Warning! Spoilers ahead for Wonder Woman #775!
Wonder Woman has been all over the place as of late and her latest escapade just brought her into the mythological realm of Elfhame. This comes after Diana ventures into the Graveyard of the Gods to resurrect the entire Greek pantheon of deities who were slaughtered by the evil half of the Roman God Janus.
Wonder Woman’s adventures into other mythological realms began when she was mysteriously transported to the Norse afterlife, Valhalla. Although this is the perfect place for a warrior like Diana to end up, something spoils her fun. Warriors who die in battle are supposed to reappear after the last enemy is slain so they can drink into the night with their brothers and sisters in arms before the fighting begins anew in the morning. But they weren’t returning because of the Valkyries. After resolving the issue, Wonder Woman travels to Mount Olympus, where she was supposed to go originally, and learns from the good half of the Roman God Janus that Diana didn’t arrive in Olympus because his other half had taken her place and later slaughtered the entire Greek pantheon of gods with a deity-killing weapon called the God Scraper. To save them, Wonder Woman descends into the Graveyard of the Gods with the ghostly hero Deadman, where she is able to trick the graveyard’s keeper into resurrecting her fallen brethren.
But rather than party like a god in Mount Olympus, Wonder Woman feels compelled to both stop the evil half of Janus from causing any more mayhem and to return the God Scraper to its rightful place in Mount Olympus. Her quest eventually leads her to a well and, after jumping in, finds herself in an upside-down world known as Elfhame in Wonder Woman #775 by writers Jordie Bellaire, Michael Conrad, Becky Cloonan and artists Andy MacDonald and Paulina Ganucheau.
Although the term Elfhame varies in meaning, the description that fits best this current arc’s theme of mythological realm-hopping is the land or abode of fairies or fays in English and Scottish folklore. Wonder Woman started in the Norse afterlife, then went to the realm of the Greek gods and is now in a land that the Scots and English have portrayed as a mystical and fabulous realm of mystery and otherworldly powers. And after learning Janus’ track record, she could be attempting to slay the Queen of Fairy, a name that was once evoked during the Scottish witch trials.
This new direction with Wonder Woman is not only welcomed, but an intriguing development that effectively correlates with the pivotal moment when she ascended with The Hands at the end of the Death Metal event. But rather than having her character remain stationary with these powerful deities, it’s appropriate that she now engages in a new godly adventure that not only transcends the mortal realm, but gives her the ability to travel into any and all mythologies. Hopefully this particular arc will continue for the foreseeable future.
