Wonder Woman Rogues Gallery Appreciation 2024

[Primal Slayer]

No not 1 year out of 70, every time she appears she gets a chance at success but usually fails. She was only ever really scary to me in her initial introduction under Perez, the Rucka issue where she murdered Priscilla Rich and the New 52 Justice League where she made Superman bleed. Maybe it's because my favorite Cheetah is Deborah Domaine, but Barbara Ann rarely wows me.

And what villains have consistently shown that they can be Dianas arch nemesis?

[HestiasHearth]

No not 1 year out of 70, every time she appears she gets a chance at success but usually fails. She was only ever really scary to me in her initial introduction under Perez, the Rucka issue where she murdered Priscilla Rich and the New 52 Justice League where she made Superman bleed. Maybe it's because my favorite Cheetah is Deborah Domaine, but Barbara Ann rarely wows me.

What year was this?? I want to read that book.

[Sebastianne]

What year was this?? I want to read that book.

The Flash #219, 2005, was a crossover with Wonder Woman #214

[Primal Slayer]

[Nyssane]

Honestly, I think Circe in JLD's given Cheetah a run for her money. Yeah, it wasn't "the main book" but Witching Hour/War was far and away better than what's been done with Cheetah since Rucka.

It really is so disappointing that nobody picked up after Witching War. Seeing Circe here in King's run with no reference to her being trapped in the alternate dimension is such a missed opportunity.

[SiegePerilous02]

No not 1 year out of 70, every time she appears she gets a chance at success but usually fails. She was only ever really scary to me in her initial introduction under Perez, the Rucka issue where she murdered Priscilla Rich and the New 52 Justice League where she made Superman bleed. Maybe it's because my favorite Cheetah is Deborah Domaine, but Barbara Ann rarely wows me.

But Deborah has the least agency of all the various Cheetahs. She's more like Vanessa in that she's just a victim exploited by others.

And what villains have consistently shown that they can be Dianas arch nemesis?

IMO, only Circe and Ares. And the runs that use them well or are underwhelming with them do the same with her anyway.

[Vordan]

My opinion regarding Cheetah is she can be sympathetic or she can be the archnemesis, but she can’t be both. Both Cheetah and Lex have been hampered by this desire to keep them sympathetic, which results in them not getting the big “feats” that Joker or Green Goblin have gotten which cemented them as the top dogs. Lex at least can get around that by virtue of how many stories he has that don’t make him sympathetic or at least show that he’s a bad guy at his core sympathetic attributes aside(All-Star, Red Son, The Black Ring, Birthright, Azz/Bermejo Luthor, The Last Days of Lex Luthor) and which have shown the lengths he will go for his own selfish needs.

Cheetah needs some stories like that. Stories that go “yeah Barbara is a pitiable creature, but it doesn’t excuse what a monster she is”. I get that this is a “no duh” kind of ask, but something like The Killing Joke would be perfect for her. Put her sad backstory right alongside Cheetah crossing every conceivable moral line to the point you have to ask if Diana needs to kill her. Show her doing something truly despicable and inexcusable right next to flashbacks that show how close she and Diana were. Get an ending where Diana makes one last plea to reform Cheetah which Cheetah sadly turns down and tells Diana it’s too late. Sell the heartbreak of it while also making it clear that going forward, Cheetah isn’t redeemable.

Rucka kinnnnnda did something like that with his short story about Circe and Diana offering to cure Cheetah which Cheetah rejected, but it didn’t have that moral line crossing on Cheetah’s part that I think she needs. Hey Tom King is Alan Moore’s biggest fanboy, maybe he can be the one to write that Cheetah story that enshrines her as the #1 Wondy Villain.

Or he could do that for Circe, that’s my preference anyway

Honestly, I think Circe in JLD's given Cheetah a run for her money. Yeah, it wasn't "the main book" but Witching Hour/War was far and away better than what's been done with Cheetah since Rucka.

That’s my opinion. I don’t think having a great showing outside the main WW book should matter. A good Wondy story is a good Wondy story. But I’m hardly unbiased

[Primal Slayer]

Thats part of the problem with WW never getting that much live action or animated love. We'd likely have Cheetah or Circe as definitive villains if they were able to have a voice define them in outside media. Superfriends is what cemented Cheetah for so long.

[Vordan]

Thats part of the problem with WW never getting that much live action or animated love. We'd likely have Cheetah or Circe as definitive villains if they were able to have a voice define them in outside media. Superfriends is what cemented Cheetah for so long.

Monolith’s Video game could do wonders (heh) for her Rogues. Harley Quinn skyrocketed in popularity in large part because of the Arkham games. Circe or Cheetah in that could be their breakout moment.

[Mantis-Ray]

If they get some great boss fights its certainly going to raise their profile.

Everyone loves a good boss fight after all.

[The I.A.D.C.]

Diana only having one title compared to multiple Superman and Batman titles has certainly hampered the ability to really delve deep into her world and the villains. I would be interested to see just how skewed the ratios between Cheetah and Lex & Joker stories are going back to 1942. One day when I have nothing better to do, I might attempt that! LOL.

The '60s Batman TV show was still casting a long shadow on Hollywood ten years later when the Lynda Carter WW series began, so they stayed away from costumed villains and instead focused on Nazis and later organized crime bosses and a few mad scientists. I think if they had used Cheetah in a few episodes of that it would have really helped raise her profile and cement her status. Hell, they could have used her, Dr. Psycho, Dr. Cyber and Angle Man, but it seems like after the first three episodes they weren't interested in the source material... especially when they moved out of the '40s and into the '70s.

Lex and Joker being the main villains of Superman and Batman's first big movies also cemented their status in the '80s when the only WW media we had outside of comics were reruns of the Lynda Carter show and they disappeared by the middle of the decade and there was no such thing as streaming so it was just gone.

I have a special place in my heart for Debbie Domaine since she was the first Cheetah I saw in comics and that was in the classic JLA/JSA team up from the early '80s that was drawn by George Perez. She was pretty savage in that I remember. It left an impression. But she really only got one story in the main WW title where she was the main antagonist. Her other appearances were as part of a team; Secret Society of Super Villains in JLA and a Bronze Age Wonder Rogues team up where Etta Candy becomes Wonder Woman. Perez' version of Barbara will always be the definitive take on that character for me. She was bloodthirsty and unrepentant. She went after what she wanted regardless of who stood in her way. Diana wasn't her friend, she was the obstacle standing between her and her ambitions. Joker was never Batman's friend.

I also really liked the take that Jim Krueger, Alex Ross and Doug Braithwaite had on Priscilla Rich in their "Justice" series. That was a great take on the original version of the character that I could totally see being brought over and used in the main continuity if we didn't already have Barbara. I think that Barbara has pretty much claimed the Cheetah throne as she's held it the longest now and clocked in more stories that Priscilla. I'm all for remaining true to the original version of characters. Yes, you have to update and change with the times, but the motivations and characteristics that made these characters stand out from the beginning should be there.

[Skytten]

Not in the Wonder Woman book, but Cheetah also killed Poseidon which caused the Drowned Earth event.

[SiegePerilous02]

Morrison named dropped Cheetah and Blue Snowman as villains who would appear in the timeline between Earth One's story and the far future timeline

[HestiasHearth]

The Flash #219, 2005, was a crossover with Wonder Woman #214

Thanks a lot!!!! And thank you, Primal Slayer, for the pics!!!

[Will Evans]

If a Wonder Woman rogue had to join the new Suicide Squad, who would you choose and why?