#Wildcat

[why-i-love-comics]

DC vs. Vampires: World War V #8 - "Going the Distance" (2025)

written by Shane McCarthy art by Fabio Veras & Francesco Segala

[mammalianmammals]

African Wildcat (Felis lybica), family Felidae, Samburu National Reserve, Kenya

photograph by Ken Conger

[tawked]

TIL the first black Batman Family character was introduced as a kinda sidekick trainee for Wildcat in 1979. I mean, it's Earth Two, so the concept of the Batman Family is different. Bruce is dead and the only Batman-related characters kicking around are Helena Wayne / Huntress and Dick Grayson / Robin (in this universe, he never becomes Nightwing).

A few years after this, in 1983, Charlie Bullock ends up becoming the unfortunately-named Blackwing, sort of a proto-Batwing. Look, it was the era when every single black superhero had either "black" or "power" in their name, kind of a white liberal attempt to access that "black is beautiful" energy.

Still! Charlie is, imo, one of many, many cool concepts undone by Crisis on Infinite Earths only a few years after his introduction.

A bummer, especially because it was a considerable wait before another black character would be added to the roster, at least in an active superhero role.

It kind of blew my mind to learn there was an attempt in the 1980s, actually.

[zobjilan77]

They put Doctor Fate in the Shockwave machine

Doctor Fate will not live through the night!

(All-Star Comics #62)

[infinityinc4ever]

He’s gone.

[coolcomicbookcovers]

[vegaduke]

1967 Buick Wildcat

[jkparkin]

JSA #6 (DC, April 2025) variant cover by Ethan Young

[littledozerdraws]

my contribution to the 🏳️‍⚧️ Transcartoonology 🏳️‍⚧️ by @ghostsharkpress​

when I was a kid Wildcat was (and still is) one of my favorite cartoon characters but their gender confused me. the other characters used male pronouns but with the long hair, soft temper and high voice little me had a lot of question marks in their head. Wildcat wasn’t like the other male characters but also not like the female ones. Then I learned about the gender nonbinary! which fit perfectly to my image of Wildcat (and also myself). I’ve been wanting to work on this comic for years and this has been the perfect platform for it!

[why-i-love-comics]

DC vs. Vampires: World War V #8 - "Going the Distance" (2025)

written by Shane McCarthy art by Fabio Veras & Francesco Segala

[mammalianmammals]

European Wildcat (Felis sylvestris), family Felidae, Slovakia

photograph by Lubo Ondráško

[tawked]

All-Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever.

An interesting beat with Helena Wayne is that she truly struggles to deal with loss. I think that's a Wayne Family Feature, but Helena especially has been, as of this moment in the comics, dealing with loss without meaningful support.

In this continuity, which carries on from the Golden Age as if the Silver Age did not happen, Bruce and Selina were married, Selina super died and the loss shook Bruce out of his role as Batman. Two murders created Batman, and another murder ended him.

This in turn is what motivates Helena to become the Huntress. She is, in a very round-about metaphorical sense and much like Batman, an embodiment of loss, both hers and her father's. For Bruce, Batman is how he grieves. For Helena, Huntress is both how she grieves, and how she fulfils a need created by her mother's death and father's retirement - in her words, she's putting on the costume to restore a balance. It's not just a form of mourning, she has to make it feel funtional in order to justify it. It's such a Bruce reaction to loss. Can't sit in the emotion, must "do something" about it.

Not only that, Robin is away in Capetown working as a diplomat for the United Nations, and it seems like Bette and Kate do not exist in this universe, so Helena's out here without any non-civilians she can really talk to. Earth Two Bruce Wayne is a little more emotionally intelligent than his Earth One counterpart, but he's still Bruce Wayne. He, like his daughter, is not someone who processes loss well, and it's only been a year (probably - they kinda fumble this).

He's not able to provide emotional support for Helena. Especially not in regards to her choice to become a superhero or her perception that the death of Catwoman and retirement of Batman created a vacuum in Gotham and the broader crimefighting world. Imagine attempting to explain that to any version of Batman, but especially this version, who has been Batman for about twenty five years at this point. We saw how Earth One Bruce Wayne handled the loss of Jason, and how DCAU/Timmverse Bruce Wayne handled Terry McGinnis telling him that he still has an obligation to do Batman things well after his retirement. I feel like, despite his being a more down-to-earth, emotionally stable man, Earth Two Batman's reaction wouldn't be too far from either.

So, my take is: Helena cannot lean on him for support. She's been dealing with her mother's death essentially alone since it happened.

Then she meets Wildcat.

Wildcat may be the first person to take an interest, at least the first person who understands superhero life and who knew at least some of Helena's family. He's the first person that Helena confides in and he has her back, even implicitly agreeing to keep her secret from fucking Batman, who has at this point in time demonstrated he can absolutely mess up the Justice Society if he wants to.

Then Wildcat is injured, he might be dying, and Helena loses her shit in public, in front of people she wants to impress, because she's been in absolutely buried under bullshit without a lifeline for at least a year now.

And, well, because she's Huntress, the people around her immediately fail her lol.

bye bitch

go have your emotions elsewhere

however well written and interesting they might conceptually be

[mikejbecker]

JSA

[dailydccomics]

New History of the DC Universe variant covers by Ryan Sook

[lloydgaymerdyke]