'WildCATs' to Be Relaunched at DC This Summer

Warren Ellis, Ramon Villalobos and Tamra Bonvillain will revive Jim Lee's superhero team from the early 1990s for a new six issue series.


One of the most important comic book titles of the 1990s is to make a return this summer, with Warren Ellis teaming with artists Ramon Villalobos and Tamra Bonvillain for a revival of WildCATs — one of the original launch titles for Image Comics.


The new series, which will run for six issues beginning in August, spins out of Ellis’ The Wild Storm, a 24-part reboot of the fictional universe (and publishing line) built by now-DC publisher and chief creative officer Jim Lee for, initially, Image Comics, and later DC. The Wild Storm, illustrated by Jon Davis-Hunt and concluding next month, introduced a new version of the core WildCATs team, including Grifter, Savant and Adrianna Tereshkova.


The unusual capitalization of the name refers to the idea that the group is a rogue "Covert Action Team" of operatives, working outside of traditional remits for a greater good.


“The first line I wrote down for Wildcats was: ‘Saving the human race from the human race,’” Ellis teased in a statement from DC. “It’s a team made up of people who have seen the worst in everybody and everything, and yet still put themselves in frankly absurd amounts of jeopardy just so tomorrow might be a little bit better. And it’s a short series, so I might just kill them all. Come and see what happens. The art is great.”


Villalobos added, “From the jump, Wildcats has always represented to me the most modern and cutting-edge approach to superhero comics. I’m excited for the opportunity to draw fun and fashionable comics for the coolest and smartest audiences in comics. Wildcats has a heritage of genius creators who have worked on these characters, so it’s pretty cool to be able to awkwardly put my name among theirs.”


In addition to Jim Lee, earlier Wildcats comic runs have included work by Chris Claremont, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison and artists including Dustin Nguyen, Sean Phillips and Travis Charest.


The series launches Aug. 28, with a first issue featuring covers from Jim Cheung and Chris Burnham.