“Hunting Ground”
Creative Staff:
Story: Christos Gage
Art: Neil Edwards
Colors: Jeremy Cox
Letterer: Becca Carey
What They Say:
The Cheetah is on a deadly rampage, and Wonder Woman is called in to stop her. But when Diana discovers that the Cheetah is targeting wild animal poachers, she finds herself considering the unthinkable…teaming up with her most dangerous enemy!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With plenty of attention on Cheetah since she’s a focus in the new Wonder Woman: 1984 film, the timing of this issue is nice as we get more comic goodness of the character. Christos Gage is a writer that I’ve enjoyed a number of projects from and he delves into things well here but also goes the distance in providing answers and solutions, albeit from a top-level view, instead of just simple platitudes. That’s hard to do in comics and it’s really appreciated. With this story, he’s paired with Neil Edwards for the art duties and it’s definitely a good match. Edwards captures some good details when it comes to life in this area and the animals themselves while giving Cheetah a solidly lean look that feels a lot more accurate than some of the voluptuous presentations we get from time to time.
Taking us to an undisclosed location in Africa, we see how the poaching is ongoing with a couple of hunters looking to get a leopard or a cheetah to bring back as it’s big money to do so. Unfortunately for them, Cheetah is actually the one in their sights as she’s spending her time eliminating poachers in the area. As we learn, twelve have been taken down in recent days and it’s causing a lot of problems. Beyond the general fear and tension of “what’s out there” and all, some of those that were taken out were locals that are feeling desperate and trying to survive. That has Diana and Steve coming to see what’s going on as she’s figuring Cheetah is involved but just needs the proof of it. It actually doesn’t take long to get it since there are plenty of people looking to score here and just following that drops Cheetah right in Diana’s lap.
While this does lead to a pretty good fight as there’s some really strong artwork done for it between the two, the real story comes when Diana is finally able to reach Barbara about what’s going on. With her own connection to animals, I love that she’s able to get Cheetah to try a different way and we get the two of them working together to deal with a larger poaching group nearby. Diana’s wary because Barbara can all too easily fall back on her more violent ways, and she certainly comes across that way, but I love that the two actually do manage to work together. And Diana does explore better solutions for the area here that will help everyone (except the actual poachers) to be in a better place. And a real-world solution that has worked before and continues to work in many locations throughout the continent. While it doesn’t put Barbara and Diana on the same side, I love the way they have a new respect for each other here.
In Summary:
This was a really solid installment that highlights the best aspects of both characters – and slides in a little Steve time as well. Even if he did need to be slapped down a little. The Diana and Barbara relationship has been a favorite of mine for a long time through a lot of the non-mainline books where they’re used, such as the Bombshells series, so getting a good serious book here where real issues are explored and solutions actually presented helps to really work and deliver an engaging piece. Both come across well and Edwards’ artwork is fantastic and spot on for this kind of installment.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology and Kindle
Release Date: January 1st, 2021
MSRP: $0.99
