Thunder Agents Archives Seven!

I haven't the strength to revisit the whole meandering odyssey of the THUNDER Agents after their Tower days were done. The saga of their ownership is a confusing and at times quite dark tale. A chap named John Carbonaro got the rights from Tower to publish the T-Agents (although some say that those rights never existed and remained with Wally Wood and afterwards his estate -- it's murky). 

Carbonaro's first foray with the Agents was in the form of a black and white magazine which lasted exactly one issue. It was put together by Pat Gabriele and featured some decent art by Mark Texeira. The Adams and Kirby art advertised was vintage stuff from years gone by. It's not a sterling effort by any means, but it was new THUNDER Agents. 

Next Carbonaro took the Agents into the direct sales marketplace under his own brand of JC Comics, We got a few new tales of decent quality and a reprint series. Somehow this was tied into Archie Comics and the short-lived run was finished under their banner in an issue of Blue-Ribbon Comics. 

And that brings us to Deluxe Comics, the stories reprinted in the seventh and final volume of DC's THUNDER Agents Archives series. Another fellow named Dave Singer and former associate of Carbonaro claimed that the Agents were in public domain and set about to use them in a brand new spanking line despite Carbonaro's objections and eventual lawsuit. Singer seems to have been a dodgy character at best and though he promised big money to big name talents such as George Perez, Dave Cockrum, Keith Giffen, Steve Englehart and others his promises were more impressive than the reality. 

So after a couple of stunning issues the talent began to walk away and the books trudged along. There are some really sweet stories in these, such as nifty hard-edged Raven stuff from George Perez, fan-pleasing artwork from Dave Cockrum and some really weird but fascinating stuff about Lightning by Giffen. There is a definite grimness to some of it, but for the most part the characterizations rang true since most of the creators were drawn to the work by their fondness of the original Tower Comics. The storylines even recognized the old Tower days and built upon them. 

Some of the stuff had real fanboy appeal such as the exceedingly physical encounter between Dynamo and the Iron Maiden. The two had danced around one another in the 60's but here in the 80's that dance took a highly erotic turn, something the old Comics Code would not have approved of I have little doubt. Undersea Agent is incorporated into the T-Agents properly and after he's forced to be voyeur to the Dynamo-Maiden love scene he might have wanted to change his name to "Unsee Agent". 

Despite great covers right to the end, the books insides became less and less impressive. Though Perez is still around there is even in his art an unfinished quality. 

The fifth and final issue has some Jerry Ordway art and its quite handsome and the story picks up embers from the Tower days yet again, but it's too little to late. Other stories in this issue are not nearly so professional in their aspect and the writing seems to be handed off to lesser known names. Singer's venture falls apart even as his claim to the Agents turns to ashes in the courts. 

The THUNDER Agents tumble around for several more years becoming guest-stars in several Indy books before Carbonaro is able to land a deal (of sorts) with Bob Guccione's Penthouse outfit.

He has a guy named George Caragonne in charge of them now and he  proves another less than reliable fellow. There is a stunning story done with Paul Gulacy and Terry Austin but only the first chapter of three ever sees publication in an issue of Omni Comix due to the suicide of Caragonne among other factors. The Agents are in limbo yet again  until many years later DC picks them up and later still IDW takes a stab at them. 

A few more pages of the Gulacy material gets published in The THUNDER Agents Companion from Twomorrows but it's still less than satisfying not see the whole story, which may or may not still exist. This Twomorrows book has been a ton of fun to read as I've tumbled along with the Agents on this read. There are many many interviews and profiles of the talent involved with the creation of the T-Agents over the many years. The book is a bit out of date now having been published in 2005 or thereabouts. But it still makes one hunger for more good THUNDER Agents stories and I for one believe there are more of those to tell. 

Note: Only the Deluxe material and the single story for Omni Comix is included in this particular Archives edition. 

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THUNDER Secret Files!

The THUNDER Agents are a wonderful blend of superhero and superspy universes enmeshed with a substantial science fiction glamour attached to it all. It is a comic series that is defined by its art as much if not more than any other. The names of the writers of most of the stories are forgotten or disputed, but the artist are much better documented. Wally Wood was given the brief to create the THUNDER Agents and in that mission he brought in such pros as Gil Kane, Mike Sekowsky, and Reed Crandall among others. But it was Wood who defined the series and its characters. 

