HERO OF THE WEEK: CHEETAH (DC)Real Name: Barbara Ann Minerva
First Appearance: Wonder Woman #7 (August, 1987)
Fight Club Ranking: #372
Featured Fights:
- vs CATWOMAN: Catwoman: When In Rome #4 (Mar 2005)
- vs FREEDOM FIGHTERS: Infinite Crisis #1 (Dec 2005)
- vs JUSTICE LEAGUE: Justice League of America #15 (Jan 2008)
- vs CATWOMAN: Catwoman #78 (Jun 2008)
- vs WONDER WOMAN: Wonder Woman #29 (Apr 2009)
The freight train of Injustice 2 is well and truly picking up speed on the track of an April release. The mystery of the playable game roster is quickly becoming solved with a slew of trailer reveals, most recently the Valentine's Day showcase of four femme fatales: Here Come The Girls!
Catwoman and Poison Ivy have finally stepped into view, alongside previous HOTW Black Canary, but the one I found myself most jazzed to see was: Cheetah!
The classic Wonder Woman villain isn't necessarily one of the most anticipated characters, but she comes as a harbinger for a lot of things I'm pleased to see. First and foremost: I'm pleased to see NetherRealm Studios resisting some of their lesser design impulses, offering up a faithful and tastefully understated incarnation of the character. The temptation to layer armor plates over the speedy villainess has been resisted -- at least until players choose their way through the Gear System.
The original Injustice had a solid DC Comics roster, but the game itself was pretty short on comic book reference. It's nice to see the sequel roster digging deeper into the pantheon for a more eclectic mix of playable characters. The fact that we already have the likes of Atrocitus and Supergirl, with Swamp Thing also revealed this week, paints a promising picture for a fun blend of characters.
It was fun to see Cheetah and Catwoman in the same gameplay footage. There'll be obvious appeal to throwing down with arch-nemesis Wonder Woman, but if you've seen Cheetah's more recent battles with Catwoman [see the list of links above] -- you know how that can be fun! I'd also get a kick out of testing Cheetah's quickness against The Flash, thinking of other more recent skirmishes.
I still can't call myself a total convert for Injustice, but they're building a case for what could be a very fun addition to the DC video game canon! That's enough to make Cheetah Hero of the Week!
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