Diana and Cheetah escape by the skin of their teeth from Cale Industries as the mystery behind the milk unravels. Wonder Woman #792 is written by Michael Conrad and Becky Cloonan, art by Marguerite Sauvage and lettered by Pat Brosseau.

Escape from the Lab

Diana has found Cheetah, locked in a cage, in the experimental lab of some facility run by Veronica Cale, manufacturing something with hazardous flowers. Wonder Woman has a very practical outfit change, reminiscent of her outfit in All-New Wonder Woman: Odyssey. Unfortunately, before Diana can get a handle on Cheetah, a guy comes in with milk for Cheetah. Hmmm, Milk X-TRA? It seems like this arc has it seeping out of its seams as well. It isn’t long before security is triggered and Diana and Barbara have to claw their way free, granting freedom to the countless animals caged in the lab before it explodes. The two page spread on page 12 and 13 by Sauvage is something I would have treasured as a trapper keeper in my middle school Lisa Frank days!

In Olympus, we see Hera’s bath rudely interrupted by Phobos and Deimos. “The Laboratory has served its purpose. Destroy it.” She tells them. Now this gets interesting. Dr. Cizko wasn’t working on his own with the Milk it seems. Even more interesting is that the brother duo, Phobos and Deimos, gods of Fear and Terror respectively, are involved. Now we’ve seen those who’ve consumed the milk seem to have been controlled, but they also certainly seemed consumed by anger, a known response to fear. I wonder if Hera’s involvement with the milk has something to do with Hippolyta’s plans on Olympus as well?

Heal in the Jungle

As Diana and Cheetah leave the destroyed laboratory, the Esquiceda help defend them against the guards. While Cheetah is tranquilized, Diana swears she doesn’t need to be caged, just restrained with the lasso. The parallels between the events of this issue and Anahi’s visions ring loud and Diana wonders if she could have stopped them from unfolding. Perhaps visions are not meant to be stopped? Perhaps they are a part of the world around us and our role is to just prepare ourselves for them. Cheetah wakes and though restrained, she fights against the ropes. But Diana comes to her with compassion and she seeks to heal, transforming into a hybrid of a woman and cheetah and for the moment balance seems restored. The question will be, what version of Barbara is this? Cheetah has always had a complicated history with Wonder Woman, often fueled by jealousy, but her personality and origin story has changed several times since her introduction in 1943. Is she a selfish archaeologist or is she the shy researcher? It’ll be fun to find out which version Cloonan and Conrad will take or will they make her a beast of their own?

Revenge at HQ

Etta believes they’ll find traces of the Devil’s Heart flower in the Milk X-TRA. While on a date ( maybe? Please? Adorable!) Etta and Dal see breaking news that Milk X-TRA has been shut down by the FDA, while Siggy is convinced these flowers are magic. Steve looks less than enthused to encounter Cheetah, Etta seems curious and Siggy seems downright excited as she makes her appearance in a fit update of her own.

Meanwhile, Diana is off in space, meeting up with Superman, who’s just returned.

I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but more Siggy, Steve, and Etta please? I get that this is Wonder Woman’s book, but they feel underutilized lately. In previous issues, they’ve got so much excellent rapport between them and I guess I’m missing that.