Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics | Tagged: Daniel Sampere, Matriarch, Tom King, wonder woman

Wonder Woman #25 Is Not The First Appearance Of The Matriarch

Published Fri, 29 Aug 2025 11:57:04 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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Article Summary

Wonder Woman #19, not #25, features the true first appearance of the villain known as the Matriarch.
Official announcements for Wonder Woman #25 claim it's the Matriarch's debut, but evidence proves otherwise.
The Matriarch, also known as Lyssa, is revealed as a future threat destined to destroy the Amazons.
Lyssa is the daughter of Amazon Emile, possibly tied to the Sovereign, setting up Wonder Woman's tragic future.

Spoilers? There shouldn't be. Daniel Sampere says on Instagram, "Let me introduce you to the real deal of our Wonder Woman series. THE MATRIARCH Introducing this new villain in Wonder Woman #25 coming out next month. And oversized issue drawn by me and my good friend @jorgefornes. Colors by @tmorey. I can't wait for you to see what @tomking_tk, me and the rest of the team are cooking!" Tom King followed, saying, "Finally announced: MATRIARCH will debut in Wonder Woman #25. Everything has been leading to this. The Wonder War is here." Well, they are both wrong.

: Wonder Woman #25 by Tom King and Daniel Sampere

: Wonder Woman #25 by Tom King and Daniel Sampere

Okay, so we have covers. Featuring The Matriarch. A white woman, with white hair, she wears a black version of Wonder Woman's costume, wields a sword with the Wonder Woman eagle crest in it, as well as wearing a Green Lantern ring and a Legion flight ring. And the solicitation details.

WONDER WOMAN #25
(W) Tom King (A) Daniel Sampere, Jorge Fornes
THE MATRIARCH RISES! After days of searching through a mouse-infested world, Wonder Woman finally locates the lost Etta Candy and fugitive Amazon Emilie. Little does she know, they are hiding a tiny harbinger of death who will change Diana's fate forever! You won't want to miss the first appearance of the Matriarch in this oversize anniversary issue that will set the stage for all Wonder Woman stories to come! $4.99 9/17/2025

The tiny harbinger of death… is the Matriarch. So that's definite then. And it means that, as we previously thought, The Matriarch's first appearance was in Wonder Woman #19 back in March. As we saw from twenty years in that future….

The Final Fate Of Wonder Woman Under Tom King (Spoilers) — Wonder Woman #19 by Tom King and Daniel Sampere

A future of death, destruction and revenge. A new enemy to fight, Lyssa. Who seems to be destined to kill all the Amazons, the Wonder Girls…

Defining her as The Matriarch. No question.

And killing a near-future version of Wonder Woman. In the present, we also visited Wonder Woman's old sparring partner Emelie, who began this run story by killing a bunch of sexual harassers in a pool hall, turning America against the Amazons, directed by the Sovereign, and later revealed to be pregnant…

And in Wonder Woman #19, that plotline also comes to its conclusion, one we may have forgotten. With Etta Candy as midwife…

… and in a breath setting up this entire tragic future for Wonder Woman and explaining so much.

Lyssa, the Matriarch, with white hair, is the Sovereign's final curse against the Amazons. Who will kill all the Amazons save for Trinity. And named after the goddess of rage, fury and rabies.

: Wonder Woman #19 by Tom King and Daniel Sampere

With Wonder Woman on Moray Island, the isolationist island of the Mouse Man, trying to find her friend and a child, we can presume that this birth took place there. Lyssa, daughter of the Amazon Emile, born on an island absolutely dominated by one of The Sovereign's protégés, the Mouse Man… could the father of The Matriarch be The Sovereign? Or Mosue Man? And in decades to come, ready to take her true revenge on Wonder Woman? And get some rings in the process? Um… yes. Looks like it.

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