In “The Witching Hour,” Wonder Woman absorbed the power of a goddess and wreaked havoc while the Justice League Dark struggled to stop her.
Wonder Woman, real name Diana of Themyscira, is a demigod Amazon princess and a formidable opponent against any villain she has faced. Her superhuman speed, durability, strength, and agility make her one of the most powerful members of the Justice League. Yet, in DC’s five-part mini-series “The Witching Hour,” her abilities became akin to that of a true goddess.
Wonder Woman and Justice League Dark: The Witching Hour #1, by James Tynion IV, Jesus Merino, and Romulo Fajardo Jr., was published in 2018 and crossed over to the contemporary Wonder Woman and Justice League Dark series. The first part sets the stage with a forgotten memory of Diana’s from her childhood where she stumbled upon a gathering of Amazonian witches celebrating the witch-goddess Hecate. Caught spying on the ritual, Hecate branded her mark onto Diana’s forehead, connecting the two beings together by magic.
Diana’s memory of the event was erased, as was Hecate’s symbol of a full moon framed by two crescent moons. It was not until a battle against the Upside-Down Man in Justice League Dark #1 that the mark, and associated memories, were triggered back into being. The brand of Hecate flared up, giving Wonder Woman a burst of magical powers that helped her subdue the ancient Otherkind creature. Circe, a goddess and witch tied to Hecate, told Diana that for many generations Hecate has stored her power in five women until she needs the energy for herself. Unfortunately, Diana was one of the chosen. The magic Diana now wields, such as the ability to open portals and produce immense energy blasts, is just a portion of Hecate’s power. With the assistance of Circe, Diana was able to cut the mark off from Hecate’s influence and use the magic against the goddess.
Zatanna and John Constantine devise a plan to knock Hecate’s power out of Diana — as well as Black Orchid and Manitou Dawn who were two others marked by Hecate — by performing an exorcism. They succeed in freeing only two of the women. The magic held inside of them did not flow back into Hecate but into Wonder Woman, giving triple the power force to her. Wonder Woman, under Hecate’s hold, was able to raise buildings and reshape a city in seconds. As she walked up the slope of a mountain “reality quaked with every step” she took. Tearing open the mountain with just a gesture of her hand, Wonder Woman opened a portal to another realm. Crumbling the buildings where gods once dwelled, Diana leaves only room for Hecate to be worshiped.