From First comics News by Francis Garbut
https://www.firstcomicsnews.com/review-corner-the-jaguar-1

The Jaguar # 1
Writer: William Messner-Loebs
Penciller: David Antoine Williams
Inker: Jose Marzan Jr.
Letterer: Tim Harkins
Colorist: Tom Ziuko
Cover Date: August 1991
Rating:
This week, I’ll take a look at another Impact Comics title- The Jaguar, which continued the rollout of introducing fans to The Archie Comics characters and rebooting them for a new generation.

Maria DeGuzman, a young college student from Brazil comes to study in the United States, and in the first few pages, she gets an overbearing roommate and sleeping in her classes due to some of the nightmares she’s been experiencing but things really pick up when Maria finds out she has the ability to morph into a powerful cat-like humanoid; She quickly takes out a group of thugs who enjoy picking on the local students then has a brief encounter with a mysterious figure that looks like a bargain-basement Terminator than an actual threat so this book’s entire action sequence just came and went but this was the first issue so I should find it within myself to not be too harsh.

From his monumental work on both The Flash and Wonder Woman, William Messner-Loebs is truly one of the most iconic storytelling in the comic book industry but this issue, just like The Web, felt very rushed and Messner-Loebs had no choice but to follow the editor’s plan of getting from point a to point b and for me, I feel that’s such a horrible plan because this opening issue could have been a wonderful way to showcase Messner-Loebs’ writing in how he handles his characters with the utmost respect and the amazing wordplay that he brings to his work. The art, supplied by David Antonio Williams and Jose Marzan Jr. is polished but would work better on another title if DC wanted Impact to have their own version of Wonder Woman.

The Jaguar may have had a huge audience if the editorial side of Impact Comics just trusted their creative teams enough to let them tell the stories they want to tell and let the readers decide if it’s good or not. I also have high hopes that somewhere down the line, The Jaguar gets a new series and reintroduces herself to an audience that appreciates good comic books.

Well, that’s it for me. I’ll be closing out my reviews of the Impact Comics titles with The Black Hood then the following week, The Crusaders so be on the lookout for them. Thanks for sticking around and I will see you all next time.