Not least among these was the evocative Iron Maiden, a villainess in the classic vein, desirous of the wealth that crime can bring but foiled time and again by her attraction to the hero Dynamo. What this voluptuous vixen ever saw in dim Len Brown is anyone's guess, but doubtless she wanted to "fix" him. 

And he needed fixing. Dyanamo is a modern update of Captain Marvel in may ways. When needed the crackle of electricity and a flash of lightning mark the arrival of Dynamo thanks to his nifty belt that allows him for a brief time to become invulnerable and amazingly strong. Very often Dynamo is portrayed as a weapon, deployed into his missions from bomb bay doors and landing troop carriers. He's a one-man army who is constantly captured but always rescued, either by his own wits or more likely the arrival of his allies in THUNDER. 

His greatest ally is NoMan. NoMan is Anthony Dunn, or better to say he was Anthony Dunn before the latter gave up his aged body to inhabit an army of android bodies, each of which is more powerful than his own. He uses a cloak to become invisible at times and is remarkable in that he "dies" in virtually every story he's in. It's a short-lived death as all he has to do it transport his mind into another android and he's at it again. He's effectively immortal in a way. 

Menthor was a villain named John Janus who gets the third of THUNDER's great weapons, a helmet that makes him able to use telepathy and telekinesis among other things. Menthor intends to betray THUNDER but the helmet changes him and Janus becomes a true hero. He's a tragic hero because he is killed in the line of duty, a stunning turn of events in the day. 

The THUNDER Squad is made up of four stalwarts who represent to varying degrees normal folks who serve the agency. There was a fifth member named Egghead but he was killed so quickly that he didn't even make the poster above. Dynamite shows up once a while to help on missions. Weed gets his own series as something of a light-hearted spy story and plays on his insecurity being among all the alpha males in THUNDER. Kitten is often on hand to turn the tables on the enemy who think she is an easy victim. Her looks affect the other agents from time to time. Not least of which is Guy Gilbert who leads the squad before becoming Lightning, a fourth super THUNDER Agent. He is given the gift of super speed but at the cost of time from his own life. 

THUNDER begins in order to fight the Subterraneans, who first appear in the guise of the Warlord who commands an army of zombie soldiers. Soon the greater threat is revealed as all of the planet is threatened by these ghastly folk from deep in the Earth's bowels. THUNDER does eventually defeat them though they keep popping up from time to time. 

One of the more fascinating creations of the Subterraneans is Andor. Drawn above by Dan Adkins (who gave his name to Dynamite) Andor is a human taken as a baby and reared in the underworld . He is trained and given inhuman abilities in order to battle the enemy which turns out to be THUNDER. He turns on his masters and becomes a wandering soul looking for his place in a strange world. He sometimes falls victim to his origins, but usually is able to stand up for himself. He's perhaps the most fascinating ongoing figure in the whole saga. 

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The Spy Who Came In From The Wood!

With this month beginning a bit late, I've altered my plans a bit. I started re-reading the THUNDER Agents from Tower Comics as part of a larger project but became so enthralled once again with the art and storytelling of Wally Wood, Gil Kane, Steve Ditko, John Giunta, Mike Sekowsky, among many others that I've just focused on those again. It's been many years since I last read through these vintage Silver Age wonders and they continue to hold up quite well. I'll be brushing off some reviews I did for the IDW reprints some time back and seeing if I still agree with myself. 

Also on tap this month are some reviews and whatnot about Wally Wood that I first did for my now defunct sister blog "Rip Jagger's Other Dojo" which came into service briefly when this one became inaccessible for a time. I want to import the best of those here. 

And I don't rule out a few brand new items of interest as the month tumbles along. Wally Wood was a tragic genius in comic art and the more I read by him and about him, the more fascinated I become. 

See you all as the month unfolds.

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Not Brand Echh #2 - The Crossover Issue!

Dear Stan and the Gang,

    Brand Echh #2 was even better than the first excellent issue. Seeing the "Marble" heroes matching jibes and wits with heroes from across the broad expanse of the comic book spinner racks was outstanding. DC, Gold Key and even Tower Comics come in for some nifty joshing as the laugh meter ticks over aplenty.

    My favorite story this issue was "Peter Pooper vs. Gnatman and Rotten" by Stan and Marie. Mirthful Marie is proving to be a mainstay of his MAD-like project and given her EC roots an appropriate choice. She does a rockem' sockem' job of capturing the essentials of the popular TV show that exploded into the consciousness a few years back and the blend with Spidey's world was seamless. Little nasty Rotten in particular was always a crack up.

