of the hallmarks of a great comic, is the ability for the artists to carry when those scenes are better without words.

Hayden Sherman: I'm grateful to hear that. I think what's hopefully coming through to people is that we both care a lot about these characters, too much, maybe. Like, when Diana is moving through the world, I just want her to feel as much as I envision Wonder Woman in my mind. There's that kindness and that hope and optimism for people, but I think Wonder Woman goes even a step, just slightly in a different direction with this level of ion and drive for certain things that she'll be willing to do that Superman won't. And there's an intensity to her, but that can be easily swapped out the moment she sees a familiar face. I don't know, I find her very charming. (laughs)

Kelly Thompson: Same! But I hope that's not just us being narcissists and more us appreciating what the other one is bringing. It's this whole 'It takes a village' kind of feeling to me, and it really feels so rewarding.

One thing I like is how in the last couple of issues, we've been constantly reintroduced to Wonder Woman's oldest characters, first Steve, then Barbara Minerva, now Etta. What were your thoughts when it came to reinventing these characters for the Absolute Universe?

I saw people going like, "Steve's basically the same.", and maybe he will be. But I guess I just feel like it's too soon for people to be making those calls. I mean, if you don't think ending up in the underworld changes you from ending up on a paradise island of women, those are very different experiences. I think we'll see a hint at the first change in Steve in [issue] four, because he's the one that brings Diana to another character. And the implication of why he did that is sort of just a slight tease about the ways in which this Steve might be different. I think that, I think so far, Etta and the introduction of Gia, which is sort of a spoiler, but not really. I think, I think that one has the most difference right from the jump, because we've sort of really separated her from the military and given her a sort of different job that I'm very interested in, and that I think will very organically work its way into Diana's the kind of stories that we're going to be telling with Diana, and so that was exciting for me. I think one of the things people are going to like the most, I hope, is the group dynamic of some of these characters, like, whatever their individual paths are going to be like. Will Barbara become Cheetah? What is that path going to be like? You know, before we get to that, I think it's just going to be a little interesting to see how all these characters bounce off of each other and what they bring to each other, but I think this has been our approach the whole time, and I understand people get excited, and so they want to, they want to push forward really fast.

Kelly Thompson: But you know, one of the entire reasons that what Diana's fighting in this first arc is a giant kaiju monster that doesn't speak or pontificate or tell you what it wants, is in order to let that threat be clearly known, and let all of these characters sort of assemble and let us learn this backstory, and let us learn what they're about, and give us the real estate to do that. You know, if she was fighting, you know, Doctor Psycho, or someone who's going to be doing a lot of speechifying and whatever, I felt like it was going to really cut into the way we were trying to approach the rolling out the characters. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't expect all those super-fun, insane villains to show up. We get our peek at someone people will be excited to see in issue four at the end. It's one of my favorite little bits in that issue, which is shocking considering what's in that issue. And hats off to Hayden on that, because there were a lot of conversations in email about how to land that last to, like, make the connection between that character and Wonder Woman work. And it really is just sort of effortless on the page. I love it.

If there’s one thing I can’t get enough of in this series, it’s Absolute Wonder Woman’s weapons. I have to ask what each of your favorites are and why.

Kelly Thompson: I mean, it's hard to argue against the sword in issue four! I mean, I guess in some way I want to say that magic. The magic, is my favorite weapon, just because I think those are some of the ways in which we've been really able to distinguish her from regular universe Wonder Woman, without deviating as much from their personalities. I maybe think the other lasso that shows up in this first arc, maybe that's my favorite, just because it's so complicated and like you learn sort of how Diana feels about this lasso, which is not the way she feels about the Lasso of Truth. I mean it's not even how she feels about the Nemesis lasso, like, I think it's complicated and strange in a way that I really like, but we'll see how that one lands for people.

Hayden Sherman: I definitely want to highlight the Nemesis lasso too, because usually, when we see the lasso, it's in full lasso form. It was fun getting to introduce it as more or less a rope that she uses, kind of like a Castlevania whip, like, she's just whipping this creature with it. It's such a fun thing to then have her it up. I feel like we're having some fun, being kind of playful with how lassos work and what they mean.

Hayden, I really love the layouts of this book and how they veer from the wavy, uneven s to the more stark, colorful lines in the scenes with Circe. You’re doing so much subtle things on these pages that elevate the story. Do you want to talk about your process in building layouts?

