Jaguar, the New Crusaders character who debuted in 2012, leaps into a one-shot this February, courtesy of writer Keryl Brown Ahmed (Big Ethel Energy), artist Tango (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), colorist Ellie Wright, and letterer Jack Morelli.
Zoologist Ivette Velez is the most recent character to use the Jaguar name; her predecessor, Ralph Hardy, first debuted in 1961 and passed the mantle on to her in a story by writer Ian Flynn and artist Ben Bates. This new one-shot follows up on that story, as Jaguar heads to Peru to confront a predator that’s killing off wild cats.
“The character’s long history and many iterations provided a great creative foundation for me while also leaving plenty of room to explore The Jaguar’s character in ways that felt exciting and authentic,” Ahmed said. “I’m very grateful to Archie Comics for entrusting me with her, and I’m excited to see where she goes next!”
Here are details on the story from Archie Comics:
In the new one-shot, Ivette, a zoologist, is called to Peru to investigate a mysterious predator killing off wild cats, but she soon finds herself in its sights instead. The story serves as both an introduction to the character for new readers and a follow-up to Ivette’s adventures chronicled in the 2012 series NEW CRUSADERS, where she debuted in a story by writer Ian Flynn and artist Ben Bates. THE JAGUAR follows last year’s BOB PHANTOM by writer James III and next month’s DARKLING by writer Sarah Kuhn in reviving Archie superheroes for a new generation.
Ahmed will add some additional context to The Jaguar’s origin that ties into her heritage.
“I took the opportunity to address the provenance of The Jaguar’s powers and how they’re Ivette’s birthright even before Hardy bestows the Jaguar suit upon her, whereas Hardy sort of stumbled upon them on his travels,” Ahmed said. “Ivette’s destiny may have been written by her ancestors, but she feels so disconnected from her Peruvian heritage that she has to literally walk the halls of their civilization to fully activate the powers within her.”
Tango, meanwhile, called on the character’s comic book heritage when drawing the one-shot.
“There’s nothing I love more than really getting to dig in on the physicality of the characters,” Tango said. “The thing that excited me the most about the project was finding the roots of the Crusaders brand stretch all the way back to the days of Alex Toth and Steve Ditko. Those names hold a real sense of reverence. So, contributing in any way to the timeline of these characters came with a very real sense of responsibility for me.”
The Jaguar is scheduled to arrive in stores on Feb. 21.
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