Thundercats’ Hit Relaunch Leads To CHEETARA Solo Series

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.

Cheetara’s Solo Adventure Expands Dynamite’s Thundercats Universe

Cheetara #1 Covers By Soo Lee, Sozomaika, Lesley “Leirix” Li, Rebeca Puebla, & Edwin Galmon

As Dynamite Entertainment noted in its press release announcing Cheetara, this is the first time the character has received her own solo series:

In a historic first for the franchise, the fierce feline warrior famous for her lightning-fast speed is being showcased in a multi-issue story of her own. Writer/artist Soo Lee is joined by rising artist Domenico Carbone on ThunderCats: Cheetara, with the first issue releasing this July!

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:

The new era of ThunderCats comics have been blazing up the charts, with fans hotly anticipating each new issue in the flagship series by Declan Shalvey and Drew Moss. For the new series spotlighting Cheetara, Soo Lee has been following the title and collaborating with Shalvey, alongside some binging of the original show and fandom resources to guide her own tales.

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.

Dynamite Promises Cheetara’s “Secrets Will Be Revealed”

Concept Art By Domenico Carbone

As writer Soo Lee put it:

There are some very cool things about Cheetara that have been overlooked in the original cartoon, things that I really want to make the center of her story. She’s also iconic and very strong, it makes sense she gets her own series. It’s a look into one of the most important supporting characters.

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.

Thundercats Comics Promise To Deepen The Franchise’s Mythos

Cheetara Is Just The Kick-Off

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:

Before the founding of Third Earth, before the destruction of Thundera, Cheetara was a young woman with secrets. Now, for the first time, these secrets will be revealed. Wrapped in a stifling life of Thunderian nobility, she seeks to find her place in an unsure universe, and to understand why she’s experiencing alarming visions of both the ancient past and the near future…

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.