    Marie was also the artist on my second favorite yarn co-starring "Knock Furious" of SHEESH and "Dynashmoe" from BLUNDER. The THUNDER Agents from Tower Comics by Wally Wood, Gil Kane, and so many other greats haven't gotten the attention they deserve and it's nice to see the lads at Marble are up to the task. "Nobody's" constant body-shifting was a hoot. The lighting gags in particular got a chuckle from me -- Woody would be proud. 

    Don Heck was not far behind in Roy's story putting together two metal giants in "The Unrinseable Ironed Man Meets Magnut, Robot Biter". God Key tapped the great Russ Manning to give us a really different kind of superhero in Magnus and the send up here is ideal. No one at Marvel or "Marble" draws more exotic and compelling robots than Dashing Don and it shows up well in this time-traveling nonsensical yarn. 

    All in all a first-rate second issue and a good sign that the Marble heroes and zeroes are here to stay a while. Looking forward to seeing some interesting spins on some classic origin yarns in the next issue. 

                                                                                                                        Sincerely (Not),

                                                                                                                        Rip Jagger

Notes and Comments: In Alter Ego #95 Roy Thomas reveals that he got last dibs when it came to the three stories and felt somewhat stuck with Magnus, Robot Fighter a comic he clearly seems to regard as lesser because of its quarterly status at the time. Stan got the plum Batman TV show spoof along with headliner Spider-Man and got rising star Marie Severin for the art. Roy suggests, and I agree that as good as Don Heck's art is for the story he does like John Severin's in the first issue it doesn't hew broadly enough into parody, something Heck had shown he could do in the past. Gary Friedrich's spoof of the THUNDER Agents matching wits with SHIELD I suspect has been the surprise hit of the book, though I think it wanders a bit in its focus despite some outstanding visual gags by Marie. Thomas indicates that Stan Lee rewrote some of Friedrich's gags in this story and that might account for the mild confusion I sense in the story as it...ahem...blunders along. 

Here are some covers from the "Distinguished Competition" featuring the heroes lampooned this time out. 

The next time Marvel tears into its own when they take on three of their most famous origin tales.

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Made Men - Thunder Agent NoMan!

NoMan might just be my favorite. That sounds weirdly paradoxical, until you know about the THUNDER Agent dubbed "NoMan" who was not human and not even just one being. The THUNDER Agents were created in the laboratory of a great unseen scientist, but we do meet one of his colleagues. Anthony Dunn is an old man and feels that his slipping this mortal coil is nigh, so he transmits his consciousness into an android, one of a host of identical androids he has created for that express purpose. 

Then when he becomes part of the THUNDER program as an agent he is gifted with a cloak of invisibility. It's a brilliant stroke, and we have a hero for the modern age, an immortal man (as long as he can safely transfer his consciousness to a new body) who can become invisible when the need calls for. NoMan was the second most popular THUNDER Agent after Dynamo, but I always liked his moody aspect better.

He is not well-served by the talents who worked on many of his stories, both in the main THUNDER Agents title as well as two issues of his comic. When someone other than Wally Wood or Reed Crandall, or perhaps John Giunta drew him, NoMan looked a bit too beefy and too much like a typical superhero. But the idea of an experienced and well-trained mind having access to a succession of perfect bodies is a delightful prospect, or perhaps it isn't. Like all the THUNDER Agents there is a cost to his powers and his is the potential loss of his humanity isolated as he has become from the rest of the world.

Still and all, NoMan is exceedingly cool. 

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Gil's Man - Agent Under The Sea!

Tower Comics was a bombastic little addition to the glory we celebrate as the Silver Age of Comics. They produced some very handsome and slick books under the THUNDER Agents banner and a few spin-offs there from like NoMan and Dynamo. Alongside the THUNDER Agents was another title which weirdly seemed not to be connected into the same world which Wally Wood and his associates developed, a book titled UNDERSEA Agent. This was yet another spy-like organization like THUNDER but localized in the oceans of the world. The hero of this series was the appropriately named Davy Jones and his sidekick Skooby. These two in the hands of artists like Bernard Bailey and Paul Reinman saved the world from some assorted threats.

