Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League #1 is a comic that tells you everything you need to know by reading the title. Cheetah seeks out Cheshire for a seemingly impossible job: sneaking onto the Justice League Watchtower and absconding with a powerful artifact known as the Power Bank, which appropriately contains an immense amount of power. But the major hitch is that due to recent events, the League has expanded into a veritable army. Pulling off a heist of that magnitude is going to require skill.
Throughout Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League #1, Greg Rucka takes the time to dig into what’s driving his protagonists. In Cheetah’s case, she wants the Power Bank less for selfish gain and more to control the animalistic urges that have her sneaking into morgues to eat human flesh. For Cheshire, it’s pointed out that she’s merely known as a “follower” due to her mercenary work, and a heist of that magnitude would make her a leader. Rucka’s done strong character work throughout his career and this is no different; Cheetah’s more tragic edge is the perfect foil to Cheshire’s flirty, yet lethal nature.
Rucka is joined by Nicola Scott, whose artwork remains gorgeous. That’s a surprise, considering Rucka’s script never once lets the reader forget that its protagonists are villains. It literally opens with Cheetah biting into dead flesh, transitioning into a splash page where she howls at a lightning-laced sky, blood staining her mouth and hands. Another sequence finds Cheshire testing one of her signature toxins, with literally explosive results, before fighting off a horde of henchmen during one of her contract jobs. It grows bloody as all hell, yet Scott draws it with impeccable grace.
DC
Setting the mood is Annette Kwok’s colors. Kwok does a nice play of interplay with lighter and darker hues, as the opening scene starts with a pitch black sky; the only light comes from the thunderbolts splitting the sky. As the issue progresses, night slowly shifts to day, ending on the golden break of a shining sun – underlining Cheetah and Cheshire’s desire to pull off their latest heist. Cheetah’s orange fur and the various shades of green that make up Cheshire’s outfit remain another constant color-wise.
But despite having a great setup and putting the focus on characters who aren’t necessarily “A-List” villains, Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Justice League #1 is mostly that: setup. I get it, as no writer worth their salt would want to give away the whole story upfront. Still, it feels like there could have been a few more pages dedicated to gathering the villainous duo’s crew or why Cheetah went to Cheshire instead of other villains.
Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Justice League #1 is a solid, witty and often blood-soaked start to a supervillain heist story. Now the question that’s at the center of all heist stories remains: how will it all go wrong?
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