The Wildcats, sometimes rendered WildCats or WildC.A.T.s, is a multimedia franchise based on a superhero team created by Jim Lee, an American comic book artist, and writer Brandon Choi. They published a comic in various formats from 1992 through 2022, which formed the basis for a television show, a line of toys, and a video game.

When the founders of Image Comics were developing the shared universe for their company, Rob Liefeld's positioning of Youngblood as operating like the FBI and CIA but also maintaining a celebrity image with the public led to Jim Lee choosing to develop a superhero team that would shun the limelight and instead focus on covert operations. Lee stated he had always liked the concept of a team that had something to prove, or who did something that not everyone knew about.

The first issue of their eponymous comic book, WildC.A.T.s: Covert Action Teams, published in August 1992 by Image Comics. It was Image founding partner Jim Lee's first work published by the newly launched company and his first creator-owned project. This became the starting point for Lee's menagerie of interconnected superhero creations which became the foundation of the Wildstorm Universe.

The Wildcats launched at the apex of a speculator-fueled comics sales boom and was wildly popular at its inception. Wholesale sales to comic book stores exceeded one million copies for early issues. This first series ran for 50 issues and, in addition to Lee, featured work by comics creators such as Travis Charest, Chris Claremont, James Robinson and Alan Moore. This popularity saw the property expand into other media, with an animated adaptation of the comic debuting on CBS in 1994 and a toyline from Playmates Toys.

In 1998, ownership of the Wildcats concepts and characters were sold to DC Comics, a subsidiary of Time Warner, as part of DC's acquisition of Lee's company Wildstorm Productions. A new incarnation of the team was soon launched under the simplified title Wildcats, focusing on the former members of the now-disbanded team and emphasizing a grittier tone during its 28-issue run. The third series, Wildcats Version 3.0, revolved around the HALO Corporation, its CEO Jack Marlowe (an amalgamation of original team members Spartan and Void), Grifter, and a gallery of new characters subverting corporate politics to their cause of creating a better world. This incarnation lasted 24 issues and was followed by a nine-issue limited series, Wildcats: Nemesis, which returned to a more superheroic style reminiscent of the first series. In late 2006, a fourth ongoing series was launched as a part of the Worldstorm publishing initiative. The series saw the return of Jim Lee as regular penciller for the first time since its first volume; Grant Morrison took over writing duties. Only one issue was ever published, and future issues were placed on hold. In mid-2008, the fifth volume of Wildcats was launched, tying into the World's End crossover event.

Launched as an original Image comic book title by Jim Lee and his friend writer Brandon Choi, the comic book's premise revolved around the centuries-long war between aliens called Kherubim and Daemonites. Kherubim, a nearly immortal, humanoid species with exceptional powers and skills, traveled to Earth and, by breeding with humans, populated the planet with "Half-Breeds". Daemonites, besides having a fearsome appearance, also possessed various superhuman abilities, including body possession and mental control over human beings. The initial arc brought Voodoo over to the team as the readers' point-of-view character as Helspont, a Daemonite warlord, had taken control over Vice President of the United States Dan Quayle. Rob Liefeld's Youngblood co-starred in the closing chapters of the arc.

WildC.A.T.s' story continued in a three-part mini-series, penciled by Jae Lee, that introduced the Daemonite Lord Hightower. Jim Lee and Marc Silvestri proceeded to publish a 'Killer Instinct' crossover detailing Warblade's connection to Marc Silvestri's Cyber Force.

Jim Lee devoted his time to coming up with the new concepts of Gen13, Deathblow, and Stormwatch. Before he left the book, he did the four-issue Gathering of Eagles storyline written by his Uncanny X-Men writer, Chris Claremont. It featured a new villain Tapestry and added the characters of Mr. Majestic, Savant, and Soldier, and featured Claremont's creator-owned character, Huntsman.