Then came the man named Kane, Gil Kane to be exact. Gil Kane was an artist eager to break out of the comic book ghetto and was looking everywhere for opportunities after years turning out competent work for DC on Green Lantern and The Atom and such. When he got his mitts on UNDERSEA Agent the glory that would be Kane was evident.  An IDW collection from a few years ago gathers together Kane's UNDERSEA Agent stories for us all to enjoy, it's slender but fun, fun, fun.

Kane stepped into the series with the third issue (which sported a Mike Sekowsky cover) drawing a script written by Steve Skeates. It was a humdinger, having Davy and Skooby battling a megalomaniac who wanted to control the world's oceans. Exciting pages in a tried and true story. Read it here.

Then in the next issue, number five the thing blew up. Skooby falls under the influence of a potion which transforms him into a giant monster and runs amok. Davy is able to save the day of course after much ado, but you already knew that. To find out for yourself check this link out.

I was much impressed by Kane's monster in this one, a giant beast to hold its own with his finest creations such as the Abomination (Hulk) and Gog (Spider-Man). But I was much reminded of another giant scaly monster, Superman's best buddie Jimmy Olsen.

Gil Kane drew the next issue's lead story written by Gardner Fox in which Davy and Skooby battle aliens bent on conquering the Earth despite their lack of affinity to its salty oceans. They come well armed  though as evidenced by the mighty robot featured on the cover. My favorite detail in this story featuring Skooby is when the latter literally searches Davy Jones' locker, (his actual locker) and finds a secret which moves the story.  For more see this link again.

While the last issue featured a Wally Wood cover and not a Kane one, it nonetheless gave the swan song for the series as in another Fox and Kane offering,  Davy gets jolted with a pill which increases his density making it possible for him to descend to crazy depths. He does just that ending up in a hidden world named Anto which is brimming with delightful technology and lovely females, one in particular named Elysse. It's a tragic tale  of heartbreak, but as we know these doughty heroes soldier on.

(Unused Gil Kane cover for UNDERSEA Agent #4)

That wrapped the series and soon enough after Tower Comics would fall as well, a fondly remembered but failing entry into that fertile time. Gil Kane would move on to loftier ambitions, some of which I'll be mentioning later.

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Gil's Man Undersea!

When Tower Comics burst upon the Silver Age comics scene they came with a bomburst - the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. This book designed by Wally Wood had a sleek 60's modern sensibility and is still adored by fans today.

Tower's next offering was less successful. While the company, which also gave us the war book Fight the Enemy and Tippy Teen, would eventually spin off THUNDER Agent titles Dynamo and NoMan, their other initial follow up to that hit was UNDERSEA Agent. U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. was an anagram like T.H.U.N.D.E.R. (The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves). It stood for
United Nations Department of Experiment and Research Systems Established at Atlantis. It's top agent was a man with the ideal undersea name Davey Jones.

As long as they appeared (six issues) Davey Jones and the UNDERSEA crew never crossed over with the THUNDER boys. Drawn by veteran Ray Bailey the book looked exceedingly old school and lacked the pizzazz of the THUNDER book. Trying to get some of that glow, the book was revised late in its run and Gil Kane was handed the gig.

IDW Publishing has recently reprinted those Gil Kane stories in a slim but handsome hardback. I wish someone would publish the whole shebang, as the series (warts and all) deserves a larger audience, but I'll take what I can get. I don't own all the UNDERSEA Agent books, so some of these are new to me.

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THUNDERous Applause!

Finally IDW released the sixth and final volume collecting up the original run of Tower Comics' T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (including spin-offs Dynamo and NoMan). While these reprints are not ideal in every way, they are handsome enough and offer the vintage 60's saga in a handy-to-read format unlike any I've possessed.

Here are the final issues of the classic original run which are included in this latest volume, which sadly does not feature one of these great recreation covers by Ryan Brown. This one is only credited to Wally Wood, though clearly it's been given a brush up. All the new material from the final issues is here right up through the finale which featured only a few pages of fresh material.

These tales are less impressive than their mighty legend, not unlike the beloved EC Comics, but nonetheless they are worthy stories which showcase the strengths and weaknesses of Silver Age comics thoroughly. Wally Wood and company (Dan Adkins and Ralph Reese mostly) are at their best as are Steve Ditko, Gil Kane, Chic Stone, Reed Crandall, and so many others. Artistically George Tuska and Mike Sekowsky turn in some strong work but alas the stories lack much of the spy glamour which attaches to the more atmospheric Wood stuff.

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