RIP Wonder Woman: A Complete Guide to All of the Hero’s Deaths

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Warning: SPOILERS for Wonder Woman #19Wonder Woman is undeniably one of DC Comics’ greatest champions, but she’s a creature of myth as well. With such a lofty, legendary background, there are many who consider Diana to be an immortal goddess herself, though more than a few instances have put that to the test. Now, fans have been given a glimpse into the future where Wonder Woman has been killed. But this is far from the Amazing Amazon’s first journey across the River Styx, and like many of her fellow Justice League cohorts, Wonder Woman has laid down her life fighting the good fight on more than one occasion.

Wonder Woman #19 by Tom King, Daniel Sampere, Tomeu Morrey and Clayton Cowles concludes the recent “Fury” arc by giving readers a peak at Diana’s final fate – killed in battle on the shores of Paradise Island – as Wonder Woman’s daughter, Trinity, confronts the vile Sovereign over his history with her mother.

Clearly, the story of Wonder Woman’s downfall has only just begun, but Diana has died and been reborn several times over the years, including multiple resurrections in the last decade. Obviously, none of these deaths have stuck, and many have even happened to slip the minds of fans, but each instance has had an impact on the Princess of Themyscira to a lesser degree than one would expect.

Diana Has Died More Times Than Fans Can Count

Diana’s first major death came at a time when the entire DC Multiverse was in mortal jeopardy, as the Anti-Monitor wreaked in the pages of Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman, George Pérez, and Jerry Ordway. In the final issue of the climactic crossover, the multiversal menace blasts Wonder Woman with a stray bolt of anti-matter, and the Amazon Princess is unceremoniously shunted away for the rest of the event. In reality, the Anti-Monitor’s blast actually devolved her back into the clay from whence she was molded, depositing her on the New Earth formed in the wake of the Crisis, and allowing her to be reborn and rebooted as part of this new timeline.

Wonder Woman’s first post-Crisis death was substantially more personal, as her archenemy Circe devolves her back into clay in War of the Gods #3 by Pérez, Russel Braun Scott Hanna, and more. Mystical manipulations would send Diana’s soul to the Underworld, allowing her to escape and return to life in a tie-in issue of The Demon, but it was another demonic entity called Neron that was the culprit behind her next demise. Wonder Woman #124 by John Byrne and Patricia Mulvihill sees the Lord of Hell smite the Amazing Amazon with a fatal blow as vengeance for her interference in his affairs. Living up to her moniker, Wonder Woman manages to cling to life for a few issues, before ultimately dying… before she is resurrected by the Olympians as the new Goddess of Truth in Wonder Woman #127 by Byrne and Mulvihill.

Diana Never Stays Dead, After All

Upon her eventual return to the land of the living, the Princess of Themyscira would largely remain so – barring a team death and rebirth alongside the Justice League in the “Obsidian Age” story arc of JLA by Joe Kelly, Doug Mahnke, Tom Nguyen and more – for almost twenty years until Dark Nights: Death Metal #7 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonothan Glapion, and more. Imbued with ultimate power, Wonder Woman sacrifices herself to stop the Batman Who Laughs once and for all by pushing him into a dying sun.

But almost instantaneously, Diana is saved by the creators of the DCU: the nigh-omnipotent race called the Hands. Recognizing her unique nature and the constant threats faced by the wider DC Omniverse, the beings restore Diana as a practical goddess herself, to serve as a protector of realties from outside space-time. The Amazonian Princess would quickly be reborn, choosing instead to fight alongside her friends rather than watch from above. And based on Wonder Woman #19, this clearly isn’t Diana’s last death, either.

Wonder Woman’s Death Should Mean The Most, Not Any Less

Diana Deserves A Hero’s Sendoff

The pre-Crisis Princess of Themyscira and her lover Steve Trevor found themselves atomized in Wonder Woman #157, before they could be reconstituted by the Amazons. And Elseworlds versions of Diana have died at the hands of Steppenwolf in Earth 2 #1. Wonder Woman’s even been killed by Superman in Superman/Batman #15. But while Wonder Woman has clearly been killed several times across DC Comics’ expansive lore, her various deaths aren’t as well known, or even acknowledged as frequently has her Justice League teammates‘.

In most cases, deaths or sacrifices of Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, or Flash severely impact these heroes for months, years, even decades at a time. But Diana’s deaths have rarely been afforded such prestige and gravitas, and, for whatever reason, Wonder Woman has yet to undergo a truly transformative death. Rather, in Diana’s case, the greatest purpose these deaths have served is to act as a steppingstone for an all-too-brief ascension, before returning to her status quo faster than anyone would expect.

This isn’t to say that DC should officially kill off Wonder Woman. On the contrary, she’s one of their greatest characters and well-worth treating with the utmost reverence and care. But if she must be killed, it needs to be in a story that actually services her growth as a character. It needs to actually matter. Ultimately, Diana is one of DC Comics’ quintessential heroes, and a real hero like Wonder Woman deserves a real hero’s death.

Wonder Woman #19 is on sale now from DC Comics.

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