By Cat Wyatt

After everything that has been going on the last few issues, it’s time to get a new plot rolling. This one is called ‘All Hail the Dark Gods’ and it gives a pretty good idea of what Wonder Woman will be facing off against in the very near future.

This issue starts off a bit more introspective; with Diana looking back on everything that’s happened between her and Cheetah, all the warning signs she missed about something bigger going on. It’s easy to get wrapped up in your emotions, thus letting your best judgment be overridden. That happened to Diana here; she let her fondness for Barbara influence her opinion of Cheetah, which wasn’t fair (or safe).

Jumping forward slightly we find Adrianna (you may remember her – she’s the scientist turned independent AI) and Veronica plotting…naturally. Granted, I don’t think Veronica ever expected to see Adrianna again, but then, things never really go as planned, do they? Despite Veronica’s surprise, there’s apparently a very good reason for Adrianna to show up out of the blue: she’s got new information on Cheetah.

A quick reminder here: Veronica is the reason why Barbara turned back into the Cheetah again. In true supervillain (perhaps that status is a bit high for her, but I’m running with it) fashion Veronica has decided this means that she has a certain sort of ownership over Barbara/Cheetah. In her mind, she created Cheetah, so Cheetah owes her (or some other twisted logic like that).

This possessive quality is the very reason why Veronica didn’t hesitate to use the information Adrianna provided to her. Jumping forward once again, now putting us in the present, we see that Veronica did indeed succeed in getting her hands on Cheetah…can I just say now that I feel like this was a bad move? Because it feels like a bad move.

If you’re thinking that Veronica wanted her hands on Cheetah to force her to do her bidding, you’d be wrong (not going to lie, that had been my first assumption). Instead she appears to be studying and experimenting on Cheetah. Which sort of makes sense – there’s a lot scientists could learn from her. However, I have some questions and concerns about this practice. For one thing, she had the ability to transform Cheetah in the first place, so that at least implies some sort of understanding for the process, doesn’t it? Additionally, who thought that tying Cheetah down like that was a good idea? Even if she was okay with coming in I don’t think she’d appreciate being treated like…well…an animal.

Speaking of those restraints, they don’t look terribly secure. Granted, I have no clue what they’re made out of, but still. Those could probably (probably) hold an average person, but I can say for certain that I would not feel safe in a room that had Cheetah tied up only by her wrists and ankles (one strap each, mind you).

I’m not terribly surprised by what happened next, at least in part. Cheetah breaking out was inevitable if you ask me. The rest though? That was unexpected. I know that Cheetah is more violent, I really do, but I always forget that she’s okay with killing. She seemed even more content with it than normal here, but that may just be my impression (again, I always forget about her killer nature…I don’t know why).

So Cheetah’s free and running around in Veronica’s lab. It feels like it’d be safe to assume that she’s looking for a way out, right? I mean, that’s what I would do. Nope! She’s looking for the person that did this to her (the transformation and the imprisonment bit). I’m not going to lie, I find the idea of Cheetah having a few ‘words’ with Veronica pretty satisfying, but I do feel pretty bad for all the guards that were between the two of them (needless to say things did not go well for them…).

Unfortunately…oops, sorry I totally meant fortunately, Diana arrives before Cheetah and Veronica can have their little chat. It’s odd, you’d think that Cheetah would either want her freedom or her revenge, but it seems to be so much more than that going on. Something isn’t right with Cheetah, and I don’t think we’re going to like whatever it is.

Meanwhile Jason is stomping around a Kobra Research Base. Now, before you go and assume the worst of this situation (totally going to pretend I didn’t do just that), Jason appears to be on the right side of things. There’s a half dozen downed Kobra agents in the background, and he seems to be looking for something or someone. Which holds up, when you think about it. Jason is trying to become a superhero in his own right, so why wouldn’t he be invading enemy bases like this? Of course, in just a couple of panels we learn that this mission is a bit more personal than that. It actually made me like Jason more, as much as I’m resistant to admitting it.

There’s quite a lot going on right now, and every perspective we’ve been shown tells us that something big is coming. It seems like those more connected to other realms or gods are more susceptible to what is going on than most, but I can’t help but wonder how long that’ll last. Just when will we start seeing the average person affected by this?

This was an interesting start to a new plot. I have a few theories and ideas as to where it’s going, but nothing confirmed yet. This issue did drag on a bit, but considering it’s building up for something bigger I’m content to let that slide, especially since it looks like the next issue will be more action packed (at least it certainly appears like it’ll be starting with a big fight!).

Score: 3/5

Wonder Woman #46
DC Comics