Dynamite Entertainment’s Thundercats renaissance continues, in what the company recognizes as a “historic first for the franchise,” as Cheetara receives her own spin-off series. Premiering this summer, Thundercats: Cheetara will continue to establish the mythos of the comic book reboot, including the promise of a closer look at Thundera before its fall.
Dynamite’s Thundercats has already made bold, canon-altering decisions in its first several issues, making it clear that the publisher and its creative teams are committed to delivering a refreshing, contemporary take on the iconic property. Cheetara is an extension of that, giving a fan-favorite character a chance to take center stage, while also continuing to develop the world of the story further.
With excitement about Thundercats at an all-time high, Cheetara is an exciting first spin-off project, one that appears set to deliver as much hard-hitting action and buzz-generating additions to lore as the main series.
As Dynamite Entertainment noted in its press release announcing Cheetara, this is the first time the character has received her own solo series:
The creative pairing of Soo Lee and Domenico Carbone is perfect for the spin-off; both are young, highly promising talents, who can be expected to bring an unmatched energy to the story at all levels. As much as they are surely going to endeavor to honor the franchise, Lee and Carbone will strive to make the story their own.
Interestingly, writer Soo Lee doesn’t come to the franchise as a super-fan. Rather, she is jumping into the deep end of the pool, rapidly familiarizing herself with the lore of the series, in order to set the proper foundation for the original tale she intends to tell. According to Dynamite:
Of course, readers will be pleased to hear Lee is collaborating with Shalvey, ensuring coherence between the titles. Thundercats fans should also be excited by the line-up of artistic talent Dynamite has lined up for Cheetara, from Dominic Carbone’s interiors to a fantastic series of variant covers by superstar artists.
Being the first Thundercats solo title puts a massive spotlight on the character of Cheetara – one she is more than ready for. A pivotal character since the inception of the franchise, and for a long time the only female hero among the cast, Cheetara is the perfect choice to lead the pack of Thundercats spin-offs. Crucially, her solo title will explore the character’s backstory, making her, and the series as a whole, even more essential to how the new continuity’s lore unfolds.
As writer Soo Lee put it:
Long-time followers of Thundercats will have time to speculate on what aspects of Cheetara’s character Lee intends to center, before Cheetara #1 hits shelves in July. Even more intriguing is Dynamite’s tease of “secrets” that the series will reveal, which will likely have a lasting impact on the wider franchise. Considering Cheetara will also offer a thrilling glimpse at Thunderian society, all the advanced details add up to a story that will reach, and possibly even exceed, the high bar set by Declan Shalvey’s Thundercats so far.
Dynamite Entertainment’s Thundercats so far has embodied the spirit of similar creative endeavors – most notably Skybound Entertainment’s Energon Universe shared continuity, which combines Transformers and G.I. Joe into a new rebooted canon. It is also quickly proving to be another blueprint for those who seek to update similar properties, such as the imminent Nacelleverse reboot of Biker Mice From Mars. Cheetara is the next carefully crafted step toward a sustainable ongoing comic book continuity, in which many characters can prove to be viable focuses for their own series.
According to the tagline for the debut Thundercats spin-off: “No matter how fast Cheetara can run, she can never outrun her own past!” Without a doubt, readers’ anticipation will be stoked the most by the ways in which Cheetara will elaborate on the backstory of the series. As the initial synopsis for the book puts it:
Excitingly, this is an instance of a prequel providing the story with great underlying tension, rather than deflating any potential conflict because audiences know the outcome. Though Cheetara will live to the end, everything else about the series remains up in the air.
In this way, Cheetara is a wide-open canvas for its creative team to fill in; or perhaps it can better be described as untouched soil, waiting for the seeds of great ideas to be planted, after laying fallow for some time. Thundercats has endured in popularity for decades, and now Dynamite Entertainment is giving fans the version of the franchise they have long waited for. With the announcement of Cheetara, Dynamite has picked the first of what is to be many in-depth character explorations, which will enhance Thundercats mythology for a new era.