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If you made an inventory of Wonder Woman's greatest villains, Cheetah would be near the top - or at the top - of most any list. That's why her absence from the new Wonder Woman series by Tom King and Daniel Sampere to date has been so conspicious - but according to King, it's an intentional choice... and something that's about to change.

June 18's Wonder Woman #10 is going a full-on "Cheetah" issue, King tells Popverse's Sam Stone.

Cheetah has "a very complicated relationship" with Wonder Woman as King describes it. That's putting it mildly: a former ally of Diana's, Barbara Minverva has never quite forgiven Wonder Woman for what she sees as the hero "abandoning" her after her transformation into a cat-like warrior. In the years since, the two have been enemies, allies, and sometimes, something approaching friends... Well, almost.

Recently, the Cheetah had participated in the temporary murder of the Justice League that precipitated 2022's Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline... and then seemingly turned over a new leaf, joining the spy organization, Checkmate. Since then, she's been M.I.A... but starting with Wonder Woman #10, "Cheetah is going to play a big role in the book going forward, so you’re going to see a whole lot more of her."

Check out our full interview with Wonder Woman writer Tom King here.

The first volume of King and Sampere's run is being collected in Wonder Woman Vol. 1: Outlaw, due out July 2. Issues #1 through #8 are available now, with Wonder Woman #9 due out May 21.

Read up on the best Wonder Woman comics of all time.