Notes

Wonder Woman, Cheetah, and racist stereotypes
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George Perez set out to make a Wonder Woman book unlike anything that came before it. One of the ways he did this is by reimagining one of her longest-running villains, Cheetah. He then promptly sidelined her. And it might be the best decision he could make after this issue.
The plot of “Blood of the Cheetah” is fairly basic. Barbara Minerva invites Diana and her press agent Myndi Mayer to a meeting. She is allowed to handle the Lasso of Truth, but it forces her to reveal that she’s lied about all the promises she made to bring Diana there. Diana leaves, angry.
Barbara goes through a ritual handled by her aide Chuma which causes her to become the catlike creature known as the Cheetah. Far removed from previous versions, she’s an actual cat-woman, down to the fact that she doesn’t appear to be able to talk in that form. She wants revenge on Wonder Woman.
This leads to an attack on Diana as she enjoys the nature around Julia Kapatelis’ home. Diana is shocked when Cheetah draws blood from her super-tough skin. In mortal danger unlike anything she’s faced in the outside world, Diana fights back with all her might. But Cheetah quickly manages to move faster than Diana can hope. She ultimately pins Diana, seemingly ready to deliver the killing blow.
A shot from Julia’s high-powered rifle strikes Cheetah. She falls into a nearby waterway. Despite her injuries, Diana rushes to save Cheetah but finds no sign of her. With the villain gone, Wonder Woman makes her final goodbyes to Julia and her daughter Vanessa. She leaves to return to Themyscira as the issue ends.
I mentioned in previous issues that the portrayal of Cheetah’s aide Chuma was filled with bad stereotypes in his language choices. It gets particularly egregious in this issue. I do not wish to speak ill of the dead, nor am I sure the words came from plotter Perez or scripter Len Wein, but there’s no way to view the portrayal of Chuma as anything other than blatantly racist. Every word out of his mouth is badly written pidgin dialect. At no point do they simply let him speak in his native language, even when performing a ritual to the local African god that gives Cheetah her powers. It’s gross and infuriating to see, as creators in 1987 should know better.
Cheetah and company will be on the shelf for a year and a half after this and hopefully, that will bring an end to the racist tropes here. Unfortunately, Chuma will return with Barbara Minerva, so I might still be out of luck.
Next time, we head into Byrne’s corner of the DCU for three new issues, one featuring an artist far and beyond even Byrne’s abilities!

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