SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Wonder Woman #31 by James Robinson, Carlo Pagulayan, Sean Parsons, Jason Paz, Scott Hanna, Romulo Fajardo Jr and Saida Temofonte, on sale now.


Wonder Woman has a twin brother named Jason.

It’s a mystery that's been floating around in the background of the DC Universe since Diana learned of his existence at the end of last year’s “Darkseid War.” Now, in a new storyline titled “Children of the Gods,” Diana is set to meet the male Amazon and learn more truths about the mystery of her upbringing. And while this week’s Wonder Woman #31 doesn’t introduce Jason, it does give us a clearer image as to why he’s going to finally show up, while another dangling plot thread from “Darkseid War” is addressed in hilarious fashion.

Unbound

The majority of this issue doesn’t focus on Wonder Woman herself; instead, it spends time in Elexinor, Oregon following a simple man known as Paul, who seems to be beloved in his sleepy little community, though he does have a reputation for being somewhat of a loner. Paul, of course, has a secret, one he keeps hidden on his humble farm in the Oregonian woods. He is, in fact, a demigod who has retired to Earth from Olympus to make a regular life for himself, felling trees with one great swing of his axe.

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While the true identity of Paul may be unknown to his community, it’s no secret to the daughter of Darkseid, Grail, who attacks Paul and addresses him as the Son of Zeus. Grail needs the life force of Old Gods like Paul for some dark purpose, and so attacks the reclusive demigod in an attempt to kill him. When he sees how dangerous she truly is, he sheds the shackles of his mortal form and once become his true self: Hercules, the Lion of Olympus.

Wonder-Woman-Hercules

While you might be familiar with the Marvel Comics incarnation of Hercules, DC’s version is very different. It was Hercules who enslaved the Amazons, and most recently was pitted against Aquaman and friends in the Minotaur’s labyrinth. However, the use of the word “unbound” implies this might be a different incarnation of the Greek god, one based on the Gerry Conway/Jose Luis Garcia Lopez series Hercules Unbound, which featured the character in the wake of World War III and brought together a number of DC’s post-apocalyptic characters such as the Atomic Knights and the anthropomorphic animals of Jack Kirby's Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth. (Given Robinson's predilection for using forgotten characters in his work, and the fact that the word balloon uses the comic's logo, we're confident that this is the case.)

Unfortunately, Hercules may be a God of Strength, but he is no match for the daughter of Darkseid, who possesses her own version of the Omega Beams which strike Hercules and drain his life’s essence. Grail departs the devastated forest via Boom Tube, with Hercules’ life force inside a Mother Box, but her true plan — and what it means for Wonder Woman and her brother — won’t be revealed until the end of the issue.

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Gigantic

Elsewhere — in Los Angeles — Wonder Woman is taking on a classic villain of hers that hasn’t featured much in modern day incarnations of the character, at least since the dawn of The New 52: Giganta. The character most recently appeared in Trinity of Sin: Pandora, which delved into her new origin as the recipient of a rare blood disease treatment which increased her size while reducing her intellect. In her first appearance, way back in Wonder Woman #9, Giganta was a mutated ape who was transformed into a red-haired strong-woman, but (perhaps thankfully) that hasn’t been her origin for quite some time.

Wonder-Woman-Giganta

It’s here that Diana learns of the death of Hercules as she’s approached by the executor of his estate. Following his death, all of his assets now belong to Wonder Woman. But if Diana is Zeus’ daughter, that would make Hercules her half-brother, leaving status of Diana’s parenthood and origin more in flux now than it perhaps has ever been. The New 52 revealed that she wasn’t born of clay and instead was the result of a tryst between Hippolyta and Zeus, but Greg Rucka’s recent run in turn revealed that to be part of a false memory, implanted in her mind by her patron gods. Now, with the return of the Jason plot-point, it seems like she is once again the daughter of Zeus, which just makes things more confusing and hopefully will be cleared up over the course of the arc.

You’re Not My Real Mom

The issue ends with Grail returning via Boom Tube to her cave hideout, where she has been planning and plotting since the end of “Darkseid War”. It’s here that we see the true purpose of her attack on Hercules and the leeching of his power — to transfer that energy into her father, in order to age him back into adulthood. Unfortunately, the power of Hercules is only enough to get Darkseid up to roughly a pre-teen, so the father and daughter duo decide the only recourse is to kill more — many more — children of Zeus in order to return Darkseid to full power.

Grail-Teen-Darkseid

Darkseid has been a baby since the end of “Darkseid War,” when Superwoman gave birth and her child was infused with the powers of the New Gods of Strength, Apokolips and Anti-Life, effectively resurrecting Darkseid. Baby Darkseid showed up most recently in the pages of Dark Nights: Metal, as Batman planned to use the Omega Sanction to send himself back into the past to defeat the dark god Barbatos. But it’s apparently here in “Children of the Gods” where we’ll see the continuation of his story. Fortuniately — or perhaps unfortunately depending on your opinions of Baby Darkseid — Darkseid is no longer an infant, and is instead a moody pre-teen, which is, frankly, hilarious. However, that doesn’t mean he’s any less dangerous than adult Darkseid, and with his sights set on the children of Zeus, it’s only a matter of time before he clashes with Wonder Woman and her supposed twin brother Jason, wherever he may be.