Review by C.J. Bunce
The best worldbuilding in comics you’re going to find this year comes from a surprising place. Cheetara of the animated 1980s TV series ThunderCats is a fierce warrior, famous for her lightning-fast speed. But before the events of the TV series and the new ThunderCats monthly comic book series, she was a young woman, mother to the future leader of Thundera, living in an incredible, beautiful world.
Sometimes a creative team will make a story that goes beyond the expectations of its audiences, a journey that elevates the source material into its next incarnation. Writer Soo Lee and artist Domenico Carbone have done that in the pages of the space fantasy ThunderCats: Cheetara, a chronicle of one of the series best developed characters. Its first issue is in comic shops now, with its second issue on the way. Find a preview of both issues below, along with some of the best variant covers we’ve seen in a long while–many poster-worthy, and something fans of the original ThunderCats animated series are going to love.
Why is the Cheetara of today seeing flashbacks to her distant past–why is she revisiting her life on Thundera?
Colorist Chiara di Francia creates a utopian world with her choices, and letterer Jeff Eckleberry provides the rare use of an attractive script that works perfectly with Soo Lee’s heroine. The series is going to look fantastic as a bound volume, something to look forward to next year. The first issue is the fastest effort by a creative team to get readers to begin to understand its key figures’ personalities, and what makes this community unique. It’s an impressive fantasy world even in just its first issue.
Here is a preview of the first issue:
Here’s a look at an art preview for Issue #2, which is expected to ship in August:
Every cover variant for the series is off the chart. Cover artists for the series include Soo Lee, Sozomaika, Lesley “Leirix” Li, Rebeca Puebla, Edwin Galmon, and the team of Ted Brandt and Ro Stein. Just look at the options for the first issue (repeats include standard cover, foil, and no-logo versions):
Here are covers for the second issue:
And here is a first look at covers from the third issue:
