Jaguar # 1-14 & Annual # 1 (DC Comics, 1991) [COMICS]

When DC gained the rights to the old 1960s Archie super-heroes in 1991, they decided to do something different. Instead of integrating them into the DC Universe like they did with Charlton heroes like Blue Beetle, the Question, and Captain Atom, they created a new self-contained universe under the Impact! imprint.  Impact! was designed to take a fresh, classic approach to super-heroes that could appeal to younger readers and "tired of the all the gritty angst" older readers alike.  The whole line was cancelled after about a year and a half.  As a kid, I remember collecting The Fly and, for some reason, actually had a subscription to The Web.  Today, however, we're going to be talking about The Jaguar.

Issue # 1 establishes the setting and major characters that will persist until the series' end.  Maria de Guzman is a freshman student attending her first days of classes at Elm Harbor University in Michigan.  Fresh from Rio, Maria experiences some culture shock and some classic mean girls led by a blonde named Tracy Dickerson--who turns out to be her roommate!  Maria also meets Professor Ruiz, someone she had been corresponding with before attending the university.  One night, Maria is out for a jog across campus when muggers attack.  She unconsciously transforms into The Jaguar and fights them off, but there's also intervention from a mysterious armored figure.  It's a solid, straightforward beginning to the series--Bill Loebs' writing is also strong (I like the narration from Maria's perspective), even if the artwork is fairly weak.

The cover to Issue # 2 has a very mannish Jaguar compared to the interior artwork, and the discrepancy is a bit amusing.  We get a bit of backstory here and learn that Maria's aunt, a lawyer who helped indigenous peoples preserve their land, has died in Brazil and was the previous Jaguar.  Maria doesn't seem to really realize that she's inherited that power, as her transformations back and worth happen without her conscious knowledge.  We also learn there are multiple secrets at the university--Professor Ruiz is a government agent and the government is building a cyborg named Maxx-13 in a secret lab!

"Face to Face with Maxx-13" proclaims the cover of Issue # 3, and that's no lie, as there is indeed a big brawl between the two inside.  Maxx-13 was designed to combat terrorists but has become a menace, and Professor Ruiz helps our titular hero by telling her that the cyborg's chest plate is powered by a miniature black hole (!)--she rips off the cyborg's chest plate and throws the black hole device into the sky where it explodes harmlessly.  This isn't Shakespeare, but one can see the appeal for readers (young or old) who want some fun, straightforward super hero action that isn't completely mindless.

We get a mostly-action free story in Issue # 4, but, as the cover indicates, the Black Hood does appear in a team-up story to stop some synagogue vandals.  The theme of the story is guilt and there's some interesting introspection by Catholic and Jewish religious leaders.  It's probably not what the target audience was expecting, but that's okay.

I felt sad for the series after reading the letters page in Issue # 5: "We're a hit! Sales are strong, mail response is astounding, and the critics have given their thumbs-up!"  Barely a year later, the series will be gone.  But let's stay positive for now.  This story introduces a new villain, The Void, created in an accident in the secret government lab under the university.  But The Void isn't really evil, and in a nice, non-violent resolution, Maria talks it into dissipating harmlessly.  There's a fun cliff-hanger in which mean girl Tracy discovers Maria's secret identity!  Tracy's a good character, as she evolves over the course of the series and shows a (bit) more depth--like Cordelia across early seasons of Buffy.

Issue # 6 has a good, classic feel with a fun cover.  Maria goes on a ski trip with a few other students when they're attacked by a yeti-looking monster.  But the monster, the Doomster (corny!) can see into the future and is attacking people for crimes they haven't committed yet.  The Jaguar rescues the students, including Tracy, who starts to have some second thoughts about her plans to take advantage of knowing the hero's secret.

Issue # 7 has very cool cover that starts an entirely different artwork style (externally).  The story is pretty forgettable, alas, as the Jaguar and a cop have fallen in a well and have to rescue themselves.

"Pretty mediocre, frankly," are my notes to Issue # 8.  The Elm Harbor town council thinks the Jaguar has become a menace.  A super-militaristic (hitman) volunteer named Pega, the Invisible Terror tries to capture her.  The Jaguar defeats him, but he escapes and promises to return.  I kinda expected better from Bill Loebs.

Writerly redemption is had in Issue # 9, a crossover that leads into Crusaders # 1.  Tracy steals Maria's Jaguar costume (thinking it has the super-powers within it) and goes on live television to show off.  What she doesn't realise is a) the powers aren't in the suit and b) the suit teleports to Maria when she transforms.  So Tracy is left buck-naked on live t.v., with a lot of explaining to do.  It's genuinely funny.  Technically, that's the B-story.  The main story has to do with an evil terrorist who is dressing up as the Shield or something.  The issue comes with an "Impact! Trading Card Inside", but it's a cheap piece of one-sided cardboard awkwardly bound in, and I can't imagine it helped spur any sales.

Issue # 10 has the return of the Invisible Terror (now upgraded with an exo-skeleton), and the idiot thinks Tracy is really the Jaguar and beats her up before Maria rescues her.  Solid super-heroics.

We've always had Maria do the narrating, but that changes in Issue # 11 as Tracy takes a turn with extracts from her therapist-mandated journal.  Tracy and her friends go see a comedy show, but an assassin ("The Jobman"?) attacks.  Tracy gets in the way, and Maria gets shot.  But it was all a bad dream, I guess?  Weird.

Issue # 12 shows us something different, as we see some scenes from Maria's father's point of view.  Back in Rio, he's been investigating government atrocities and is worried that his enemies will harm his daughter--so he sends a bodyguard to keep an eye on her.  Meanwhile, the Jaguar breaks up a robbery at a gun store and Tracy is still in the hospital, showing more character depth.  It's an unexpected (mild) change of direction for the series, but not unwelcome.

I've seen Issue # 13's plot before in old Spider-Man comics, but, unfortunately, it remains all-tool relevant today.  Non-whites are being harassed and even subject to racist violence after being urged on by a strange old man.  In the comic, the villain is named "Purge" and is actually a robot using sub-sonic machinery to drive hatred.  The Jaguar intervenes, but a mystery remains--who built the robot?  Another still-topical subplot has to do with campus speech codes and free speech.

The final issue of the regular series is Issue # 14.  Maria's father is killed by a government-sponsored hitman and "disappeared."  Fredo, Maria's jack-ass brother, is now running the family company.  And the "bodyguard" that Maria's been stuck with tries to kill her!  Tracy, of all people, saves Maria's life and the two go to Rio in a sweet moment of friendship.  The Web (U.S. government super-spies) ask the Jaguar to join the Crusaders, and she accepts.  Having dropped out of school for a new life, the series has, as the cover proclaims, come full circle.  It's a really satisfying conclusion to the series.

Annual # 1 was apparently part of a big Impact!-wide crossover event called Earth Quest.  In the barely-comprehensible main story, a sort of blackmailer/hypnotizer villain named The Moonlighter captures the Jaguar as part of a plot by someone called The Templar to smuggle diseased birds into the area to create an environmental catastrophe.  The story sucks, but I will say the interior art is much better than in normal issues (despite the weird, sketchy cover).  The annual includes two back-up stories.  "Trick or Treat" is set in 1978, and has an old man dressing up like the Shield to save a kid who's gotten mixed up with the mob.  "Your Mine and Ours" is a pretty good Old West story where the Black Hood is worn by a Native American man.

Overall, I liked the general concept of the series.  Maria is a strong protagonist, and there are some good supporting characters in Tracy and Professor Ruiz.  The theme of a newcomer's first days in America and at university also works well.  Still, the stories were inconsistent in quality and never quite gelled, and the Jaguar as a super-hero is pretty standard stuff (claws, strength, speed).  Still, it's a decent series and not a bad example of what the Impact! line of comics offered.