“Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Watchtower” Will Steal Your Heart
Each Friday, we’ll be letting a different DC.com writer share what they’ll be reading over the weekend and why you might want to check it out. Here’s this week’s suggestion for a perfect Weekend Escape!
Okay, so here’s the plan. We’ve got 48 hours to fill with a comic book that gives us a clean getaway from your work week. We’ve got the perfect crew. A spotless plot. And art? This art you could hang on a chapel ceiling. All this goes according to plan, and nobody, not even the Justice League, will ever see it coming. It’s time for a Weekend Escape into<a href="https://www.dcuniverseinfinite.com/comics/book/justice-league-cheetah-cheshire-rob-the-watchtower/36741875-7cdf-4c70-a6ca-dbc951913b7e/c” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>Justice League: Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Watchtower.
THE PREMISE:
Following Absolute Power, Amanda Waller’s attempted global takeover involving an Amazo-powered monopolization of the world’s superpowers, the Justice League established a new state of the art satellite facility in space—one with security measures guaranteed by the greatest minds, magic and technology in the known universe. On this “Watchtower,” thanks to the changing, power transferring abilities of Captain Atom, is a device known as the “power bank,” where reserves of the superpowers of every hero on the Justice League are kept, should our heroes ever be depowered again.
Even secured in space by the Justice League, such a target would prove irresistible to anyone ambitious or foolish enough to go for it.
That’s exactly what Cheetah and Cheshire intend to do.
LET’S TALK TALENT:
Greg Rucka is best known as one of the most dramatic comic writers of the 21st century. Gotham Central, Checkmate, Wonder Woman, Batwoman—all deep character studies laden with heavy global commentary. Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Watchtower doesn’t do any of that, which makes the very book itself a sort of heist. The whole story feels like Rucka getting away with something under the nose of his own reputation as a writer of serious topics.
Nicola Scott is another name you should know by now, previously working with Rucka on Black Magick and Wonder Woman: Year One,and bringing to life a prior gang of supervillains you can’t help but root for in Secret Six. If nothing else, you should know her as the artist chiefly responsible for making Nightwing hot. In her approach to the characters who make up the principal cast here, Cheetah and Cheshiremay just be her most ambitious work yet.
A FEW REASONS TO READ:
- PARTNERS IN CRIME — The way that they’re written here, thick as thieves, you’d be forgiven for believing that Cheetah and Cheshire have a long, storied history as best friends on the other side of the law. The deceptive truth, though, is that history doesn’t exist. Rather, this comic presents a master class in creating a connection between two established characters so believable and robust that you can’t help but feel swept away within it.
- THE FELONS, THE FASHION, THE FUR — Whether Cheshire gets caught with the Power Bank is a secret we won’t give away, but one thing you’ll never catch her in is the same outfit twice. Jade Nguyen has never been deadlier than the killing looks she serves throughout this series. Meanwhile, for her own part, the textures on Cheetah have never looked better. Blending woman and animal in a way no other artist has ever quite so closely approached, Scott truly conveys the heart of Barbara’s struggle through this story to regain her humanity.
- PLAYING BY THE RULES — When you’re planning a heist in the most hero-dense location in the DC Universe, it really, really helps to know how the DCU operates. Rucka’s mastery of the systems and assumptions that govern this universe he’s written for so long are what guide the heist in logical, creative and surprising directions, taking full advantage of the world we know and the heroes who inhabit it.
- THE SENSATIONAL CHARACTER FIND OF 2025 — Joining the heist crew of Cheetah, Cheshire and a few surprises is brand new character Alya Raatko, aka “Featherweight”—a super strong globe traveling activist for social justice recruited as the team muscle. Give her a couple issues and you’ll be just as smitten with her as Klarion.
WHY IT’S WORTH YOUR TIME:
Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Watchtowerisn’t a comic that’s going to change your life or the fate of the DC Universe. This is a comic about a thrilling adventure with many moving parts, brilliant and often hilarious twists, and a pulse-rushing sneakabout. It’s the kind of comic that’s become increasingly rare—where the main purpose is to show the reader a good time. Don’t you like fun? Of course you do. Robbing the Watchtower is where you’ll get away with it.
Justice League: Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Watchtowerby Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott and Annette Kwok is available as a softcover graphic novel in bookstores, comic shops, libraries and digital retailers. It can also be read in fullon DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.
Alex Jaffe is the author of our monthly “Ask the Question” column and writes about TV, movies, comics and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @AlexJaffe and find him in the DC Official Discord server as HubCityQuestion.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Alex Jaffe and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
MORE DC NEWS & FEATURES