Hayden Sherman: Oh, man, a good question. I feel like I haven't really formalized, the rules for this book in my head when it comes to layouts. But there is a sort of organic flow that I wanted to have. I have one book that I finished drawing recently called Into the Unbeing. That one's fully organic in the way like, the borders are made to look like living organisms and stuff. And then on the other end, there's the Batman book I'm drawing. I want that to be all hard angles and graphic. And this one is supposed to be somewhere kind of in-between them in my head, like I kind of think about them all related to each other. I've found that a rounded allows you a lot of room, and it's really great for composition. It just makes the whole thing so much more fun to work with. And I think it lends to some interesting pages, hopefully makes them just more beautiful objects in a single page.

Hayden Sherman: Jordie then comes in and makes it all just work. You mentioned the more colorful borders and the flashback sequence and Jordie just makes those borders this bright red up against the black of the gutters. It's so nice. I love that. I'm so grateful for all the colorists I've gotten to work with. And Jordie is just yet another. This is our first time really getting to collaborate with each other, and just such a great art partner to play off of that can send her something, be like, "I think this will work.", and then she'll take it in a whole other direction.

Kelly Thompson: Jordie, more than any colorist I've ever worked with, and I've worked with some great colorists that I really love,is bringing a whole perspective to the book, that the book is totally different. If she's unavailable to us, like it looks like a completely different animal. And I think that's an incredible thing, and maybe that means Jordie is not right for every book, although I find her to be incredibly flexible. I mean, she did my Birds of Prey, and that looked completely different than than Wonder Woman. You would have no idea that they were the same colorist, so I just think that's a skill level that is truly, truly up there to be able to put your mark on a book in that way.

Hayden Sherman: Yeah, at every turn, she's a real defining voice for the book. I'm happy to see so many people that will, like, show up just be like "Oh yeah! Jordie!".

I mean that scene in [issue] three with the arm, the reds. Like, who would just do that? This whole scene is just red. It's so great. It's wild and weird and interesting. Diana's world is weird and Jordie is not afraid of that. And let's just shout out one more thing for Jordie. She had the most difficult task of any of us. Because how do you keep showing hell and these things and this grim world without it all feeling dark and dreary and uninspired, and yet none of it has felt that way? I mean, we did. We did talk a lot about that, and one of the ways in which we address that right from the jump was that scene in one where you're sort of seeing the progress of their home. We use color in good effect there, I think, to really show a dark, sort of soulless place turning into a warm home. And that was sort of the MO for the whole book. But I just think, yeah, I just think she's got a perspective that we just benefit from every month.

I think one of the best parts of this new Absolute line is that these books aren’t in a rush to crossover with each other and that they can breathe and develop independently. But the line is about to get twice as big in a few months with the next batch of Absolute books. As it grows, how do you feel about your story becoming a part of a large whole?

Kelly Thompson: I mean, I can't pretend I'm not a little nervous. You get so attached to the thing you're doing that it feels scary to grow it larger or combine it with something else. But I'm trying to really embrace what's already happened to us here, which is that at every crossroads, we've just leaned into it, and it's worked. And I don't know about for Hayden, but for me, one of the most fulfilling parts of this has been getting to decide what this new Diana and her world and all her characters look and feel like. And so the idea of getting to be a part of the decision of what her first interaction with Batman and Superman looks like is truly exciting. That's a thing most people don't ever get to do in their lives. So even though I'm intimidated by it, I'm also pretty excited. And I think if we can continue to lean in the way we are, we might get some real magic out of it.

Hayden Sherman: Yeah, I agree. I love that we have the potential to start to just merge the streams a little bit. I was talking to Rafa about bringing in a Lazarus building into Gateway City at the end of issue three, which is just barely visible, but just like a hint that this is all happening in the same place. And it'll be interesting also to see other artists when Wonder Woman pops up in another book. Like, what does that look like? Yeah, I only hope is that she's tall. I want her to be the tallest person in the room all the time.

Kelly Thompson: (laughs) So do I! I don't know if that's going to be able to happen with Batman because Scott made him so big. So we might have to take a back seat there. But in general, yes, and honestly, we talked a lot about height. I gave Scott a good ribbing about, "How dare you! It's finally Diana's time to be the tall one. And here you made Bruce into a monster?". I've been completely satisfied with the fact that she just towers over everyone in our world. And yes, some superheroes are maybe going to be bigger than her because they're also gigantic. But I don't know. It really brings me a lot of joy. I think Hayden wanted to make Barbara even smaller than she is in that adorable meet-cute . We don't want it to look like trick photography. We gotta keep it reasonable (laughs)

Absolute Wonder Woman #4 is available now from DC Comics.