Your Cheetah Heart

WONDER WEDNESDAY

On Wednesdays I look at various chapters in Wonder Woman’s history. Click here for previous installments.

I like the subtle indication of the retro setting.

Wonder Woman #230, DC Comics, April 1977.

If you’d asked me when I was a kid who Wonder Woman’s archenemy was, there would have been no question in my mind. Obviously it was the Cheetah. And I don’t mean Barbara Minerva, the super-fast were-cat who really did become an ubiquitous WW villain in the late 1980s. No, I grew up in the 1970s, so my Cheetah didn’t have any powers and was just a woman in a cat costume. Priscilla Rich was a wealthy debutante with an evil split personality triggered by her jealousy of Wonder Woman.

See? That should settle it.

The thing is, this Cheetah really didn’t show up very often when I was a kid. The Priscilla Rich of Earth-1, where the 1970s comics took place, had shown up only a couple of times in the mid-1960s, essentially indistinguishable from her 1940s Earth-2 counterpart, who only showed up a few times herself. The only Wonder Woman comic I had with her was a 1980 issue in which she was replaced by a new Cheetah, Deborah Domaine. My perception of the Cheetah as WW’s archenemy was based partly on a couple of different giant tabloid-size Limited Collectors Edition comic called Secret Origins of Super-Villains that paired Wonder Woman with the Cheetah the same way they matched Lex Luthor with Superman or Batman with the Joker. But my real introduction to the Cheetah was on the Super Friends TV cartoon series, where she was Wonder Woman’s regular counterpart in the Legion of Doom. And, well, that was good enough for me.

And there she is again! I think she was actually IN this one.

Now, the fact is that Wonder Woman didn’t really have an archenemy. There were various recurring baddies, but they came and went, and none of them ever seemed to stick, at least not until much later than this.

In 1977, the Wonder Woman comic was suddenly set during World War II, because that was the setting of the first season of the Wonder Woman TV show, so it was a good time for an old-fashioned Cheetah story! “The Claws of the Cheetah,” by writer Martin Pasko and artists Jose Delbo and Vince Colletta, made good use of the villainess’s split personality as the Cheetah plots to kill Wonder Woman, and the only one who can save her is Priscilla Rich. (Like most of the 1970s issues I’ve been covering lately, Wonder Woman #230 has never been reprinted in a collection.)

It’s 1942, and Steve Trevor and Diana Prince are at a gala dinner at the White House, where an isolationist newspaper columnist suddenly runs amok and tried to assassinate President Roosevelt. Diana changes to Wonder Woman in time to rescue the president, of course, but another one of the guests is Priscilla Rich, and just the sight of Wonder Woman is enough to bring back her previously suppressed split personality.

Jeez, maybe Wonder Woman’s not a good influence after all.

The Cheetah sets about wreaking havoc pretty quickly, slashing some guy’s throat for mistaking her cheetah suit for a leopard one (the nerve!) and robbing gawkers on a tour boat. Pretty small-time stuff, for sure, but she’s just trying to get Wonder Woman’s attention so she can scar her with one of her claw darts.

ww230-6:

So, are we going to talk about the fact she totally murdered that dude?

Why? I’m so glad you asked. To learn Wonder Woman’s secret identity! See, the claw has ink on it visible to infrared lenses, so the Cheetah can tell who she is just by looking at her. And how does she know where to look? Well, as much as Wondy hangs around Steve Trevor, she figures they must work together in the War Department. I’m not sure that necessarily follows, seeing as how Steve’s her boyfriend, but it does happen to be true. With such a pared-down list of suspects, the Cheetah tracks Diana Prince down pretty easily.

That list is kind of hilarious if you know anything about Wonder Woman’s history.

The Cheetah plans a death trap for Wonder Woman, planting a bomb in a movie calendar to be used in a public service film to buy war bonds that WW’s been invited to appear in. But the Cheetah writes all about her fiendish plans in her diary, and when next Priscilla Rich wakes up, she reads about it and figures she has to save Wondy. But how, when Wonder Woman’s mere presence is enough to banish Priscilla and bring back the Cheetah? Clearly the only way to save Wonder Woman is to hypnotize Diana Prince into forgetting all about her costumed identity.

It’s unlikely that even the 1940s Wonder Woman doesn’t know about hypnotism, but just go with it.

Unfortunately, the plan backfires. Sure, Wonder Woman doesn’t show up, but that doesn’t mean the filmmakers just give up on making the war bonds film that they’ve been hired to make. They just get Steve Trevor to step in, being a war hero and all. So that bomb’s still going to kill somebody, even if it’s not Wonder Woman. So now Priscilla has to remind Diana that she’s Wonder Woman so she can save the day.

Your fondness for oaths to Greek gods should be a tip-off.

But where Wonder Woman shows up, the Cheetah’s sure to follow. Wondy’s appearance triggers Priscilla’s change, and the two of them fight it out. Can WW get to the filming in time to save Steve?

I’m just in it for the kicks.

Well, sure, of course she can. And it’s off to the Amazons’ Transformation Island (also called Reform Island) for Priscilla to be brainwashed… er, I mean reeducated to learn loving submission to kind mistresses. Which is kind of their thing.

SPECIAL BONUS!  I thought just for kicks I’d create an index of all the Wonder Woman comics I’ve covered so far. I’ll find an actual home on the blog for this later, but in the meantime here it is for your perusal:

Wonder Woman vol. 1 #1, 2, 3, 4, 15, 23, 21, 26a, 26b, 31a, 31b, 33, 37, 55, 72, 75, 80, 101, 105, 106, 107, 108, 126, 130, 143, 144, 178-180, 181-182, 183-184, 185-186, 187-189, 190-192, 193, 194, 195, 196a, 196b, 197-198, 199-200, 201-202, 203-204, 205-206, 207-208, 209, 210, 211a, 211b, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226-227, 228-229, 230, 250-251
Wonder Woman vol. 2 #195-200, 200-205, 206-213, 214-217, 218-226
Wonder Woman vol. 3 #1-2, 3-4, 5, 6-10, 11-13, 14-19, 20-25, 26-33, 34-39, 40-44, 600, 601, 602-606, 607-613, 611-614, Annual 1
Wonder Woman vol. 4 #1-6, 7-12, 0, 13-17, 16-18
Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia
Sensation Comics vol. 1 #1, 2-4, 5-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13, 14, 15-16, 17, 26, 38
All Access #4
All-Star Comics vol. 1 #8
Amazon #1
Amazons Attack! #1-3, 4-6
Ame-Comi Girls #1
Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1-3
The Brave & the Bold vol. 1 # 87, 105, 131
Bullets and Bracelets #1
Comic Cavalcade #1
DC Versus Marvel Comics #1-4
Flash vol. 2 #219
Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman #1-3
Flashpoint: Wonder Woman and the Furies #1-3
Freedom Fighters vol. 1 #4-5
The Adventures of Jerry Lewis vol. 1 #117
JLA/Avengers #1-4
Justice League #1, 1-12
Justice League: Generation Lost #1-24
Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #93
Superman and Spider-Man
Superman vs. Wonder Woman
Superman/Wonder Woman vol. 1 #1
Unlimited Access #1
World’s Finest vol. 1 #204, 253