Hayden Sherman Confirmed Hellboy Was An Influence For Absolute Wonder Woman
Okay so not the biggest Hellboy news but a few weeks ago I went to HeroesCon. I’ve been meaning to post this for a while but ADHD lol. While there, I got to meet Hayden Sherman who is the main artist on Absolute Wonder Woman.
Now in case you aren’t aware, Absolute Wonder Woman is part of the DC Absolute universe. A new universe that Darkseid created & meddled with the heroes lives. Absolute Batman isn’t rich but more middle class as he was childhood friends with his rogues. Absolute Superman came to Earth at 18 meaning he grew up seeing & living on Krypton & only got to know the Kent’s for 3 months. Absolute Flash is a teenage Wally West in a world where Barry & Jay weren’t Flash meaning Wally has no mentor.
Absolute Wonder Woman meanwhile didn’t grow up on Themysica. Apollo took her to the Wild Isle of Hell where Circe was alone imprisoned. In main universe, Circe is one of her major villains. This was due to Zeus of course punishing the Amazons. So instead of raised on Paradise, she was raised in Hell by an adopted parent where she eventually goes to Earth becoming a hero. She still has the compassion & love main universe Diana has but she is a bit more witch than warrior if that makes sense.
Okay so backstory established. One of the main reasons I have been loving Absolute Wonder Woman a lot is because it has a very Hellboy feel to it without feeling forced. I would say so far, this is my favorite depiction of Wonder Woman ever. So as a big Hellboy fan, when I met Hayden I told how big of a fan I am of Absolute Wonder Woman & I was wondering if Hellboy was a major influence on the book given the similarities. They told me that yea when they started the book with Kelly Thompson that Hellboy was an inspiration for this version of Wonder Woman as Hayden & Kelly are huge fans of Big Red.
I also jokingly asked if we could see a crossover with this Diana & Hellboy & Hayden said that they love to draw Hellboy meeting Diana.
As someone who got into Hellboy from the Del Toro films & read the comics as well as being a major DC fan, it’s just so cool getting that confirmation that Hellboy of all things is an inspiration in the creation & stories of Absolute Wonder Woman. I do love the ridiculousness of Absolute Batman but I say that Absolute Martian Manhunter & Absolute Wonder Woman are the 2 best Absolute books (Batman is third & still great!). If you are a Hellboy fan, I couldn’t recommend this book enough.